Inferno of Darkness (Divisa Huntress #2) - J.L. Weil Page 0,48

“We need to go before he gets to the queen first. We don’t have much time,” he warned.

“Are you okay?” Angel asked.

I nodded. “I’m fine now.”

“We didn’t know if we’d be able to find you,” Emma said, an arrow grasped in her hand.

“How did you?” I asked.

“He did,” Chase said, glancing pointedly at Cayden.

“There’s no time to talk.” Cayden reprimanded us with exasperation. “We need to get to the gate. Stay close,” he ordered, moving in front of us to lead the way. The mist parted for him, receding from the darkness Cayden carried with him like a whip.

Angel wound her fingers through mine as if she was afraid we would be separated again. I hated that she was here, but I also knew this was her way of protecting her future and her baby’s future. If we didn’t find a way to stop Kali, then Angel’s life would always be threatened.

Emma took my other hand, lacing her fingers with mine, and one by one we interlocked our hands, like a massive train as we started our voyage to the underworld.

Things hadn’t gone according to plan. In no time, Kali would know we were coming, making my plans to rescue Ashor difficult, to say the least. She would know Cayden aided us, another betrayal that wouldn’t go unpunished. She would know why I came back. For her son. What she didn’t know was that I refused to leave her court without him, no matter what she threw at me.

I’d find a way to free us both.

I wondered if the queen expected Cayden to deliver his own punishment. Would that be part of the game to mess with his head? I hated to imagine what she had in store for Cayden when she found out what he had done, but I couldn’t dwell on it. My head needed to be clear and focused or I stood no chance at outsmarting her.

The mist was a maze, designed to confuse and trick the mind—another sort of game. The vapors wound around me like a second skin, clinging to my body and snaking into my nostrils. If it wasn’t for Emma and Angel holding my hands, I would have believed I was alone in a world of emptiness. Nothing stirred. No wind. No life.

It felt as if we walked for days through the endless labyrinth of mist. My legs were bone tired, feet dragging, and I was near the point of weepy for a bed. But when I didn’t think I could take another step, the mist cleared, revealing the towering gate of Hell, as if the underworld sensed my surrender.

We came to halt in a line behind Cayden, staring at the iron gate jutting up into the sky. “Are you sure this is the right gate?” Emma asked, her eyes panning over the landscape beyond the fence that went left and right for infinite miles.

Instead of the never-ending night and sea of stars, the land was a jungle of lush green. Wild trees bordered the fence. A thicket of moss coated the ground, climbed up tree trunks, and clung to the rocks. Soft, enchanting music emanated from deep in the woods, luring the wandering to the other side like a Siren’s song. “It does look different,” I agreed.

“Vastly different. This isn’t the Court of Darkness,” Angel said, eyeing the tangle of vines choking the metal rungs. Her gaze flung to Cayden’s, and I didn’t like the accusation I saw in them.

“No, it’s not. This is the gate to the Court of Envy,” Cayden explained.

My body ached, and I wanted to collapse, too tired to deal with more complications. “I don’t understand.”

“If you step foot in the Court of Darkness, Kali will hunt you down. She will have your soul ripped out, and there will be no one to stop her,” he explained. “I don’t know how Soren knew of our plan, but he will search for you, and he won’t stop until he has found you.”

Cayden didn’t have to explain Soren’s obsessive tendencies. I was the one that got away. “What about Ashor? I can’t leave him there.”

“The prince is in Gardeness. I hope,” he added.

“What do you mean, you hope?” I growled his name when he didn’t reply immediately.

Cayden shoved the loose strands of hair out of his face. “The queen sent him here.”

The darkness inside me rumbled. “So, it’s happening. He is going to fulfill his oath.”

Cayden nodded.

“Shit.”

There was no smirk on Cayden’s face. None of his usual charm. “You have