Page 62 of Lust

Anger swirls in both his expression and his aura, but it’s exhilarating and consuming and I daren’t breathe. My blood seems to heat, caught up as I am in him.

“I won't be able to protect you,” he growls, his voice dripping with a dark intensity. “If they decide that either of us is trespassing where humans should not be and take offence at our presence, there will be nothing I can do to stop it. They will kill us without mercy.”

A shiver, as cold as death, courses down my spine and the heat that was surrounding us falls away.

“I don’t care,” I say, standing up to him. “I need to find her.”

His expression softens into something sad and vulnerable. It’s like an ache in his soul that radiates out from him. “But I care, Valentine.”

Neither of us speak after his confession. He lets go of my wrist and turns toward the direction of the demon’s lounge. He doesn’t stop me from following, but I notice he’s outstretched his wings slightly. Readying himself for attack?

I might have stood up against his words, but it doesn’t mean I don’t feel them intensely. On this level in purgatory, I was degraded, attacked, burned. I saw things that humans aren’t supposed to see. Dade literally had his skin peeled from his body, which caused him so much agony he screamed. I can’t imagine anything worse and truthfully, I don’t want to.

If he’s right. I won’t have to imagine anything.

I’m trembling as we turn into the corridor where the demons’ lounge is. With any luck, they’ll all be in bed except for Twila.

He stops outside the door and casts a dark glance my way. Despite the tremble, I stand straight and nod my head. My throat closes and my heart seems to stop as he raises his hand to knock.

I almost hope no one answers the door, but my hopes are dashed as a demon wrenches it open. The massive demon towers above Dade and as he takes him in, his face contorts into an expression of rage and primal fury. “Humans?”

I’m terrified by this monstrous angry beast, but Dade doesn’t lose his cool as he addresses him. “We are here to speak to the almighty Hades. We are…” He glances my way… “Friends of his partner, Twila.”

I nod and he turns back to the beast. The demon opens his mouth and roars. “How did you get down here, Human? Humans aren’t permitted.”

“Hades invited us,” I shout out. Dade has done enough for me tonight. I’m not having the fact that he has an elevator key revealed to this monster.

The demon’s eyes turn to me and narrow. “That is not possible.” His voice is hard and rough. “Humans!”

This time it’s not a question, but a rally to attack. He lunges forward and grabs Dade by the throat, as what seems like hundreds of demons appear behind him, each more hideous and angry than the next. My heart seems to liquefy as I see the next few minutes play out with crystal clarity. We’ll be swamped and Dade’s prediction will come true. I pull every ounce of strength I possess and hurl myself at the huge demon. I bite down on the thick scaly skin of the arm that holds Dade up in the air. His skin tastes disgusting in my mouth and a pool of acidic demon blood fills my mouth. I let go, dropping to the floor as I try not to retch against the putrid goo dripping from my mouth. Without thinking, I punch hard, aiming below the demon’s belt. A guttural howl pierces the air, and the demon finally relinquishes its hold on Dade, who clatters to the floor beside me.

Dade elongates his wings, and grabbing me around the middle, takes flight. I’m sick with both stress and the rotten taste coating my taste buds, but I breathe a sigh of relief as Dade’s wings flap and we begin to fly down the corridor… For about three seconds.

Terror takes hold as I look back and catch sight of the hoard of demons screaming down the corridor behind us. “Faster!” I cry out as one of the demons leaps forward and clamps Dade’s right leg in his hands. Our motion comes to a stop and I almost fall out of Dade’s grip.

His body shudders as he lets out a bloodcurdling scream and the air fills with the sound of shattering bones. My heart pounds as I look down and see the demon has twisted Dade’s leg a hundred and eighty degrees, so his foot is pointing in the opposite direction to the other. I swivel in Dade’s arms, spit the remnants of the other demon’s blood into the demon’s face. Its grip on Dade's leg slackens, fingers clawing at its face in a desperate attempt to clear its eyes.

“Go!” I scream out as another demon catches up and leaps towards us. It misses us by inches. The blood drains from my face as we hurl down the corridor, putting distance between us and the angry demons. By the time we get back to the elevator, their battle cries are distant, but it’s clear we only have a few minutes to get out of here. Dade has always been pale, but it looks like all the blood has been siphoned from his body as I slam down my fist on the call button. My knees almost give way as he slumps against me. When the doors open, I practically have to carry him in. I press frantically on the up button and finally breathe when the doors close and we begin to rise.

“Hold me, Valentine.”

I think he’s asking for emotional support as I’m already propping him up, but then he becomes heavier in my arms. He reaches down and wrenches his leg, twisting the back into the correct position. The stench of sulfur, the acidic taste and the sickening crunch of bones has me hurling my dinner onto the elevator floor.

“I’m sorry.” I cry out, breathlessly. “I should have listened to you. They’ll kill us.”

Sweat pours from Dade’s brow as he lifts his head up to look at me. “They will not dare come for us up here. Their code prevents it.”

I wipe my face with the back of my hand and find tears. I wasn’t even aware I was crying. “They do what they want. They hated me so much in Purgatory that they served me maggots for every meal.”

Dade grits his teeth in pain and he grips onto me as the elevator doors open. The atrium is empty and strangely quiet. It’s also darker than usual, lit only by the faint glow of Hell streaming down from the glass ceiling a hundred floors above us.

“They are forbidden from causing harm up here,” he insists. “Maggot meals not withstanding.” His breathing is becoming shallow and I have to bear almost all his weight as we slowly make our way, inch by painful inch, through the atrium. “I need to get you to a hospital.” I don’t even know if there is a hospital in this circle.

“I do not need it. Just help me to my room.”

“I heard your bones breaking. Twice!”

He pulls in a deep breath as we step through the door to the platform. Well, I step, he hops. “We aren’t alive. We heal much quicker in here and I am part demon, which means the process accelerates even further. I will be fine.”

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