Page 30 of Vampire Sins
The witches surrounded the portal and chanted, slowly closing it in on him. This was why they’d taken so much power from me. They aimed to break my bond with the vampire. I didn’t understand their motives, but I didn’t have time to give them the beating they deserved. I set my jaw and launched myself at the portal.
I hit the ground hard and heat blasted me from all directions. Instead of sweltering, it made me feel rejuvenated. Any pain or weakness I’d had was now gone and I jumped to my feet just in time to be slammed by Luke’s body as he jumped through the portal just before it snapped closed.
The portal was gone and the roar of the lake of fire drowned out anything my guys were trying to say to me. I surveyed the landscape, but it was barren. Red sands that went on forever, a lake of fire that separated us from a darkness on the other side, and then I looked up and sucked in a breath.
A rolling black cloud with fingers that stretched over the sky. It’s exactly what I’d seen in my nightmares hundreds of times. This was it. This was the destroyer of worlds, and everything Xavier had said about me was true.
I was supposed to save Hell.
The Seven Circles of Hell
Sonya
“Okay, new plan,”Luke announced as he scratched at a rune that glowed on his chest. The magic had activated, allowing us to hear one another over the fury of the river. “We’ll save my mother after we save ourselves.” He squinted at the landscape and I was so relieved to see that our bond protected him. His hair fussed around his face, but he wasn’t burning. “Where the hell are we?”
Xavier chuckled, having recovered from his near incineration. He pulled aside his shirt to reveal a swirling rune that glowed just above his heart. “The first ring of fire, I’d imagine,” he said.
Luke snapped his gaze to the vampire. “What?”
Xavier grinned. His fangs extended, but I sensed that he was excited. It was as if he’d wanted this to happen. He looked down and carved a line in the sands. Red liquid bubbled up. He bent and ran his finger through it, drawing it to his mouth and fluttering his eyes closed. “Blood. That confirms where we are. This is the layer of gluttony.” When I balked at him, he shrugged. “It should come as no surprise that my sin is gluttony, my dear. I am a vampire, after all. We are known for our indulgence.” He stood and wiped the blood onto his pants, leaving a deep crimson streak. “We’ll find what we’re looking for on the third layer. Come on. This way.”
Luke and I stared after him as he approached the lake of fire. I shouted when he stuck his foot into the molten waves, but then he waded into it and turned to us, his red eyes alight with mischief.
“You bastard!” I shouted and ran after him.
He grabbed me the moment I was within reach and dunked me into the flames. I screeched in panic, but the lapping molten waves didn’t hurt. In fact… they felt good.
I hit his chest in retaliation. “You scared me half to death! What were you thinking?”
He ignored me and waved at Luke to join us. “Come, angel. This is your one chance to experience hell for yourself and not get burned.” Xavier’s gaze dipped. “It’s also where you’ll get to face your darkest sin and finally come out the victor. It’s about time, wouldn’t you say?”
Luke blinked and his gaze bounced between the two of us. The fires had disintegrated our clothes and Xavier’s rune bled with light. Luke looked down at his own rune and realization dawned on his face.
“Sonya has seven runes on her body,” he said, the words full of accusation and horror.
I glanced at Xavier. He’s the one that had told me Luke wasn’t ready to hear what I was yet, but here we were, in hell itself, and clearly it was my bonded magic that was keeping them both alive.
“Yes,” Xavier confirmed, the mischief leaving his face. He released me and waded further into the river downstream. “I’ll explain it later. For now, you need to come with us, or you can sit there and wait until we’re far enough away that the bond loses its strength and you burn. Your choice, angel.”
“Wait, Xavier!” I shrieked, but he kept walking. He was making me choose. The further he got from me, the weaker our bond became. He paused when I imagined the bond was weak enough that the flames would start to threaten him and he turned, narrowing his eyes at me to make my choice.
My breath started to come in ragged gasps. “Luke,” I called, but he wasn’t listening to me. He collapsed to his knees and pawed at the rune on his chest. I tried again, pushing my desperation into his name. “Luke!”
Finally, his blue eyes snapped up. I’d never seen him look so betrayed and my heart twisted. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked.
“Luke. I didn’t know until just last night. Xavier told me not to—”
Luke growled. To my surprise he struggled to his feet and waded into the lake of fire. He wrapped an arm around my waist and dragged me with him as I squeaked in protest. “Come on. The bastard just wants you all to himself. He wanted me to reject you and go kill myself. Well that’s not going to happen. We’re following him deeper into hell and we’re going to work this out.” His gaze snapped to me, full of danger and determination. “One way, or another.”
I blinked at him. I didn’t think Xavier would want me all to himself like that. Sure, maybe he was holding back information, but he wanted this bond just as much as I did. The ancient magic connected us all together and made us stronger. “Luke, you’ll see that you’re wrong about him,” I whispered before bringing myself out of his embrace. I took him by the arm and dragged him deeper into the river. Xavier glowered at us and then turned once we were close enough that the bond kept him safe and we could keep moving. “Xavier,” I pleaded. “Tell him. You want us to go to the third layer of hell. Why the third? Why not the second?”
He answered without missing a beat. “Because the first layer of hell is attuned to me. The second will be attuned to Luke. We have no need for either of those two, since we’re already here. The third layer is where we’ll find the sin of envy.” He flashed me a toothy grin, fangs and all. “Your human no doubt fits that role and we can’t very well resolve your curse without him.”
Gettingthrough the first circle of hell was easy, sort of, although a bit humiliating. At the end of the lake of fire was a drop off where the waterfall ended in a pool of blood. Don’t ask me how that worked. Hell didn’t make a lot of sense. Oh and the kicker, how was I to get out of the first ring of hell? All I had to do was jump into this particular pool of blood… and drink a little bit of it.
Okay, a lot.
After an awkward scramble down the waterfall that transformed mid-way from molten flames to sticky blood, I landed and frowned as I slid across a smooth surface, as if this pool were encased by a marble floor. I stared down at the soft ripples sent out by the constant pouring from the waterfall. I gave Xavier a raised brow. “You want me… to drink?”
