Chapter 31 #3
Apart from the rattle of the HVAC system, silence reigned over the Realm.
“Harry didn’t see anything about our escape?” In response to Gwen’s grim headshake, Hugh sighed. “I know you can’t predict your own futures, but I was hoping for an exception.”
That would have been entirely too convenient.
Instead, their troop continued forging through the Realm without any guidance other than instinct and common sense.
And although they passed rooms that appeared to be in current use, the group still didn’t encounter a single living soul as they searched for the courtroom.
“This is freaking creepy,” Matilda muttered, and Gwen had to agree.
At long last, as she was beginning to lose faith that they’d locate their rendezvous point in time, the halls abruptly widened into an atrium of sorts, with light pouring through a translucent dome high above and onto flourishing flowers and plants.
The white marble statue standing watch over the tableau bore a very distinctive shape.
Gwen halted and leaned into Hugh. “Is that…naked, sexy Satan?”
If so, Satan looked pouty. Also pristinely gorgeous and surprisingly muscular.
“Satan doesn’t exist.” Hugh spoke quietly, with the long-suffering tone of a demon who’d frequently had to explain why his species didn’t exemplify evil, despite what certain human traditions said. “Death does, however. And he looks like…that.”
She blinked at the marble statue’s very impressive thighs. “Wowza.”
Hugh’s resigned expression had turned into more of a scowl, and she decided to change the subject. “This seems like a more public area. Do you think we’re near the courtroom?”
“If what I’ve heard is correct, it should be right…” Hugh nodded toward the set of double doors directly opposite pouty, sexy Death. “There.”
She lifted their joined hands to check his elegant watch. “We’re five minutes early.”
“Yes. Perfect timing.” He turned to face the group, gesturing for them to move in close. “The courtroom is just ahead. If the demon teleporter is inside when we enter, Gwen and Jing-Jing will leave with him, and Gwen will recruit more demons to rescue the rest of us.”
The group didn’t appear thrilled by his whispered plan. To be fair, Gwen wasn’t thrilled about it either, but she’d given her word to Hugh, and she kept her promises.
The lines across his forehead deepened as he spotted the oracles’ deflated expressions. “I apologize for not recruiting more help before my arrival in the Realm. I wasn’t certain how much longer Gwen would remain safe, and I was loath to wait any longer before finding her.”
“You’re staying with us, though?” Timon set his fists on his narrow hips. “Even after Gwen and Jing-Jing leave?”
Hugh inclined his head. “I’ll fight to save all of you, and I won’t leave here until everyone is aboveground and accounted for. I promise.”
Apparently that vow assuaged any nascent ill will.
Timon’s hands dropped to his sides, and he gave Hugh a small, tight smile while the others straightened their shoulders and offered the demon councilor murmured thank-yous.
To Gwen’s surprise, no one even contested her selection as a first-wave escapee.
Matilda, apparently able to read Gwen’s guilt-stricken face, lightly elbowed her former classmate.
“Hey, no worries, Gwennie. That demon came for you, so to speak”—more elbowing, accompanied by a very ostentatious, very embarrassing wink—“and we all know it. We’re just glad he’s honorable enough to care about the rest of us too. ”
Matilda’s hand wave indicated Gwen’s belly. “Besides, rescuing you is kind of a two-for-one deal. No one can resist a bargain, am I right?”
“I’m so sorry,” Gwen whispered, still sickened by the prospect of abandoning the others.
Matilda’s brief, hard hug caught Gwen by surprise. “Don’t be.”
They fell silent as Hugh led the way to the courtroom. Visibly bracing himself, he grasped the intricately carved, patina-darkened doors’ thick iron handles and pushed inward.
He leaned forward to peek inside. “I don’t see—”
The handles were ripped from his grasp as both doors flew wide, revealing…
Not the demon transporter.
Josiah, smiling. Marlee, stone-faced, her gaze directed somewhere behind the group.
Panicked, her thundering heart lodged in her too-tight throat, Gwen twisted around to see two guards standing braced to their rear, their weapons drawn. Since bullets traveled faster than oracles did, there would be no escape back into the hallways.
“I’m delighted to meet you in my true form at last, Hugh.” Josiah waved the group forward. “Please, come inside, all of you.”
“Well, damn.” Jing-Jing sighed and shuffled into the courtroom with the others. “He found us. We’re truly in our flop era now.”
“No cap,” Timon agreed.
The bright hope blossoming within Gwen had withered to dust. Hugh squeezed her hand comfortingly as they walked through the doors side by side, his brows drawn as he tried to think his way out of their predicament.
The guards followed them inside, shutting the doors with a definitive thud.
And with that, they were trapped. Again.