“And how do I ‘part the curtain of darkness’ and why would I want to?” Establishing a motive was the first step.
She chuckled. It was a strange sound, tinkling coupled with a coarse undertone. “And where will you go now? They have filled the tunnels. Can you not hear them? Soon they will have the hell beasts scent your precise location and you will be found. Without my help you are completely lost.”
“The chupacabras aren’t that fierce,” I muttered. “I could handle them if I had to.”
“Then you have not met their mothers.”
Mothers? The garbage dump was filled with baby chupacabras? Well, that explained why they hadn’t torn me to shreds. Dammit. “Why are you in here?” I asked. “And why are you hiding behind the mysterious ‘curtain of darkness’?”
“I am a prisoner. As you will be very soon.”
A prisoner meant she was dangerous. I immediately wondered what you had to do to be arrested in Hell. It had to be something big. When I didn’t respond she continued, “You are the girl they are so worried about, am I correct? The she-wolf who is fated to rule our lands?”
“Hmm, the ruling part is totally wrong. I want nothing to do with this place. If the demons could finally get that through their thick, reptilian exoskeletons, my life would be a whole lot easier.”
“That’s where you are wrong,” the voice said. “Our Scriptures are never written in error. They were composed in the Time of Lucifer. If it says you are Fated, that means you are strong enough to rule Hell. Whether you do so or not”—she paused—“may ultimately be up to you, but that doesn’t make you less of a threat in our eyes.”
“It seems counterproductive for the demon lord to want me here in the first place, then, don’t you think? Why lure me to the Underworld if I’m the biggest threat to the Prince’s rule?”
“He is very shrewd, but compelled by his quest for supreme power. You stand solely in the way of that. As every demon child knows, what is written in the Scriptures must come true. The Prince must dispatch you or his rule will remain in question for the rest of eternity.”
Snarling and barking erupted right outside the door.
“Hurry,” she urged. “You are almost out of time. You must come to me or you will be captured and contained. I am your only hope of escape.”
My wolf growled and snapped her jaws, shaking her head. I agree, it doesn’t feel like exactly the right choice to move forward, I reasoned with my wolf,but what other options do we have? My wolf flashed me a picture of us running back to the trash heap. We can’t get there now, the sun has set. If we leave, we have to deal with the demons outside our door first, and even if we don’t get caught out there, we won’t last outside with all the demons and the devil bats. And if we get caught we’re no use to Tyler.
“If you do not come to me, all will be lost,” the voice said.
“We have to make some sort of a deal or I’ll have to take my chances elsewhere. My priority is to find my brother and get back to my plane, and if you don’t make a pact with me now, I can’t trust you’ll help us without betraying us.”
“In your world you may swear oaths, we do not do such things here,” she snipped.
“Well, what do demons do, then? And why would you want to help me anyway?” I asked curiously. “Why not let me get eaten by the beasts? You should have no stake in what happens to me.”
More barking and snarling filtered in through the door. There must be forty of them out there. My wolf howled and gnashed her teeth.
“I do have a stake. I will help you, because you are my only ticket out of this place. Fine, we will make a formal agreement, then,” she said. “I will lead you to your brother, and to freedom, and you will agree to take me along to your human realm when you return.”
“Wait… what… what?” I sputtered. “I can’t agree to bring you home when I have no idea who or what you are. That’s insane.”
“Your brother is slated for execution this eve.” Her voice was stone-cold. “He has been… less than agreeable.” I could hear movement, but it was strange I couldn’t see her. “If you do not free me, all is lost for you and your kin.”
The beasts were right outside the door. Vicious snarls erupted as they began to claw at the material. Multiple demon voices rang out and footsteps were running from all directions.
I couldn’t let Tyler die and there was no way to know if the demoness—if that’s what she was—was telling the truth or not. “I’m not going to agree to bring you back to my plane right now, but I will agree to consider it. And you have to swear to”—what could I say to bind her to me?—“follow my rules with no exceptions as we move forward, and after that we decide from there.”
“I agree to this,” she answered. “But you must swear to give me fair appraisal as I risk my life to help you. My deeds must not be done in vain; as is custom in your realm, it is the same here, all favors in the Underworld are paid in return of equal value. If I save your life, and your brother’s, you will owe me at least one favor of my choosing.”
“I swear,” I agreed. Technically she was right. If she saved my life, I would owe her a life debt. But I could argue the payment, and I could choose to grant it later.
It gave me a small out.
“Now you must hurry, they are almost upon us,” she urged. “Step forward and wave your hand in front of you. The curtain will part to allow you through, and once you are on my side, you will be concealed.”
I took a bold step forward, the snarling and scratching intensifying on the other side of the door. My wolf howled her displeasure at my choice to trust in the unknown, but I ignored her. What other options did we have? My main objective was to find my brother. And getting captured by these demons was not going to achieve that.
I stretched my hand out in front of me as the door crashed open behind me.