Red Blooded

“If you fall to the Prince, you forfeit your chance to leave with us,” I commented, appraising her. “I thought escaping this place was your only motivation to help us?”

She shrugged. “It’s a risk I’m willing to take, mostly because I believe there is almost no chance you will succeed and you will need my help later. By my estimations you will be captured and taken to trial. If not, and you manage to escape, I’ve missed my chance.” She raised her palms upward. “But by doing this, I’ve proven to you I am dedicated to your survival and you will owe me for that. Once you are caught, I will aid you again if I am able and after that we will discuss compensation.”

She was right. If she sacrificed herself for our cause I would be indebted to her. “Are you positive there’s no other way out?” I glanced around the room again. “It seems there’s always a hidey-hole in this godforsaken place.”

She shook her head. “Other than that specific mending room we entered, all are sealed in this place. If there were another portal in this building I—of all demons—would know it.”

Tyler interjected, “We don’t need a portal. We can break out of here. These guys are pushovers. If you show us the way out”—he nodded at Lily—“we can fight. It shouldn’t be too hard to overwhelm them. Use your magic against the Prince, and let us do the rest.”

Tyler, can you hear me? I reached out to him via our internal connection. Watch out for Lily, she’s dangerous. My wolf is very leery of her, and no matter how much she tries to convince us she’s on our side, she still hasn’t proven enough to me yet.

Tyler smiled, showing off one of his killer dimples. I can hear you, Sis. But it’s all wavy, like we’re underwater.

His voice sounded strange to me too, coming in and out of pitch. Yes, like radio interference. This place is nuts. But, but we tread lightly with Lily. Agreed?

He nodded once and turned to Lily, sizing her up, glancing back at me. She doesn’t look too dangerous. Her signature is not over the top, but she has a weird look to her.

She’s either cloaking her power or it’s muted, because she’s extremely strong. She’s half witch, half demon, and that may contribute to her “weird” vibe. But whatever she is, she’s fierce and crafty.

His expression turned to one of wonder. I’ve never heard of a half witch, half demon before, but man, that’s a killer magic combination.

It is killer, I said. That’s what she specializes in—killing. Stay clear of her.

Got it. Now let’s get the fuck out of here.

We both turned toward Lily, and found she was studying us. By her expression she knew something was up, not quite what. Her voice held an edge when she said, “We can’t fight our way out. So far, you’ve been dealing with the equivalent of janitors in your world, but the alarms have been sounded and everyone knows you’re here in this very room. There’s no way to sneaking totally out. And once you’re captured”—she nodded to me—“the entire city will tune in to watch. Everyone has been waiting for this day. There is no leaving undetected any longer.”

A rap of knuckles sounded on the door. “Come out, come out, wherever you are.” The Prince’s voice held menace. “There is no escape for you. Any of you. My minions have been lacking, but my full guard has amassed. We have surrounded the building and there is no other hope.” He paused in a gleeful way. “If I have to blow the door in, I risk killing you all and that wouldn’t be any fun, now would it?”

Lily went to the door, the back of her hand gliding along the smooth surface in a swirling motion that could only be defined as a caress. “But, darling, that would be fun—if only you could achieve it. But alas, you cannot. Be truthful now, or it’s not a fair game,” she teased. “And it’s such a shame, because the Prince of Hell should be much stronger than that. Being bested by me always makes you look foolish.”

There was a snarl from behind the door, followed by a rush of orders in Demonish.

“What’s going on?” I asked, moving toward her. “Why can’t the Prince blow in the door? Wouldn’t he just want to be done with this?”

Lily gestured at us with a flick of her wrist. “He can’t blow us up, because I’ve warded the door. Now move behind the partition. It won’t be safe in about ten seconds. He’s ordered his ward breaker in—a half demon, half dwarf. That little shit has a gift for decoding magic. Once he breaks the ward, the Prince will indeed blow the door in. Then I will attack. Once I do, race to the right down the hallway and keep going.” She arched a pointed glare at us. “There is a front door if you can find it, but there will be guards everywhere. The only thing that may give you an advantage is if it’s daylight. But according to my internal clock there is still over an hour of darkness left.” She glanced at me pointedly. “If you had waited just one hour, we might have succeeded.”

“I wasn’t going to let my brother die,” I answered her stonily. “You heard what they said.”

“They wouldn’t have killed him.”

“He was screaming.”

“Torture is different from death.” She dismissed me, turning toward Tyler, giving him a sweeping glance. “And he looks to me like he could’ve withstood a hell of a lot more than they gave him.”

“They told me I was going to die,” he growled, backing me up. “They said those bugs would suck me dry, and then they would ‘disassemble’ me. My sister did the right thing. Pack protects each other. That’s what we do. When one is in trouble, the other comes to their aid. We risk our lives for each other daily. It’s called honor.” He crossed his arms, his biceps straining through his ridiculous jumpsuit.

“Well, your little Pack better get ready to spend some quality time in Hell,” she responded in a bored tone, “because the real deal is here. You’ve been in limbo waiting for your sister to come free you, and it’s clear it’s dulled you to the peril you’re actually facing. Once the demon guards bring you to the detaining rooms, the Underworld will be a much different experience, I guarantee it. Now get back behind the minimal protection we have or you may be harmed in the blast. You won’t die, but while you’re regenerating from the nasty damage, you’ll be caught with no chance of escape.”

There was tapping along the outside of the door, along with quiet murmuring, which sounded a like a chant. I kind of wanted to see what a half demon, half dwarf looked like.