His voice sounded strange to me too, coming in and out of pitch. Yes, like radio interference. This place is nuts. But, but we tread lightly with Lily. Agreed?
He nodded once and turned to Lily, sizing her up, glancing back at me. She doesn’t look too dangerous. Her signature is not over the top, but she has a weird look to her.
She’s either cloaking her power or it’s muted, because she’s extremely strong. She’s half witch, half demon, and that may contribute to her “weird” vibe. But whatever she is, she’s fierce and crafty.
His expression turned to one of wonder. I’ve never heard of a half witch, half demon before, but man, that’s a killer magic combination.
It is killer, I said. That’s what she specializes in—killing. Stay clear of her.
Got it. Now let’s get the fuck out of here.
We both turned toward Lily, and found she was studying us. By her expression she knew something was up, not quite what. Her voice held an edge when she said, “We can’t fight our way out. So far, you’ve been dealing with the equivalent of janitors in your world, but the alarms have been sounded and everyone knows you’re here in this very room. There’s no way to sneaking totally out. And once you’re captured”—she nodded to me—“the entire city will tune in to watch. Everyone has been waiting for this day. There is no leaving undetected any longer.”
A rap of knuckles sounded on the door. “Come out, come out, wherever you are.” The Prince’s voice held menace. “There is no escape for you. Any of you. My minions have been lacking, but my full guard has amassed. We have surrounded the building and there is no other hope.” He paused in a gleeful way. “If I have to blow the door in, I risk killing you all and that wouldn’t be any fun, now would it?”
Lily went to the door, the back of her hand gliding along the smooth surface in a swirling motion that could only be defined as a caress. “But, darling, that would be fun—if only you could achieve it. But alas, you cannot. Be truthful now, or it’s not a fair game,” she teased. “And it’s such a shame, because the Prince of Hell should be much stronger than that. Being bested by me always makes you look foolish.”
There was a snarl from behind the door, followed by a rush of orders in Demonish.
“What’s going on?” I asked, moving toward her. “Why can’t the Prince blow in the door? Wouldn’t he just want to be done with this?”
Lily gestured at us with a flick of her wrist. “He can’t blow us up, because I’ve warded the door. Now move behind the partition. It won’t be safe in about ten seconds. He’s ordered his ward breaker in—a half demon, half dwarf. That little shit has a gift for decoding magic. Once he breaks the ward, the Prince will indeed blow the door in. Then I will attack. Once I do, race to the right down the hallway and keep going.” She arched a pointed glare at us. “There is a front door if you can find it, but there will be guards everywhere. The only thing that may give you an advantage is if it’s daylight. But according to my internal clock there is still over an hour of darkness left.” She glanced at me pointedly. “If you had waited just one hour, we might have succeeded.”
“I wasn’t going to let my brother die,” I answered her stonily. “You heard what they said.”
“They wouldn’t have killed him.”
“He was screaming.”
“Torture is different from death.” She dismissed me, turning toward Tyler, giving him a sweeping glance. “And he looks to me like he could’ve withstood a hell of a lot more than they gave him.”
“They told me I was going to die,” he growled, backing me up. “They said those bugs would suck me dry, and then they would ‘disassemble’ me. My sister did the right thing. Pack protects each other. That’s what we do. When one is in trouble, the other comes to their aid. We risk our lives for each other daily. It’s called honor.” He crossed his arms, his biceps straining through his ridiculous jumpsuit.
“Well, your little Pack better get ready to spend some quality time in Hell,” she responded in a bored tone, “because the real deal is here. You’ve been in limbo waiting for your sister to come free you, and it’s clear it’s dulled you to the peril you’re actually facing. Once the demon guards bring you to the detaining rooms, the Underworld will be a much different experience, I guarantee it. Now get back behind the minimal protection we have or you may be harmed in the blast. You won’t die, but while you’re regenerating from the nasty damage, you’ll be caught with no chance of escape.”
There was tapping along the outside of the door, along with quiet murmuring, which sounded a like a chant. I kind of wanted to see what a half demon, half dwarf looked like.
But then again, I could live without it.
I grabbed Tyler’s sleeve and tugged him back behind a partition, where all the supplies were kept. In the other mending room there had been a bathtub crossed with a bed. This one held the chair Tyler had been in, which resembled an evil-looking dentist’s chair, and contained nothing else, except a strange metal cabinet.
“Let’s shove the cabinet in front of us,” I said, grasping one side as I moved past it. It was solid, but not crazy heavy. “I have no idea what the blast will be like, but she’s right, I don’t want to spend any time regenerating.”
Tyler took the other side and we slid it forward, placing it in front of the entryway to the partition. Coming around the side, he whispered low, “Listen, Jess, the demoness may be right. If I was just in a holding cell, we may be in for much more. I can’t help but feel like this is all some kind of weird game.” He glanced around, eyeing everything with distaste. “Like we’re standing in the middle of a chessboard and someone is about to say checkmate.”
He was right. It did feel like that. Wolves are upfront in everything they do. Conniving and trickery are not in our nature. There is no reason to beat around the bush when simply crushing your nemesis with your fists is enough. “I totally agree,” I said. “Something’s off. I had to go through some craziness to find you, but come to think of it, the entire city should’ve been on lockdown once you arrived. They knew I was coming. And once the demons saw me escape to the Sholls, there should’ve been a red alert issued then. We had to come back here eventually. And why are the janitors running the courthouse? You should’ve been under heavy guard. My first thought is they knew I would come to you, so this is not a surprise, but why wouldn’t the guards and beasts have been waiting for me in front of your cell? It’s all strange. Demons do their own thing, but this feels too orchestrated. But we’re not going to find the answers until it’s all over.”
“I hear you.” He turned. “Now help me get out of this monkey suit.” He had the front zipper clasped between his finger and thumb. “It won’t give.”
I reached up to grasp it and it gave me a little shock. “It’s spelled.” I pushed some of my magic into it until there was an audible pop. Then I yanked the zipper down and Tyler peeled it off. “After seeing you on a street corner not too long ago in your Calvins,” I chuckled, “I hadn’t thought I’d see you in them again so soon.”
“Very funny,” he grumbled. “At least they left me my underwear. They’re very cleanly around here. They made sure I was washed daily with this weird gel. It cleaned whatever it touched. I didn’t even have to get undressed.”
“I know,” I said. “It’s cleaned me off twice so far. It eats everything. We could certainly use some of that at home. It would make life a lot simpler. I’m deeming it the only good thing about Hell.”
“Yeah, it works great at home, until it accidentally disintegrates my pet cat.” Tyler wadded up the jumpsuit and tossed it in a corner. His boxer briefs were black and luckily covered him well.
I laughed. “You don’t have a cat,” I pointed out. “So it won’t be an issue.”