Page 10 of Wicked Ties
“Where is it?” He glanced over his shoulder.
I pressed my hand to the wall and felt the energy of the underworld rumble underneath my touch. It was memorable in a way I couldn’t describe, like walking through a familiar forest or eating a favorite home-cooked meal. “It’s here.”
I took a step back and kicked my boot at the wall. A large chunk caved inward, and a bright reddish light flowed from the hole. The smell of fire and something burning invaded my nose, and I knew where we were heading. Pieces of the wall began to fall backward into the hole, like a puzzle coming apart. Light and warmth flooded the area around us. Shrieking filled the prison cells, as though the haunted souls of the past knew that if they were sent to the underworld, a fate worse than death awaited them.
I turned back to Maze. “You ready?”
Before he could answer, I spotted a severed pipe soaring toward Maze’s back. A ghostly shadow wielded it over his head, about to slam it into him. I reached out and grabbed the pipe. The shadow screamed in my face, sending my hair flying back. I dragged it toward the opening. When it looked back, it screamed louder. I tossed the pipe into the hole along with the spirit.
Maze chuckled. “Where you go, I follow, sunflower.”
I moved in closer to him and let him throw his arm over my shoulder. I tucked in close to his side, letting my entire body lean into his. Warmth spread over me, and I looped my arm around his back. I stepped forward, dragging him with me. We fell into the underworld. The air whooshed past us as we fell. Maze pulled me tighter to his side, and his eyes turned a milky white. A smile spread over his face, and he relaxed his grip. My stomach went up into my throat, and my hair blew back from my face. If I wasn’t pretty much indestructible, I might’ve been nervous.
The ground quickly approached, and I adjusted myself a bit lower on his body. When my feet hit, the impact vibrated up my legs as I held him there for a moment. When I let him drop down next to me, he chuckled.
“I’ve never been caught before.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “By anyone?”
“Never.”
Our eyes met and something stirred in my chest. Something hot and familiar. Was it the thrill of falling or of toying with Maze? I didn’t know. But I liked it. Before I could think about it too much, it was gone. Lost to the nothingness that sat deep within me. I stepped back and let him go. I shook out my coat and straightened my stance.
“We need to move.”
He gazed around at the barren terrain surrounding us. It was dark, with a slightly red glow emitting from a castle in the distance that I knew didn’t belong to Hades. It glowed with an ominous lava effect that reached all the way to us, even though the castle seemed like a pinprick. The smell of burning sulfur filled the air, and heat ran over my skin, covering me in a sheen of sweat.
Maze kicked at a rock on the ground. “I don’t recognize this place.”
“This isn’t the part of the underworld that’s ruled by Hades. It’s not safe here.” Dark burning desert surrounded us. The hairs on the back of my neck rose, warning me we were being hunted. Creatures moved in the shadows, watching our every move.
“Who the hell rules it?”
“Lucifer.” I whispered his name as if I could summon him just by saying it.
Maze gave me a single nod. “Which way?”
I pointed in the direction opposite the castle. “I just want to get farther away before we call for—”
“You smell familiar.” A low, gritty voice hissed from only a few feet away. I scanned the area and saw a humanish-looking thing skulking in the shadows.
“You don’t.” I sniffed the air and hissed in its direction.
In a flash, he was a few feet closer. His skin was a deep burgundy, like his blood was on the outside, and his eyes were slitted like a lizard’s. When his forked tongue darted from his mouth, tasting the air, I knew this was about to be a shit show.
His tongue flicked out again. “Like lunch.”
Maze whispered under his breath to me, “What the hell is that?”
“Hell demon.” I didn’t take my eyes off it.
The cards shot from Maze’s pocket and green smoke lit up the darkness, revealing the shadows of others lurking around us like vultures waiting to pick us over. We were surrounded by demons of all shapes and sizes. Some crawled across the ground like spiders, others slithered like snakes with human arms and faces. Their eyes reflected Maze’s neon green magic, each of them looking at us like we were their next meal.
“Should we kill it?”
The demon cackled. “Kill it? Yessssss, good idea.”
He lunged toward me with claw-like hands extended for my throat. Maze jumped in front of me and threw his arm up, blocking the demon. Its claws went through his sweater and into his skin. Blood welled from his arm and dripped onto the ground, sending the other demons into a fury. Rage pumped through my system, and I ran up and grabbed the demon’s arm. I kicked out, aiming for his chest. His arm tore from his body as he soared back.
