Chapter 21
We ran into a few mindless thralls on the way to the Monster Arena, but Dante took the lead and convinced them that the Dean had business for him to attend to with the monsters he’d brought in, not that he’d be able to get in without the Dean’s approval—not without the blood I’d collected.
Luckily, thralls weren’t too bright.
“We don’t have much time,” Dante warned as he waited at the gate. I brought out the handkerchief and the gate unlocked, allowing us through. “They’ll report back to Melinda who’ll know we’re not supposed to be here.”
“That’s fine,” I said, breaking into a light jog to get to the Arena in the distance. “Once we free Cole, the demon will be out of the bag anyway.” I glanced down as I felt a stab of heat along my wrist. I’d almost forgotten the last gem on my bracelet was about to let me know that my time was up.
It was now or never.
“This way,” Dante said as he swept around the building. “There’s a back entrance to the tunnels where I bring the monsters in.” He gave Orion a glance. “Might be a tight fit for you. Did you grow more in the past six months?”
Orion grinned and flexed a massive arm. “Yeah. Between all this energy across campus to feed on and time with my little star, my powers are overflowing.” He grabbed me and gave me a deep kiss, filling my body with warmth and sunlight. “A gift for which I will repay forever with my adoration.”
“Repay it by helping us all stay alive,” I countered as I pushed him toward the hatch.
I waved the handkerchief and it opened, but I noticed the cloth was starting to miss some of the blood I’d collected.
Each door would use up the essence of the Founder’s blood.
I bit my lip and hoped there weren’t too many doors between us and my imprisoned Virtues.
Orion grinned and gave me another kiss. “As you wish. The sooner we save the world, the sooner I can get you back into bed.”
Gods. Did he think about anything other than sex?
My massive demigod shoved himself head-first into the hatch, somehow managing to wiggle through. Dante followed next, moving like a shadow as he disappeared and I went in after him.
Orion provided a steady glow of light once we were in the tunnels, not that I needed it. I preferred darkness, but at least it helped Orion see where he was going.
Dante paused and looked around. “Not sure where she’s keeping Kaito. I haven’t been down here in a while.”
Even though the mate-bond was strained, I tried to sense my sexy school counselor now that I was in closer proximity to him.
I closed my eyes and concentrated. It took a while, but I felt a whisper of his energy. Kaito always felt like mystery and darkness, with just a little bit of heat that I now knew came from his origins as a Japanese demon from one of the deeper layers of Hell.
“There,” I said, pointing down one of the paths. “Let’s just hope that she’s keeping Cole close by, because I don’t feel him at all.”
Dark wisps soaked up the light Orion emitted, betraying that Cole was definitely down here, and that he didn’t want to be found. Perhaps when he learned that I intended to free him he’d change his tune.
I followed my heart, moving past cages filled with more people than I remembered from my last visit. I held up the cloth with blood, but then thought better about it.
“These might not have wards on them,” Orion offered when he saw my intent.
Releasing my claws, I tested one of the bolts. It resisted me, pinging back with magical power.
Not to be bested by a stupid lock, I did the first thing that came to mind. If Founder blood could let me into any locked door in the Academy, surely my blood would have enough magic in it to get me into some minor prisoner’s cages.
I scratched a line across my arm, wincing as the black blood seeped over my claws.
Dante and Orion both watched me with concern, but didn’t try to stop me. I tested my claw against the device again and it sliced through like butter.
Bingo.
I walked the long line of cages and broke the locks as we went, leaving the sleeping prisoners to figure out on their own that they’d been freed.
“Is that such a good idea?” Dante asked as I sliced my claw through yet another lock.
“I’m not leaving these people to rot,” I whispered back. I’d left them once. I wasn’t going to do it again.
Instead of arguing, Dante used his dagger to assist me. He presented it and I wiped my arm on the dull side of the blade. He used it to pry open latches as we worked down the line together.
As we got to the lower levels, my claw trick stopped working to free the prisoners, but I saw why.
“Are these the monsters you hunted?” I asked Dante.
He grunted in reply. “Yeah. I captured a lot of these, and they’re actually dangerous, so I wouldn’t try to free them, not until we have some proper backup, anyway.”
A part of me wanted to break the cages, because no matter how dark or lost these “monsters” might be, I could relate to them. They all just wanted to be loved, to be understood, and to have a purpose in their lives.
Rotting in a cell was a poor purpose, to say the least.
I made a mental note to free them once it was safe, because regardless of my own feelings about it, Dante was right. Once they woke up, they’d attack anyone in their way no matter our intentions.
Orion walked on ahead of us, his glow fighting against the dark fog that was starting to make me feel sleepy.
“We need to hurry,” he said. “I think Cole has everyone passed out down here. The closed space gives the fog denser concentration.”
“Then we’ll just have to burn it out.” I lit a fireball in my hand that sputtered against the fog. I had trouble burning through it, but with enough concentration I was able to forge a path through to the final door.
My heart jumped when I felt Kaito on the other side. I pulled out the handkerchief with the Founder’s blood on it. Runes along the door reacted and a click sounded on the other side, leaving only a few drops left on the cloth. It would be good only one more time.
I waited a moment, the silence becoming deafening, until the door finally eased open under my touch.
“Kaito?” I ventured, only to find my mentor crouched in a corner of the small cell. Red, glowing eyes watched us and dared us to approach.
“I don’t think they’ve let him out since we got back from Hell,” Dante warned as he stepped in front of me. “Hey, Kaito. Buddy. It’s us.”
An inhuman snarl came from my tortured Virtue and my heart twisted.
“It’s the fog,” Orion whispered. “Burn it out of this cell so he can breathe some clean air. It’s infected him.”
Out of all my Virtues, Kaito had the most secrets and he held a grudge like no tomorrow. He’d be particularly susceptible to Cole’s influence.
With my help, I’d free him from it.
I fueled my power into the fireball in my hand, but it sputtered and writhed against the fog that continued to push down against us. Kaito growled, taking the attempt to be a threat.
Orion placed one hand on my arm. “Use me,” he offered. “Pull my strength into you like you’ve done before.”
I concentrated, using my succubus powers to take just a sliver of energy from Orion without harming his soul within. It worked and his sunlight poured over my arm and into my body, fueling the fire even hotter.
Dante rested a hand on my other wrist. “Me as well.” His orange eyes glowed as I carefully searched him and found his magical energy. He didn’t have as much to offer as Orion, but that was my fault for leaving him to stew alone with Hendrik and all of his rage.
The darkness in the room slowly dissipated until Kaito seemed to register who we were. He straightened and shook his head, regaining a familiar sense of poise and authority despite his wrecked appearance. “Lily?” he asked, rubbing his temple. “Where am I?”
I released the power back into my body, jolting Orion and Dante away as I ran to my mentor and wrapped my arms around his neck, giving him a long kiss.
He kissed me back without hesitation, putting a hold on his confusion and his weariness because right now, I was all that mattered.
I knew that because I felt it in the mate-bond that jerked to life.
Only… something pulled back in retaliation the instant I tried to connect to my mates.
Kaito released me from our kiss. The silver tattoo running up his cheek glowed with faint power. “What was that?” he asked, keeping his voice low as he scanned the dark room.
Orion and Dante crowded in on us, Dante holding up his dagger at the ready. “I felt it too,” the Hunter said. “The demon isn’t very happy you’re messing with his compulsion. He wants us to fight against one another and devour ourselves with our rage, but you’re not playing by the rules.”
“No I’m not,” I agreed, propping my hands on my hips. “And I’m going to find him right now and face him, because this shit is getting old. We’re not his enemies and it’s time he sees that. The only reason he has access to the mate-bond in the first place is because he’s one of my mates, too.”
Orion stepped in front of me, blocking me from the exit.
I glowered up at the giant bastard. “Move,” I ordered.
“The mate-bond is healing,” Orion said, pressing one warm hand to my shoulder that sent a tingling sensation through my body.
“You’ve figured out Cole’s weakness that’s been pushing us all apart.
If he doesn’t want to be a part of the mate-circle, then maybe he shouldn’t be.
If we regrouped, we could face the Dean without him. ”
“No,” I stated firmly, leaving no room for debate. “Cole is one of my Virtues too, and I’m not leaving him behind whether you think we need him or not.”
“He’s a monster,” Kaito said. “A true monster. He’s not redeemable.”
I glowered. “Really, Kaito? Out of all of us I thought you’d be one to understand.”
“Sounds like she’s made up her mind,” Dante lamented. “I’d let her go.”
“Understand?” Kaito asked, drifting one hand to my hip even as anger wafted like a flame under his skin. “He’s dangerous, Koneko-chan, and powerful. Cole’s been using me to get to the rest of your Virtues. So forgive me if I don’t understand.”
“Like a freaking antenna,” Dante remarked with a sneer. “No wonder he could get into my head so easily.” He jabbed Kaito in the shoulder. “Thanks a lot. You could have stopped him.”
My mentor snarled, his eyes flaring with that inner rage that Cole had tapped into.
“You don’t think I tried to fight him? I’ve been down here for six months with barely any food or water all while you’ve been dicking around on campus.
” He shoved Dante back, although in his current state he didn’t have enough strength to physically move the Hunter. “Did you even try coming for me?”
“Of course we did,” I said, holding onto his arm and wishing I could wipe away the past six months. I’d known that he’d been holed up in the Monster Arena, but I had no idea it was this bad. “There was no way to get to you.”
“We don’t have time for this,” Orion reminded us, his booming voice leaving no room for debate. He grabbed my wrist and yanked it up. “You’ve made a deal with the devil, sweetheart, and time is almost up.”
My Virtues surrounded me as I followed the slight tug toward Cole. Setting him free was the right thing to do, but now that I was about to go through with it, my stomach wouldn’t freaking stop with the jitters.
I stopped when we reached the end of a tunnel that had the worst of the fog. Even my fireball trick didn’t do much to dissipate the mist.
“I can’t see a damn thing,” Orion complained as the darkness overwhelmed his light.
“There are three doors,” Kaito observed. “I suspect this is the last safeguard in place to keep intruders from attempting to tamper with the demon’s prison. Two of these are fakes.”
I held up my handkerchief that had only a speck of blood left on it. “We only get one shot,” I said as I tried to keep my eyes open.
The fog wanted me to sleep, but not just that. It wanted me to enter a dream I’d never escape, one where Cole could infiltrate my mind and finish what he’d started.
Fighting the urge to close my eyes, I surveyed each door and tried to find a clue I was missing.
“They all look the same,” I complained. I ran my fingers over each one, feeling a cold sense of nothingness on the other side that masked which one held Cole captive.
“Use the mate-bond,” Dante suggested. “If he can get to us, you should be able to reverse it.”
I closed my eyes and released a long breath.
It didn’t matter. I sensed Kaito, Orion, and Dante, as well as my other Virtues on campus.
Logan had sensed something was up and was on his way here.
While I appreciated his concern, I didn’t want the wolf to get caught up in this, not when there wasn’t anything he could do.
Hendrik was also aware of our situation and he sent snaps of energy through the bond, punishing me for even thinking of freeing Cole. He joined the wolf on their mission to stop me from making what they thought was a huge mistake, which was exactly why I hadn’t brought them with me.
I suspected that Melinda had told the Dean about us by now, which meant she’d be on her way too.
Now was the time to act. Now was the time to set my final Virtue free.
Trusting my gut, I went to the door on the left and started to raise the handkerchief, but Kaito rushed in and stopped me. “Not this one,” he said, panting as if he fought for breath.
“What?” I asked.
He pointed to the opposite door. “It’s that one.”
“How do you know?” I asked, not fully ready to trust him. “If you’re messing with me I’ll—”
“I’m not,” he insisted, gripping my arms and walking me back a step.
“Look, I don’t agree with your decision, Koneko-chan, but I believe in you.
” He turned me around so that I faced the door.
“I am a demon, which means Cole and I are more similar than I care to admit. You were right when you said I should have understood, even if I’m not ready to forgive him.
Even if I never forgive him. It doesn’t matter.
This isn’t about me. You are my mate and this is what you want, so this is what I will help you achieve.
” He leaned in and kissed my neck, his lips brushing my ear as he lingered and waited for me to open the door.
I held my breath as I raised the cloth and I watched as the blood vanished before my eyes, sending the runes flaming with Hellfire as the door opened.
And the demon from my nightmares waited for me on the other side.