Chapter 2 #2
He didn’t want to die, but sometimes, he wondered if that would be preferable to what was waiting for him.
As long as he breathed, though, he’d stand up to Anya.
He didn’t care that it meant he’d die. He’d rather not, but someone needed to stand up to her, and no one else was.
She was allowed to continue terrorizing innocent people, jailing them just because she felt like it or because they’d broken one of her stupid rules that shouldn’t exist. Well, Mynor had definitely broken her rules, so he supposed that for once, she’d jailed someone who actually deserved it.
Unfortunately, that didn’t help much.
Justin eyed the portal the witch had opened. It was pink and blue, the colors swirling at the center, calling for him to step through. It was beautiful, but terrifying at the same time.
He didn’t know what was behind it. He didn’t know what he’d find there, if he could find his mother, or how he’d go about it. What would the demons think of him? Would they reject him because he was part human? Would they try to kill him?
Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, after all.
“I can only keep it up for a short amount of time,” the witch said. “Of course, you don’t have to go through it.”
Justin snorted. “Considering how much money I paid for it, you can bet your ass I’m going through it.”
The witch arched a brow. “Will you?”
The challenge was evident in her voice. Justin didn’t like it, but she wasn’t wrong. He had paid a lot of money to have this portal opened. He’d feel bad if he didn’t use this opportunity.
Did it matter that he was scared? Anyone would be scared in his position.
He didn’t know what he’d find, so of course he was afraid, but he was sure everything would be okay.
He wasn’t human. In part, he belonged in Hell, and no one would be able to tell him otherwise.
Besides, his being part demon meant that he was more than capable of defending himself if he was attacked.
Hopefully.
He sucked in a breath and squared his shoulders. He felt unprepared, like maybe he should have brought his backpack or something. He should have, shouldn’t he? The only things he had with him were his wallet and his phone, so he didn’t have a change of clothes or anything like that.
He briefly thought about calling one of his brothers, but he knew they’d try to dissuade him from doing this, and he didn’t want them to.
No, he’d go to Hell, spend some time looking for his mother, would hopefully find her, and would come home.
When he did, he’d call his brothers and force Yancey to sit with Calyx so they could talk things out.
He wasn’t going to allow Yancey to fracture their family more than it already was without Caitlin.
But first, he had a mother to find.
Staring at the portal wasn’t going to help him, so he closed his eyes. He took a step forward, then another, but nothing felt different. He’d expected to feel something when he crossed the portal—tingles or some kind of movement—but he was pretty sure he was still in the witch’s shop.
Until he opened his eyes.
He was definitely not in the witch’s shop anymore. In fact, he had no idea where he was, but he knew it wasn’t in the human realm.
He wasn’t sure what he’d expected. His father had talked about Hell and the area from which his mother came from many times, but he’d never been there.
Justin’s mother had always been the one to visit his father, so all of these stories were secondhand.
Justin had thought he knew what he’d find here— small villages, maybe some medieval-looking towns—but it was more modern than he’d expected.
That didn’t mean it was beautiful. It definitely wasn’t, but he suspected that was because he’d ended up in what looked like a bad part of town.
The street looked like any rundown city block.
Broken windows lined the concrete apartment buildings.
Some had been boarded up with rusted metal sheets and wooden panels, while others were open, creating the impression of gaping mouths.
Trash covered the sidewalks, and the air stank of sulfur and rotting fruit. There were signs that people lived here, like laundry hanging between fire escapes, graffiti on the walls, and faint music that drifted from somewhere, but everything was just slightly off in a way Justin couldn’t explain.
Since he had no idea where he was or where to go, he was relieved when he noticed a demon coming out of the closest building. It was a full demon, unlike Justin, who looked human until one looked closer.
This demon had a tail swishing behind them, hooves instead of feet, and black horns and claws.
Their skin was a deep shade of orange. They wore a black skirt and had a bag hanging from their shoulder.
They looked lethal, and they probably were.
Their aspect didn’t mean they were going to attack Justin, though, and he told himself not to be scared.
He could do this. He could talk to the demon.
In a way, he belonged here as much as they did.
It wasn’t his fault that he’d never visited.
“Hi,” he said, waving.
The demon stopped moving and stared at him. They weren’t attacking or doing anything, just staring as if they’d found something interesting. Maybe they had. Justin didn’t know how many humans visited hell, but he couldn’t imagine it was many.
“I’m sorry to bother you,” he continued.
“As I’m sure you can tell, I’m not from here, and I need help.
I’m looking for my mother. Her name is Anya Onemo, which my father said wasn’t a common name around here.
He also said she grew up here. I thought you might have heard of her.
From what I know, she has long dark hair and dark eyes.
” It wasn’t much to go on, but it was all he had.
Now that he thought about it, hoping he could find his mother with only this information had probably been a bad idea.
To be fair, he wasn’t exactly thinking straight.
He’d lost the only mother he’d ever known, along with his brothers, even though he was sure he’d get them back soon.
The demon’s eyes widened. “Anya?” they asked.
“That’s what my father said, yes. She visited the human world a few decades ago, obviously,” he gestured at himself. “I’ve never met her, though. Have you heard of her?”
The demon started backing away from Justin as if he were afraid of him, which didn’t make sense. Justin might be half-demon, but he was pretty sure there wasn’t much he’d be able to do if this demon attacked him.
“I’m sorry, did I say something I shouldn’t have?” he asked, stepping forward.
The demon turned and ran. Justin was so shocked, he stopped moving, and he stared at the demon’s back until they disappeared around the corner.
What the fuck had just happened? Why had the demon been afraid of him? He understood why humans were sometimes, but here, people should be used to seeing demons.
He looked around, and while he noticed a few people watching him from the windows of the buildings around him, no one came downstairs to ask what he was up to. The street was empty, and something told him it would stay that way until he left.
With a sigh, he started walking.
This wasn’t how he’d imagined his visit would go.
He hadn’t exactly expected anyone to welcome him with open arms, but running away from him?
If everyone reacted to him that way, it was going to be impossible to find his mother, let alone stay here for any length of time.
Hell, would he even be able to find someone who could open another portal for him?
He told himself not to worry, even though fear gripped him.
He’d find a way home. If the demons here really were afraid of him, they’d want him out of Hell as soon as possible, right?
They wouldn’t want him sticking around, terrorizing them.
They might not even want him to pay for the portal, which would be a good thing because he hadn’t thought about how he’d do that before he’d decided to come.
He hadn’t thought of anything before he’d decided to come.
He was an idiot, wasn’t he?
The sound of several people walking in unison made him turn.
He plastered a smile on his face, hoping he could finally find information, but his eyes widened when a group of demons who were clearly soldiers or guards turned around the corner.
They all wore the same black uniform, but thankfully, they didn’t have weapons.
Not all of them, anyway. Besides, Justin suspected that most didn’t need weapons to do damage.
Unfortunately, it looked like they wanted to do damage to him, so he quickly stepped back and raised his hands.
“I’m sorry,” he quickly said. “I don’t mean to bother anyone.
I’m just looking for my mother. Her name is Anya Onemo, and she grew up in the area.
I don’t know if you know her, but I’d be grateful if you could point me in her direction.
I won’t bother anyone else. I just want to find her. ”
Several of the demons glanced at each other. Justin had no idea what that meant. He wanted to ask, but he also didn’t want the demons to take offense.
“You’ll come with us,” one of them declared, stepping forward as if to grab him.
“Why?” he asked as he tried to step away. “I haven’t done anything. I just arrived.”
“Exactly. You’re a stranger.”
“Look, if you could just point me in the direction of my mother, or even someone who can open another portal for me to use to get back to the human realm, I’ll be on my way. I promise I’m not dangerous and that I’m not here to start trouble.”
The demon flicked his fingers, and two of the other demons stepped forward. Justin’s first instinct was to run away, but something told him he wouldn’t get far. Hell, it might even trigger them to attack him, which was the last thing he wanted.
So, he allowed the two demons who moved forward to grab him by the arms. They didn’t hurt him. They didn’t even drag him forward. They just stood there, holding him as if to prevent him from doing precisely what he’d been thinking earlier.
He wasn’t going anywhere with them clinging to him the way they were. He supposed he should feel lucky that they weren’t hurting him, but they might.
The demon in charge nodded and turned. He started walking away, and everyone followed him, including Justin, who didn’t have a choice. He looked around, wondering if he should call for help, but if these demons were officials, no one would come to help Justin even if he asked.
He swallowed. Some demons were still watching from their windows, but they were careful not to let the soldiers notice them. What did that mean?
Probably that Justin was in even more trouble than he’d expected.