Chapter 31
XXXI.
Nothing stirs as we exit the castle, the only sounds the whistling wind and the crunch of our boots breaking through the freshly fallen snow.
I slide my sword from its sheath and brandish it in front of me.
Where is everyone?
“I almost preferred when they were trying to kill us,” Nate whispers. “Does something feel off to you?”
I scan the terrain with narrowed eyes. “Maybe they were herded back to their lots while we were”—a blush creeps up my neck—“warming up.”
He has his back to me, too distracted with scouring the snow to hear those last words. “Where are the souldiers, then? And why aren’t they coming after us?”
I press my lips together, then sigh. “I don’t know. But we should keep moving. Don’t let your guard down.”
We reach the edge of Nix by nightfall, stopping a few times to rest. No other souls cross our path, and our footprints are the only markings in the snow. Halfway there, we sheath our weapons, but I never remove my fingers from the hilt of my sword.
I blow out a stream of smoky air as we slow in front of a red-bricked wall. Our last line of defense, it stretches to the sky. It’s so tall that it’s impossible to scale, with or without wings. There’s only one way through—and it requires a unique ingredient.
My heart thuds loudly as I rub my aching thighs. This is it: the way out of the cities of sin. Next stop, the Ignis River, then finally Earth.
I can’t believe we made it.
And there’s no one here to stop us.
“Where are the souldiers?” I ask. “Someone’s always here.”
“Could they be in a meeting?” Nate asks, peering over his shoulder. “I mean, I’m guessing you don’t do Zoom calls down here.”
I rub my roiling stomach. “I don’t know. Maybe Father gave up and moved on.”
“That doesn’t sound like him.”
“It really doesn’t.”
I grab my sword, then pause, the blade inches above my palm. Once we make it through here, I’ll have my freedom and so will Nate, but we won’t have each other.
The realization stings more than my trembling hand as I slice my blade across it. I place my palm against the wall, and my blood drips down the crevices, staining them blue. The bricks slide open, creating a gap large enough for us to walk through.
“How did you do that?” Nate breathes.
“It opens with demon blood.”
“Wait.” He props his hands on his hips. “You mean, if I’d gotten all this way by myself, I still wouldn’t have been able to get out?”
I wipe my bloody palm on my cape and shrug. “Not unless you wounded a demon and stole their blood. You’d also need this to get to Earth.” I hold up my ring finger, and the ruby shimmers. “It’s like a key. At least, that’s what Father told me when he gave it to me.”
I’ve always done what Father asked of me, so I’m sure he didn’t expect me to use the ring before he retired.
Little did he realize that he’d given me my freedom so that I could take his.
“This entire time you knew I couldn’t get out of here on my own?” Nate raises an eyebrow.
I cock my head and shuffle my foot through the snow. “Souldiers have rubies implanted under their skin once they’re sworn in. So I suppose you could’ve also kidnapped a demon and dragged them through. Or me. But does any of that matter now?”
He purses his lips. “I suppose not.”
“Good.”
Taking a breath, I head for the gap, but Nate grabs my hand, spinning me into his chest. His heart thunders against my ear, like waves battering the shore.
“What are you doing?” I whisper.
He tilts my chin so that I meet his gaze. His eyes study my face like they’re reading a book, moving ever so slightly to memorize each character.
Bending, he kisses me. I gasp as his lips are ice from spending all day in the snow, but they warm the longer they press against mine. He kisses with abandon, but when I place my hands on his cheeks, his jaw is tight.
This is his goodbye.
I can’t bear to end it, so I wrap my arms around him and pull him closer until I’m not sure where I end and he begins.
He breaks the kiss with a sigh, then brushes his lips over my forehead. “You’re a good person, Devica. I’ll always be grateful to you for saving me—from more than just Hell.”
“Nate—”
But he’s turned from me and stepped through the wall before I can finish my thought. I close my eyes and take long breaths, my chest aching, lips still tingling from his kiss.
Pushing Nate away will be the hardest thing I’ve ever done. But if I’ve learned anything the last few months, it’s that I can do hard things. He taught me that.
And that I’ll do whatever it takes to finish this journey and set him free. He deserves at least that.
He deserves more.
My breath stalls as I step through the wall onto a long wooden suspension bridge.
The “River of Fire” lives up to its name. Pits of green flame extend hundreds of miles below us, and the air shimmers like a mirage. Sweat builds behind my neck and along my collarbone.
Across the bridge high in the blue-velvet sky, the portal to Earth blazes like a shimmering sun.
Nate stands at the edge of the bridge, his mouth agape.
I step beside him and peer over the railing. I’ve never been to this part of Hell, and goose bumps prick my arms despite the heat billowing from the fires below.
My mom may not have died here, but I’ve known others who did. Their memories claw at my skin like ghosts and I shudder, imagining how long they screamed before succumbing to the flames. If they screamed at all.
I turn away and swallow the bile in the back of my throat. I’ll never understand why this place even exists.
“If that can kill a demon, what would it do to, say, me?” Nate asks.
“You’d cease to exist.” My voice cracks, and I clear my throat. “Your soul would burn, and there’d be no bringing it back. So, you know, make sure you don’t fall.”
I attempt to smile at him, but it falters and I look away. He makes this joking-through-hard-things look way easier than it is.
Nate wipes at his brow with the back of his hand. “Got it.”
Taking his hand, I lead us across the bridge. The planks sway beneath my feet, and I grip the railing with my free hand, burning my palm on the ropes.
We’re halfway to freedom when a familiar voice cuts the air behind us. “I’m afraid that’s as far as you go, Princess.”
The blood drains to my feet and my body numbs, but I continue along the bridge without looking back. “You’re too late, Ferus. We’re getting out of here, whether you like it or not.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Princess.”
The bridge shakes beneath us, and figures in black pour out of the darkness ahead.
No. Not again.
Souldiers.
They descend onto the bridge with weapons raised, blocking our path. We turn, and Ferus growls, another army at his heels.
How have I fallen for this ridiculous trap twice?
“I knew it was too easy in Nix,” I whisper, spots dancing across my vision. “You wanted us here.”
“Exactly.” Ferus grins, his teeth whiter than the snow melting off our shoulders. “We opened the lots hoping the shadelings would take you out. Those creatures may have been lazy on Earth, but when it comes to finding a heat source, they’ll do anything.”
My stomach roils as the sound of cracking bones and thumping bodies fills my head. “I noticed.”
Ferus continues, “When they failed, we decided to clear your path. After all, this is the perfect spot to arrest you for treason, don’t you think? The very place your mother was killed for the same crime. Your death will be serendipitous.”
Heat flares through my body, and I narrow my eyebrows. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Oh, really?” Ferus raises his sword. It’s one from Father’s arsenal—made like mine. “Wanna try me, Princess?”
“You don’t scare me, Ferus.” I steady my voice so it doesn’t shake like the rest of my body. “I’m surprised you made it out of Lot Eleven. I figured you’d still be staring at your ugly-ass reflection.”
“You little bitch.” Ferus storms forward, but a souldier grabs him from behind. He roars and breaks through their arms.
Lifting my palm, I aim a fireball at his chest. He dodges, and the poor souldier who’d tried to contain him falls with a cry.
Oops. My bad.
Ferus cackles. Gritting my teeth, I rear up and blast again. A spark pops against my fingers, then fizzles out in a puff of smoke.
An entire day of rest, and all I get back is one fireball? This power sucks.
Though I suppose it wasn’t all rest…
Shivers tickle my neck, and Nate squeezes my hand like he’s reading my mind. The pressure’s all I need to throw my palm out one last time with a determined scream.
This time, there’s not even a spark.
“Well, that’s embarrassing,” Ferus sputters through bouts of laughter.
How dare he laugh at me.
I lunge at him, but Nate tightens his grip and whispers, “He’s not worth it.”
Ferus wipes his eyes before his expression stills and a darkness creeps over his features. “This will make killing you that much easier. Been nice knowing you, Princess.”
He raises his sword.
“That’s enough!” A souldier steps out from the back of the line and lifts his visor.
Atty.
My jaw loosens, and I lower my hand, fingers still arced to scratch out Ferus’s eyes.
“Attero, don’t bother,” Ferus snarls. “She hates our kind. Look at her, holding hands with a shadeling. Time to break up this revolting lovefest.”
Our fingers split apart as he pulls Nate into his chest and plants a blade at his throat.
My hand flies to my heart.
This wasn’t part of my plan. Only I was supposed to hurt Nate, and now Ferus has dragged the entire Underworld into it.
I step forward, wrapping my fingers over the hilt of my sword. “Leave him alone, Ferus.”
“What is it about this one, Princess?” Ferus leers over Nate’s shoulder as he thrashes in his arms. “Is it that wounded puppy look? The ‘I swear I’m a good person even though I’m a murderer’ eyes?
Whatever it is, it’s a story out of those books you love so much.
The Devil’s daughter in love with a sinner.
“Except we both know the ending of this one, don’t we? And it never goes well for the lovers. One of them has to die.” He presses his blade into Nate’s throat, and a drop of blood spills down over his collar. “This is your chance to decide which of you it’ll be.”
Ferus’s words slice into my chest like a knife and pierce me right where he aimed. Nate’s blood is a reminder of the moment in the ice castle when I almost stabbed him after we kissed for the first time.
And that wasn’t even the first time I’d tried to harm him.
Yet, for some reason, he stayed.
He never learned his lesson, and now we’re both paying the price.
A souldier steps on the back of my cloak, and it tugs at my neck, gagging me. Nate flails in vain against Ferus’s strong arms as the words I’ve feared all along hang in the air like a warning.
There’s no happy ending for us. There never was.
But there could still be one for me.
Plummer Park, Nate had said. That’s where I’ll find my mom. He gave me everything I need to finish this without him.
Nate screams as Ferus digs his sword deeper, his pain edging beneath my skin like the shard of glass from the mirrors.
And even though he sliced it out, it never left me. Not really.
It never will. That girl in the mirror will always be a part of me, whether I like it or not. It’s time to stop fooling myself.
I close my eyes and steady my breath.
Then I make my choice.