Red Blooded

I played it up. “That’s not exactly it,” I hedged. “But maybe I am having a teensy change of… heart?” I swallowed. “This has all been incredibly… overwhelming, you know? The Underworld has been almost too much to handle in such a short amount of time.” Like turning into the only female wolf on the planet and proceeding to fight off every supernatural Sect in the world had been tons easier for me than being here.

Way to lay it on nice and thick, Tyler chuckled. The Prince is going to be putty in your hands after that heartfelt admission.

Shut up. Don’t forget, this was your idea. The least you could do is back me up.

The Prince of Hell stopped walking.

He stood only ten feet from us. My wolf wove our magic around us like a shield, readying us for a fight we knew would happen. I loathed sweet-talking the Prince of Hell, even if it bought me a few more moments, but I knew this wasn’t going to end without a fight.

“A change of heart?” he said, cocking his head at a weird angle, only the way a supernatural could, mimicking a bird listening for worms. “Do my ears deceive me? The great female wolf warrior is giving herself up? Without a fight?” The Prince spread his well-manicured hands wide. “This day must be recorded in our history.”

I gritted my teeth. “I didn’t say that… exactly. But perhaps we’ve both been a bit”—I managed—“overzealous in our attempts to”—I took in a big breath—“win this battle between us. Maybe if we both come at this from a different angle it could be”—I exhaled—“beneficial to us both.”

“Oh, and what angle would that be, pray tell?” he snickered, obviously not buying anything I was selling. “The angle where you come willingly and I don’t kill you or your kin? Or the angle where I bring you down no matter what?”

This is a shitty-ass plan, I said to Tyler. We’re going to have to fight our way out. There’s no other way.

Just tell the Prince something he wants to hear, Tyler urged. Something that will get us an escort out of this fucking hallway and hopefully toward better odds.

Like what?

Like you don’t want any trouble and you’re just here to clear your name.

I’m here to free you, remember? I said. I’m not here to clear anything.

That’s good, add that too.

That’s really helpful.

The Prince had his gaze locked on me. He wasn’t smiling. He knew something was up. I would have given anything to have my ghost pal Ben here to help me right now. There was nothing better than being inside the head of your enemy to win the advantage. But I hadn’t seen or heard from Ben since we’d left New Orleans.

“No,” I said, clearing my throat. “The angle where I admit to your head council that I did… some wrong, but that I ultimately want nothing to do with your kind and pose no further threat. I will then… pay restitution to the demons… and promise never to visit this plane again.”

“You will pay restitution.” The Prince grinned. “In whatever form the court deems appropriate, and if I hazarded a guess, it would involve something where you are… laboring”—he eyed me up and down—“… quite hard… for a very long time.”

Ew. I wasn’t sure if that was a double entendre or not, but it was still awful.

My jaw clenched and my wolf howled, gnashing her teeth. “Listen,” I told him, shaking my finger in a scolding way as I took a step forward. “You’re not going to get any more from me than I just offered. I will come with you… willingly. But it’s not possible for me to be held here indefinitely and you know it. My team will come, or I will break free—but whatever happens it won’t bode well for you or your kind. There will be damage once this is over. Lots and lots of collateral damage. So I would advise you to listen to what I’m telling you and come up with a new plan, one that takes me as a cooperating visitor, instead of a prisoner. I know we can work this out so everyone will be happy. If not”—I grinned, because I couldn’t help it—“you’re not going to like the repercussions.”

You were doing pretty well there until that last part, Tyler piped in as I felt his power jump. He was readying for the fight we both knew was fast approaching. I think it’s safe to say that wolves weren’t meant for sweet talk. You were terrible at it.

Whatever. I’d like to see you give it a try. It burns like sandpaper being scraped against my tongue, and with that last compromise, the honeypot is officially dry. The only one who was ever going to get sweet-talked was my man, and when I did it for him, I would mean it.

The Prince’s pupils elongated and stayed that way.

Power pinged between us up and down the hallway.

Get ready, I told my brother.

Already there.

“You are outnumbered in force and power,” the Prince raged. “You cannot possibly escape. You will come with me, as you stated, willingly, or you will come harmed. But you will be leaving on my terms one way or another. I am the master here, you will do everything I decree.”

I made a split decision and pivoted in a blur, swinging my leg around and plowing it, along with my demon power, into the door nearest to me. If there were things behind these doors, then they were about to become my newest diversion.

Tyler, hit the doors, I yelled.

He didn’t pause to ask if it was a solid plan, he was already in motion while I arced my foot into the next one. I’d knocked down two, exploding them open with enough force to shatter them completely, before the Prince reacted, physically shaking himself.

“What are you doing?” he boomed. “You cannot win! Leave those doors alone.”

“Whatever you’re keeping locked up behind these doors is about to come out and join us,” I yelled as I moved forward toward another one. “I hope they’re not your pets, because I’m hoping things get nice and ugly for all of us.”

Jess, Tyler whispered in my head, these aren’t his pets.

“You are an absolute menace,” the Prince snarled, moving forward. I had backed away from him as I kicked in the doors, and he was almost to me when something big stepped out of the door I’d just obliterated, coming between us.

I stumbled back to get out of the way. This thing had to duck to get through the doorway. It was gigantic.

The Prince of Hell was forced to come to a standstill in front of it.

This creature wasn’t happy, either. It gave a long groan, which sounded like a roar mixed with a battle cry.