Red Blooded

I continued forward, making each step appear like a feat of mankind. My magic helped ward off the impact and damage to my body. The stream suddenly jumped a few more miles per hour and I was forced to take a step backward.

They were testing me.

Okay, new plan. We rush the jet and crack through the wall. Everything in here is seamless, so we need to act fast while the air is still flowing. My wolf agreed by sending a huge jolt of adrenaline washing through us. It jumped in my veins as I dashed forward, one hand and my chest pushing the air back with all my might, the other fisted above me, ready to pound the wall.

I reached the source in a few seconds, ramming my fist into a place that appeared completely unmarred. The white wall exploded around me, revealing a rocky surface where three small air jets were embedded. How the air came through the wall was a complete mystery, but demon technology was crazy like that. The air jets immediately turned off and a bell pinged in the air.

“Cease and desist, prisoner. You will don the proper attire and await your trial.”

“Or what?” I shouted, moving quickly toward the drawer. It had to be set in the same rocky wall, and they had to be able to fill it from the other side. If I destroyed it completely, I might be able to crawl through. I smashed my foot into the broken face and the rest of the components flew apart, scattering through the small space like Tinkertoys across an icy expanse. I ripped the remaining pieces out and tossed them behind me as I squatted in front of it. The jumpsuit lay at the bottom and I bunched it up and threw it to the side. I crouched low, peering into the darkness of the small hole. I couldn’t tell where it led, but it was out of here and that was all that mattered. It wasn’t quite big enough for me to get through, but I could kick more of the stone out of the away to make it bigger.

“Stop!” The intercom crackled.

“Sorry, too late,” I called as I positioned myself on the floor in front of it to do some serious damage. “I’m not staying in here any longer than necessary, and I don’t see anyone here to stop me.” I brought my knees up and kicked one side of the hole. My feet encountered rock, but it broke easily, crumbling around me.

A few more kicks and I would be free.

I knew the demons would be on me as soon as they could, but I was prepared to keep fighting my way out. There weren’t any other options at this point.

“If you do not stop, we will kill him.” This voice was harsh, not like the last one.

I froze mid-kick.

The ambient lights in the room flickered once. The space was backlit. I turned slowly as all the walls around me blinked twice and seamlessly into screens.

“Tyler,” I yelled. “No!” I jumped up and raced to the nearest one and slapped the edges of my fists onto the picture in front of me, frustration I couldn’t reach him raging within me.

No leeches this time. They were preparing to cut him up or do something equally appalling. He was out cold and strapped on a harsh-looking bed. There were huge implements lined up on a counter next to him.

One of them looked like a sickle.

“Fine!” I screamed, backing away from the wall. “I’ll do whatever you want. But you have to promise not to hurt him.”

Another drawer opened up near the one I’d demolished, containing a new jumpsuit. I walked over and snatched it out. “I’ll put this on,” I seethed, turning in a full circle. “But you have to keep the live feed going so I know you’re not hurting him.”

The screens flickered off.

I raced up to the nearest panel and pounded my hands against it. The walls were hard, but they cracked in the places my fists landed. “I’m not going to cooperate unless you show me my brother is alive! I will tear these walls down, so help me.” My wolf howled along with me, both of us maddened by what we had seen.

“The next time we show you your brother, you won’t like what you see.” The voice was low and menacing. This demon spoke perfect English. They weren’t messing around. “If you want to save his precious soul, don the garment and sit down.” It was a command.

Goddamnit! For the first time, I wished Lily was here. At least she would know if they would follow through or not. She’d already told me they would torture him, but not kill him. I needed to know if that had changed.

But in my heart, I knew they had no reason to keep him alive. They would probably enjoy killing him and reaping his soul.

I began to put the jumpsuit on.

A few hours later a portion of the wall slid back and I jumped to my feet. I’d managed to don the damn jumpsuit against a myriad of loud, ugly protests from my wolf. It’d been more than three hours since they’d shown me Tyler, and it had all gone by fairly uneventfully. During that time my wolf and I had come up with several plans, all of them flawed.

But the time hadn’t been totally wasted.

Being forced to focus inward for more than five minutes had aided me dearly. I smiled thinking about it. The Prince was going to be in for a little surprise.

Five demons dressed in jumpsuits, these ones silver with black stripes, strode in. They appeared like carbon copies, hair slicked back, all the same dark color, all the same height, their features eerily similar. They looked like quintuplets. The only thing that gave them away was their eyes. A few of them are scared, I told my wolf. I can smell their fear. A ripple of excitement ran through me and my magic jumped.

Both sets of magic.

In my alone time, I’d managed to separate the demon magic completely from my own. It had been a tedious endeavor, like picking individual thistles out of nest of thick fur. The effort it had taken me had made me sweat, but once I’d figured out how to pull the black flecks out, I’d parceled them away in a different place from my own magic—and they had stayed separate. So far, so good.

If I wanted to survive this ordeal, accessing the darkness on its own would be essential. The realization had come an hour after I’d started worrying about Tyler, achieving nothing. I couldn’t stop thinking about why I’d succumbed to the Prince’s magic in the hallway.

It had literally come down to the magic running through my veins.

The Prince of Hell had absolute control of his minions, which made sense. If he couldn’t control his demons, what kind of leader would he be? I’d had that same demon magic in my blood, given to me by Tally. It had mixed with my own and when the Prince had blasted me, the demon magic inside me had instantly succumbed, like I’d been one of the Prince’s own demons. Had it been separated, and I could’ve fought with my own magic alone, I think the outcome would’ve been different.