“No,” I shake my head adamantly. “You said so yourself, you don’t lie with humans.”
“Correct. Which means someone dumped you on earth to be raised by humans.”
My mouth drops open. Is that...true? Were my parents...not my parents at all?
I knew that when the whole I’m a demon truth bomb dropped, that either my mom or dad had kept a secret from me. But I didn’t expect for neither of them to be my blood. Distress soaks through my stomach and churns in the acid. Was my mother other too, or not my mother at all?
“I will discover the truth,” Tazreel says, but I barely hear him. “Until then, you will be prepped for the party.”
“I don’t want to go to a fucking party,” I snap, feeling way too overloaded right now. Dealing with Tazreel is enough. I don’t know if I can handle dealing with more of these Abdicated at the same time.
“Neither do I,” he growls back, like this is my fault. “We will discuss more about how you got here afterward. Until then, do not anger me or step out of line. You may be my offspring, but I will still hang you by your wings if you do anything to displease me.”
Gee, thanks, pop!
He turns and stalks away without another word, leaving me behind in the dank, fire-shadowed corridor.
“This way,” Lanky says at my back.
I turn and follow him in the other direction where he opens another mystery door out of thin air. We climb a steep set of stairs, and as soon as we reach the top, the lighting is that bright white hue again, making me squint.
I look around as I follow behind him, our steps muffled by the floor made of sleek black fur. I have no idea what kind of animal this hide is from, but it’s big enough to stretch throughout the entire space of the room, so under no circumstances do I ever want to meet it. All around, there are weapons hung on the gray walls, along with every torture device imaginable.
“Did you really have to take me through this room?” I ask Lanky while sidestepping a shrine of pliers that are the perfect size for pulling teeth. There’s even a wall at the end of the room where two large clamps hang from a wire. It’s the perfect size to hang someone up by their wings.
He shrugs, unconcerned at my inner dismay. “This is the shortest route.”
“Mm-hmm,” I say, not believing him for a second. This was done on purpose, probably on Tazreel’s orders, to scare me and make sure I behave. And I gotta be honest, it’s working.
Once we leave this room, Lanky takes me into a hallway, the floors and walls made of polished black stone, while the ceiling gleams white. The walls are bare, and there are no windows, but the ceiling seems to be lighting everything up like it’s emanating daylight. We pass a lot of doors, all of them shut tight, and then I follow Lanky up a set of stairs.
I grip the smooth black banister as we start ascending, but my mind shoots back to the trek down a very different set of stairs. If only I’d stopped the guys right then and there on our way to the Vestibule. If only I’d made us all turn back. I wish so much that I would’ve, because then they’d still be alive.
They’d be alive, and I’d be with them.
Unwanted tears try to pool on my bottom lids, but I quickly wipe them away. I can’t break down again and again. My life is in danger here. I don’t know what these Abdicated are going to do to me, so I need to save all my energy on staying alive and getting the hell away. If I can go back, maybe I can find the demons from the other Hellgate, Flint and Alder. Maybe they can help me, or at least tell me who the hell the Ophidian is.
I can’t keep thinking like I’m Delta Gates, boring human woman. If I’m going to make it out of this, then I need to start thinking like a demon. The wings at my back and the fact that I’m walking through Hell right now proves that. No more fighting what I am.
It’s time I embrace it.
4
The room I get dumped into is very different from the dungeon cell.
Lanky leaves me alone as soon as he drops me off at a large white door that stands