Live Like Legends (LIVING LEGEND #3)

Chapter 17

I thought I would have been brought into the dungeons of Lilith’s castle when we exited Dimitri’s portal. It’s where she confined me when I was disobedient and back talked her enough to make her not want to see my face for a while. I was used to that kind of torment as sad as it sounded.

Dimitri had thrown me to two of his henchmen while he walked behind us. These walls were different. The smell and aura made me uneasy and slightly nauseous. The stones were crusted in dirt and cobwebs. Blood was splattered in nearly every crevice I could see, even along the bars that were cemented in the rectangular openings right in the center of the solid stone cell doors. Creatures barreled towards their small windows to the outside hallway.

Every movement of my wrists sent a heat wave through my veins, but I tried my best to fight through the pain. I took in the creatures I saw, realizing that they weren’t the normal ones from Purgatory. I couldn’t say that I was an expert on every species and entity that all the realms had to offer, but Purgatory wasn’t super eclectic with its residents. There was something oddly familiar about this place, like I’d heard about it before in grave detail.

This place smelled like brimstone and Hellfire.

He had taken me to Hell.

I had been sitting on Dimitri’s lap on a normal day while he worked in his office at Leviathan when he told me about these dungeons. His eyes lit up when he spoke about some of the pain he’d inflicted, thinking it would turn me on. The memory made my stomach flip in the worst way.

We stopped in front of a door that looked like all the rest, while Dimitri maneuvered in front of us, placing his hand against the stone while red and dark grey sparks illuminated from his hand. The door creaked open and before the room was even halfway exposed, I was pushed inside. I tripped over a piece of broken stone and fell to the ground with a thud. My wrists were still secured so I rolled over, blowing my hair out of my face. My cheek throbbed from how I’d landed, letting me know it would likely bruise.

The Son of Hell waved his hand towards the guards, providing them the okay to leave. Once they were gone, Dimitri ran his hand across his mouth, keeping his fingers at his chin as he looked me over. His green eyes were piercing and had me feeling a tiny bit unsettled. “I really would prefer you to make this easy.”

I sat up, shifting around so I could finally get back on my feet. “This? What is this ?”

“You just like to be so very difficult, which I’ll be honest, it is always a pleasure to see you so feisty, but sweetheart I would suggest you dial back your attitude if we are going to be in each other’s company,” he said, ignoring my question.

“If it were up to me, I would never be in your company again,” I spat out, looking right at him.

He chuckled, nodding aimlessly around the cell. “Well maybe you should be a bit more discreet with the way you use that newfound power of yours, hmm? I wouldn’t have had to gallivant into that horrendous place just to retrieve you.”

“It wasn’t like I was summoning you.”

He tilted his head from side to side. “Perhaps not, but alas here we stand. I would love for you to explain some things to me.”

I lifted my chin, feeling his magic dig into wrists as I stood my ground. I didn’t answer him, causing him to lift one corner of his mouth.

“How are you here?”

I narrowed my eyes, confused. He waved his hand, rephrasing. “I don’t mean here . I mean here in general, alive and breathing. How are you standing in my very presence?”

I ran my tongue over my front teeth. “Just great luck I guess.”

He placed his tattooed hand on his chest. “So modest. We both know that’s not true. Your pretty body should be rotting in Purgatory by now, but no, you’ve found a way to resurrect yourself. You wouldn’t have gotten the help of your little necromancer friend now, would you?”

“ No , he has nothing to do with this. None of them do.”

Dimitri hummed. “It would be very interesting if you were lying and something happened to that sweet little family of his.”

“What did you do with them!?”

He raised his hand in his defense. “Nothing, yet. They are just fine. Locked away somewhere safe, don’t you worry. I have my best demons looking in on them, just in case something goes wrong.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but he wasn’t finished. “Something tells me that you have an inkling to save them and perhaps we can work something out. You just have to show me that spectacular power.”

“My hybrid powers?”

“Yes, yes that luminous explosion of light and dark. That masterpiece of havoc that you possess…”

I interrupted him, wanting to break through his magic and break his neck. “You want to destroy Heaven’s Gate, turn it into a demonic free for all? Well, why don’t you just fucking do it yourself!”

He lifted his eyebrows, pushing out his bottom lip in thought. “I could, honestly, I could. It isn’t much fun to achieve that kind of success by myself. Even so, my father and Lucifer are very adamant that I don’t cause too much of a disturbance between our realms. Simply coming and destroying everything wouldn’t look good in their eyes, but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen.” He reached out and ran his hand across my cheek. I shuffled away, sneering at him. He clucked his tongue. “You are a sought after prize, pretty girl. Telling my father that I have the Soul Seether alive and well, while also telling him she was made to submit to her hybrid powers by the very angels she so stupidly trusted. Ah, it’s going to be a wonderful story.”

The smell of blood and burning flesh filled my nostrils again and I nearly gagged before I responded. “You haven’t gloated to your father about this already?”

“No, it would be in poor judgment to tell him and Lucifer himself that you have achieved this great hybrid power without seeing it firsthand while I have you here. They will be thrilled to know that we will be able to take what those angels thought would be a weapon for them and use it to destroy them. My father can’t say no to something like that. I can go in hellhounds blazing as long as you burn it all down around us. Lucifer himself wouldn’t be able to say no to you being aligned with the Princes and Daughters of Hell.”

He said everything like it was so matter-of-fact. Like it was all set in stone, as if I didn’t have a say.

“You are out of your fucking mind if you think I’m going to go along with this pathetic plan. A pathetically ill thought out plan makes sense for a pathetic—” I felt the sting of his palm hitting my cheek, silencing the rest of my words. I stumbled back, instinctively wanting to raise my hand to my face, but the burning at my wrists had me keeping them in place.

I blinked a few times as my mouth dropped open. He hit me. I had been put in fighting arenas when Lilith needed some amusement and I’d been struck while causing my own fights when I was bored in Purgatory, but this had never happened. Surprisingly, I realized in that instant that Lilith had never slapped me before; that seemed too small and simple for her.

If I thought about all the torture she’d put me through, it didn’t measure up, but the way my cheekbone throbbed…I didn’t know anymore.

He took in a sharp breath as if he had just released some much needed tension he had been harboring. He pointed his finger at me, the tattoos there pulsing as if they too had some darkness to emit. “Lilith wanted to make you a pet for her bidding. I want to make you an equal, yet I can’t do that unless I know that you’ve become worth all my efforts.” He flicked his wrist, his deep red magic releasing itself from my wrists.

I tentatively relaxed my wrists, the painful burn gone as I swiveled them around to gain feeling. What the fuck was he doing? In such a small space, I could wind up hurting myself, but right now that didn’t matter. I needed to conjure up everything I had?—

“I forgot to make something clear.” Dimitri placed his hand into his pocket, casually shrugging his shoulder. “You do anything to hurt me, plan to use those delicious powers to heroically save yourself, I would think about refraining.”

My fingers twitched, aching from the shear strain I felt holding in what I knew I could release.

“You do something as stupid as that, well, your necromancer friend can be expecting his family's head’s sent to him soon after. Contingency plans and all that. And with me gone, there will be no reason to hold back on erupting the entirety of Hell on that place you love so much.” His voice settled into a whisper. “Just think, you saved yourself, just to watch all the people who thought better of you get mutilated.”

Dimitri gave me a small smile that was filled with so much fake sympathy. “You can make it simple. You can show me that power and we can keep that castle they have intact so you can still hold onto some memories. I’ll even let you keep that demon friend of yours alive so you won’t be lonely, and perhaps I’ll even let the necromancer keep his family, hmm? How does that sound…”

I rubbed my lips together, mulling over my options. I didn’t trust him or anything he offered. I wanted to burn him alive and see his insides seeping out from every orifice in his body, but I couldn’t be hasty. I wanted to defend myself and show him that he was nothing, but Dimitri wasn’t the type that made threats for fun. If he could pop into Heaven’s Gate and whisk me away, there was nothing in my mind that assumed that he wouldn’t make good on his words at this very moment.

“I can’t.”

Dimitri narrowed his eyes at me, skeptical. “What do you mean?”

I shook my head. “What you saw…what made you come and get me, that was a one time thing. It was spontaneous. I have no idea how I did it.” The lies rolled off my tongue easily.

The Son of Hell hummed, considering me. “No idea?”

“This is harder to nail down than I thought, so maybe I’m not good enough to be your…” I almost choked on the word, “queen.”

Dimitri sighed, his green eyes sparkling with a kind of newly found delight. “Oh, no, sweetheart. Those angels just didn’t know what they were doing and that witchy queen they have, don’t get me started…” He ran his hand through his hair, the pieces that were out of place, suddenly back to being perfect. “I will get it out of you by any means necessary. You did it once, no reason you can’t do it again. I promise I’m an excellent motivator.”

“But you won’t…”

Dimitri stood in front of me, bending his knees a bit so his face was inches from mine. “Believe me while you are here, I can still fuck with your little friends while we wait. No big messes, but just enough to satisfy me. You think I still can’t taste that pitiful angel’s blood?—”

I shoved him with both my hands, but all he did was laugh. I balled my hands into fists at my sides, feeling warmth in my palms that I desperately wanted to stop. “Just leave him out of this! Has Lilith somehow decided that you can be in charge now?” It was amazing to me how I wanted to be faced with the Queen of Darkness right now and not with an obsessive Son of Hell.

“She’s around . It didn’t sit right with me, what you said about me acting like Lilith was in charge of me, how it seemed like I was the one answering to her. It made me think and well, the woman has fucked up with you endlessly, but she made you what you are so I will still involve her. She just has no say, which is honestly how it always should have been. It is quite a shame when we put our trust in the wrong people.” He raised his shoulders as if he was done for the day. “I think you’ll like the solitude here. It will give you time to think. No distractions from useless boys that can offer you nothing. You should be grateful I’m offering you a chance to redeem yourself.”

I nearly growled. “You are fucking insane if you believe I’ll ever be grateful.” I snuck a look down to where he was missing a limb. “I think you should be grateful I didn’t remove your other hand. At least you have something to help please you during all your obviously lonely nights.”

He snarled and quickly wrapped his hand around my throat, throwing me up against the nearby stone wall. He pressed his fingers against the sides of my neck, his palm crushing my windpipe. His eyes raged from their bright green to a bright red. Even with one hand, he was still strong and lifted me off the ground, scraping my back against the wall. He brought me forward just to slam me backwards again.

I gasped for air, clawing at his hands. I wanted to fight back, but his earlier threat echoed along my mind. Steam and red shadows pulsed from his hand and I bit my own tongue feeling the burning at my throat. My skin was on fire and my throat was screaming for oxygen. I felt his lips at my ear as he eased the flaming heat at my neck. “I adore you with everything I have, but if you think I won’t make you regret all the things you’ve put me through then I suggest you think again.”

He released me without another thought and I collided with the ground, my throat hurting from the desperate gasps for air. I reached up and touched my neck, my skin felt raw and burnt.

I tried to clear my throat but that hurt just as much, but I had to know something. My voice was hoarse when I spoke again. “What if I don’t?”

“Hmm?” Dimitri was already opening the door, completely forgetting that he’d just strangled me.

“What if I achieve what you want, but I don’t want to destroy things?”

Dimitri let out a low chuckle as he turned around, opening the door as he moved. “Dani, you try to kill me, everyone hurts. You refuse my offer, everyone hurts. In the end there is only you alone with your thoughts making what should be the easiest decision, but like I said, you take your time and I’ll have my fun while we wait.” He closed the door behind him as he left, but I heard his voice through the opening in the door. “You have caused far too much damage to that realm for anyone to want to come and help you, so consider that fact while you are pining for a way out.”

I pressed my back to the wall, wincing as I swallowed. I pressed my fingertips to my cheek, closing my eyes. I held onto the only thing I had at the moment. He was wrong. I had people wanting to help me, wanting to find me.

I looked around and considered where I was. This wasn’t a place where people were found. This was a place where demons were tortured until the outside world, the realm, forgot about them. I swallowed roughly again, shaking off the thought.

I had people wanting to find me. I couldn’t forget that.