Page 71 of As Darkness Fall
“Uh. You saidlightlyguarded.”
“Yes. I did.”
“That’s not the same as unguarded,” I pointed out.
Aaron rolled his shoulders. “No entrance to the Underworld is unguarded, Dani. This is our best choice. Are you done?”
“No,” I snapped. “Not really.”
I was growing tired of this side of Aaron. Was this the real him? The vampire side of him? I much preferred the sexual-conquest-oozing manslut that I’d met.Hewas fun. This man, though, he was dark, cranky, and hated to explain anything.
Everyone has multiple sides. Remember that,I told myself, trying and failing not to glance at Vir.
“What are we going to find on the other side? What kind of guards? I want to be prepared, since it seems I’m the only one who doesn’t know what to expect.” I glared at Vir, letting him know that he should be doing a better job educating me.
But his attention was focused firmly on the door. He hadn’t, I realized abruptly, returned to his human form. I was so used to him in either form that it hadn’t really registered on me. This entire time, he’d been marching as the Champion of Amunlea, complete with armor and weapons, including his spear and the sword he kept attached to his waist, though I’d never seen him wield it.
“Demons, most likely,” Aaron said, speaking like it was normal to fight those sorts of things. “Minor ones. None of the big guys like Abaddon or the Fallen. So don’t worry, you’re safe. It’ll probably be some Jinn or something like that.”
He turned to face the doors.
“That sounds bad enough,” I muttered, recognizing the term. “Fighting a bunch of genies a–”
Aaron whirled on me. “Donotcall them that.”
I took a step back at the unexpected vehemence in his voice.
He frowned. “Sorry. It’s just, well, trust me when I say you don’t want to call them that. They take it personally. Like, really personally. They despise genies.”
“Okay,” I said, throwing my hands up. “I’ll be good. I promise.”
Aaron snorted. “I’m not sure you know how.”
He might have a point.
I stayed near the back as Aaron ordered his men into position. Fred was to lead the way, followed by Aaron. I wondered why that was and figured it had more to do with Fred than anything. I’d known all along that he was far more dangerous than anyone wanted to let on, but I still had no idea what that meant.
Aaron double-checked everyone, then he faced the doors and spoke a word in a dark language I didn’t recognize.
The doors opened, and heat washed over me, followed by a roar.
“Go,” Aaron barked.
At his command, I, along with the others, charged into the Pits of Hell to rob a god.
Chapter Thirty-Five
The first thing I noticed was the heat. The Realm of the Undead had been a dry heat. Not unbearable because there was no sun to bake the rocks, but also no wind to bring moisture. The Underworld, however, was hot. A wet heat that blasted me the second I came through the doors. I immediately regretted wearing leather.
I’d come through the door screaming, my eyes closed, because that’s the sort of brave, warrior badass I was. When nothing immediately sliced me in half, I opened my eyes wide, taking in the ugly red sun, the dead trees, the overwhelming smell of sulfur that hooked itself into my nostrils and didn’t let go, and the monkey-frogs.
Basically, it was exactly the way I’d imagined it.
I shouted and lowered my shoulder as one of the monkey-frogs came flying at me, the sounds of battle erupting all around, but the thing was denser than it looked. The giant feet slammed into me like a kangaroo’s legs, hurling me backward.
Spinning around, I bounced off the red, rocky ground, rolling several times. My leather outfit protected my skin from the worst of it. I got to my feet as the monkey head let out a chittering blast of noises that sounded very much like taunting.
“Fuck this,” I snarled and yanked the front zipper down, stripping naked in a nanosecond as I shed the leather, my skin already sweating from every pore in the unyielding heat.
