Tirade (Heven and Hell #3)(15)
Author: Cambria Hebert

I gasped.

His eyes narrowed. “What?”

“Your eyes are blue.”

He didn’t move at my declaration. “So?”

“I thought they were black.” They were such a dark navy they appeared black unless he was right up on you. They reminded me of the midnight sky above the ocean.

He smirked. “Don’t go falling in love.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’ll… uh… pick you up tomorrow morning, then?”

“I’ll come to you.”

“But you don’t know where I live.”

He chuckled.

He did. Just how much did he know about me? I forced my face to look unimpressed that he seemed to know so much. “We start training early.”

He saluted and reached around me to open the door. I stepped out into the dark. When I was halfway down the stairs, his voice stopped me.

“Heven.” It was the first time he said my name. I didn’t turn around and he didn’t wait for me to; he kept on talking. “I gave you my word that I’d help Sam and I will.”

“Thank you,” I whispered, knowing full well that he could hear me. Then I hurried away without looking back.

*

I fought sleep the entire way home. When I finally got close to the farm, I had to park Sam’s truck and walk to the house. If Gran saw Sam’s truck in the morning, she’d assume he was home. But Sam wasn’t home. Hence the reason I had to hide his truck. He was supposed to be driving it. I grumbled and stumbled a bit as I walked to the house in the dark while I cursed the fact I had to lie to Gran about everything. It was becoming increasingly more difficult to hide everything I needed to hide. Like where this new scar on my face had come from and where I was until all hours of the night.

Thankfully, Cole helped buffer some of the lies. I told Gran that I fell out of one of the apple trees while I was pruning in the orchard and landed on a broken branch that scraped my face. He also stayed and ate the dinner that Gran cooked tonight, lessening the fact that I wasn’t here, though I’m sure I had some explaining to do next time I saw them both

I was as quiet as I could be when I let myself into the house and made my way to my bedroom. I was so exhausted I collapsed onto the bed fully clothed. Every muscle in my body ached and the burn on my arm hurt. At least I didn’t have a fever anymore.

A noise in the doorway caught my attention and I looked up to see Logan hovering in the door. “Hey,” I whispered. “Come on in.”

“Where were you?” he asked, coming in and standing next to the bed. In his hand was a chocolate bar.

I sat up and leaned against the headboard. “I was making plans to get Sam out.”

“Did you find a way?” He sat down on the side of the bed.

He seemed so vulnerable. I don’t know if it was because I was exhausted or because I was feeling emotional about Sam, but seeing that candy bar in his hands and feeling like I somehow let him down was almost my undoing.

I cleared my throat. “Actually, I think I did.”

His eyes lit up a little with hope.

“I found someone to help me get into hell.”

“Who?”

“One of Sam’s old roommates. You can meet him tomorrow.”

He nodded. “I miss Sam.”

“Me too. Is that chocolate for me?” I asked, holding out my hand.

“Yeah.” He handed it to me and I took it. I unwrapped the bar, breaking it in half and holding out a piece for him. After he took it, we sat there eating the candy in silence.

“Cole was worried about you. He tried to hide it tonight, but I could tell.” Logan shifted and stared at the floor, the chocolate in his hand forgotten.

“Hey,” I said, sitting up. “I’m a lot tougher than I look. Nothing will happen to me and I’ll get Sam out.”

He nodded. “I’m sorry I’ve been so awful to you.”

I took a chance and put an arm around his shoulder. “You haven’t been awful. Annoying sometimes, but never awful.”

He laughed, but it turned into a cough.

“How are you feeling?”

He shrugged. “I’m doing okay.” He shoved the rest of the candy in his mouth to avoid saying any more.

After a few more minutes, I walked him back to his room and sat there for a while, watching TV with him. When his eyes started drooping, I covered him with an extra blanket and headed back to my room.

I was going to put my PJs on. I was going to put some more salve on my arm and wash my face. I was going to turn the covers on the bed down and reach out to Sam and hopefully, maybe, find some peace.

Instead, I fell on the bed. Face first. Sleep knocked me out and dragged me under.

Right into hell.

I felt the familiar vacuum pull on my chest and my stomach felt like it was up in my throat when I landed on the hard, unforgiving ground. I rose steadily to my feet, but an incredible pain seared through my head and I fell back down. I opened my eyes, but I couldn’t see anything—the pain was blinding. I felt tears run down my cheeks, but I didn’t bother to wipe them away. I couldn’t. It was too hard to move.

It could have been minutes or hours that I lay there, but eventually, the pain ebbed away. My vision cleared and I wiped my face with the hem of my shirt. I felt like throwing up, but I resisted and pushed myself to my feet. Automatically, I reached for my dagger, but it wasn’t here because I was dreaming.

Although, didn’t I know this wasn’t just a dream?

I had a very bad feeling about what this meant.

My surroundings were exactly the same as the last time I was here: dreary, gray and utterly lifeless. Everything looked like it was destroyed in a fire and the sky rolled with thick, dark clouds that resembled heavy smoke. I looked around warily, wondering what kind of evil was waiting to attack, but nothing was in sight.

I began running.

I was in hell. Sam was in hell.

I ran and ran until the rough, black granite castle came into view. The bridge was down, giving me access to the inside. Something niggled in the back of my mind, warning me. This was too easy. But I didn’t care. Sam was here and I wanted nothing more than to see him. I raced through the castle and down into the dungeon. I didn’t bother to be quiet because he probably already knew I was here.

The door to the dungeon was open and I skidded to a stop in front of it. Suddenly, I was very nervous. What if this was a trap? What if I rushed in there only to be killed? Then who would get Sam out? Another horrifying thought ripped through my mind and I tried to push it away, but another one of those headaches began at the base of my skull, pushing the thought firmly into my mind.