Chapter 2
Chapter
Two
Barbie
Dried blood streaked the rusted iron of the train roof. Bea and I crouched low against the wind, her fingers digging into my arm like a lifeline while her other hand gripped the rail. The gale tore at our hair, relentless.
“Where are we going?” she shouted, her voice barely carrying over the train’s roar.
“To the heart of the Underworld, my friend,” I answered.
“What?” Fear flashed in her eyes, but adrenaline burned there too. “Shouldn’t we be trying to escape this maze and all this madness?”
Sy and I had felt the pull the moment I’d jumped onto this train—a deep, magnetic draw toward Heaven’s Arrow.
Back when I’d slipped into the House of Demons, the oracle had been waiting. Her message echoed in my mind even now: You must go to the Underworld for the Heavenly Arrow. It’s the only way to sever your bond with Sy.
And the only way to save her when I finally went down swinging against my father.
“New plan, Bea.” I leaned close. “We’re going deeper. We’re stealing from the Queen of Hell.”
She blinked, her face pale but steady.
The pull in my chest tightened—Heaven’s Arrow calling, almost begging to be found.
It’s a trap! Sy shouted.
I know it’s a trap, honey, I shot back. When has it ever not been?
Let’s head straight into the lion’s den then.
Demon’s den, I corrected.
“Wherever you go, I go, Barbie,” Bea said, her voice firm. No hesitation. No questions.
“You’ll be my shadow,” I told her. “When I say run, you run. When I say hide, you hide.”
You’re quoting Killian, Sy noted.
She doesn’t know that, I replied. We just need to keep our friend alive and get her out.
A pact, then, Sy agreed. The little witch has grown on me.
Together, we cast our senses wide, reaching into the pulse of the dark realm as the train thundered on beneath us.
This place felt unnervingly familiar. Not like home, but close—as if the Underworld itself was bending to my will, recognizing me as its rightful heir.
And I knew it had nothing to do with being Killian’s mate and everything to do with Queen Lilith. A dark, unwelcome thought surfaced, but I shoved it down hard. No time to unravel that knot. I had a mission.
I pressed my palms against the train roof and pushed with my will. The metal shuddered, then swerved sharply left, tearing free from its assigned track.
We were no longer just targets in a death maze.
We’re the tomb riders! Sy declared.
Tomb raiders, I corrected her again. But not really.
As the train departed from the maze, the landscape blurred into a slideshow of grotesque beauty. Rivers of lava carved through blackened plains. Skeletal trees clawed at a bruised sky, their leaves made of ash.
The train rumbled on, crossing a valley of withered flowers before plunging into a long tunnel. We emerged onto a bridge spanning a massive chasm. At the bottom stood a palace of black glass, eerie and spectacular all at once.
I wondered if it was the same place where Lilith had once hijacked my mind.
“Is that where we’re going?” Bea asked, her voice hushed.
We didn’t have to shout anymore. The roaring chaos of the maze had faded, but tension still gripped us, our shoulders tight, our breath held.
“I don’t think so,” I said. “Not today.”
Logically, the queen would have hidden Heaven’s Arrow deep in her stronghold, but the train was obeying my will now, and I was following the pull of the arrow.
“They say no one can enter the Underworld without an invitation,” Bea murmured.
“We were invited, weren’t we?” I replied.
“More like forced,” she said, biting her lip. “I just never thought they’d drag us to the Underworld.”
“This isn’t my favorite place either,” I said. “But I’ll get us out in one piece.”
The pull sharpened, overwhelming, as a ring of black mountains rose ahead. A fountain of lava shot into the sky. Bea and I stared until the train lurched sharply around a curve, throwing her sideways.
My feet skidding on the roof, I grabbed her waist and hauled her back against me.
“Thank you,” she gasped, chest heaving.
I nodded, gaze already lifting.
“The arrow’s up there,” I said, pointing toward the volcano’s peak.
Shit! Sy hissed. She’d traced the pull to the volcano’s molten heart, too.
It was genius, hiding a heavenly weapon inside an active volcano—somewhere only the suicidal would dare go. I had to give Lilith credit, but not even an inferno would stop me from getting that arrow.
The train clung to a narrow trail carved into the volcano’s slope. Heat shimmered off the black rock. Sulfur stung my eyes and throat. Bea looked worse.
It burns my eyes too, Sy admitted. But we keep going.
High above, the mountain’s peak glowed an angry orange, spewing lava in violent arcs.
“Barbie, no.” Bea grabbed my arm, her face pale beneath the soot coating our skin. “That’s literally jumping into boiling lava. Even you can’t—”
“I’ve survived worse.” The words came out flat, detached, as memories flashed: Ruin’s feeding chambers, being consumed again and again, only to be remade for more torment.
Let’s do this, Sy said, flooding me with raw courage. Together.
I gave her a virtual squeeze. She squeezed back so hard it made me wince.
Silently, I guided the train around to the far side of the volcano, away from the worst of the lava flows. “Stay here,” I told Bea. “I’ll be back.”
“Let me go with you,” she said, voice trembling with a courage she didn’t fully feel.
I offered a faint smile. “You know you can’t. You’ve always stood by me, but there are places even you can’t follow. Sometimes, no one can.”
She swallowed hard. “Promise me you’ll come back.”
I nodded, pulling her into a hug. She clung to me.
The train ground to a halt with a metallic screech. I gently untangled myself from her grasp.
Dark wind coiled around me as I launched from the train toward the mountainside. Each leap carried me farther, my goddess strength turning me into a blur against the volcanic rock.
I could feel the Underworld’s power thrumming beneath my feet, ancient, vast, and endless. Here, I could drink deep without fear of draining the realm dry.
Heat intensified with every foot I climbed, riding my dark wind upward. My skin blistered, healed as I siphoned power from the land, then blistered again. Sweat evaporated the moment it formed. I clenched my teeth and endured.
I soared toward the crater, and the volcano seemed to pause its eruption, as if holding its breath just for me.
The air shimmered with heat, and from the distortion emerged two demons, each over nine feet tall, guarding the crater’s entrance.
Great. Just the welcome party I needed.
It’s not great, Sy cut in, fanning herself mentally. It’s shit. Let me out so I can give our new friends a slap on the wrist.
I know you’re eager to come out and play, Sy, but you know the first three seconds of shifting leave us vulnerable enough for these demons to thank you for the free shot.
The demons glared down at me, horns long, fangs sharp, faces monstrous. Their scaled limbs were thicker than my waist. To make matters worse, hellfire pulsed beneath their skin.
Ignoring my ruined, smoldering gown, I landed a dozen feet away. As I blinked away the sweat beading on my lashes, I realized one of them was a demoness—scaled breasts and all.
“My, my,” I greeted. “What kind of sweet things are you?”
“We are the Guardians of Heaven’s Arrow!” the demon boomed. “We are not sweet things!”
“Fine. But you’re a demon and a demoness, yes?” I arched a sweaty brow.
“What’s your point?” the demoness hissed, smoke curling from her nostrils.
“Let’s be real—honest people are hard to come by these days,” I said, wiping sweat from my brow. “You’re unholy. No offense. I’m not exactly angelic myself. But doesn’t it strike you as downright stupid that you’re guarding a holy relic from Heaven?”
The two exchanged a confused glance. I doubted anyone had ever questioned their purpose or made it this far up the mountain still bold enough to stand here and talk. A flicker of respect held them back from attacking outright.
“It is our honor—” the demoness began.
“You’ve been deceived, my demonic friends,” I cut in, channeling that old saying about the supreme art of war: subdue the enemy without getting your hands bloody.
“I applaud your dedication, but this long-hours, underpaid gig—does it even come with dental insurance? Look at your teeth, man. You’re being taken advantage of. ”
The demon and demoness traded another baffled look.
Good. My strategy was working. I flashed them an encouraging grin, despite the sweat dripping into my eyes.
“I get it, amigos. I’ve been in your position.
Stuck serving cocky princes in a cutthroat academy.
I’d love to chat more, but this heat is cooking me.
” I eyed them with envy as flames licked harmlessly over their scaled skin.
“Long story short? I broke my chains. And today, I’m here to break yours. ”
“Enough, intruder!” the demon barked. “You are not welcome here.”
“And we are not amigos!” the demoness snarled.
“You could’ve said so earlier,” I sighed. “Not everyone wants to be saved.”
“We’ve been expecting you!” the demon said. “They warned us you were rude, a real pain in the ass!”
I scowled. “Who badmouthed me?”
“Your mean streak ends here,” the demoness added, chest puffed with pride.
Her companion nodded. “You’ll never get past us!”
“We’ll devour you until not even bones remain!” the demoness hissed. “Kneel and beg if you want a quick death.”
“I’m shaking in my boots,” I deadpanned.
You’re not wearing boots, Sy cut in. You’re in dress heels, another expensive gift from Killian. Guess you don’t need me earning diamonds from my sugar anymore.
“You think I don’t recognize sarcasm?” the demon sneered. “Make no mistake, Barbie, or Little Bob. Even trembling won’t save you from what comes next. Nothing will.”
Sy hissed. She never took well to anyone threatening me.