She had never loved the simplicity of her boring life more, and she swore if she survived this, she would never wallow in dissatisfaction again. She was happy being a chubby, introverted seamstress. What else did she need?
Except, of course, a demon boyfriend with yellow eyes and a talented tail.
The thought of him suffering at this very moment gave her the courage she needed to get moving.
“I’ll go first,” she told Iris. This was her mess, after all.
“Lil…”
“It’s fine. I’m the light source, remember?” She turned to their rescuer. “Thanks for your help.”
He grimaced like she had shoved frog guts in his face. “Just hurry. Even my souls can’t hold Paimon back for long.”
Later, she would figure out what he meant bysouls—though with a name like ‘the Necromancer,’ she could guess. But right now, she needed to focus.
She took a breath and crawled into the tunnel. Iris extinguished the torch and crawled in after her. Inching forward into the blackness, her glowing arms provided illumination only a foot or so in front. Her stomach lodged in her throat, and she had never wanted to scream more.
“Two rights and a left,” Iris murmured behind her.
Claustrophobia had never been an issue for Lily, but she had a feeling that was about to change.
23
A Fool’s Chance In Hell
They crawled through the tunnel for what felt like forever. The process was slow and exhausting, and it took great effort not to succumb to irrational terror in the confined space. Only constant reasoning—the only way out is forward—kept Lily from falling into a catatonic state.
“If we survive this, I’m going to sleep with a nightlight for the rest of my life,” Iris whispered. “I’ll get one shaped like your arse for good measure.”
Lily tried to laugh, but it came out more like a sob.
She tried not to think about what would happen if she reached into the blackness and touched a gorath larva. Instead, she fretted over what condition Mist would be in when they found him, which wasn’t really an improvement.
Would they be able to get him back through the tunnel? If he was unconscious, there was no way they could drag him. Would he even fit? There was a strong possibility the tunnel was narrower than his shoulder width if the tight squeeze against her hips was anything to go by.
Neither of them spoke, their heavy breathing the only sound to penetrate the quiet.
It was impossible to say how much time passed. Maybe one hour, maybe five. Maybe less than an hour. But eventually, they came across the first fork in the tunnel, and Iris broke the silence with, “Two rights and a left.”
They went right. Not too much further ahead, the tunnel forked again, and again, Iris repeated the mantra. After the final turn, Lily’s heart began to race again. Only then did she realize she had somehow overcome her panic instincts.
Unfortunately, they returned with a vengeance as she suddenly spotted light ahead. The reality of what she was about to do hit hard, and just like that, she was terrified again.
Wordlessly, they crawled toward the light that grew steadily brighter. Before long, she came face to face with a large boulder blocking the tunnel entrance. There was a crack just narrow enough for Iris’s slim figure to fit through, but Lily’s butt was a different story.
“Can you see anything?” Iris whispered.
“I’m not sure I can fit through the crack.”
Iris scoffed. “Your butt isn’t that big.”
She was pretty sure itwasthat big. “Only one way to find out—”
“Wait.”
She stopped, staring at the little patch of light, waiting for Iris to speak.
“Before you go out there… if everything goes to shit… I just have to tell you that I love you, and I’m glad we’re in this together. And I’m sorry for everything, and I swear I’ll never lie to you again.”
