Page 145 of Hell Bound

The sounds grew louder, and…

Is that a voice?

A grunt was my only warning before a hidden door in the floor swung open completely and a hooded figure climbed out. I inhaled to scream, but the hood was tossed back to reveal a familiar face.

“Crone? What the hell are you doing in here?”

She looked at me—I think—and assessed my current state. It was a strange situation. I wasn’t sure if I should be ashamed of my appearance because I still wasn’t entirely sure if she could somehow see me through that bone… thing.

“I could ask you the same, Queen. How does the lady of the Infernal Court find herself confined in the dungeon yet again?”

“Again?”

“Oh, that’s right, you wouldn’t remember your previous incarceration. That’s… fortunate.”

Great. Another lovely memory I could look forward to coming back to me at some point.

“I’m sure I’ll get it back, eventually. Everything else is trickling in.”

I swore I saw her nonexistent eyebrows rise.

“Is it now? That is quite unexpected.” She started muttering to herself, gently shaking a bag at her hip.

Were those bone runes like what Jovran wore around his neck? They were from the same court, so it stood to reason their magic would be rooted in the same source.

“What do you mean?”

“Those memories should have been lost forever. I was quite clear when the spell was cast.”

“You did this to me?” Shock threatened to still my heart. “You… you sent me to the mortal world and stole my memories?”

“Well, of course! Who else could have done it? No one possesses that level of power but me. At least not in this court.”

“But why?” I couldn’t understand. It had never been completely clear to me how I’d ended up being born into a human family if I’d been here in the past.

Reincarnating into the same body time and again, then to suddenly end up in Miami of all places?

“Isn’t it obvious?” She reached inside her robes and pulled out a handful of small bones. Fingers, if I wasn’t mistaken. She popped one into her mouth before continuing. “Your handsome lover begged me to save you from the cycle Asmodeus caught you in. He bargained with me, and when my price was met, I happily released your soul into the human world.”

My thoughts were spinning out of control, aided by the sound of her crunching on those finger bones like they were fucking popcorn.

Lucifer did this. He sent me away, banished me to the human world.

To keep you safe. Asmodeus would have gone on killing you at his every whim. Lucifer set you free.

It made perfect sense. I’d like to think that I would have done the same.

But my heart screamed in protest. Could I have released him from Hell if it meant he’d been stolen from me, possibly forever?

She held out an open hand to me, several small bones still resting there. I was glad she couldn't see my horrified expression.

“Uh, no, thank you.” I shuddered in revulsion. Whose bones were those?

Wait…

“Why didn’t he come with me? Surely you could have sent us both away from here.”

“I have great power, but I, too, am a prisoner here. Besides, Lucifer had never reincarnated, and your spell was triggered by death. If the same had been attempted for him and failed, he’d have been lost to you forever.”

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