Chapter 43
Chapter Forty-Three
Nina
When I entered the Heart of Hell, something had changed.
The seventh archway loomed, that was usually untouched by flames, burning brightly. And I couldn’t ignore how drawn to it I felt.
“We are what remains.” The whispers scraped at the back of my mind, light but insistent.
I stepped forward, and fire ignited along the edges of the archway, shaping a corridor of burning light. Heat licked at my skin, daring me closer.
Curiosity pulled me in.
As I crept along the ruins, the shattered walkway mended before my eyes. At the far end, I stepped through the rippling veil and into the darkness beyond, where the world tilted and fell away.
Burnt wood and old decay filled my nose. The ground was cracked and dry, as if the earth had once suffered something catastrophic and never recovered. The silence here is suffocating, like a battlefield long abandoned, where the ghosts of war still lingered but never spoke.
My boots crunched against the brittle soil as I walked deeper into the wasteland.
A shadow shifted in the distance. Golden eyes glowed through the darkness, and I knew who it was before I heard his voice.
“Salazar,” I croaked. “Thank you.”
He stepped closer, his form swathed in smoke. He was a head taller than me, and I looked up into golden eyes.
“What did you do with Dominik?” I asked, knowing my guilt would swallow me if I didn’t know the truth.
“Regrettably, I just handed him back to Chaos.”
I nodded, relieved at that. “Thank you for what you did back there. You saved me.”
“Are you ready to return the favour?”
The silence stretched between us, then I said, “Yes. I’ll release you.”
His eyes seemed to burn straight through me, and I saw the desperation there. For a moment, he was quiet, his gaze so intense I had to look away. Then, the smoke dissolved.
My mouth snapped open.
Where the smoke had been a second before, now stood a man, with black hair, falling in loose waves to his shoulders.
Piercing golden eyes were set in a golden-brown face.
Dark stubble lined his jaw. His hands were scarred, like a warrior who had fought battles too many times to count, and his nails were painted the same shade as his hair.
I stared at him in shock.
His lips twitched. “Cat got your tongue?”
“Salazar.”
“In the flesh,” he said with a grin.
“You . . . you look different.”
“I’d like you to see my human form when you release me,” he said.
“So, you’re not just a monster made of smoke?”
“No, Nina. You always saw my demonic side, but I’m part-human, too.”
I stared at the beautiful, exquisite man before me.
He grinned even wider, which made my cheeks heat with embarrassment.
Mother, drown me, I have no modesty when it comes to beautiful men.
I cleared my throat. “Show me the way, Salazar. Let’s do this.”
We ventured into the ruins of the seventh domain. Nothing stirred. It didn’t react to Salazar’s presence either.
“It feels dead somehow,” I said.
“It is in some sense. I’m not really here. I can’t siphon magic to this domain from within my prison, so it only exists in stasis.”
It was all clicking into place.
Salazar had been banished and contained by the other demons. Without a demon’s power to fuel it, the domain lay dormant – dead.
Fear settled in my stomach. “How can I trust you, Salazar? You once ruled over all other demons, and Hell. But they overthrew you. Why?”
“I limited their power. They wanted to consume everything . . . and I was King of Hell. I was their better, and I kept them from destruction.”
“And what will happen when you’re freed?”
His eyes sparkled. “Get my vengeance.”
I took a step back. “I don’t know if this is best for Hell.”
“You think The Cycle should continue?”
“Of course not. The demons are siphoning power from innocents. Manipulating them. I want that to end.”
“You think you’re innocent?”
I swallowed. “I can’t remember what I did to deserve this fate,” I admitted. “If I'm to walk through your domain and free you, I think I deserve a truth from you?”
His eyes glinted. “You're right. To end a century of imprisonment is worthy of winning my relic…”
Salazar clicked his fingers, and a small object materialised in the air in front of me. “It will show you the truth that’s been kept from you.”
The object fitted neatly in my palm. It was a cane cap, and somewhere deep in my mind, I recognised it. I brushed over the initials atop it. R.H. was etched into the silver.
My vision blurred, stars sparkling around the edges. I suddenly couldn’t breathe. And then, I remembered . . .
Tobias and I moved through the ruins of Jesserot, the streets piled high with corpses.
Steel had vibrated through the city as the battle raged through the day, but now there were only wails.
Night had fallen, bringing a pleasant breeze, and it drew away the stench of death.
Our leader had been bloodthirsty. His weapon of choice – a long cane that hid a spike.
We watched, like good soldiers do, as he murdered our prisoners of war.
Tobias was still lost in his own madness because of the love he’d lost.
Helena.
What he didn’t know was that my plan, my lies, had put her in the firing line. I would take that truth to the grave.
We set the city ablaze. We called it revenge, justice – any title that made it simpler to breathe. In battle, there was always a cost.
The memory bled away, and I was in the tunnel, back in Hell. The cane cap rested in my palm. I felt a tear escape, dropping down my cheek.
Salazar pressed closer, ready to comfort me. “We all have our sins,” he said.
“And mine’s worse than I ever imagined.”
“You were ferocious.” Salazar’s voice was low, threaded with something that sounded like pride.
My pulse thundered in my ears. “I’ll give you your freedom – for a debt?”
Salazar was silent for a moment, and then he said, “That seems reasonable.”
I laughed. “Then tell me what to do.”
He led me through the cold, empty domain that had once been his. It was a dead castle, with cracks down the walls and through the stone floors. I couldn’t help but steal a few glances at the man I’d known only as a large body of smoke.
In his human form, he was breathtaking.
Salazar led me to what appeared to be a throne room, long ago fallen into disrepair. Six vibrating stones were in the centre.
“All you need to do is break the circle.”
“What will happen?” I asked.
“The leash on my power and my imprisonment will end.”
“That’s it?”
“Yes.”
I gulped, and looked towards the man that had saved me several times, without me ever having to ask.
Perhaps, without him, I wouldn’t be standing here. So, I did what he needed, and I pulled a stone out from the perfect circle. I dropped it to the floor, and it shattered. The other five cracked and crumbled into pieces.
Crack.
The domain shuddered beneath me. “What’s going on?”
“My domain is waking up,” he said, his voice full of emotion.
An iron cuff appeared on his wrist.
It was the debt he owed. The bargain had been done. Salazar’s eyes flickered to the cuff, and he smiled.
“You’re free,” I said. “Is the debt worth your freedom?”
He huffed a quiet laugh. “Ask me again in a thousand years.”
He didn’t move immediately. He just looked at me, something unreadable flickering behind his golden eyes.
“Why did you keep helping me?” I asked before I could stop myself.
“The Essence of Hell wanted something from you . . . but I stayed because I found your stubborn nature captivating.”
My cheeks reddened.
“You are quite an exquisite creature, Nina.”
I thought my heart stopped beating. We stood there staring at each other as time ticked by.
“It’s time I left my prison,” he whispered. “I’ll see you soon.” And then, his form rippled and disappeared.
The silence pressed down on me. The domain shifted, shuddered.
I didn’t have much time.
Hell’s whispers coiled in my mind. “It is time to end this.”
My grip tightened around the relics at my neck. I had what I came for, but Hell did not feel finished with me yet.
“Was I ever meant to win The Cycle?” I whispered into the darkness, hoping Hell would answer.
“You were fated to take up a seat in the realm of demons.”
The words Hazel had once uttered came flooding back to my mind – save the seventh and take up your seat in the realm of demons.
Hell wasn’t just torment or obliteration. It was a living, breathing realm. It could manipulate, it would unwind, and it could create anew.
I finally saw the path before me – what destiny demanded of me. I just wasn’t sure I was strong enough to follow it to the end.