Page 48 of King of Night
The constant persecution would at least temporarily be gone, and I could breathe.But I’d also be living in Hell…which doesn’t seem like the best trade off.
Binx shadows around us, and Scarlet saunters forward, knowing her way around better than I do.Lucas keeps a firm grip on my hand as he takes everything in.
“Welcome to Hell,” I whisper.“We need to find an empty room.”
“Seriously?You two want to get a room?”Drea asks, slowly, walking forward as she looks up and down the hall.There’s no denying the nerves on her face.Smuggling a nephilim and a vampire into Hell is definitely a risk for her, and so far she’s kept her word.
“I have my own secret weapon, and if things go as planned, we might be able to get in and out of here faster than we anticipated.”I pull the scarab out of my bra, feeling the energy swirling inside of it.“Are the greenhouses occupied?”
“Shouldn’t be.”
“Good.”I motion with my head for her to lead the way.Fangs drawn, Lucas stays close by, ready to protect me if need me.The hall is empty, which I’m both thankful for and a little concerned about.Where are all the demons?
Silently, we slip into a greenhouse and I pause, remembering being in one exactly like this with Julian.I feel the familiar sting of grief on my heart, fueling me to kill the shit out of Paimon.I put the scarab on the floor as soon as the door shuts behind me, knowing we’re on borrowed time.
“All right, Osiris,” I say out loud, closing my eyes and holding my hands out.I still don’t really know how this telepathic communication works other than knowing we’re connected somehow, in a similar way I’m connected to my angelic relatives.Only seconds later, the energy shifts and the scarab starts to vibrate on the floor.Little pieces of dust and dirty gather around it, and then a sudden surge of sand erupts, swirling around.We all step back as the portal forms, and Osiris, dressed in black and gold pharaoh’s clothing steps out of the sandstorm, leading a big black horse with glowing red eyes.
Famine is adorned in what I can only assume horse wore in the ancient Egyptian times.The tassels on his bridle match Osiris’s outfit and the pair look both regal and deadly.
“Fuck this shit,” Drea says, eyes wide.“Your secret weapon is a God of Death and a Horseman of the Apocalypse, minus theman.Where the fuck is the rider?And how—nope.Doesn’t matter.I’m out.”She scrambles back toward the door.“Good luck, don’t die, and if you survived and try to kill me later, you’re a cunt.”
“Callie,” Osiris says with a bow.
“Hey,” I reply, making an awkward bowing gesture right back.“Ready?”
“If you two are.”He puts the reins over the horse’s head and lifts up part of the mane.“I’ve weakened it,” he tells us and I step in, looking at a small scorpion.It’s glowing blue like the hellfire from the Underworld, and has its stinger stuck deep into the demon’s neck.“It should be able to make it so you have more control,” he tells Lucas, as we all know the moment he swings up into the saddle, he and the demon merge into one.“And listen for her voice.”
I swallow hard, praying this will work.Lucas wasn’t able to hear me before.I couldn’t get through to him.But if we want this to work like we hope, he needs to let me tell the demon what to do.
“Your Hell is…interesting,” Osiris states as Lucas takes the reins.He reaches out and pets Scarlet, not put off in anyway by her monstrous appearance.
“Thanks?I think.It’s not my design.”
“We won’t be able to sneak out here with a demon horse,” Lucas reminds me and I nod.
“I’ve been trying to examine the magic,” Osiris tells us.“These demons are old and powerful, but simple.Which is what makes them so strong and dangerous.They operate in one way, and that’s doing what they were designed to do with no discretion.”
“So we have no idea what’s going to happen when we go into a room full of demons.”
“There’s one thing,” Osiris says.“I think there was a reason humans were used as riders.However created them did so to destroy ahumanworld.”
“I never thought about it that way,” Lucas says, following along with something I’m missing.“A human rider on Famine attacks the food source.A human rider on Pestilence causes sickness.”
“Exactly.But you put a vampire on one the demons, does the objective change?”
“You mean Famine would be out for blood?”I ask.
“Possibly,” Osiris answers.“Which if that’s true, we have an advantage.Though it’s one that’s incredibly risky to take.As I said, these demons are old and powerful.They can’t be controlled.”
“Right,” I say, knowing there was a reason Lucifer kept them locked up in the first place.
“If this one wasn’t weakened, I wouldn’t have been able to bring it here,” Osiris tells me.“Which is why we need to limit time spend on it.”
“I do not plan on being on this thing longer than necessary,” Lucas promises.He grabs the reins I one hand and pulls me close with his other.
“I love you,” I tell him, throwing my arms around him.My heart pounds in my chest and I’m painfully aware how precarious this situation is.Though playing offense instead of defense for a change feels fucking freeing.
“And I love you.”He kisses me and we break apart.Lucas stays back, letting Osiris and me walk out first.Scarlet and Binx come right along with us, and as soon as we step into the hall, demons come running.
