Red Blooded

by Amanda Carlson

  I had no idea where my final destination was, but the image in my mind, curtsey of my wolf, kept me focused. I passed door after door as I ran. All of them plain and unassuming. They looked completely out of character nestled into the red, bleeding rock.

  Look for another big door with an ornate knob. Can you scent anything? If this was a major passageway, like I guessed, Tyler’s scent should be lingering here somewhere. When the Prince had arrived back in Hell with my brother as his prize, he would’ve had to walk somewhere down here.

  As I ran, the tunnel meandered right, and then left. After a long curve, it straightened out for a short distance before it abruptly ended in a T. I slid to a stop and listened. I heard voices down both corridors. Once the tunnel had straightened out there had been a smattering of few more doors. Let’s duck behind one of these doors until it’s clear. We can’t risk sounding the alarms yet. Cross your fingers we find something nice inside instead of another set of beasties.

  I backtracked to the last door I’d passed. It looked the same as all the others. I didn’t have time to test the handle, because the voices were getting louder. I grabbed the knob and it swung open cleanly. I stepped in cautiously, clicking it closed softly behind me.

  I turned around. The room was pitch black.

  I placed my back against the door and slid down into a crouch. My nose rose in the air and I scented the space. My skin prickled.

  We weren’t alone in here.

  Something moved directly in front of me. Do we stay and fight or should we flee before it figures out who we are? The decision was made for us when multiple voices erupted right outside the door. A moment later alarms sounded. Whooping sirens echoed all around us.

  They knew I was here.

  Before I could decide if I should fight the unknown in front of me, or race back into the tunnel and take my chances, a low red light started to blink next to the door and a voice came over a loudspeaker, speaking Demonish and then English: “Alert, alert. There is an intruder in our realm. We must stop it at all costs. All demons to your armament stations.”

  Armament? That didn’t sound good.

  “They’re talking about you,” a voice in the darkness purred. “But you knew that already, didn’t you?”

  I sprang to my feet, trying to make out the details in the room via the blinking red light, but there only appeared to be solid rock in front of me.

  That couldn’t be right.

  “I am here, but you must part the curtain of darkness to see me.”

  The voice was decidedly female.

  Demonesses were rare. From what little I knew about demons, there were only a handful. But honestly, what did I really know? Everything I knew about the Underworld had been gathered from tidbits from other supes, myths, and old books I’d read as a child. The entire Underworld could be run by demonesses and none of us would’ve been any wiser. No supernatural I’d ever known of had ventured here before.

  “And how do I ‘part the curtain of darkness’ and why would I want to?” Establishing a motive was the first step.

  She chuckled. It was a strange sound, tinkling coupled with a coarse undertone. “And where will you go now? They have filled the tunnels. Can you not hear them? Soon they will have the hell beasts scent your precise location and you will be found. Without my help you are completely lost.”

  “The chupacabras aren’t that fierce,” I muttered. “I could handle them if I had to.”

  “Then you have not met their mothers.”

  Mothers? The garbage dump was filled with baby chupacabras? Well, that explained why they hadn’t torn me to shreds. Dammit. “Why are you in here?” I asked. “And why are you hiding behind the mysterious ‘curtain of darkness’?”

  “I am a prisoner. As you will be very soon.”

  A prisoner meant she was dangerous. I immediately wondered what you had to do to be arrested in Hell. It had to be something big. When I didn’t respond she continued, “You are the girl they are so worried about, am I correct? The she-wolf who is fated to rule our lands?”

  “Hmm, the ruling part is totally wrong. I want nothing to do with this place. If the demons could finally get that through their thick, reptilian exoskeletons, my life would be a whole lot easier.”

  “That’s where you are wrong,” the voice said. “Our Scriptures are never written in error. They were composed in the Time of Lucifer. If it says you are Fated, that means you are strong enough to rule Hell. Whether you do so or not”—she paused—“may ultimately be up to you, but that doesn’t make you less of a threat in our eyes.”

  “It seems counterproductive for the demon lord to want me here in the first place, then, don’t you think? Why lure me to the Underworld if I’m the biggest threat to the Prince’s rule?”

  “He is very shrewd, but compelled by his quest for supreme power. You stand solely in the way of that. As every demon child knows, what is written in the Scriptures must come true. The Prince must dispatch you or his rule will remain in question for the rest of eternity.”

  Snarling and barking erupted right outside the door.

  “Hurry,” she urged. “You are almost out of time. You must come to me or you will be captured and contained. I am your only hope of escape.”

  My wolf growled and snapped her jaws, shaking her head. I agree, it doesn’t feel like exactly the right choice to move forward, I reasoned with my wolf,but what other options do we have? My wolf flashed me a picture of us running back to the trash heap. We can’t get there now, the sun has set. If we leave, we have to deal with the demons outside our door first, and even if we don’t get caught out there, we won’t last outside with all the demons and the devil bats. And if we get caught we’re no use to Tyler.

  “If you do not come to me, all will be lost,” the voice said.

  “We have to make some sort of a deal or I’ll have to take my chances elsewhere. My priority is to find my brother and get back to my plane, and if you don’t make a pact with me now, I can’t trust you’ll help us without betraying us.”

  “In your world you may swear oaths, we do not do such things here,” she snipped.

  “Well, what do demons do, then? And why would you want to help me anyway?” I asked curiously. “Why not let me get eaten by the beasts? You should have no stake in what happens to me.”

  More barking and snarling filtered in through the door. There must be forty of them out there. My wolf howled and gnashed her teeth.

  “I do have a stake. I will help you, because you are my only ticket out of this place. Fine, we will make a formal agreement, then,” she said. “I will lead you to your brother, and to freedom, and you will agree to take me along to your human realm when you return.”

  “Wait… what… what?” I sputtered. “I can’t agree to bring you home when I have no idea who or what you are. That’s insane.”

  “Your brother is slated for execution this eve.” Her voice was stone-cold. “He has been… less than agreeable.” I could hear movement, but it was strange I couldn’t see her. “If you do not free me, all is lost for you and your kin.”

  The beasts were right outside the door. Vicious snarls erupted as they began to claw at the material. Multiple demon voices rang out and footsteps were running from all directions.

  I couldn’t let Tyler die and there was no way to know if the demoness—if that’s what she was—was telling the truth or not. “I’m not going to agree to bring you back to my plane right now, but I will agree to consider it. And you have to swear to”—what could I say to bind her to me?—“follow my rules with no exceptions as we move forward, and after that we decide from there.”

  “I agree to this,” she answered. “But you must swear to give me fair appraisal as I risk my life to help you. My deeds must not be done in vain; as is custom in your realm, it is the same here, all favors in the Underworld are paid in return of equal value. If I save your life, and your brother’s, you will owe me at least one favor of my choosing.”

  �
��I swear,” I agreed. Technically she was right. If she saved my life, I would owe her a life debt. But I could argue the payment, and I could choose to grant it later.

  It gave me a small out.

  “Now you must hurry, they are almost upon us,” she urged. “Step forward and wave your hand in front of you. The curtain will part to allow you through, and once you are on my side, you will be concealed.”

  I took a bold step forward, the snarling and scratching intensifying on the other side of the door. My wolf howled her displeasure at my choice to trust in the unknown, but I ignored her. What other options did we have? My main objective was to find my brother. And getting captured by these demons was not going to achieve that.

  I stretched my hand out in front of me as the door crashed open behind me.

  6

  The texture of the air was strange, like invisible feathers brushing along my fingertips. As the door behind me exploded open, the demoness seized me by the wrist and hurled me behind her in one clean toss.

  I crash-landed behind a dresser. At least I think it was a dresser.

  Demons stormed into the room I’d just been in, barking orders in a frenzy of guttural voices. I peeked out from behind a shiny metal structure that appeared to hold the prisoner’s belongings. It was light enough to see in here, not like out there. The demoness faced the invisible curtain, watching the demons swarm. It was like looking through a smoky screen.

  “They cannot see in here until they part the curtain,” she said, not bothering to turn and face me.

  I poked my body up farther. There had to be twenty of them out there. From behind, I could see that the demoness had long blonde hair tinged with metallic green strands. It shimmered slightly as she moved, the green combined with the blond like flowing liquid. I hadn’t thought she’d have blonde hair, or of any demon having blonde hair for that matter, so that was a surprise. I was going to have to refer to her as a her, not an it, because she was so clearly female. I was going to assume she was a demoness until she told me other. She had a curvy figure and delicate hands. I quickly overlooked the fact that she was dressed in a bizarre gray jumpsuit that, at least from the back, appeared to be made of a latex-type material. It wasn’t exactly like what I’d seen the other demons wearing, but similar enough. The shiny material gave her a definite ninja look. Again, I hadn’t been expecting anything like this. The demons were totally surprising me. I’d pictured reptilian horrors, sort of like you’d conjure from all the B movies, half man, half reptile. Instead they were glamoured humans who wore strange jumpsuits. Hardly terrifying at all. My wolf barked, ending on a growl. Well, sort of terrifying in an odd creepy way.

  Alarms began to ring as steam shot up through the floor. The invisible curtain must be dropping. I ducked back down behind my small cover.

  Immediately the demoness engaged in a violent argument with whoever had broken in to find me. They were all speaking Demonish, so I had no idea what they were saying. I couldn’t see anything from my vantage point, cowering behind the furniture.

  All of a sudden there was a huge explosion and the demoness flew back in a shower of sparks. She crashed against the far wall of the cell and fell limply to the ground. There was more yelling, but then, surprisingly, the footsteps retreated.

  The demoness lay there, in my sight line, breathing heavily, head down at a strange angle. I had no idea what had happened and I had no idea if I should try to help her. I made a move my wolf snarled, snapping at the air in front of her decisively.

  Okay. Fine. Have it your way. We’ll wait. Instead of helping the demoness, I readjusted myself against the cool wall and slid from my crouching position into a sitting position, eyeing her as I made myself more comfortable.

  Everything around this place was cold and slippery in the strangest way.

  I moved my back in a circle and it slid against the wall like the surface was made of butter. I turned and placed my fingertips against it. What do you think it’s made of? My wolf ignored me in favor of keeping her eye on the demoness. Well, it’s not made from any material we have at home, that’s for sure. There’s no residue, but it feels organic, not artificial.

  The demoness made a noise and I turned quickly, watching as she brought her head up. Her features from the front were pristine, very sculpted and angular. She had a long, slim neck and her skin was shiny like the Prince of Hell’s, but there was a marked difference.

  She appeared to be more human somehow.

  Moaning and in obvious pain, she turned toward me and met my gaze straight on. Good grief, she’s beautiful. My wolf snarled. She was gorgeous in a foreign way—as in, I knew she was beautiful, but I couldn’t explain why.

  I extended my power outward, trying to get a better read on her signature.

  “Your power feels demonic,” she said as her eyes on mine. “That is very peculiar.”

  Her power was heady and strong, but again, different from the Prince’s. “I’m assuming you’re a demoness. Are you glamoured?” I asked, ignoring her comment about my signature. I had to figure out a way to make this work between us—demoness and wolf—if that was even possible.

  She chuckled. Her eyes were arresting. They slanted upward at the outer corners and her pupils weren’t full serpentine slits like I’d glimpsed when the Prince of Hell’s glamour failed. They were more like cat eyes, with a wide oval pupil surrounded by a sea of brilliant sapphire. “I am a demoness and I am not glamoured.”

  I raised my eyebrows, not sure whether to believe her. “I saw the demons above. They were all glamoured. And I know a demon’s true nature is not human. Why would the demons here choose to look human in their own world?”

  “All demons are required to be glamoured at all times and have been for nearly three hundred years.”

  “Why?”

  She shrugged as she braced herself to stand, using the wall to aid her. Once she was up, she began to rearrange herself as best she could. Her latex jumpsuit had been severely damaged from whatever blow she’d been dealt. She came forward, stopping at the dresser to open a drawer. “They are glamoured because the Prince deemed it so. A demon’s natural appearance is unrefined by nature and with glamour we can become anything we want. The Prince has chosen to have our race represent itself in a pleasing manner, and what you glimpsed above is what he’s chosen.”

  “But you said you weren’t glamoured,” I pointed out as I stood, eyeing her from head to toe as she grabbed a new outfit and paced to a small utilitarian bed covered in a single gray blanket—which appeared, unsurprisingly, to be made of a strange shimmery material. “You’re not a full demoness, are you?”

  She glanced at me over her shoulder, her eyes narrowing, her oval pupil thinning, making the entire eye appear blue. “You are an extremely curious creature, aren’t you?”

  “It’s not hard to deduce. You speak perfect English,” I said, turning away to give her privacy as she disrobed. Out of the corner of my eye, however, I noted her spine looked sharper than any human’s, signifying she was at least half demon. My guess was that the other half was something supernatural, not human.

  I strode out from behind the dresser, still keeping my head bowed, running my hands along the top as I passed. I absentmindedly brought my fingertips together to see if they were sticky. They weren’t. “You can’t be an imp, though, because your power signature is too strong. So I’m guessing the other half is supe, something from my world, judging by your accent. And because of your striking beauty, my next guess would be nymph or pixie. That’s why glamour is unnecessary for you.” Not that I’d ever seen a real live nymph or pixie, but that sounded like a good theory based on pictures I’d seen. Nymphs were usually drop-dead gorgeous and had strong abilities in the seduction area.

  She turned to face me, zipping up her new, exactly-the-same-as-before latex jumpsuit. “I’m no nymph. But what I am is not important; escaping this place is.”

  By her dismissive tone, she wasn’t ready to give me any more than that right n
ow. I glanced around the room. We were in a fifteen-foot-square space. Other than a dresser and the bed, there was no furniture. The floor was tiled in large squares. “How did I pass through the curtain so easily? I didn’t feel a ward.”

  “It is coded to me alone. All others can pass through.”

  “Why?”

  Her pupils pulsed. Like a small heartbeat in the middle of her eye. I’d have to watch for that. “Because I am dangerous.”

  She said it so matter-of-factly, it sounded like she was telling me she enjoyed afternoon tea. “You don’t say.” I walked toward the curtain and she followed behind. “So you’re telling me I can just walk back out the way I came and you can’t follow me?”

  “That is correct.” She stopped shoulder to shoulder with me as I peered out at possible freedom that didn’t include promising anything to this creature. “But I wouldn’t advise it. As I said before, I am your only hope of escape. I was not telling an untruth.”

  I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye. “What did they do to you when they blasted you into the wall?”

  “They hit me squarely in the chest with the equivalent of a bazooka in your world.”

  My eyebrows lifted. “And why did they do that?”

  She turned her body, addressing me directly. “Because I told them to fuck off.”

  “How come they left so quickly? All they had to do was search the room. I was crouched behind the only cover in the entire cube.” I nodded behind me at the dresser. “It wouldn’t exactly be hard to sleuth me out.”

  She shrugged. “Because I would have killed them if they had tried.”

  This time I openly gaped. “So what you’re telling me is, I stumbled into the only cell in all the Underworld that holds the only prisoner who will be able to keep me safe? Or maybe I’m wrong and every prisoner is just like you?”