Tirade (Heven and Hell #3)(44)
Author: Cambria Hebert

There was blood.

Sam

Underestimated. I have been underestimated many times in my life. Some don’t like to be underestimated. They want people to know how strong or cunning they are. They want people to not want to mess with them. Me? I like it. Especially by people who should know better—by people who think so highly of themselves they forget to think of their opponent at all.

Being underestimated is an advantage.

I opened my eyes a crack to see Beelzebub had his back turned. He was staring out a massive window that overlooked the dull view of hell. His hands were clasped tightly behind his back and smoke practically poured from his ears, so I knew he was angry. I took a chance to look around at my surroundings. I was lying on—rather, had been dumped onto—a blood-red carpet. I seemed to be in an office of some sorts—if you could call a room with a desk and chains on the wall an office…

There was a sound behind me, and I slammed my eyes shut and tried to look natural in the unnatural and uncomfortable position I’d been dumped in. I was still very sore from the whipping I took, but I could already tell the wounds had at least closed, not healed by any means, but at least closed and were no longer bleeding. My knee injury from when I tried to escape was fine so I could walk—or run—when needed, and the pain in my ribs was manageable.

I don’t know how long I had been out, but it couldn’t have been long. Beelzebub was stupid for thinking that a beating would keep me down for any significant amount of time.

“How could you allow that piece of Map to be destroyed?” Beelzebub said and I felt rather than saw him turn from the window to face whoever made that noise behind me.

“I had meant to take it from her, but the flames were too close and it was destroyed,” Hecate replied, her tone haughty.

“Excuses!” he roared. Then there was a pause and in a much more reasonable tone he said, “Do you know what you’ve cost me?”

Was he really attempting not to scream? That was like a pile of shit trying not to smell.

“I’ve lost just as much as you! I draw my power from hell just as you do. ‘Course I’m not greedy about it.” Her last words were said almost beneath her breath.

Interesting.

Something crashed against the far wall and I figured, instead of yelling, he decided to throw things.

“What is he doing here? Why did you take him out of his cell?” Hecate asked, and I tried not to react to the fact attention was being called to me.

“He isn’t any of your concern!” Beelzebub snapped.

“Have you forgotten that everything in hell is of my concern?”

Charged silence reigned. I had a feeling as to why I wasn’t in my cell and why he was suddenly trying not to be loud. He didn’t want to give away where he was. Heven, where are you?

“So the name wasn’t on the Map?” Hecate asked.

“Of course it’s on the Map!” He demanded. “On the portion that you burned!”

Sam? Where are you? There’s blood… blood everywhere.

“The girl. She looked at it before it burned. It was in her hands. I saw her look at the list.”

“Are you saying that she knows the information that I seek?”

Oh, shit. I flinched at what this could mean and then stilled, praying they didn’t see me move.

Sam?

Listen to me. Get out of the dungeon. Move quietly. Get outside. I’m in the castle. I’m going to meet you outside.

“It is entirely possible that she knows the name.”

Beelzebub cackled. “Well, isn’t it convenient that she just happened to walk right into this castle moments ago?” His footsteps drew near and I prepared myself. “And more convenient that I didn’t kill her little boy toy when I had the chance. He’ll make the perfect exchange for the information I seek.”

In a fit of movement, I lunged low and caught Beelzebub around the knees, knocking him to the floor. He gave a shout and I sprang up with a growl and transformed in mere seconds. The hound in me screamed in freedom as I slammed into Hecate, sending her sailing through the air, and she hit the window that Beelzebub had been looking out only moments before. The glass shattered and she might have fallen through—I don’t know. I didn’t bother to stick around. I raced out the door and down the hall.

This time my freedom would not be taken away.

Heven

“It’s not that much. He would have to lose way more blood than that to be…” Cole was saying. His voice sounded far away to my ears.

“Dead.” I whimpered, staring at the red pool of blood that was in the center of the cell. I knew in my heart that Sam wasn’t dead, but whatever had happened down here… it hadn’t been good.

“Reach out to him,” Gemma urged, grabbing hold of my arm and spinning me away from the sight. “Ask him where he is.”

Visions of depraved acts filled my head, memories of the echo of Sam’s pain… of his voice telling me he needed to rest. Oh, Sam. What have they done to you?

Heven, where are you? His voice alive and strong filled my head. It was such a welcome sound that my knees almost buckled. I reached out and grabbed on to Cole.

Sam? Where are you? There’s blood… blood everywhere.

“He’s okay,” I told everyone. “He just spoke to me.”

“Where is he?” Riley asked.

I waited for him to say more, to tell me he was all right, but he said no more. Sam? I asked warily.

It seemed I waited forever. All I wanted was another sound, another brush of his voice in my mind. And then it came.

Listen to me. Get out of the dungeon. Move quietly. Get outside. I’m in the castle. I’m going to meet you outside.

“He’s upstairs. I think Beelzebub must be with him. He said we needed to get outside as quietly as we could. He said he would meet us out there…” I told everyone.

We all moved quickly to the stairs. I tried to go first, I tried to push past Cole and Riley, but they blocked me behind them. At least Gemma had the grace to walk alongside of me as we went up the stairs.

About halfway up the steep, dark stairway there was a loud shattering sound.

Then all hell broke loose.

Chapter Fourteen

Heven

We burst through the door in time to see a large black hellhound careen through the room ahead, destroying everything in its path as it bounded toward the door, which was standing wide open from when I burst in only minutes before.

Beelzebub was screaming and hot on his heels. I watched in horror as he uncoiled a whip from his back and was about to lash out at Sam.