A beat later everything in the room erupted into total chaos.
I blew out a relieved breath as the beasties began to flood out of their trashed cage as quickly as possible, crawling over one another in an effort to get free. And to turn things even more in my favor, several piglets dropped from the ceiling above onto the lift. It seemed the ones from the gazebo had found a way out, or the floor had opened up—either way, they were raining down from above.
Each of the demons sprang into action. One went for the cage and one jumped onto the lift to try to contain the masses as they started bouncing like plump treats onto the conveyor belt.
I used my advantage and ducked around the door and zipped out of the room.
There were no demons lingering in the hallway. These lucky breaks are going to stop very soon, I told my wolf. We need to find a place to lie low until we can figure out where we are. The hallway ran both ways. I chose left. We need to make our way to the big building. I’m fairly sure we take a left, and then another left, but I’m not sure. Do you have a better sense of where we are right now? My wolf barked and flashed a perfect picture in my mind of the view from the roof, marking our current location on the map. You are so very handy. I love that about you.
Once we were out of the this particular hallway, we would need to keep left in order to arrive at what I hoped was the main building in She’ol. I raced by a bunch of closed doors. I could hear piglets chirping and hissing behind every one of them. The assembly line was in full swing, I could hear the conveyor belts going. There’s a door at the end that looks promising. It’s bigger than the other ones. Let’s go.
This one thankfully had a handle.
It was a detailed knob with what looked like a devil head carved into it. I put a single finger on the handle, testing for power or spells. It was clear. I palmed it and turned. It opened with no resistance, and to be as cautious as I could be, I put an ear to the space and scented the air. I heard nothing. I was certain I would run into something eventually, but my hope was that most of the demons who didn’t run the food service shift were up top for suppertime. It seemed like everything was regimented here, so it was a good bet they had all gone to dinner.
I snuck around the corner, and into a very strange land.
Well, this is… unexpected. Or maybe the neat gazebos and innocuous buildings were unexpected and this is what we should’ve expected all along? My wolf growled, her ears twitching. The sulfur smell was so strong I had to cover my nose and mouth with my hand. On closer inspection, I could see sulfur water seeping out of the walls. No wonder.
We had just entered the true bowels of Hell.
No more buildings and seemingly normal structures. This was what the real Underworld looked like.
This tunnel was much larger. I was guessing it had to be one of their main arteries. It was wider, likely to accommodate more traffic, but I also knew it was a primary thoroughfare because it seemed almost alive. Dark red porous rock jutted out all around me. It was hot and humid and the walls were bumpy and coarse, with tons of wide holes resembling coral. Fluid leaked everywhere. There were smells I’ve never scented before—all of them ghastly. I moved forward cautiously, stepping over a huge channel that ran down the middle of the tunnel to catch all the runoff, and once on the other side, I started to jog.
I had no idea where my final destination was, but the image in my mind, curtsey of my wolf, kept me focused. I passed door after door as I ran. All of them plain and unassuming. They looked completely out of character nestled into the red, bleeding rock.
Look for another big door with an ornate knob. Can you scent anything? If this was a major passageway, like I guessed, Tyler’s scent should be lingering here somewhere. When the Prince had arrived back in Hell with my brother as his prize, he would’ve had to walk somewhere down here.
As I ran, the tunnel meandered right, and then left. After a long curve, it straightened out for a short distance before it abruptly ended in a T. I slid to a stop and listened. I heard voices down both corridors. Once the tunnel had straightened out there had been a smattering of few more doors. Let’s duck behind one of these doors until it’s clear. We can’t risk sounding the alarms yet. Cross your fingers we find something nice inside instead of another set of beasties.
I backtracked to the last door I’d passed. It looked the same as all the others. I didn’t have time to test the handle, because the voices were getting louder. I grabbed the knob and it swung open cleanly. I stepped in cautiously, clicking it closed softly behind me.
I turned around. The room was pitch black.
I placed my back against the door and slid down into a crouch. My nose rose in the air and I scented the space. My skin prickled.
We weren’t alone in here.
Something moved directly in front of me. Do we stay and fight or should we flee before it figures out who we are? The decision was made for us when multiple voices erupted right outside the door. A moment later alarms sounded. Whooping sirens echoed all around us.
They knew I was here.
Before I could decide if I should fight the unknown in front of me, or race back into the tunnel and take my chances, a low red light started to blink next to the door and a voice came over a loudspeaker, speaking Demonish and then English: “Alert, alert. There is an intruder in our realm. We must stop it at all costs. All demons to your armament stations.”
Armament? That didn’t sound good.
“They’re talking about you,” a voice in the darkness purred. “But you knew that already, didn’t you?”
I sprang to my feet, trying to make out the details in the room via the blinking red light, but there only appeared to be solid rock in front of me.
That couldn’t be right.
“I am here, but you must part the curtain of darkness to see me.”
The voice was decidedly female.
Demonesses were rare. From what little I knew about demons, there were only a handful. But honestly, what did I really know? Everything I knew about the Underworld had been gathered from tidbits from other supes, myths, and old books I’d read as a child. The entire Underworld could be run by demonesses and none of us would’ve been any wiser. No supernatural I’d ever known of had ventured here before.