Chapter 7 Cinder
CINDER
Magic sparkled all around us like silver stars against a midnight-blue sky.
It swirled and spun, dancing this way and that, a display of intricate choreography set to a silent song.
Cool air caressed my skin for the first time since I arrived in Hell, and warm floral notes, laced with cinnamon, tamed the stench of Underworld funk.
The silver sparkles parted, creating a tunnel in front of us, and a trail of glitter spiraled down the path, beckoning me forward. My legs started to move of their own volition, my body accepting the invitation without a thought from my mind, but I paused.
It was time for a serious vibe check, because who knew what lay deep inside this cave. “Do you sense anything?”
I turned to Discord, but his eyes had glazed. His jaw hung slack, and his shallow breaths seemed labored. Blood soaked the undies tied to his foot, and a massive bruise marred the left side of his stomach.
Good vibes or bad, standing here wasn’t helping him in the slightest. I sidled closer, wrapping my arms around him and coaxing him forward, into the magical tunnel. Hecate wouldn’t steer a faithful witch wrong… I hoped.
On we went, following the spiral of magic.
The air felt light and crisp, and it energized my body, replacing my fatigue with newfound hope.
Yes, someone was holding the goddess hostage somewhere in the Underworld, which was a very bad thing.
But she had communicated with me. Her messages had arrived in bits and pieces, a puzzle I couldn’t wait to solve.
First, though… I had to take care of the big, sexy oaf leaning on my shoulder.
I had a feeling demons weren’t meant to venture through this tunnel, and much like how Discord’s space-bendy magic drained me, Hecate’s goddess-level witchcraft affected him in a not-so-nice way.
But you should never ignore your instincts, and my gut said the only way out was through. I turned around to confirm my suspicion, and sure enough, the mouth of the cave had closed behind us.
The sparkling tunnel seemed to stretch into infinity before us, but after only five more steps, a wavering wall of blue-green magic appeared, blocking the path.
“The only way out is through,” I repeated my instinct’s mantra and dragged my demon into the portal. I passed the threshold easily, but getting Discord through was like pulling a two-hundred-pound bag of rocks through a massive gelatin mold.
I strained, forcing his body through until a loud popping sound nearly busted my eardrums. The air pressure shifted, lightening first, taking the breath from my lungs before the heavy, sulfurous atmosphere of the Underworld pressed in around me.
“I did not miss this smell.” I wrinkled my nose.
Discord sucked in a sharp breath. His knees buckled, but I managed to keep him upright.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Never better,” he rasped.
“Liar.” We stood just inside the tunnel exit, on the edge of yet another town.
In the distance, scary-ass demons skulked about, walking the streets and going in and out of shops.
The buildings looked like they used to be nice, but after centuries of neglect, they’d fallen into disrepair.
Potholes dotted the streets, and a brawl—from what I could only imagine was a bar—spilled out onto the sidewalk.
“We’re back in the eighth level, aren’t we?” I asked.
“Indeed, and in the seediest village imaginable.” He winced as he took a step. “Do you sense the safehouse?”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, focusing on the image Hecate had shown me at the temple. A tingle formed beneath my breastbone, a magical tug guiding me toward my destination. Was this what my dad felt when he used his location magic? If so, it was nothing short of amazing.
“Quickly.” His left knee buckled, and I held him tighter.
“I found it, but there’s a problem.” I repositioned him, pushing my shoulder into his armpit to absorb his weight. “We can’t parade you down the street naked and bloody.”
“In this town, it won’t matter. The inhabitants have seen much worse.”
I didn’t want to know the details. “Okay, but they’ll recognize us, won’t they? You, at the very least.”
“Disguise us then.” He squeezed his eyes shut. “Bloody our faces or leave me here. I’m fading.”
“Bloody our…?” I glanced around the tunnel. The magic had dissipated, and we now stood at the very mundane mouth of the cave. Or…if we had entered through the mouth near Hecate’s temple, did that make this the ass?
It didn’t matter. There had to be some mud or dirt around that we could smear on our faces. Anything but blood. Sadly, only solid rock surrounded us.
“Cinder…” His lids fluttered, his eyes rolling back.
“Crap. I’m on it.” I grabbed my last knife, contemplating where to cut. His blood on him, mine on me. Who knew how long it would take him to heal, though? And with my pain tolerance at a negative ten, cutting myself wasn’t the slightest bit appealing either.
I scooted him to the right, leaning him against the cave wall. “Do not fall down. I’m not sure I can get you back up if you do.”
He only grunted in reply. Keeping one hand on his body to hold him against the wall, I slowly bent until I reached the undies on his foot. The blood had stopped gushing, thankfully, and as I untied the makeshift bandage, only a few drops oozed from the wound.
His knees bent, and he slumped downward. I shot to my feet and grabbed him around the chest before he could tumble, situating my shoulder against his armpit once more.
Never did I ever think I would need to smear bloody panties over someone’s face—especially my own—yet here we were. The fabric dripped like Aunt Flo had spilled a week’s worth of tomato juice all at once, and I curled my lip as my stomach turned.
Discord wheezed, spurring me into action. I rubbed the bloody undies over his face, dabbing a little extra around his eyes while leaving a few spots of bare skin to break up his features.
Next up…me. I smeared the blood on like Viking warpaint and shoved the panties into my pocket. So gross.
“Here we go.” Tightening my grip on my demon, I guided him out of the cave and into the city.
Very few people here had human forms. Most looked like monsters, with flat noses, bull horns, and muscular, top-heavy builds. Some had hooves while others sported taloned toes, and they all reeked of sweat, stale booze, and sulfur.
Music blasted from a bar, the bass so loud and low it could have altered my heartbeat if I stuck around long enough. And that brawl on the sidewalk…? Good goddess, these guys were vicious.
Punches cracked bones, and claws split skin.
I tried to give it a wide berth as I dragged Discord toward the safehouse, but a particularly beefy fellow tossed a tall, lanky demon toward me as if the guy were made of straw.
The demon landed at my feet, and I furrowed my brow, doing my best not to allow my reaction to match my emotions.
I wanted to run, to get the hell off this street and into the safety of Hecate’s sanctuary, but we’d never make it there alive if they suspected who we were. I had to act like a demon.
“Watch it,” I growled, though I sounded more like a fluffy kitten than the bear I tried to emulate.
The beefy guy roared and leaped, landing on top of Mr. Lanky and clutching the back of his neck.
“Don’t look,” Discord wheezed, so you know I absolutely had to.
Mr. Beefy extended his thick claws, sinking them into Lanky’s neck and wrapping them around his vertebrae. With a guttural roar, he yanked his arm back, ripping the guy’s spine from his body—Mortal Kombat style.
My stomach lurched, but instead of tossing my cookies into the street, I glowered and kept walking.
“Who are you?” Beefy called behind me.
“Mind your business. I’m hungry,” I said, making my voice as deep and gruff as it would go. We hung a left at the corner, and thank the goddess, Hecate’s house lay four yards ahead. At least, the magical tug that had guided me here claimed it was her house.
I couldn’t tell you what I expected to find.
The vision she’d shown me had been hazy at best, more of a feeling…
or knowing…than a visual image. This run-down shack with peeling paint, broken steps, and shattered windows definitely wasn’t it.
Thorny brambles crawled up the walls, and fissures jutted in different directions all around the yard.
Discord stumbled beside me as we approached. He made it up the first step when he gasped, his eyes going wide before rolling back until only the whites remained. He collapsed, pitching forward onto the porch and taking me down with him.
My shoulder hit the stone, sharp pain exploding down my arm, and I groaned. Discord lay motionless, his upper body face-down on the porch, the rest of him dangling down the steps, bare butt up, mooning the orange moon.
I pushed to sitting, rubbing my shoulder as six demons approached the house.
My pulse sprinting, I scrambled to my feet and reached for my knife, but the beasties stopped, turned in circles, and scratched their heads as if we were invisible.
One of them pointed to the right, the others nodded, and they strode away.
Huh. How about that? Maybe we were invisible here. That would sure be a welcome relief. I turned and reached for the doorknob, but it unlatched and swung open before I could touch it.
“Please tell me this place isn’t haunted,” I muttered. Although…since I was a dead witch and he was a demon, I supposed we’d be the ones doing the haunting.
Now, how to get a two-hundred-pound, unconscious man across the threshold? I started to grab his wrists and pull, but he was naked and face down. I doubted he’d appreciate his man bits scraping across the rough stone porch, so that idea was out.
I kneeled beside him, resting a hand on his shoulder. “Discord? If you’ve got any energy left at all, now would be the time to get up and at least crawl through the door.”
A bit of drool rolled from the corner of his mouth. Lovely.
Squatting, I braced the heel of one hand against his shoulder, the other against his hip, and shoved, using my legs as leverage and rolling him to his back.
His dangly bits flopped, drawing my gaze, which was totally inappropriate in a situation like this.
I needed to get him inside and comfortable before I gawked at the sheer perfection that was Discord.
“Here we go.” I hooked my arms beneath his pits and gritted my teeth, straining as I dragged him into the foyer. Once I got his feet inside and out of the way, I kicked the door shut, turning to take in the rat-infested disaster of a shack.
Only, there wasn’t a rat in sight, and the disaster…? I rubbed my eyes. This couldn’t be the same run-down hovel I’d entered.
A polished obsidian floor reflected the moonlight streaming in through the not-broken windows, and deep-blue protection sigils glowed on the gray slate walls.
The air felt cool by Underworld standards, and the scents of lilacs and cinnamon provided a welcome relief from the rotten egg scent I would never get accustomed to.
A living room lay to my left, complete with a plush, midnight rug and an antique sofa with dark purple upholstery and carved cherry wood. A short hallway extended back from the living room, and I glimpsed an herb-stocked kitchen through an arched doorway to my right. My stomach growled on cue.
I dragged Discord into the living room, getting as much of his body onto the rug as I could.
There was no way I could get him onto the couch, much less into a bed, so this would have to do.
His chest rose and fell rhythmically, his eyes moving back and forth behind his lids.
The gash on his foot was nearly healed, but unless the obsidian he’d cut it on was laced with poison, I doubted that was the reason for his current state.
He had transformed into his demon. He’d dug deep into his soul and given Lucifer’s power-stripping hold a giant middle finger. Sure, he was paying the price now, but he had beaten the devil himself, even if for only a few minutes.
And he’d done it for me. Cue the warm fuzzies.
To say I was in awe of this man would be an understatement. He was complex. Broody and lethal, full of rage, yet tender when he wanted to be.
Get yourself together, girl. You are not falling for a demon. If only I could convince myself.
I ducked down the hall and found a bedroom complete with a king-sized bed, a dresser, and an ornate armoire with lilies and the triple moon symbol embossed in the wood. Inside the armoire, I found a pillow and a blanket, so I grabbed them and headed back to my demon.
Once I got Discord snug as a bug, I headed to the kitchen.
A massive wood-burning stove stood in the far corner, and bundles of dry herbs hung from a cord stretched across the ceiling.
It felt weird AF rummaging through the goddess’s cabinets, but I had to do it.
She wouldn’t have shown me this place if she didn’t want me to use it, right?
Goddess, I hoped not. We’d already destroyed her temple. I could only imagine how pissed she’d be about that.
First things first. We needed food. I opened cabinet after cabinet, high ones and low ones, but I couldn’t find a single edible morsel. Unless we wanted to munch on a salad of dried herbs, we were out of luck in the meal department. Damn.
I plopped onto a stool and set my backpack on the counter to rummage through it.
Granola bar wrappers, an empty water bottle, a candle, and a few jars of who-knew-what herbs.
If the seer were still alive, I’d get her a label maker for Yule.
I found ten ashmarks in the front pocket, but that wouldn’t get me much.
I set the candle in front of me and shot a stream of fire toward the wick.
As the flame flickered, I softened my gaze, allowing it to blur, and pressed my palms together.
“Thank you, Hecate, for offering your home to us. I’m sorry about the temple, but if you’ll continue guiding us, I will find a way to make it up to you. ”
I took a deep breath, feeling, listening, searching for a sign that she heard me.
My stomach growled again, and I closed my eyes for a long blink, loath to do what I had to do next.