Page 8 of Hell's Storm

“We still have that bed,” Persephone says. “But it’s down in the basement.”

“Bed?” Ledger asks. Obviously, he wasn’t paying attention when anyone else was speaking before.Stupid.

Persephone moves around the wall corner to the basement door, leading the way. “The bed Wells used when he got The Flame.”

Wells.

That was Asura’s father, the Devil.

Was.

He hadn’t been gone that long, only a day, but it felt like an eternity since I last saw him at the party. The party was for Asura getting all her hellhounds. I glance down at Asura as we go down the swirling steps to the basement. Her face is screwed up in pain, and her skin is clammy. The even tan that she usually has is pale. She has been through a lot in one day, losing her brother and her dad while gaining The Flame and the throne.

None of us were prepared for this.

I am now the hellhound of the Queen of Hell.

But neither Hazen, Jigsaw, nor even I are celebrating. Part of me wants that silver-tongued, witty girl back, and part of me is worried about her. Asura isn’t okay, mentally, and physically.

Persephone quickly cleans and makes the bed for Asura before I can set her down on it. When I pull back, I see my sleeves are burned, but not the skin below the shirt.

My eyes move to Ledger, whose crimson eyes are on my arms. Not because they aren’t blistered, but…

Glancing down, I see the row of fleshy pink scars against my pale skin. Swallowing, I place my arms behind my back, out of sight. That gets him to turn his attention back to Asura.

“I’m going to get some ice water and a rag,” Persephone says.

“I got it,” Ryker says. “Sit down.”

Persephone grabs her round stomach, long, dark purple hair settling against her shoulders.

Hades nods a “thank you” at Ryker and pulls a chair beside Asura’s bed.

I open my mouth to speak, but a herd of footsteps stomps down the steps. Before I can process who the fuck is coming down, Khazon has Ryker by his collar and is pushing him into the cellars stone wall. “What did you do to her?!”

Ryker’s jaw clenches as he pushes him away. “Nothing. She fell asleep, and she woke up really fucking hot.”

“Yeah, she could have gotten the treatment she needed at the hospital if you didn’t take her away.”

His chest starts heaving, and the tips of his elf ears are growing red. “She asked me to take her away, and I did.”

“And you took advantage of her,” Ledger snaps.

“What?!” Hazen barks. Electricity runs through the air from him.

“Fuck off.I didn’t do anything to her that she didn’t want me to,” Ryker states, looking at Ledger. That makes Ledger charge at him, looking like a vicious dog about to rip his head off. It takes a whole crowd of us to keep Ledger from Ryker while Ryker just stands and stares at him.

“Stop it!” Ozias snaps, voice laced with a hint of darkness that he gets from his parents. “Asura is over here dying, and all you care about is who fucked her and who didn’t. Youareallfucking pathetic.”

Agreed.

“She’s not dying,” Hazen says under his breath. “Is she?” His bright blue eyes move to Hades. I almost feel bad for Hazen. The rims of his eyes are red, and he seems far more upset than anyone else in the room, or at least he’s the only one who shows it. All Ledger knows is “smash anyone that hurt girl,” like the savage cavemen he is. Jigsaw hasn’t shown a single ounce of emotion behind his eyes; his jaw just tightened.

Hades sighs. “Her body can’t handle the Flame like her successors.”

My brows pull together. “Why? She’s the heir, is she not?”

“Asura isdifferentfrom them.”

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