Chapter Twenty
Kara
The gnawing hunger came back with a vengeance the moment my powers returned.
Wherever the Devil had disappeared to, he’d gone far enough for the curse to run rampant. Within minutes, my stomach clenched like it were eating itself alive. Just as the familiar panic began to rise, food started materializing on the table—one plate after another.
Roasts. Corn on the cob. Buttered rolls. Pastries stacked in towers. Cakes and glazed meats. It didn’t stop. Dish after dish filled the table until it looked like I was hosting a Hell banquet for thirty gluttonous demons.
I stared breathlessly.
The curse was relentless. Normally, I only needed a quick bite—something to carry me over. Slim Jims were perfect for that, which was why I always kept some stashed. But this? This was excessive. This was…him.
He’d never admit it, of course. The Dark One would probably scoff at the idea of feeding me like some doting host. But I didn’t believe for a second this was Hell’s automated hospitality.
The only beings I’d encountered here were the Devil himself, the hellhounds, and twisted little creature he snapped in half like a breadstick.
No one else had access to me. Which meant this feast was his doing.
Why?
I chewed mechanically, trying to focus, but my thoughts whiplashed between everything he said and everything he’d done. His words and actions never matched. He’d called me disgusting, unbearable—and then carried me like glass, fed me like I mattered.
He hated my face.
And yet I’d awakened with his tail wrapped around me like a protective cocoon.
What the hell did he want?
A low rumble thundered through the room, vibrating the floor beneath my chair. I froze mid-bite, roll halfway to my mouth.
What was that?
I glanced toward the dark hallway beyond the door. Another rumble—closer this time. It didn’t sound like an earthquake. It sounded…deliberate.
Alive.
Something was moving.
I crammed the rest of the roll into my mouth and bolted toward the door without a second thought. Whatever was coming, I wasn’t going to get caught off guard sitting at a table full of carbs.
The second I stepped into the hallway, shadows swallowed me.
Hell was quiet. Too quiet, most of the time. I hadn’t realized how eerie the silence was until something broke it.
A small thrill of hope sparked in my chest. Had someone broken into the Devil’s domain? Was that why he left again?
A smile tugged at my lips as I ran—toward the noise, toward the unknown.
But I stopped abruptly, feet skidding on the slick stone floor.
Wait.
The Devil said Harvest had been trying to breach his domain too—not just my family.
The smile fell from my face as a cold ripple of unease crept up my spine.
What if it wasn’t a rescue coming?
What if it was something worse?
The worry left me the second I heard Sebastian yell, “Kitty!”
A blue glow lit the distance ahead. I ran toward it, relief bursting in my chest—until a thunderous roaring swallowed the path. It grew louder the closer I got. Just past the final corridor, I spotted my brother and another silhouette standing before a swirling, unstable portal.
Purple and black energy spiraled, drawn inward, then flickered—wobbling violently before fading completely for a heartbeat. The portal wasn’t stable. It wouldn’t last.
Sebastian hunkered down, his cloak flaring as a gust of wind slammed into us. My hair whipped across my face. The air sucked inward, loud and aggressive, like the whole of Hell was trying to eat itself.
Hades, was that from the portal?
“Oh, thank fuck,” Sebastian breathed, visibly shaken. “I’m so glad to see you. There’s no way this portal would hold long enough to go looking for you.”
“Sebastian!” I screamed, barely able to believe it. “Is that really you?”
“Hurry. We can’t hold it open much longer.”
I didn’t stop running. I crashed into my brother’s outstretched arms, clinging to him like I never wanted to let go. Relief flooded my entire body.
“Are you okay?” he asked, voice tight with emotion.
I nodded quickly, eyes landing on the figure beside him. Melinda. That was unexpected, but I didn’t have time to question why she was there.
The wind surged again. Sebastian grabbed her shoulder to steady her, while the witch clutched my arm—eyes shimmering with something deeper than fear. It was…concern. Curiosity. Panic?
“How has the Devil treated you?” she asked, almost urgently.
I blinked. “What?”
Her grip tightened. “Answer me. Quickly.”
I frowned, thrown by her insistence. Sebastian was already pulling us both in, bracing against the spiraling vacuum. “We can’t stay,” he warned. “The portal’s already starting to reject us. It’s going to hurt. This kind of entry wasn’t made for us—we’ll be punished for it.”
I shuddered, grabbing onto him tighter.
But Melinda refused to let me go.
“Please,” she begged. “Kara. How has he treated you?”
I hesitated. The truth was complicated. It wasn’t all pain. He hadn’t touched me. Not violently, at least. He fed me. He confused the hell out of me.
“He hasn’t hurt me,” I said. “If that’s what you mean. He was just—”
“KARA!”
My heart slammed against my ribs.
The malice in the Devil’s voice was absolute. But it wasn’t just rage. The second time he screamed my name, it cracked with something more dangerous—something unspoken.
“KARA!”
He was close.
I turned just in time to see the Devil himself storming into view. Horns curled backward. Claws outstretched. Fire burning in his eyes like the end of the world.
Hades, how did he move so fast?
The panic in my stomach churned to acid. He was a breath away.
Sebastian didn’t wait. He threw his arms around us and hurled us into the portal.
Agony tore through me the instant we entered.
I screamed, eyes snapping shut as white-hot light seared across my body. Pain exploded under my skin, sharp and everywhere, like needles being driven into every inch of flesh.
I was burning.
It felt like my body was peeling apart—my soul getting dragged through glass.
Despite that, it was better than staying.
“Kara!” Sebastian’s voice cut through the chaos—then vanished.
I felt his arms ripped away, leaving only scorching wind and blinding light. I couldn’t open my eyes. The brightness burned, searing straight through my lids. Then—
A hand latched onto me. Squeezed so tightly, it sent terror slicing through me.
Then I was out—flung from the portal like a stone from a slingshot. I hit the ground hard, skidding across a stony path. Pebbles tore at my skin. I screamed, hands scraping desperately across the ground, trying to stop the momentum.
The hand never let go.
I thought—hoped—it was Sebastian. Somehow, he had followed me through.
But when I finally rolled to a stop and turned, it wasn’t him.
Melinda.
She clutched my wrist with everything she had, blood streaking down her face like paint. Her skin looked like it had been grated across the stone—torn, raw, and red. But worse…her flesh sizzled, steam rising in tendrils. Angry burns marred her arms, her collar, her side.
“Mel—” I choked, pain ripping through my ribs as I tried to move.
I forced myself to look down—and gasped.
I wasn’t in better shape. My clothes were nearly gone, burned off in uneven patches. My skin steamed and ached as if I’d been set on fire from the inside out.
Melinda groaned beside me, her face twisting. Her eyelids fluttered as if she might lose consciousness—then she snapped upright, her eyes locking on mine.
Where was Sebastian?
“Are you—” I didn’t get the chance to finish.
“Quickly!” a shrill, nasally voice rang out, too close. “The Devil will find her any second—then you’ll lose your chance!”
He’s coming.
I shoved myself up, joints creaking, every nerve screaming. I called for my scythe, and the moment it materialized in my hand, I turned—just as two werewolves lunged out of the mist.
I didn’t hesitate.
I slashed the first across the shoulder. He howled.
The second leapt. I dropped to my knees, spun low, and rammed the blade into his gut. The force flung him backward like a rag doll.
Only then did I look up.
Demons. Everywhere.
A sickening army surrounded the clearing, eyes glowing, claws gleaming, breath steaming in the cold. Every species. Every kind. Encircling us like a pack of vultures.
And standing at the front of the horde—his flaming skull rising high, flickering with cruel anticipation—stood Harvest.
His fire flared with a pulse of triumph.
My heart stuttered.
I tightened my grip on the scythe.
Not again. Not like this.
The werewolf I’d wounded twitched beside me, wheezing, intestines spilling from the gash in his stomach. I ignored him.
“What are you waiting for?” Harvest snarled, voice low, lethal—gleeful. Flames erupted around him, shooting out in erratic bursts. “Grab her.”
I didn’t think so.
I hurled my scythe into the air, morphing it mid-flight into hundreds of jagged daggers. Throwing my hands forward, I directed the swarm of blades at the advancing demons.
They scattered like flies.
The daggers rained down, finding flesh with brutal precision. Shrill screams tore through the air as bodies dropped around me, some twitching, some still. Blood splattered the barren ground. But it wasn’t enough. There were still too many. They were everywhere.
A banshee shrieked as she latched onto my leg, sinking her sharp teeth into my knee.
I screamed, lifting my other leg and kicking her so hard her head flew clean off her shoulders. Blood spurted from the stump, soaking my shirt. I barely caught my breath before something else came at me—a bird demon with razor wings, talons grabbing my hair as it tried to carry me off the ground.
I faded only to reappear beside Melinda.
She groaned, dragging herself up onto one elbow, trying to rise. She couldn’t even stand. I couldn’t leave her.
A massive fist crashed into my face.
The crunch in my nose was instant, white-hot pain radiating through my skull. I staggered, faded again—re-faded right back, trying to grab Melinda. The moment my hand touched her shoulder; I tried to blink us both to Grim’s woods.
Nothing happened.
It was like we were tethered here. Held.
I tried to fade again—anywhere—but before I could, a swarm of gremlins leapt onto my back, gnashing teeth and claws slicing at my skin. I howled, twisting and flinging them off me, but they were relentless, biting into arms, my shoulders, my neck.
My heart pounded in my ears.
Panic tried to crawl its way up my throat, but I swallowed it down and let rage take over. My body was screaming, one eye blurry from swelling. My nose was definitely broken. I could barely breathe without the taste of blood in my mouth.
But I didn’t stop.
With a roar, I bulldozed forward, slamming into a pack of demons, tossing them aside with brute force and fury. I needed space. I needed an opening.
And then I saw him.
Harvest.
He stood at the back of the horde like a general surveying the battlefield. A ring of witches surrounded him, chanting in some ancient tongue I didn’t recognize. Their voices echoed with an unnatural rhythm, humming with power.
That’s why I couldn’t fade.
The witches. One had pulled me here. Another was clearly anchoring me.
I locked onto the closest one.
Fine, I’d kill them all and make them undo whatever they’d done. I’d get Melinda out—somehow. I didn’t know where Sebastian was, but I had to believe he was safer than us.
I faded.
Re-faded directly behind Harvest—and kicked him in the back as hard as I could. The crack of bone and cartilage echoed through the clearing. He stumbled forward, flames on his head flaring in anger.
I didn’t pause.
Materializing my blade mid-motion, I spun and slammed it into one of the witches’ shimmering barriers. The magic rippled, holding firm—but her eyes flew open, wild with panic.
Her voice rose as she chanted faster, desperate.
Good.
She should be afraid.
Because I wasn’t stopping.
“I’m going to kill you,” I promised as I slammed my weapon into the barrier again.
It shattered.
The witch’s hand flew up too late—far too late. My blade sliced through her neck so cleanly it barely made a sound. Her head toppled off, hitting the ground with a sickening thud.
For a heartbeat, all was still.
Then my weapon vanished—evaporating from my hand like a dream forgotten on waking.
The loss of power hit me like a house crashing down on my chest. Everything I’d been ignoring—the burns, the bites, the bone-deep fatigue—roared back with blinding intensity. My body screamed from every limb. My breathing staggered.
I didn’t even have time to think about what it meant.
Crack.
Pain exploded at the base of my skull. Something struck the back of my head so hard, stars burst behind my eyes. I dropped to my knees, the world tilting violently.
Darkness rushed in to claim me before I even hit the ground.