Hot Blooded (Jessica McClain) - By Amanda Carlson Page 0,115
eternity of pain and agony, the likes of which you have never witnessed.”
“That sounds lovely,” I replied. “But for right now, I need to recover from a hard day killing a goddess. So why don’t you run along. And don’t forget to take her with you. I’m sure the two of you can swap plans about my imminent demise over noon tea, but honestly, I’m not interested in hearing about it anymore.”
The walls shook so hard, I thought the mountain was going to tumble down on top of our heads. Rocks and stones flew around the room as suffocating power shoved us all to our knees. The sulfur was so strong I wanted to rip my nose off my face so I could breathe again. I now knew why Rourke had used sulfur to cover our smell in the creek before. With the cloistering smell of rotten eggs in my nostrils, I couldn’t even begin to scent anything else. It burned all the way down my esophagus.
The demon’s voice boomed around the enclosed space, but we couldn’t see him anymore. “You will answer for your crimes, Jessica Ann McClain. I look forward to our reunion.”
“Um, can you give me a time frame for that?” I coughed, gagging on the putrescence. My wolf forced power into my vocal cords, trying to channel pure air into our lungs, and gold immediately wound through them like a protective netting. “I’d like to get it on the calendar. I’ve got a date with a Vampire Queen soon that I can’t miss, so it will have to be sometime after that.” A few days to them could mean months or years to us, if my limited understanding of the Underworld was correct. I’d bet money Aunt Tally knew the rules. I’d have to set up a meeting once we arrived home.
And the information wouldn’t come cheap.
“Sooner than you think” was all it said before a ring of power echoed in the room.
Then everything fell blessedly quiet. The sulfur smell started to diffuse and we could all breathe again.
“So that’s what a Demon Lord looks like up close? I thought they’d be taller.” Danny coughed as he stood up, his sheet hanging at a precarious angle. His hair was disheveled, but he looked great, because he was alive. We were all alive.
“Selene’s gone,” my brother said, directing our attention to where she had just been. “She vanished with the demon.”
I glanced over. The Demon Lord had indeed taken her, which was the real reason why he’d come. Likely a goddess warranted a Lord to pick her up. “She won’t stay dead in the Underworld, but her new normal will be ugly. I hope we never meet up with her again.”
“You’re not going there if I can help it,” Rourke growled, warm hands encircling me. “I know some about the Underworld, but we’ll have to learn more. I believe they have to serve you papers of some kind. The Demon Sect is carefully controlled by the Coalition. You can see what happens when they’re in this plane. It’s an explosion of power.” Rourke pulled me close. His touch electrified me. Is that always going to happen? I asked my wolf. She gave a happy bark. I licked my lips.
There were just a few more things we needed to do and we could leave this wretched cave forever. “Where’s Ray?” I asked Naomi. She had retrieved the cross, which meant she’d found Eamon. I didn’t really want to know the answer, but it was time.
Naomi walked over to the spot where Selene had just been. She bent over and picked up something by its edges, surprise on her features as she turned toward us. “The cross must not be able to travel to the Underworld or it would be gone.” She placed it into her pocket. Then she turned to face me. “I did not see your human. I encountered Eamon coming back in one of the tunnels.” Her voice was hard. “He did not survive our reunion.”
I wasn’t sad to hear that Eamon had found his end, but I was sad to know his sister had had to mete it out. There was no way that was any fun. I would never be able to kill Tyler. “Did he say anything about Ray?”
She shook her head. “He had no time to… speak.”
“Then there’s a chance he might be alive, right?” I know my face held hope, even though my heart didn’t believe it. “Do you think Eamon