by Bea Paige
No time to think of stuff like that.
“I need more light!” I shout to no one in particular, but someone’s listening. The glow around us increases until I can see the wound in more detail than I would have liked. It’s a gaping hole in his shoulder, much larger than the arrow should have been able to cause. Dark blood is oozing from it, running down his arm and pooling in a threatening puddle around him.
“Plutus!”
He doesn’t respond. His eyes are shut, but his face is torn into a grimace of pain. I take off my shirt and press it on his wound, hoping that it’ll stem the blood flow somewhat. If until now I have doubting whether he was real or not, the feel of his wet skin beneath my fingers dispels all such doubts.
I shot Plutus.
I may have killed him.
If Meg hadn’t made me murder my innocence already, I would have lost it now anyway. For all the terrible things Luke made me do, I never had to kill anyone. My soul was grey, but not black.
Now, I can feel the darkness seep into it. Where in Hell do the murderers reside? I better take a good look at it cause that is where I’ll end up.
Plutus groans and my eyes flicker to his face, searching for a sign that he’s awake.
“Plutus?”
No reaction. I don’t know why I do it, but I bend down and press my mouth on his. It’s impulse, instinct, sin.
His lips are hard and dry, not like Maro’s soft and subtle ones. I kiss him, desperately, not wanting to let him go. He can’t die.
He groans again and slowly, his lips begin to move. He’s returning my kiss. I pull back, wanting to let him breathe, but he slings an arm around me, holding me in place. How does he suddenly get the strength to move? A moment ago, he was lying there, dying, now he’s kissing me passionately, his tongue nudging my lips to open, his arm touching my back possessively.
I let him in, opening my mouth, meeting his tongue with mine, tasting him. I close my eyes, focussing on his touch, on the hope that is spreading in my chest. Maybe he isn’t dying after all.
Suddenly, something sharp touches my bottom lip. I wince and pull back in surprise, opening my eyes to look at what cut me. Plutus stares back at me, his eyes yellow, his pupils large and black. His expression is changing, turning wilder the longer he looks at me. The intensity of his gaze is pulling me in, making me want to kiss him again, forever.
He opens his mouth, exposing the glistening fangs that have grown where his incisors were before.
“Get back,” he growls, his teeth lengthening even further. His eyes tell me not to leave, and so does my heart, but I realise that something is happening, something big, and I need to keep my distance. I rip myself away from him, getting up and stumbling backwards a few steps.
“I love when he does that,” Meg says, suddenly behind me. “It’s so masculine.”
“What the Hell are you talking about?” I ask, annoyed at how she seems to be ogling Plutus. It’s almost as if I’m jealous, but I shouldn’t be. I don’t really know him, and while I may have kissed him, that was just to… well. Mouth to mouth, perhaps?
“Watch, you’re missing the best bit,” the Fury says in excitement and I look just in time to see Plutus’s thick leather jeans rip apart. Wow. I didn’t expect that. I didn’t expect him to hunch over and turn into a wolf, either.
A massive, giant, dark wolf with legs almost as tall as me. His eyes are glowing bright yellow, reminding me of the angelic glow Maro had back on Earth.
“You didn’t think they called him ‘wolf’ for no reason, did you?” Meg chuckles and puts an arm around my shoulders. “Let’s go back, he’ll follow.”
The blackness around us convulses, embracing us before spitting us out again, back in front of the gates of the City of Dis.
Chapter 17
Ceb is the first to greet me. He strides over, picks me up in his muscular arms and crushes me against his chest. I can barely breathe.
“Put her down,” Maro says. His voice is clipped, brittle.
Ceb heeds his order and settles me back on my feet. His eyes rove over me as he takes in my appearance. Seemingly satisfied, he gives me a wink. But I can’t even smile. I can’t even look at him, not after what I’ve done. I drop my gaze to the stony ground.
“You alright?” Ceb asks gently. He lifts my chin forcing my eyes to meet his.
“No,” I murmur.
“Just give her space to breath. Ciera doesn’t need you smothering her,” Maro snaps.
“No need to be so short, Maro. Just checking she’s still in one piece. You know as well as I do what the Furies are capable of.”
Ceb drops his hand, and I almost, almost, take a step into his arms. But I don’t deserve his comfort. I don’t deserve anything.
Maro gazes at me briefly, but it’s long enough for me to see his anger. He knows what I’ve done. He knows what I’ve lost.
“This is all really touching, but I could do with a hand,” Plutus says from behind us.
I look over my shoulder, relief colouring my vision for the moment. He’s no longer in wolf form but he is completely and utterly naked. I avert my eyes, but not before I see pity in his.
Fuck. It wasn’t all a bad dream. I shot him with an arrow, which must mean I shot Noella and… Well, I can’t think about that last part. I can’t.
Forcing myself back in the moment I look beyond Plutus. Meg is nowhere to be seen and neither are the two other Furies. In fact, all the angels lining the city wall seem to have disappeared too.
“You’re naked and covered in blood, mate,” Ceb says, stating the obvious.
“That’s right, Einstein.” Plutus rolls his eyes, then winces as he takes a step towards us.
“What happened to your shoulder?” Maro asks. If I didn’t know him well enough, I would think he cared. He glances at me, then back at Plutus. Neither of us answer him.
“What the fuck happened?” he demands.
“Ciera shot me with her arrow,” Plutus explains. He doesn’t appear cross, just resigned. It’s as though he’s done this kind of thing before.
Ceb whistles. “So that’s what Meg got you to do. She’s a first-class bitc---”
“Shut your mouth, Berus. Do you want the gates to slam shut? Look,” Maro points to the city’s entrance. The gates are wide open. Beyond I can see people milling around, just like in any city. It doesn’t look very hellish, but then again, if there’s one thing I’ve learnt in Hell, it’s that looks can be very deceiving.
“You turned into a wolf,” I blurt out, my eyes roving over Plutus’ body. I can’t help but notice the size of his manhood. I mean for crying out loud, that thing is dangerous. Heat fills my belly at the memory of our kiss and the hunger that had blazed in his eyes.
“You seem surprised?” Plutus laughs, then sucks in a breath at the pain it causes him.
I wince, watching the blood seep through his hand. “I’m sorry. I had no choice.”
“We both know that’s not true. I don’t blame you for it, Ciera. You did what you had to do,” he replies.
“Are you bleeding still? I mean, do we need to get you a doctor or something? Are there doctors down here?” I ramble, knowing how stupid that sounds.
Ceb chuckles. “No doctors. Unless you count Jack the Ripper…”
“He’s down here?” My mouth drops open in shock. I remember the history lessons at school and the gross images of women carved into pieces. One theory was that he was a royal physician. Could that actually be true?
“Well, he’s hardly going to be in Heaven now is he?” Maro practically snarls. “He murdered people, Ciera. That’s a boundary crossed. A soul doesn’t get any darker than that. He’s in the lowest circle of Hell because of it.” Maro stares at me meaningfully.
“What?” I bristle, feeling immediately defensive. I’m a murderer now too. I’m pretty sure I killed Noella, and I know I killed the goodness within myself. It ran out of me, hot and thick, only five minutes ago.
“Come on. Let’s get int
o the city before the Furies change their minds and close the damn gates,” Maro says. He doesn’t bother to glance my way as he strides off towards the entrance. My heart should feel heavy. Instead, I just feel empty. I no longer feel whole. It’s as though a swirling pit of darkness has taken hold in my chest and I am getting closer and closer to falling in its depths.
Sighing, I follow Maro through the gates of the city. I want to tell him that I had no choice. I had to do it for Tris. Everything I do is for her. Always for her. My misery is a small price to pay to save her soul.
“Don’t worry about Maro, he’ll come around. He’s an angel, he won’t stay mad for long,” Ceb says, falling in step beside me.
“You’re kidding, right?” Plutus laughs, keeping up with our pace despite the obvious pain he is in. “Maro is about as angelic as those fuckers up there.”
He points upwards. The fallen angels have returned as sentries on top of the wall. They eye us with vague interest as we step into the city. The air seems thicker here. It smells of smoke and ash. It smells like the blood that poured away from my chest.
“Maro needs to fucking own up,” he continues.
“What do you mean, Plutus? Just spit it out. All this vaguebooking. Just tell me what you know or shut the hell up. I’m sick of hearing your shit!” I snap, the whirling darkness whipping up a storm inside me.
Plutus grunts some remark under his breath, but still doesn’t elaborate. Good. I’m done with playing pawn between him and Maro. I don’t know what their issue is, and frankly, I don’t want to know. They both might kiss like a fucking god, but that doesn’t mean I should treat them like such. Ceb snorts, amused by my outburst. I glare at him and he soon shuts up too.
The four of us pass through the gates into the City of Dis. I’m not sure what I’m more surprised by, the unremarkable look of it, or the fact that there is a damn pub with a flashing neon sign saying “Highway to Hell”.
“Is that a joke?” I ask, pointing to the pub. All of a sudden I’ve got quite the thirst on.
“No joke, Ciera. Fancy getting pissed?” Ceb asks, a mischievous look on his face.
Frankly, I could use a drink. I could use several. If fucking Jack the Ripper is down here, then I’m going to need as much dutch courage as possible to get through the next circle of Hell.
“Well, Plutus really needs to put some clothes on before he pokes someone’s eye out with that,” I say, pointing to his manhood. “And I could use a drink. So, sure let’s do this.” I stride towards the pub, leaving Ceb and Plutus chuckling behind me.
It’s unremarkable inside the pub. I don’t know what I was expecting, but a couple of old dudes nursing half a pint and a buxom blonde at the bar wasn’t it.
“Ah, Plutus, long time no see. Looks like you need some of my healing tonic,” the blonde laughs, pouring a triple shot of whisky into a glass. She smiles slowly, her scarlet lips full and sexy.
Plutus saunters over to the bar. His swagger is ridiculous. I must admit, I do enjoy the rear end view, though I’d never tell him that. He leans over, plants a kiss on the barmaid’s cheek, then downs the shot before wandering off to a room behind the bar.
“Where’s he going?” I ask Ceb, who’s taken a seat at a grimy table next to me. He picks up a beer mat and twiddles with it.
“To get some damn clothes, I hope.”
“Hmm, looks like the barmaid is going to give him a hand with that,” I mumble as I watch her follow him across the pub. A streak of jealousy jabs at my heart, but I push it away. We’ve shared a kiss in a moment of stress. So what? It doesn’t have to mean anything. It certainly doesn’t seem to mean anything to him, given the sounds of giggles I hear from the back room.
“Better get myself a drink then,” Ceb says, pushing back the chair and standing. “What can I get you?”
“Something strong.” Something that will numb the damn pain.
Ceb nods his head and leaps over the bar in one smooth motion. He starts pulling bottles from the shelf and knocking back mouthfuls in between pouring. He’s like bloody Tom Cruise in Cocktail, except he’s twice the size with a ginger beard and turns into a hellhound when the moment takes him.
“I need a moment to talk to you, Ciera,” Maro says, making me jump.
“For crying out loud, Maro, don’t creep up on me like that.”
Maro takes hold of my arm, none too gently, and begins to pull me away from the bar. “You need to come with me. Now.”
I snatch my arm away. “No. I want a damn drink.”
In the corner of the room the two old men look up at us. One of them catches my eye, the black orbs of his eyes narrow and the centres lights a fiery red. He smiles, revealing a row of sharp teeth. “What the fuck,” I mumble.
Maro follows my gaze. “Now, Ciera. I need to talk to you. This place isn’t safe.”
I laugh hysterically. “We’re in fucking Hell, Maro. Of course it isn’t safe.”
“Just do as you’re damn told for once and come with me.” The tone of Maro’s voice has me checking myself.
“Don’t do that. Don’t do that weird fucking witchy thing,” I say, yanking my hand out of his grasp.
“I’m no witch and I’m not doing anything. I overstepped the mark that time. I won’t do it again. We are further into Hell, Ciera. There are others who can manipulate you.”
I look over at the two men again. Both are staring, both look less old and more demonic.
“Please, Ciera, just come talk with me.” He looks defeated, and it’s that and not his demands that make me go with him. Okay, so it might also have to do with the fact that the demonic old timers seem to be growing fucking horns.
He takes me to a dark corner of the pub and we sit down.
“I want to know what happened with Meg. What did she make you do, Ciera?” Maro is searching my face as though looking for something other than what he can see. I think about lying to him, but then, what’s the point? So, I tell him. All of it, even the part where I killed the me I could have been. Maro doesn’t say anything for a while, but when he does, it makes my skin go cold and my heart near stop beating.
“You’ve come further than anyone else. You’ve faced the Furies and won their respect, that is no easy task, Ciera. But now you’re left with a shadow of your former self. There is no light here in Hell. The further we descend, the darker it will become, the darker you will become. If we reach Tris--”
“When,” I correct him.
“When we reach Tris, you may be too far gone to do what you came here to do. The darkness will take root and it will turn your heart to stone and your soul… well, there won’t be much left of it to give.”
“You seem to know an awful lot about this part of Hell. You’ve been here before? You’ve been lower?”
Maro scrapes a hand over his stubbled chin. “I think it’s time I tell you my story…”
“Fuck the story, Maro. Let’s drink,” Ceb says butting in on our conversation. He places a tray of drinks on the table, the liquid slopping over the sides. “Here, something spicy for my little firecracker, and something strong for Maro.” He hands us both a drink, picks up a glass and chinks it against each of ours.
“Starting without me?” Plutus says as he plonks himself beside me. I glance at him, glad to see him dressed.
“Alright now?” I ask, my voice sounding snarky even to my own ears.
“I am fucking perfect,” he responds before downing three shots in a row.
“Here’s to us. Here’s to the Highway to Hell,” Ceb says.
I look at Maro across the table and swear I can see a shimmer of red fire in his bronze eyes.
Chapter 18
It only takes that one drink to get me drunk. Whatever Ceb gave me is either incredibly strong, or I’m just not used to alcohol anymore. I’d rather spend my money on food for Tris rather than on going to the pub with my non-existent mates. Usually, being in a pub means being on a job for Lucifer, shadowing someone, or threatening them. Sometimes, ste
aling, although I’m not very good at that. Seducing, too, if I have to. Anything for Tris. Anything to survive.
“Another?” I hold my empty glass out to Ceb, my hand swaying slightly.
He winks at me. “Same again?”
I nod, not really caring about what he’s giving me, as long as it continues to give me the warm feeling in my stomach that I’m starting to get used to. It’s attempting to fill the hole that the arrow ripped into me, but all it does is line the sides, pretending that it’s a solution. Still, I’m going to take that for now. Better than not feeling anything at all.
“I need the loo,” Plutus mutters and leaves with Ceb, heading towards a door at the other end of the dark pub, where the two demons are still sitting and staring.
I turn to Maro and give him a conspiratorial grin. “Have they left us alone on purpose?”
He doesn’t smile. “You need to know some things about me before we continue on to the lower circles. It’s been okay until now, but you need to be prepared. We’re going to meet…” He frowns and stumbles over the word. “... family.”
I stare at him. “You’ve got family?” Somehow, I didn’t imagine angels to have parents, or siblings. They’re created by God, right? Or some other kind of higher being, anyway.
He sighs deeply. “A twin. I’ve got a twin brother.”
I’d love to drink right now, but Ceb hasn’t returned yet. I take a large gulp from Maro’s glass and shriek as the liquid burns my throat. “What the bloody fuck are you drinking?”
“Something not made for mortals,” he mutters, watching me intently as if I’m about to explode or grow boils. “Are you alright?”
