Waltzing into Damnation

by Rita Stradling

  I lean away, but the tongue flicks back.

  “You want to hear something very irritating to me?” Lamira hisses. “Now that Andras’ order is finally lifted, Satan orders me to protect you. Your guts would look so very pretty hanging around my neck, but alas . . . I’d like to kill you so very much.”

  “Back at cha’,” I say as my heart sinks in my broken ribcage. It seems Andras’ protection lifted as soon as he turned human. “If your orders are to protect me—you probably can’t hurt me, can you?”

  “I can’t kill you, Birdie,” Lamira hisses.

  That’s a demon non-answer if I’ve ever heard one.

  I wrap my hands around my waist, concealing the shard of obsidian in the guise of holding my broken ribs. With my free hand, I point down to Cassidy, whose transforming body has slowly ripped through her clothing and tactical gear, revealing the lioness. “If you carry Cassidy and promise not to harm her in any way whatsoever for the remainder of her life, I’ll go with you without a fight.”

  Chauncey tilts her bald, scaly head, considering me with glowing red eyes. “I’ll promise not to harm her as I walk from here to there.”

  “No.”

  “All right,” she says on a sigh. “One hour. Take it. You don’t look like you could put up much of a fight.”

  “You’re right, it would be really easy to kill me right now, as not only do I have several broken ribs, I’m vomiting a lot of blood, which means I was already internally bleeding before I had broken bits of bone shard in me.”

  She glares down at me as her nails scratch along her thick, scaly legs. “Twenty-four hours, and you have to be able to walk all the way to the throne without falling, or the deal is off. That is my final offer, or I’ll take my chances and kill her first before carrying you to Satan’s throne.”

  “Deal . . . you have a deal,” I rush to say.

  “Try not to trip,” she hisses as she crouches over Cassidy’s prone form, which is now completely a lioness. Lamira lifts Cassidy as easily as if the lion is a sleeping toddler. The demoness stands, cradling Cassidy, though the lioness weighs easily twice as much as the gaunt scaled-demon. Swerving her neck in a graceful, inhuman movement, Lamira snaps her fangs. “After you.”

  Gritting my teeth, I step away from the twisted pillar. Every movement sends strikes of pain throughout my whole body. Blackness creeps in around the corners of my vision as my stomach squeezes into a painful knot. Blood surges in my mouth again, but I swallow it down and keep putting one foot after the other.

  The uneven rock surface I walk on attempts to trip me with every step.

  Before the throne in the distance, demons amass on the parade of imprisoned souls out of seemingly nowhere. They climb out of cracks in the ground and dive out of the air, herding the bedraggled bodies away.

  But the throne sits empty.

  I quickly check the cages, seeing both Stephen and the other man I hope against hope is Andras still dangle imprisoned there. The man inside the second cage doesn’t move. Kneeling on his knees, his dark hair falls before his head, blocking his features from view.

  I look across to the other cage, knowing Stephen is peering across the distance at me, but I’m almost terrified at what I’ll find there. Sea blue eyes meet mine, and somehow the crushing pain in my chest eases and my heart batters at its broken cage.

  I miss a step and throw out my hands to catch my balance.

  When I look back up, I find Stephen still watching me. It takes me a moment to realize his face has changed. Where a scar once bisected his cheek, he has only smooth skin. His face now has two matching sides. He looks the exact same and completely different than the Stephen I know.

  His hands wrap around the rusted metal bars as he leans his head out between them. He fits his body so differently than Andras, the slump of his shoulders, the sad smile sitting on his now even lips.

  “Run,” he mouths. “It’s a trap.”

  My lip trembles, and something wet drops onto my cheek, immediately sizzling into steam.

  A tear, I realize.

  I just cried a tear.

  Focusing back on my footing, I know there’s no way in all of hell I’m going to run away from this trap. I’m walking straight into it. My tears fall to sizzle midair like drops of water on a frying pan. The wails grow louder, and I look up, knowing I’m drawing near to the throne.

  Around us, the chained souls funnel past, trudging between the obsidian columns to some unknown destination. Shrieking and moaning, they seem completely oblivious to us. They notice the demons that dive bomb them, though.

  Slowly, I look up into the unoccupied throne.

  Glancing back at Lamira and Cassidy, I start to reassess my predicament. Maybe this would work. If I get Cassidy to Stephen, perhaps I could just stick my hand through the bottom of the cage and grab his foot.

  “Where’s Satan?” Lamira’s hiss seems to echo around the vast space, even though it defies the laws of acoustics.

  A familiar form emerges from the shadows to the side of Satan’s throne. Barbas. He walks between one cage and the throne’s high stone hand rest, running his fingers along both.

  He looks even taller and more muscular here. His skin and eyes gleam like molten gold as if he’s a walking statue. No wonder he’s so prideful; he’s literally a lion made of gold.

  A small smile lights onto the corner of his full lips. “Elena.” The word sends a chill through my whole body, like I’ve heard it purred that way before, but only in my nightmares. “I knew you would come.”

  “That’s not my name,” I tell him, my voice a cracked, ragged mess compared to his.

  Reaching up, Barbas lazily rocks the unknown man’s cage back and forth.

  Finally, the man lifts his head. His dark hair falls back to reveal a face both familiar and strange. He looks halfway between an angel and a rock star, with chiseled, bold features, surrounded by dark waves of hair. His hazel eyes stare right at me, asking a question I don’t know the answer to.

  “I always preferred Elena to Raven,” Barbas said as he absently rocks the man’s cage. “Which do you like better, Andras?”

  “Raven,” the man in the cage rasps as he stares straight at me.

  Andras.

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Day Four

  Andras. The name hits me in my already shattered chest.

  No.

  Consciously, I had known if we had truly dragged Stephen down here, it was more than likely we dragged Andras too. But something in me held on to hope until this moment. It’s bad enough I dragged two people to Hell, but in Andras’ moment of redemption, I dragged him to hell with me.

  “Where is Satan?” Lamira stops and lays Cassidy next to me on the stone, surprisingly gentle.

  Barbas waves a hand toward me, almost lazy in the movement. “Satan isn’t here, Lamira. My legions led him on quite the chase, and he’s currently trapped on the other side of Hell. And I came here directly,” he says this with a smile at me. “You may no longer bear my mark, Elena, but I always know where my Cassidy is. Your trick didn’t fool me for a second.”

  I touch my ear as the implications of what Barbas said sets in. I no longer bear his mark, and I probably don’t bear either of Andras’ anymore as he’s no longer a demon. I’m guessing that this was probably why my vision from Räum’s mark was so weak—all I had seen was a glimmer of shining stone. I had no idea what it meant. I’m no longer four times or even three times marked.

  From all around us, hundreds of wolves, bears, and lions stalk forward. Saying they look like animals wouldn’t even be close to accurate, as giant glowing eyes glare out from faces baring far too many teeth. Among the demonic creatures stand humanoid demons like Barbas, though their faces morph, bones shifting under their skin as their teeth elongate. They climb out of the cracks in the stone and fly down on feathered wings.

  Lamira spins around, baring her teeth. Her voice changes into that syrupy sweet tone I’ve come to despise so much. “Am
I supposed to be impressed with your puny army, Barbas? Come all this way to steal from your lord? How very pathetic.”

  “Step away from them, Limira . . .” Barbas raises a gleaming golden brow, “or I’ll show you just how little my army is against your battalion of one.”

  Looking between Cassidy and me, Limira bares her claws but doesn’t attack. She can’t attack, I realize. Thank all that’s holy.

  When she turns back, I take the opportunity to crouch over Cassidy.

  “Cassidy, are you okay?” I reach for the cheek Limira didn’t punch.

  Cassidy’s eye peeks open, fixes on me, and then she nods toward Stephen ever so slightly.

  “It’s more complicated now. Andras is in the other cage.”

  Cassidy shakes her head, and her eye slips closed again. She might not be able to talk, but Cassidy’s message is clear: the plan hasn’t changed with the knowledge that Andras is here. We’re getting Stephen out and leaving Andras behind. At least the plan hasn’t changed according to her.

  Pressing my hand into the stone, I catch my breath, ignoring the pain shooting through me.

  “Lamira, daughter of serpents. Spymaster. Riot rouser. Thief of Souls.” Barbas coos, “There’s a place for you in my army. You have so many secrets in that complicated mind of yours—and they are so well-guarded. All of Andras’ legions positions, their weaknesses and strengths, a network of traitors…”

  Lamira giggles. “You’re so funny, Barbas. But no . . .” The amusement drops from her voice. “I keep that information for Satan, not some lowly president with ambitions far above what he deserves.” She skips forward and away from the predators that close in around us. “If we don’t deliver Satan the kleis tou thanatou kai tou adou, there will be no Earth to fight over, kitty-cat.”

  Barbas yawns, his mouth stretching far too wide for a human. He leans a shoulder into the side of the stone throne, knocking his knuckles against it. “How wrong you are, Lamira. Once Raven Smith gives me the kleis tou thanatou kai tou adou—after my armies pass through, of course—I simply need to close all the seals of Solomon. The angels will leave once Satan has no access to Earth.”

  “After they kill you all,” Lamira adds with a shrug.

  “Except we blend in ever so well with the wildlife. Earth will be mine. Do you really think I am so dumb as not to see right through Satan’s empty offer of giving me Earth while he possesses the key? How long would my rule last when all demons can walk on the Earth?”

  Lamira sighs. “Well . . . how long do you think your rule will last after Satan skins you alive? I do hear it is so very, very painful, sugar plum.”

  Around us, the predators stalk closer.

  “You are so doggedly loyal, Lamira, even though you know when my soldiers eat you alive, Satan will barely notice you’re dead. How many secrets you’ve given him, how many times you’ve died for him, only to be given another assignment. What has your dogged loyalty won you, Limira? Not station or rank. Nothing but more work.” He knocks lazily against the throne again. “You really should consider joining us.” Barbas turns to his army. “She’s going to attack me and then fly to release Satan.”

  Lamira’s wings extend as she lunges for Barbas. She doesn’t even get halfway there before a winged tiger intercepts her, its overextended jaws wrapping around her neck. Lamira claws at the tiger, her feet raking long gashes down the creature’s belly, but the tiger doesn’t release her. Blue blood drips from its jaws as he shakes his head, and an audible cracking sound comes as her neck twists at an unnatural angle. The tiger circles in the air, flapping his golden wings before descending back into the army with Lamira’s still struggling form. They disappear into the crowd, and the predators on all sides fall upon where Lamira must be.

  The cracking and crunching of eating sound out, and I can’t help gagging. My stomach squeezes, threatening to throw up probably more blood . . . or internal organs at this point. In many ways, the demon that inhabited Chauncey was my greatest threat for the last couple years, so determined was she to see me and everyone I cared about suffer. Yet, for some reason, I take absolutely no pleasure in her being eaten alive by Barbas’ army.

  “Elena . . . or should I call you the devil's whore? I was the first to name you that.” Barbas crosses the distance, and everything in me wants to run.

  Something in his words frighten me more than anything else that’s been spoken.

  “Hampus Leijonskjöld,” I realize as my whole body shakes, but I’m not sure if it’s from my body giving out or the deep terror that overwhelms me. “He wasn’t hearing voices telling him to kill me. . .”

  “Oh, he was hearing voices—every night I would whisper into his head, hinting to him that you were a witch that must hang.” Barbas pauses just at the end of the stone dais, his gaze burning into mine. “I’d tell him to find you and kill you himself, but he lacked the courage.”

  Flashes of my final dream of Elena fill my head. The image of Hampus stalking me through the castle and holding a knife to my throat plays through my mind—it was the day I finally gained the courage to abandon everything and everyone I knew.

  “I knew Andras’ secret, you see. The Leijonskjöld descended from angels, they descended from Andras’ mother, Gaderel. Andras let them thrive. He refused to kill them even when their core mission was to destroy him. Again and again, he had the opportunity to obliterate them from the face of the Earth, and always he failed. While Andras was on assignment in Leijonskjöld Slott, I was given that one chance to possess Hampus Leijonskjöld and prove how unfit Andras was for Earth, and you destroyed everything I worked for, Elena.” He bares a mouthful of fangs. “Thus, I don’t feel very lenient today. So, I’m only going to offer you a choice between one of their lives . . .” Barbas twirls the finger of his free hand between the two cages hanging from Satan’s throne. “Pick the one who lives in exchange for the keys to Death and Hades.”

  I look up at the cage that holds Andras. Between the bars, he watches me intently. In his gaze, I see a strong resignation. He expects me to pick Stephen.

  Slowly, I look over to Stephen, finding him mouthing words, but they’re so hard to read. I shake my head ever so slightly.

  He pauses and mouths, ‘Can you hear me?’

  I shake my head again.

  ‘No deal,’ he mouths as his blue eyes meet mine. In their deep blue expanse, I see another type of resignation. It’s the type of resignation a person has on their face when they need to fold their cards after betting everything they have. It’s the kind of resignation a person would wear as they walk out to their executioner.

  “I trust you,” I mouth back as I keep Stephen’s gaze. And then I say, “No deal, Barbas.”

  “What did you say?” Barbas growls. “You want them both to die?”

  “Oh, you thought I was here to make a deal, Barbas . . .” I shake my head and then glare up at his sneering face. “No, I’m here to gloat.”

  He makes no response as his gaze darts about from me to Cassidy to his army in clear consternation and confusion. His mocking smile drops to be replaced with a scowl.

  “Please do explain yourself,” Barbas says as he scratches his neck absently.

  “Hell is killing all of us pretty fast. We all have tickets on the express train out of here.” I gesture out. “You obviously need my permission to take the keys. If you didn’t, you would have stuck around when you had me trapped in that pit—but no, you went to try to find Andras and Stephen. Meaning: you need some sort of leverage over me, as you’re not willing to kill Cassidy. And I just realized something else: I’m not bound to purgatory. Andras’ power is gone—” I cut off in a wince as my ribs scream out in a new bout of pain. But I manage to finish off with, “You’re screwed.”

  Barbas descends the stairs, talons growing and protruding out of his bare feet to click over the stone as he comes to stand before me. “They have life in them still, and I will torture your friends to death.”

  I lick my cracked and bleeding
lips, finding the strength within me to stand tall and glare into his electric gaze. “No, you won’t do that.” I grip the obsidian stone tighter. “Only one person here needs to die so the Angels can win, and I have the means to make that happen. As soon as the angels have me, all the humans get evacuated. I’m not making a deal with you. Game over.”

  “Elena, I can give you everything you’ve ever wanted. Adventure. Travel. The monuments of the world will belong to you. You can pick one of these two men to spend this life with—”

  “No.” I shake my head. “No. All I’ve ever wanted was a normal life with the people I love, and you could never give me that. Stop wasting your breath. It’s over.” Stepping around him, I head toward the dais. Stephen crouches down to the bottom of his cage, holding his arm through.

  Before I can make it to him, a demonic polar bear breaks formation with the army and steps in my path. He opens his mouth, and they elongate to a fur covered alligator snout. A growl rips from him.

  Barbas leaps up beside me, landing in a crouch. His face morphs into an expression of rage. Fire licks over his skin and hair. “I’m not finished!”

  “I am.” I almost laugh the words. “I’m done playing demon games. No more deals, no more marks. If you wanted me to be weak, Barbas, you shouldn’t have put me through hell. Now get out of my way so I can hold Stephen’s hand at the end.” Gritting my teeth, I beg anyone who may possibly still be looking out for me that Barbas won’t see the cracks in my statements.

  “Get them out,” Barbas growls.

  Immediately, demons that look like a cross between human and praying mantises fly out of the army, landing on Andras and Stephen’s cages. As the cages rock wildly, the insect creatures jam their spindly fingers in the locks. Loud clunks resound, and the bug-men dive away.

  The rusty cages creak open. Both Stephen and Andras stare at their open cages like it’s some sort of trick, which I’m sure it is.

  The fire on Barbas extinguishes as a slow smile spreads across his lips. “Walk out, Elena, if you’re so ready to let your friends die a slow, torturous death. They will not go so easily as Lamira. Or better yet, why don’t you slit your own throat with the shard of Obsidian you’re hiding in your hand?”