The Demon's Song - By Kendra Leigh Castle Page 0,84

splayed his fingers over a space of bare floor, and a section of it caved in, creating a large, smoking hole between them, black shot through with red light that flickered and twisted. Phenex inhaled, and smelled what had once been home. Fear curled deep in his belly, supplanting some of the fury.

“She’ll die as soon as you take her through, Belial. No human can survive Hell for long.”

“Oh, we’ll have a few minutes together, I’m sure,” Belial said, grinned, and then leaped into the darkness.

Phenex heard himself bellow, but it was no use. Without another thought, he leaped in after them.

The sounds of the battle vanished instantly, replaced by the pulse and thrum of some ancient and hideous heart. There was a darkness, thick and black as pitch, that wrapped itself around Phenex, squeezing him tight as he dropped through this small rift between worlds. It would close again soon enough, but Phenex moved swiftly, and in an instant the light grew red.

He was home. Or rather, in the deserted courtyard of Belial’s home.

The hair at the back of Phenex’s neck prickled when he imagined what might happen if Lucifer discovered he was here. He shook it off, flexed his hand around the hilt of the fire sword, and sprinted into the manor house through the massive doors that stood open. No one was here, not a single one of the many low demons who served Belial. A few wretched human souls, damned and cowed, shrank from him as he strode quick and silent down the halls.

He already knew where Belial was headed.

Down the stairs, through the massive wine cellar where Phenex had once come to find an expensive bottle of something to drown his sorrows, instead finding something very different.

The door to Belial’s “game room” stood open. Phenex never faltered, stepping inside.

Nothing had changed. Not the whips, chains, spikes, and ropes that hung from the ceilings and walls, not the massive disheveled bed with the mirrors mounted above it, not the blood spatters on the wall nor the faint, stale smell of sex. And especially not the large, gilded cage that had once held an imprisoned angel, and which now held a gasping, writhing Sofia.

Her dark hair hung in her face as she tried to get to her feet, but the air itself seemed to be too heavy for her to bear. This world had not been made for mortals. Just being here would crush her from the inside out.

She was dying. And Phenex felt a piece of himself begin to wither painfully away as well. What had he done?

“So here we are. This is such a perfect place to end it. My horde overruns that pit of filth you live in, and I get you. Here. Watching the woman you love bleed out through her nose, her mouth, her eyes… That should be soon, by the way.” He smiled, his handsome face somehow monstrous. “It’s just a shame she won’t last longer. I discovered so many enjoyable things before you took my Celestine away.”

“She wasn’t yours. We have an entire realm of wretched souls to punish if we feel like it, but you had to have something forbidden,” Phenex spat. “Even Lucifer wouldn’t—”

Belial burst out laughing. “Phenex. You’re so naive. It’s sort of charming and disgusting all at once. You think he didn’t use her? We all did. Celestine served the pleasure of the Council more than once. But she was mine.” His eyes flashed, lip curling. “She was so difficult to trap, so worthy a prize. Beautiful. Sweet. Pure. None of my possessions could hold a candle to her. And you let her go. You sent her fucking home! Even before I fell, I wanted her, and now I’ll never have her again. Never!” he shrieked. “You’ll pay for it. You and your whore!”

Phenex’s blood thundered in his ears until he could no longer hear Belial. There was only the sight of his lips moving to silent invective while to his right, Sofia had begun to cough up blood. Her eyes lifted and caught his…and he remembered that terrible crush of emotion as though it was the first time.

Kill me. I beg you.

That was what it meant, to be possessed by a demon. To have no say in your fate. To simply be owned. He was no Belial…but not all the lessons he had learned in Hell had been as lost as he wished.

Loving Sofia would mean opening the cage door all over again. And this