And he was pissed.
“Tyler, meet Lily,” I said. “She’s the Prince of Hell’s concubine… and possibly our only ticket out of this crappy inferno.”
10
“How do we get my brother out of these cuffs?” I asked Lily. “And how are we going to get by the Prince of Hell when he’s right outside the door?”
Lily hit a button on the wall and Tyler’s restraints popped open. “It will be difficult to get by him, but not impossible.”
Once Tyler was loose, he staggered to stand. He was a big wolf, blond and brawny, with broad shoulders and sky-blue eyes—the only trait we share. I was happy to see his were clearing and his strength was returning.
I placed my hands around his waist to steady him. “Give it a minute,” I urged. “The demoness said those vampire slugs sucked your power dry. It’s going to take a second to regenerate. How long were they on you?”
He ran a hand over his face.
I let him go and tossed him a rag off a nearby cart so he could mop the blood off his facet. “They put the ones on my chest a while ago, but they added more today,” he answered. “I honestly didn’t think you were going to show. It was hard not to lose hope. Every single day here is like a day void of any joy. This place is fucking miserable.”
“Me showing up was never in question. I’d been training for about five days, trying to get ready for what to expect down here, but I ended up triggering the circle too soon. But there really isn’t a way to prepare for this and it’s lucky I came when I did,” I said. “Did they do anything else to you?”
“No, not much,” he answered, “which surprised me. But these guys are total pussies. They can’t fight worth a damn and every time I growled or flashed my teeth, they scurried out of the room. But they did take blood, hair, and tissue samples ad nauseam, however. I’ve been picked over like a lab rat.”
“The reason they feared you is because those who were tending you were only one step away from imp,” Lily said, somewhat impatiently. “True demons do not work, nor do they do menial labor. Powerful demons live on a different level of this city and rarely venture here. This place is like… what do you call it?” She snapped her fingers. “Ah, yes… a labor camp of sorts.”
“Well, that certainly explains why it’s been easier to evade them,” I said. “And why everyone is wearing a similar jumpsuit?”
“The suits are coded per demon rank and have tracking and stunning abilities.” She indicated the sides of Tyler’s suit. “Those metal strips can fell a demon in its tracks.”
“Great.” My brother whistled. “So they can zap me if I try to run?”
She looked at him appraisingly. “Yes, they can, and they will.”
“We’ll have to get it off you pronto,” I told my brother, scouting around for something else in the room for him to wear, but finding nothing.
There was more commotion on the other side of the door and I didn’t really want to think about the Prince of Hell being out there. “Why hasn’t the Prince blown the door off its hinges and come in after us?” I asked.
“Because I am here,” Lily said smugly. “He must wait until his guards arrive. He won’t risk me harming him while he is hunting you.”
I assessed her. “What choices do we have now?” I asked, starting to pace as I ran a hand through my hair. “We have Tyler, so now all we have to do is get to a portal. That can’t be too hard, right?”
For a second I even contemplated taking him back through the Sholls.
It was an ugly second.
“Wrong,” Lily said. “Not with the Prince standing outside waiting for you. He came for you himself.” She gestured at me. “He’s never in this area, except for a high trial. He didn’t even bother to oversee any of my torture.” Her voice held bitterness, but I wasn’t so sure having the Prince of Hell missing your torture was a bad thing. “It’s too late to squeeze by him. The only chance you have is if I can distract him long enough to give you an edge, but he will be expecting it, so whatever I do has to be big.”
“If you fall to the Prince, you forfeit your chance to leave with us,” I commented, appraising her. “I thought escaping this place was your only motivation to help us?”
She shrugged. “It’s a risk I’m willing to take, mostly because I believe there is almost no chance you will succeed and you will need my help later. By my estimations you will be captured and taken to trial. If not, and you manage to escape, I’ve missed my chance.” She raised her palms upward. “But by doing this, I’ve proven to you I am dedicated to your survival and you will owe me for that. Once you are caught, I will aid you again if I am able and after that we will discuss compensation.”
She was right. If she sacrificed herself for our cause I would be indebted to her. “Are you positive there’s no other way out?” I glanced around the room again. “It seems there’s always a hidey-hole in this godforsaken place.”
She shook her head. “Other than that specific mending room we entered, all are sealed in this place. If there were another portal in this building I—of all demons—would know it.”
Tyler interjected, “We don’t need a portal. We can break out of here. These guys are pushovers. If you show us the way out”—he nodded at Lily—“we can fight. It shouldn’t be too hard to overwhelm them. Use your magic against the Prince, and let us do the rest.”
Tyler, can you hear me? I reached out to him via our internal connection. Watch out for Lily, she’s dangerous. My wolf is very leery of her, and no matter how much she tries to convince us she’s on our side, she still hasn’t proven enough to me yet.
Tyler smiled, showing off one of his killer dimples. I can hear you, Sis. But it’s all wavy, like we’re underwater.