into the blood river, the hot sticky blood attaching itself to my clothes with every step. I pull myself into the boat when it’s out enough, and Poppy hands me a bone paddle.
“How do a reaper prince, a demi-god and a hellhound hybrid become good friends?” I question Poppy as we make our way down the river. The river is quick-moving, soon making our paddling just pointless.
“I don’t know. It is weird they are friends,” she agrees.
“How is your dad friends with a demi-god anyway?”
She shrugs. “My dad is old, like old enough that he was around when the fae war happened. He simply told me he met Torfinn in the fae wars.”
“Fuck, Finn is old as shit,” I mutter. I’m totally crushing on an old man that looks hotter than any guy I’ve ever seen. What is wrong with me?
“He isn’t that old, I don’t think. Time works differently in the worlds of the gods and that Torfinn appeared there for a short while before disappearing. I believe the gods sent him there to do something and then he left. Time travel is apparently a power the gods hold,” she explains to me. “Father said they only send a demi-god to our worlds when great change is upon us.”
“I wonder if Torfinn knows what great change is coming,” I ponder, “and if we are all going to be alive at the end of it.”
Chapter 13
The river seems to go on forever, and the whole time, both Poppy and I are on edge, watching for anything that might snap out of the blood river and try to eat us. This is Hell after all.
“You seem to know Hell. Have you been here before?” Poppy asks me, never taking her eyes off the blood river. My hands instantly shake, remembering that time when I was in this place. The fear. The sweat pouring down my back from how fast I ran. The soul who bit my leg, where the scar has never left.
“Back on Earth, I worked for an assassin guild of sorts. The training they gave us was brutal, but the punishments for trying to leave were much harsher,” I start explaining, clearing my throat. “I was a favourite of my boss, a powerful demon, and I still was left in Hell for five days on my own when I was twelve.”
“Daesyn...that’s horrible,” she whispers, shaking her head and finally pulling her eyes off the blood river to me. I see the same look of pity and horror in her eyes that I expected, and I turn away.
“It was a long time ago, and it doesn’t even rate in the top ten nightmares that keep me up at night,” I tell her.
“We have lived very different lives up until this point,” she comments, smiling sadly at me. “I used to hate that my parents kept me sheltered, but now I can see they did it for a reason. To hide me from the world.”
“My mother tried to hide me, but it just didn’t work,” I admit.
“When did she die? Or is she alive? I just assumed...,” Poppy drifts off, her cheeks going red.
“My uncle told me he thought she died...but I don’t know. I guess a part of me wants her to be alive so badly I can’t admit anything else,” I explain.
“Where is your uncle now?” she asks. “And your father?”
“I think the friend bonding is all done for today,” I say, avoiding the question. “Our stop-off is coming up.”
“That’s a big gap,” Poppy nervously mumbles, looking over at the gap we will have to jump off and hopefully land on the cliff at the bottom of the mountain. I was right, there is a path leading to the top of the mountain, with at least a million steps. My thighs are going to burn by the time we get to the top. I seriously need to work on my cardio.
“Are you ready for this?” I ask Poppy. There is only going to be one chance, and if she doesn’t jump, saving her ass from the river is going to be a nightmare.
Poppy looks at me and nods once.
“On the count of three,” I tell her, bracing myself. “One. Two. Three.” I push off my feet, jumping as high as I can and slamming into the cliff. I dig my hands into the edge, the rough stone scraping off my skin as I hold on. I glance to the side to see Poppy has jumped, and she is clinging