mates definitely got on board with them too,” she adds with a secretive smile.
“I was mostly a fan of peeling them off you, Peaches, but that can be said for everything you wear. I guess I have an addiction to stripping you out of ’em.”
Medley blushes and chuckles.
“Yeah, I think it’s the crisscross thing happening at the top,” I tell them, pointing to the chest of the leather top I’m squeezed into. “Maybe it’s all those years I spent trapped in straightjackets; it has a similar feel. It’s homey,” I tell them as we all continue down the long cavern.
Everyone grows quiet, the air around me suddenly tense and awkward.
“Shit, I’m sorry, Sable. I didn’t even think of that,” Delta confesses, her levity dried up and gone.
I try to hold back my smile, but it’s a battle.
One corner of my mouth tilts up, and Medley catches it with a gasp. “Sable Pierce, you’re messin’ with us, aren’t you?” she accuses, and I can’t hold it in any longer, and I bust out laughing. Delta’s and Medley’s mouths both drop open, incredulity falling right out, and it makes me laugh even harder.
“I can’t believe you fell for that,” I cry out as I clutch my stomach.
My mates chuckle, and someone else starts to guffaw with laughter. I look over and surprise flashes through me when I see it’s Jerif who’s cracking up. “She just got you so bad,” he announces on a high-pitched wheeze as he points at Delta and loses it. “Your face,” he squeals out, and the rest of Delta’s mates start to join him when they too get over their shock.
“Huh. You broke his grumpy,” Medley observes, and both Delta and I snicker.
“It better not be permanent though,” Delta whispers conspiratorially to me and Medley. “His assholish ways just do it for me so hard,” she admits, and I snort before looking over at Ire and thinking to myself that I know exactly what she means. He shoots me a wink.
We keep going, and I rub at my ears and the slight ringing I can still hear in them. As soon as my mates and I arrived in Hell’s Embrace, a loud gong went off, doing its best to make us all deaf.
Alder—Medley’s purple-skinned demon—explained that the gong noise was how Morax tracked my sisters. Apparently, Alder found out from some informants that the gong sound was Hell announcing that an Annulus had returned. Morax knew about it from Nefta letting that innocent fact slip out when they were children. The Ophidian kept that kernel of information and used it to his advantage twice. Once, to have the Outer Ringers launch an attack on Delta and her mates when she came to Hell, and the second time, when Morax snatched Medley using a portal through the Hellgate.
All of the guys have been on high alert ever since it went off, but Hell’s Embrace is quiet and empty, and even though the place is a little creepy, I have no sense of dread or worry. In fact, the closer we get to the Hellgate, the calmer I feel.
Deeper into the cavern, I start to see grass and plants and trees growing inside the strange place in a lush spread. All except for the left side, which is still barren and gray.
“That side is yours,” Medley whispers, nudging me with her elbow as she seems to know exactly what I’m thinking.
The garden is gorgeous. My sisters told me it was, but seeing it with my own eyes is something else. The smell is sweet too, as all sorts of blossoms permeate the air, the greenery so thick that it’s like a sponge beneath my feet, and I wish I could take off my boots just to enjoy the feel of it on my toes.
Our large group reaches the Hellgate pretty quickly, and my gray eyes widen in awe as I take it in. The guys spread out around us protectively, getting as close to the gate as they can without blocking our way. I know that Medley’s mates are especially tense, since this is the place she was kidnapped from, but I can feel in my gut that everything is going to be fine.
“Ready?” Delta asks, as I stand between her and Medley.
I give a nod, and I follow them toward the massive double doors that make up the Hellgate, light purple flames burning brightly all over it. The closer we get, the better I’m able to see the bones