Page 79 of Hell Bound

Keep up.

He ran faster, following us over a ridge of black rocks. In the valley below, a manor was nestled in the sparse woods like a dark jewel.

The small kingdom Lord Thalen had carved out for himself, about to be toppled.

Jovran sniffed the air, his hackles rising.They’re waiting outside. Someone must have tipped him off.

I didn’t have time to worry about who the spy might have been, nor did I really care. The chains of enslavement had made their presence known again, slinking over my back and around my legs.

We flowed down the ridge, picking our way among the jagged stones until we prowled into the path.

Thalen’s manor was surrounded by enormous gates of twisted iron, topped with cruel spikes. An excellent deterrent to most intruders. Unfortunately for us, we either found a way through, or the curse would force us over.

How do we get in?Pypentha thought, her tail swishing behind her. She stalked forward, loosing a howl that made the glass shudder in the manor’s windows.

Next time, wait for orders, I snarled at her, and she backed down, slinking behind Jovran.

If Pypentha had waited, we could have taken our time to find a way through the gates.

Now it was brute force or slitting our gullets on the spires atop it.

Faces appeared in the windows: terrified servants, the lord’s wife, and a young demon in the uppermost window. They’d tried to hide him from us.

As far as I was concerned, they’d succeeded.

But one of the grand front doors eased open. We waited beyond the gate, mouths dripping flame as our quarry stepped outside with his head held high.

Thalen’s scarlet horns glinted as he shut the door behind himself and strode forward. He was only feet away from the gate when he met my eyes.

“Prince Morningstar.” His voice was steady, but I smelled the fear he was hiding so well. “Am I the only one to be punished? My family is innocent in this. I acted alone.”

Misgiving twinged inside me. He was stupid and brash, but quite bold to present himself to us.

I could think of many courtiers who would’ve shoved their wives and children in front of them as a shield instead.

And he was one of the few who used the honorific that had been stolen from me. With respect in his voice, no less, not a hint of mockery in the title.

I couldn’t speak to him in wolf form, so I allowed my bestial form to shed itself, rising up on feet.

“I’m no prince, Thalen,” I said gravely. The hot winds of the Infernal Court howled around us, sandblasting my bare skin. “Not anymore. The king has demanded your presence. You are to come with us.”

His fists clenched convulsively. “Why not kill me here?”

Thalen’s wary eyes met mine, and I knew what he was thinking.

If he was dragged back to the Infernal Court, he would be subjected to torture until he broke.

He would spill each one of those names and locations Asmodeus desired.

The escapees would be hauled back and punished, probably killed, just like Thalen would be.

Everything he had worked for would be for nothing.

It would seem we have that in common.

“Open the gate, Thalen, and your family will remain unharmed.”

The demon lord’s lips flattened, and he looked over his shoulder only once.

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