by Alex Lux
"That be a guard. He feeds dragon."
"You torture your own kind for food?" Demonic cannibalism. Gross.
"We die if not. But death not real, we just suffer in other level." His eyes dropped, face softening.
I almost felt bad for them. They lived here unable to leave, unable to feed, forced to sacrifice their own people to survive. What had happened that they'd been cursed with this fate? "Will you help me save my friends? Please?"
He shook his head. "Can't do that. I be dragon food if do."
I resisted the urge to punch him. "I'm Rose, by the way. Rose Wintersong. What's your name?"
His eyes widened in surprise. "Bankun be my name, the one you can pronounce."
"Bankun, I'm looking for someone. My father. I'm half demon, and my father is from here. Maybe he can help me. Do you know who he is?"
"I not know who you father be. You have name of him?"
That would have been helpful. "No, not really."
"Cannot help."
"You must! This is important. I'll do anything to free them. Name your price." I knew I gambled with a lot now, but I had no choice. I really would do anything to fix my mistakes.
His eyes lit up, his power reaching for mine. It felt slimy and old. "Anything?"
I swallowed past a lump in my throat and nodded.
"I help you free friends. But you do one thing for me."
"What?"
"You stay and be my dinner."
TWELVE
Courage
ROSE
Screw your courage to the sticking-place.
— William Shakespeare, Macbeth
I AGREED, NOT because I looked forward to an eternity of torment as this beast sucked me dry, devouring my pain and causing more to feed on it, but because if I didn't agree, then it would be Derek and Dean who suffered that fate, and I couldn't let that happen. Not ever.
Already the amount of agony they'd endured tore away at my gut, like a ravenous dog feasting on the intestines of the dead.
"You have to guarantee the safety of all three of my friends. They must be returned to our dimension. If you can do that, you can have me in their place." I had no idea why I was worth three of them, but I wasn't about to argue.
I knew my pain here would be nothing compared to the pain I'd suffered knowing I'd sucked the soul out of my fiancé.
The large diamond on my left hand still sparkled, even in this dingy hell hole, and my eyes clouded with tears at the knowledge that we'd never get our happily ever after. It had been such a long shot to begin with, with so much stacked against us, but we'd come so close that it hurt to have that dream ripped from me now.
Running my finger over the ring, I knew it would become my touchstone, my way out of myself when the torture here became unbearable. Our love would live in this stone, forever locked in memory as the one pure and perfect thing in my life. It would have to be enough.
Bankun clasped his hands together and grinned. "I know secret way in. We trick demon dragon and steal friends out before he knows. You make tasty treat even now." He inhaled deeply, and my heartache blossomed, like a flower in the sun, opening wide and digging into my soul until I couldn't stand straight. Crouched over, breath hard and shallow, I vomited out bile and soul-sucking sorrow and felt no better for it.
His features softened, skin fading into a more human color. For a flicker of a moment, he almost looked like he could be handsome, but his ecstatic smile as he licked his lips with that horrid tongue sent those thoughts flying. "Yes, you be perfect."
"No more feeding on me until my friends are safe. That's the deal." I wouldn't have the strength to rescue them if he kept that up.
He seemed about to argue, but nodded instead, leading me down an alternate hallway parallel to the one with the dragon.
I fought through tightened muscles to stand and follow, staying in the shadows and watching my back after each step to make sure no one was behind me. The walls made noises, groaning like old men, and seemed to watch me through their fissures and cracks. Goosebumps popped up on my arms and every scrape of Bankun's feet against the floor made me jump.
We didn't run into any other demons, and I breathed a sigh of relief when Bankun led us into a much smaller cave and rubbed his hands on the stone wall until a secret door opened.
His eyes gleamed bright as he gestured for me to follow him.
Heart thumping so hard it was almost all I could hear, I slid through the dark crack in the stone before it slammed shut behind me, nearly taking my arm with it.
We stood in pitch black, not a single light to cast shadow anywhere. I blinked and couldn't tell the difference between my eyes opened and closed. I swayed, dizzy from my inability to place myself in the context of anything around me.
I feared speaking, but would have soon if he hadn't lit a torch and waved it in front of me. It should have shone bright in such a dark space, but this darkness was heavy, oppressive, and it pushed against the flames, consuming them just as Bankun had consumed my pain.
My eyes adjusted to the little light we had, but I still had no sense of space. We were enclosed on all sides, in a small area, but that was all I could discern. I dared not move, even an inch, without Bankun's lead, though. I felt something evil in there with us.
Bankun pointed to the floor in front of us. I saw only black.
He lowered the torch to give me a better view, and I stepped back without thinking. A pool of black, tar-like liquid bubbled in the center of the cave. Smoke rose from it, though I could see no fire or cause for the smoke. It smelled like death. Like hopelessness and nightmares.
"You jump in and find friends. Bring them back. I take them home. You feed me."
Um. No. Not even a little. "Are you kidding me? I'll die if I do that, and then this is all really a moot point, isn't it?"
I swallowed, my throat dry, and my stomach knotted up. My hands shook. When I imagined jumping in, panic swamped me. I would have run out of the cave screaming had there been a door.
Even if I'd wanted to, I physically could not do it. Could. Not.
Bankun's face scrunched up in anger. "This only way, stupid human. You jump and get friends, or you and them trapped here forever."
He turned to go, and I grabbed on to him, shocking myself by voluntarily touching him. "You can't leave me here."
"I be gone too long. They notice. You do what I say and come back. Then I help you. You not do it, you stay here."
He tossed the torch to the ground and disappeared before I could say more.
I picked it up before it lost all of its fire and waved it around looking for Bankun or the door, anything that would lead me somewhere other than that pit of nightmares.
There was nothing. A round room with no doors, no windows, and no way out.
"Bankun! You get your ass back here, dammit. I am not jumping in there. Bankun!" I screamed my throat raw, but no one came. My words echoed back to me, then died.
I slumped to the floor, unsure of what to do. Blake had warned me about this place, but I hadn't listened. Still, if I'd known, would I really have done anything different? Derek was here being tortured. I couldn't have stayed in my cozy little life knowing that, and I couldn't sit here moping and waiting to be rescued. Who was here to rescue me? A demon father who didn't even know I existed and was likely as cruel as Bankun? Demon police? The thought almost made me laugh. I wondered what kind of law and order they had here. Surely it wasn't complete anarchy? But maybe it was. What did I know?
The torch flickered and died to almost nothing, darkness seeping in around me. Heart racing, jaw clenched, I stood and used the last bit of light to stare down into the pit of my likely death.
I kissed my ring. "I love you, Derek. So fucking much. I hope you know that."
Then, I jumped.
THIRTEEN
The Wine of Life
ROSE
The wine of life is drawn, and the mere lees
Is left this vault to brag of.
— William Shakespeare, Macbeth
I COULDN'T BREATHE.
Couldn't move.
Couldn't feel anything but utter dread.
Darkness.
A place where light couldn't live, wouldn't be allowed to live.
Nothingness.
Then, like a babe in the womb—a dark, dank, evil womb of madness—it pushed me out and dumped me onto the cold ground.
From silence to the sound of wailing. Human misery as an orchestra, played out in every note, every range, every key. The tormented screaming of the damned, of the poor souls condemned to an eternity of torture, occupied my head, pushed tears out of my eyes, slithered inside of me and filled me with their pain.
Cages lined the walls, stacked on top of each other like kennels at a veterinary clinic. Only these weren't dogs and cats waiting to go home. These were humans and demons, squatting in their own filth, trapped in cages far too small for them, wasting away.
Row upon row, hundreds, maybe thousands of them filling the large cavern and spilling into other rooms.
If only I could save them all, but today I had to focus on the three I'd come for.
I had no idea how I'd find them, especially Donna. Would I even know her? I hadn't set eyes on her since I was a child, and I'm sure the years hadn't been kind to her here.
I focused on Derek first, knowing if I could find him, he could help me find Dean, and Dean knew where Donna was. I scurried across the floor, peeking into each cage, straining through the red tinted darkness to glance into the eyes of the trapped souls.
"Derek?" I whispered, fearing the dragon though I couldn't see it. "Are you here?"
My voice, even had I been screaming, couldn't have carried through this noise.
I focused inward, feeling more than seeing, seeking his essence, the part of him I knew by heart. The damned reached for me through their cages, their eyes pleading, desperate.
I hardened myself and forced my feet forward. I'd live forever in this nightmare. This was to be my fate, but I couldn't think of that now.
Eyes, familiar eyes caught my attention. At the bottom in the corner, was it him? I knelt, crawled, peering into the cage. "Derek?"
His head rose, eyes swollen, face ashen. He hardly resembled himself, but it was him. My Derek.
I reached for him, and he shuffled back, fear and panic etched onto his face.
"Derek, it's me. Rose. I'm so sorry." My voice cracked, tears burning my throat.
He moved with caution, jerking toward me. "Oh my God, Rose. You shouldn't be here. They'll destroy you."
"I'm here to save you, Derek. We have to go. Do you know where the key to this lock is?"
He pointed to a door. "In there, on a hook right inside. I've seen the guards put it there."
"Are there any guards in there now?"
"No."
I squeezed his hand through the bars, sobs shaking my shoulders. "I'll be right back."
He let me go, though it was hard for us both.
The keys hung where he said, and I hurried back to unlock the cage and let him out.
I threw myself at him as he emerged, not caring that he stank or that he'd lost far too much weight during his time here. "I'm so sorry. I know you can never forgive me, but I love you so much, Derek. Forever. Remember that. No matter what else happens, I love you."
Derek kissed me, his touch undoing me. "Rose, I don't blame you for anything. But we have to hurry. There's a dragon that runs this place. It'll be back soon. We need to get Dean."
We walked across the room, the cries of the others escalating as we reached Dean's cage, where he lay, muscles worn away, little more than a skeleton. I opened the lock, and Derek pulled his brother out, hugging him as they both cried with desperate relief and hope. And, I'm sure, fear.
Dean surprised me by leaning forward to hug me as well. "Thank you, Rose."
How could he thank me when I was the reason he ended up here to begin with? The reality of what he'd suffered hit me hard and would have crippled me with guilt if I'd been anywhere else. But, we had more important things to focus on.
They turned to leave, but I stopped them. "We need to get one more person. Donna."
Dean nodded and walked toward another cage, this one even smaller. A woman, more girl-like than woman-like, crouched in the corner chewing on what was left of her hair and mumbling to herself.
Derek shook his head. "We can't take her, Rose. She's too far gone, and she'll get us caught."
"I can't leave her. It's my fault she's here in the first place."
Ignoring Derek's tug to hurry, I opened her cage and reached for her, but she screamed and bit my hand, then shoved me out and pulled the cage door shut.
"Honey," Derek's touch softened, "I know you want to make this right, but look at her."
I was looking at her, and I saw the little girl with dead eyes that had haunted me nearly every night since that day in the playground. "Help me get her, then, if you're worried about this taking so long. I'm not leaving her."
Derek sighed and knelt with me to pull her out as she scratched and bit and punched us. Dean helped us subdue her and guide her toward the inky pool I'd used to get here.
We'd made it nearly to the edge when a great roar shook the cavern, scaring everyone silent for the first time.
He appeared in mist, solidifying into a massive presence of body, wing and tale. Huge sharp teeth jutted from his face like stalagmite and stalactite, glistening like crystal. His scales, which covered his belly and head, shimmered in reds and blues, and his skin had the same appearance as Bankun, but smoother, more polished.
Donna screeched and pulled away from Dean, plowing into me until I fell forward. Derek caught me, and I grabbed hold of Donna before she could run away.
The beast breathed out smoke as he spoke. "Who dare flee my realm?"
Shaking, I stepped forward. "Release my friends. They are not yours to keep. They belong in their own dimension."
I hoped I sounded more confident than I felt.
"And who might you be?"
"I'm Rose. Half demon, half witch. I sent these three here by mistake and I came to retrieve them."
With flickers of fire escaping its mouth, the great beast laughed. "The daughter of a demon. I know of you. You gave us plump meals with the promise of more."
My face burned in rage. "There won't be more."
"I know your father. There will always be more. You are his blood, his kin, his legacy. Demons pass on their powers. Yours has been tainted by your witch mother greedy for more power of her own, but it's still demon. As you age, your power will expand, feeding on everything around you. It is your way."
This didn't sound like the hybrid of an Incubus. "Doesn't my father feed on sex?"
"He feeds on sex, pain, pleasure, life. He is more than what you think. He seduces and entices, using glamour to manipulate. As my older brother, he controlled this realm once, until I defeated him in battle. Now he seeks to take what no longer belongs to him. He bred you for just such deeds."
The floor dipped, my head spinning. Was my dad like the Devil or something? He used to rule hell. And now, holy crap. My uncle was a freaking dragon? "Doesn't matter. We have to go. One of your demons promised to help me get them out of here."
"And what did you promise in return?" His eyes pierced into me, as if he already knew.
"Myself."
Derek grabbed me. "What the hell? You are not staying here in place of us. What did you do, Rose?"
Willing him to understand, I held his hand. "I had to save you, at any cost. Don't you get it? I couldn't go on living with you here."
"Damnit, woman. How the hell am I supposed to go on living without you? I won't leave you here."
The dragon roared. "You make plans as if either of you have a say. No demon but I has the power to make such a deal. The imp you dealt with lied. I feel your power, your pain and your love. Your demon and witch make you strong. You will feed us all for many centuries before
you are an empty husk. I will offer you the same deal. They may go, if you stay with me."
I didn't know if Bankun would help them if they didn't show up with me.
As if sensing my thought, the dragon breathed fire at our feet and a rock appeared. "Take this. Throw it into the fires and then jump. It will take you home."
I picked it up and pushed it into Dean's hand, knowing Derek wouldn't listen to me.
"Derek, you have to go. You have to get your brother back before he dies." Tears blurred my vision of his face, his beautiful, angry, perfect face.
"Rose, don't. I won't do this."
I looked at the dragon, who nodded, then back at Derek. "I'll love you forever." He pulled me into his arms to kiss me, and I shoved him hard toward the dark pool.
The dragon blew smoke on them, sending them all into darkness with Derek screaming my name until he went silent.
Two demon guards appeared from the corners and shackled me, and the dragon breathed in, pulling the pain from my heart.
From that moment on, darkness devoured me.
FOURTEEN
What's Done is Done
DEREK
What's done is done.
— William Shakespeare, Macbeth
"NO! ROSE!" BLACK tar silenced my screams and pulled me into darkness.
When it spit me out, I was sitting in a cavern next to Dean and Donna. She had fallen silent, eyes rolling into the back of her head, and Dean didn't look much better, his head dropping forward.
An old, hunched over demon stood in front of us with a torch. "Girl did it, she did. Didn't think she would. Must love you something big. Where be girl for our deal?"
