“Why are you telling me this?”
“Demons thrive on humans suffering, but they are not in charge of deciding the punishments themselves. They only make Lucifer’s will a reality. No one here deserves your sorrow.”
“I still don’t like it.”
“I know.”
I couldn’t help wondering what each person had done and how Lucifer picked a punishment for them. What did you have to do to deserve being nailed to a cross or whipped for eternity?
I watched a demon shove a needle and empty a syringe into the arm of a man who looked like he was on death’s door. His body convulsed while he moaned, the kind of sound a person makes when they don’t have the strength to scream.
A different scream drew my attention toward another man, dressed in nothing but a loincloth, chained to a post while spiders the size of my fist crawled up his legs. Not far away, a woman shrieked as snakes wound around her limbs.
There were other tortures that weren’t physical at all. The humans must have been trapped in visions of some sort, their eyes wide with horror as they stared at nothing and strained against their bindings.
“What’s happening to them?” I whispered.
Joriel turned us away, but there was nowhere to look. He walked quickly, practically dragging me through the fields, then stopped short and muttered a curse when a huge house came into view.
“What is it? Where are we?”
“The home of the royal who rules the fields closest to here. I don’t know exactly who that is though. I’m not an expert on the circles of Hell.”
Compared to me, he seemed like an expert on everything. He could fight, had traveled the world, and had stood before Lucifer’s throne. He’d watched his brothers prove that the mate legends were truth, knew more about demons than anyone I’d ever met, and could navigate Hell’s politics and inner workings like they all made perfect sense.
Before I could tell him any of the things I was thinking, Joriel’s expression changed to one of dread and grim determination.
“Stay behind me,” he murmured before moving so he stood between me and the approaching demon.
The demon was dressed in a suit. His dark hair was long and tied back like Joriel’s was. I didn’t know who he was, but since he looked human, I guessed he had some kind of rank.
“So the angel escaped his cage,” he drawled. His eyes were cold and filled with a hatred that seemed… personal.
Joriel didn’t respond, just stood still in front of me, his feet planted and his body braced for a fight.
The demon said something in a language I couldn’t understand, and within seconds dozens of lesser demons had formed a loose circle around us. There were so many of them, so many more than had been in the cave the last time we’d stood like this.
“Take him.” The demon jerked his chin toward us, but he’d saidhimnotthem.
It all happened so fast. Joriel managed to turn a handful of demons to dust, but there were too many of them. They forced him to his knees, his arms held out at his sides. Not a single demon so much as glanced at me during the whole ordeal.
The demon royal moved toward Joriel, his steps slow and measured, until he stood over him. “I’ve been waiting for this day for four and a half years.”
“Didn’t realize I’d left such an impression on you,” Joriel gritted out. Even on his knees, being held down by a horde of demons, he didn’t look subdued. His eyes burned with cold fire, and his jaw was set in defiance. “The feeling isn’t mutual.”
The demon’s eyes flared for a second before his lips curved into a cruel smirk. “It will be.” He turned his attention toward me. “I don’t think we’ve had the pleasure of meeting. Duke Vepar,” he said, holding out a hand to me.
I eyed his hand, not sure what to do. I didn’t trust him, and no part of me wanted to touch him.
I was spared from making a decision when Vepar drew his hand back and turned his attention to Joriel, who was starting to glow like he had in the prison realm.
“I wouldn’t do that,” Vepar said, twirling a knife between his fingers. “I’ve learned a few things about angels and what happens when they lose too much blood.”
The light around Joriel receded instantly, and I stiffened. I’d seen what happened firsthand, and I knew Joriel would do anything to keep from going there again.
“What do you want?” I asked, folding my arms over my chest and refusing to give in to the nerves skating through my body.
Vepar smiled, and there was nothing nice about it. “Your angel convinced the king to withdraw his protection of a very good friend of mine.”
