“Our souls are bound. If you vanquish me, you will die.” I stepped around her, continuing my trek toward the trees. I grew weary of her already, and I needed time alone to think.
If I could find Hecate’s amulet, if it still existed, perhaps it would be enough to save me from the goddess’s wrath. Once I obtained it, I would search for my brothers’ skulls. With the amulet’s power, I could summon them into this realm, and we could collect our price from Isabel’s descendants.
Only then could I return to Hell and reclaim my position in Lucifer’s court.
“A Holland witch can’t be responsible for unleashing a demon on Salem,” she called from behind me, stopping me mid-stride.
“You are a Holland witch?” Unmerciful Lucifer, how could it be? “The curse…”
“Hasn’t come to fruition.” She clutched her hands behind her back and strolled around to face me once again. “You’ve been in prison for four hundred years, and the whole reason Isabel summoned you hasn’t even happened. I and every High Priestess before me have made certain your abhorrent act would never become reality.”
My jaw slackened, but I managed to keep my mouth closed. My eyes, however, couldn’t hide the fury building inside me. They heated, the green in my irises undulating like molten hellfire. The void of apathy, the nothingness that had once hollowed my being, now filled with disgust and rage.
I had to get away from this woman before I did something I could not undo. I stepped to the right and marched forward, slamming my shoulder against hers as I passed.
A normal person would be terrified in a Prince of Hell’s presence. I’d broken her containment circle and come inches from strangling her, but instead of cowering as she should, the witch had the audacity to grab my arm.
“Pisses you off, doesn’t it?” she asked.
I spun to face her and ground my teeth, glaring first at her hand on my biceps and then into her eyes. “You have no idea the restraint it is taking for me not to tear your head from your neck. I suggest you let me go.”
She loosened her grip but kept her palm pressed firmly against my skin. “What’s stopping you?”
I did not appreciate the way her touch, this bond, made me feel. Instead of tearing her limb from limb, I wanted to caress every inch of her infuriating form. “If I kill you, I will be vanquished too. I have things to do in this realm before I can return.”
“Mm-hmm.” She stepped closer, her mesmerizing gaze locked on me. She lacked the physical strength to hold me in place, but something about her eyes… “And if I die, this binding spell I cast means I go where you go, right?”
I curled my hands into fists. “Unfortunately, that is correct. As long as the bond is intact, if you die, you will go to Hell with me.”
“Good. Because that’s exactly where I want to go.” She moved with a speed only masterful magic could provide. I barely had time to blink before she raised her arm and plunged a silver dagger deep into my heart.
5
CINDER
Darkness closed in around me. Intense heat, hotter and more putrid than anything I’d ever felt, blasted into my face as if I’d flung open an industrial-sized oven filled with burning, rotten eggs. The sulfurous stench made my stomach lurch. My body seized, the pain of every injury, every cut, bruise, and skinned knee I’d ever acquired in my life flaring to life as if they’d all happened at once.
Holy hellfire and hotdogs. What had I just done?
I dropped to my knees and dragged in a breath. The air felt like thirty-grit sandpaper scraping my lungs. A coughing fit racked my body, and I leaned forward, resting my hands on the rocky ground and preparing to be turned inside-out. My eyes watered and bulged, and snot poured from my nose, the mucus hanging like a gooey icicle as it stretched toward the ground.
Disgusting, I know, but it was the least of my worries.
“What in Hecate’s name?” I rasped.
“Silence.” Discord slammed a meaty hand over my mouth and kneeled beside me. “Do not invoke the goddess in this realm unless you are prepared to deal with her in the flesh.”
I huffed through my nose, breaking the snot chain before sitting upright and wiping beneath my eyes. Discord removed his hand and rubbed it on his thigh, glaring daggers at me as if looks could actually kill.
From him, maybe they could.
I swallowed, my throat so dry and raw that it stuck together and peeled back apart. My tongue felt like a wad of cotton, and my head throbbed like nobody’s business. “Why does everything hurt?”
“Welcome to Hell. You’ll get used to it. Eventually.” He laughed dryly. “Unless, of course, Lucifer discovers you here. In that case, you will suffer for all eternity. Good luck on your journey.”
He rose and strode away. I scrambled to my feet and followed, my muscles screaming with each step. How could I ever get used to this? “Wait. You still owe me a favor.”
“I owe you nothing.” He quickened his pace, heading toward an opening in a rocky wall.
