Chapter 13 Cinder
CINDER
The sound was short and brash like a trumpet blaring, and if that wasn’t bad enough, the imp had to cackle like a hyena.
“Who’s there? Show yourselves.” Lucifer flicked his wrist, sending the dressing screen flying across the room, and he ignited a ball of blue flames, floating it toward us to illuminate the intruders.
Discord whispered an explicative I dared not repeat, and the imp squealed, latching onto my leg and sliming my pants.
Had I not just been caught trespassing in the devil’s lair, I might’ve been mortified.
Not only had the sound of my butt trumpet been loud enough to wake the undead, but the stench it unleashed was bad enough to singe my nose hairs.
Hey, at least I’d lost the urge to sneeze.
Lucifer made a disgusted face like he’d whiffed a foul fart…which he had…and his brows slammed down over his eyes in a menacing expression.
Oh, but his eyes betrayed him.
For one, they glistened with unshed tears.
Yep, the King of Hell had just been on the verge of crying.
Second, they widened ever so briefly in an oh shit, you weren’t supposed to see that look.
And third, even facing the two people he hated most in the world, his gaze bounced to the mess he’d made of his true love’s room three times before he focused on us fully.
Discord stepped forward, shoving me behind him, and Lucifer wiped beneath his nose before straightening his spine. I moved to stand next to my demon—no way was he facing the devil alone—and the imp still clung to my pants, trembling and pressing his face into the side of my knee.
“I don’t know whether to applaud your audacity or to remove the thorn from my side and obliterate you both immediately.” Lucifer extinguished the flame and made a come here motion with his hand. “Step into the light.”
Discord moved forward, so I followed.
“How about neither,” I said. “We didn’t come here on purpose.”
My demon growled low in his throat, a warning to keep my mouth shut. You’d think he’d know me better by now. I turned my persuasion magic on full-blast and focused every ounce I could draw upon into Lucifer.
“If you let us leave peacefully,” I said, “we will find Hecate. We’re so close.”
He blinked, my magic taking hold for a second before he figured out what I was doing. “Insolent witch. Your feeble little parlor trick doesn’t work on me.”
It did work, though, if only briefly. But it wasn’t enough to stop him from flicking his wrist and knocking me off my feet. My back slammed into the wall, all the bottles and cans in my pack jabbing into my muscles as my head whipped backward and smacked the stone. Ouch.
Discord glanced at me and then charged at the devil.
He angled his body forward, ready to tackle him, but Lucifer simply laughed and waved his arm, forcing my demon to his knees.
Discord strained, his muscles bulging as he fought against the invisible restraints, but it was no use.
With his powers bound, he was no match for the King of Hell.
Lucifer pointed at me and crooked his finger.
A low vibration surrounded me, squeezing like a python as it dragged me forward and forced me to my knees next to Discord.
The imp climbed up my back and tried to hide in my hair.
I’d have swatted him away if my arms weren’t magically pinned to my sides, but alas…
I couldn’t move. I’d have to comb out the imp’s nest later.
If we lived to tell this tale.
The devil narrowed his eyes, cutting his gaze between us. “Why are you here?”
“I told you—”
“Hecate sent us,” Discord said before I could finish my snarky reply.
Lucifer’s nostrils flared, his posture stiffening as he focused on my demon. “You found her? Where is she?” Was that desperation in his voice? Just how hard up for the goddess was he?
“Cinder has connected with her. We were at her home in The Hollow. She’d created a travel circle there, and we used it to escape a horde of imbeciles.”
“We did you a favor,” I blurted. “Mr. Beefy and the centaur almost got us, but we took them out. You’d have hated to have those two idiots by your side.”
The devil growled, his lip pulling into a sneer. “Where is Hecate? Think before you speak again.”
I swallowed hard, opened my mouth, and closed it again.
“We have yet to locate her physical form,” Discord said, “but Cinder has connected with her mentally. We know where to look next.”
“Lies.” Lucifer’s pupils narrowed into vertical slits, his irises glowing in shades of molten gold. He curled his hand into a claw and swung his arm at Discord. His fingers never made contact with my demon’s skin, but Discord’s head jerked to the side and four bloody marks sliced across his cheek.
“He’s not lying.” I struggled against my invisible chains, but it was no use. I might as well have been encased in concrete.
Lucifer turned his snake eyes toward me and made a fist, using magic to grab me by the throat, cutting off my air supply like he was the real-life version of Darth Vader. “Hecate would not waste her time on a mere mortal witch.”
Shadows danced in my peripheral vision, and stars began to sparkle in front of my eyes.
The puncture wounds Mr. Beefy had made stung as fresh blood trickled down my neck.
My lungs burned, and I tried desperately to draw in a breath, the devil’s ultra-low vibration threatening to crush me beneath its weight.
“There’s nothing mere about her,” Discord said. “Your Highness, please. I beg of you.”
Lucifer loosened his grip ever so slightly, just enough for me to inhale like I was breathing through a straw. The sparkling stars dimmed, my vision swimming back into focus, but I still couldn’t move.
The devil inclined his chin, looking down his nose at me before turning to my demon. “You beg of me? After all your misdeeds, you dare beg of me? I’ll rip you limb from limb and drink wine from your skull for what you’ve done.”
His grip on me loosened more. I drew in a full breath and wiggled my pinkie.
“No.” Lucifer whirled toward me. “You’ll watch as I tear your little witch to shreds. Then, I’ll lock you in the deepest, darkest prison, from which you will never escape, where you’ll spend eternity in lament, knowing the price of your folly was her life.”
Jeez. Dramatic much? I pressed my lips together, stopping myself from explaining that Discord would die along with me. In his current agitated state, I could practically see steam coming from the devil’s ears. Best not to poke the hell bear. He’d probably rip off my head and be done with us both.
“If you kill me, I can’t find Hecate for you,” I said instead. “Finding her is more important than exacting revenge, isn’t it?”
“I don’t need Hecate. I say good riddance to the damn witch.” He paced a few steps to the left, turned on his heel, and paced back. “Every action has a consequence. All misdeeds come at a price.”
“And the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. Got it. But…”
“Cinder,” Discord hissed, and the imp entangled in my hair whimpered.
“Think about how miserable you’ve been since she left.” I continued pressing, letting a smidge of magic lace my words, subtly increasing my cred. “How wonderful it would be to have her back. Killing me won’t fix any of that.”
“Perhaps not, but watching you both pay the price for his insolence will be glorious.”
“Glorious enough to fill the gaping hole in your heart?” I wiggled two more fingers.
Lucifer’s hair turned blacker than black, so dark it could have been a void or even a glitch in the matrix. His nostrils flared, and white flames danced in his irises. “My heart is black as tar, and any holes are there by design.”
He tightened his fist, choking off any more words of persuasion I might have tried.
The pressure around me increased, the low vibration rattling all the way to my bones as he magically lifted me from the floor.
The imp squealed and untangled himself from my hair before dropping to the ground and cowering behind Discord.
My feet dangled. I wanted to claw at the invisible hand clutching my throat, but he kept my arms pinned to my sides. I wheezed, trying to suck in enough air to keep me conscious, but I might as well have been breathing through a cocktail stirrer.
From the corner of my eye, I caught Discord splaying his fingers.
He strained against Lucifer’s magic, our bond giving him newfound strength.
Whether it would be enough to fight the King of Hell’s power, I couldn’t say.
Black spots floated in my vision, and my legs twitched of their own accord, my body protesting the lack of oxygen.
“Let her go.” Discord launched to his feet and tackled Lucifer.
His hold on me dissolved, and I hit the floor with a thunk, my knees crumpling beneath my weight. Lucifer flicked his wrist, and my demon careened across the room, his back slamming into the wall, his feet dangling three feet from the floor.
Three deep scratches formed on Discord’s neck as Lucifer curled his fingers, and blood ran down in rivulets, soaking his shirt. The imp scurried to me, latching onto my leg and sitting on my boot.
“We can help you get the amulet.” I stumbled toward Discord.
“The amulet no longer exists.” Lucifer flung his arm, and an invisible gust of energy slammed into me, knocking me from my feet.
My shoulder hit the wall with a thwack, and I bounced off, landing on my butt. Piercing pain shot from my tailbone to my neck, but I managed to scramble to standing as the imp skittered beneath the bed. “You need Hecate. You love her.”
His nostrils flared, his brow slamming hard as his features morphed slightly, giving me a peek at the beast simmering beneath his human skin. “I am incapable of love.”
“Incapable or unworthy?” I leaned against the wall, reaching my hand toward Discord’s.
The devil glowered. “Unwilling.”
He pushed his magical claws farther into Discord’s neck. The wounds gaped. Blood spurted from an artery with each beat of my demon’s heart.
“Hecate can rot in her hiding place for eternity.” Lucifer made a claw gesture at me, and searing pain exploded on my chest. Blood seeped onto my shirt, my muscles screaming as he pierced through skin.
“Why don’t you tell us the truth?” I clutched Discord’s hand and focused on the sigil on my arm, hoping to Hecate he’d get the message. If my magic truly countered his, we could use it to bring truth and clarity to anyone, right?
A surge of power crashed into me, rolling through my veins and vibrating my bones, filling me with exhilaration and heat. I allowed myself half a second to revel in it before I pushed it out toward Lucifer, lacing my words with magic, both Discord’s and my own.
“You should stop lying to yourself,” I said. “If you really didn’t care about Hecate, you wouldn’t have sent us to search for her.”
His brows drew together, his elongated pupils returning to circles. “A fool’s errand to make the game more…interesting.”
“You don’t sound so sure. Is that the truth?” I asked. “Is that what’s in your heart of holes and tar?”
His face contorted into a bewildered expression, and he relaxed his hands, withdrawing his invisible claws from our skin. Discord slid down the wall, his feet hitting the floor as Lucifer eyed our entwined hands.
“You love Hecate, sire. You’ve told me as much.” Discord pressed a hand to his neck, slowing the bleeding as he healed himself. “We can find her for you.”
Gray dusted the hair at Lucifer’s temples. “She’ll never return. A piece of her resided in that amulet, and now it’s gone. Losing it to the earthly realm was the final straw.”
His eyes glistened, the gray spreading through his hair as his posture softened. “I wasn’t the easiest deity to live with.”
“I remember.” Discord laced his fingers through mine, holding my hand tightly as he sent healing energy into my chest. “But she forgave your every transgression.”
“Except this one.” Lucifer narrowed his eyes, the roots of his hair beginning to turn black again. “Your transgression she will never forgive.”
I wanted to launch into a speech about how even the devil needed to take responsibility for the role he played, but I thought better of it. He needed Discord to be the villain in his story, and if it meant we’d get out alive, we’d have to oblige him.
“We have people on the other side searching for the amulet,” I said. “If you let us go, we’ll find it and Hecate, and we’ll set things right.”
“I told you the amulet no longer exists.” His hair turned salt and pepper, and I let out a slow breath. “I, too, have been in contact with someone on the other side.”
I harnessed another wave of Discord’s magic and focused it on Lucifer. “With whom? If it was someone from the Boston—”
“With Scorsha Holland.” He flicked his gaze to mine, and all the air left my lungs in a rush. “Your mother.”