Red Blooded

“There is no place you can hide from me here,” the Prince roared. “You will not get away.” His magic grew as he spoke. He might be able to hit me with his blast, but he couldn’t hit all of us at the same time. The Prince was going to have to regroup and get his guards together and come after us.

I tore my eyes off the angry Prince, ignoring his wrath for now, to discover my brother was nowhere in sight. I broke from Rourke’s grasp. “Where’s Tyler?”

“I’m here,” Tyler answered, striding back into the auditorium from the hallway. “And look who I found milling around outside.”

He had Lily by the arm. She looked disheveled, but alive. Once she saw us, she jumped into action. “We must hurry, you only have moments to leave here. The army is on its way,” she told us. “You were given a very small window to escape. No one will be coming for us, but we must move quickly.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked, grabbing ahold of her jumpsuit in my fists. I shook her a bit, wanting her to answer me. “Where did you come from? And who granted us a window and why?”

Her face was grim. “The Princess of Hell freed me moments ago with the order to get you out.” Lily met my gaze straight on. “All of us. Take it or leave it. The hag wants me out, and this will be the only gift you will ever receive in Hell, so I suggest you take it.”

“I thought the Prince killed you,” I accused.

“He can’t kill me.”

“Because you’re too powerful?”

“No,” she answered, turning toward the doorway. “Because he’s still in love with me. Now come on, we have to go.”

We all crowded into the hallway after her because we didn’t have a better plan. She was right, there were no demon guards in sight. It seemed we might indeed have a real chance to get out of here.

Lily turned, her hands guiding the massive doors easily. They moved inward at her command. When they were almost completely closed, the Prince yelled in a strangled howl. His voice was as maddened as it had ever heard it.

He only spoke two words.

“Ardat Lili!”

15

I slowly turned to face her.

Ardat Lili. Handmaiden of Lilith.

Everything came crashing down around me as my brain spun, my wolf snarling and gnashing her teeth. The boys stilled beside me.

She met my angry gaze proudly with her chin up. “Please tell me you’re not a child of Lilith?” I demanded, already knowing full well the answer was yes. When she didn’t respond, I added bitterly, “I guess I can take full blame for not figuring this out sooner.”

I’d been so very, very stupid.

Tales of Lilith were some of the most ancient in supernatural lore. Lilith was the first femme fatale, a seducer of demons, a killer of children, and rumored to be the first wife of Adam. According to legend, she was thrown into the Underworld for all her sins. She lived out her days in Hell constantly seeking ways to procreate and build a sacred race. Over the years she’d been rumored to have birthed many powerful children, all of them part demon of some kind, but she hadn’t been seen or heard from in a thousand years.

How incredibly dumb could I be? We were in the Underworld! And the demoness had told me her name was Lily, and stupidly, I hadn’t connected her to Lilith.

“The myths are highly exaggerated,” Lili answered, dismissing my concerns as the doors slammed behind her, drowning out the Prince’s irate ranting. “Do not believe all you’ve heard or read, as the legends are highly inaccurate. Now if we don’t get moving, we will miss our golden opportunity, so I suggest we move.” She brushed past me.

“Um, we’re not going anywhere with you and that’s not an answer,” I countered, grabbing her arm to stall her. “And I’m not taking you back to our plane. So if you’re expecting a ride home in exchange for helping us, we need to separate right now. I’m not making any deals with a daughter of Lilith, no matter how wrong or inaccurate the myths are.”

She knocked away my hand. “Then you’re a bigger fool than I’d thought possible. The only reason the Prince of Hell is not bashing down those doors right now is that the Underworld mandates he go to his Qeby and make sure she is okay. And just to make sure he does so, his wife has summoned him. He cannot resist her. They are bound by a firm supernatural link. The Princess alone has given us an out. The only real out I’ve had in centuries, and you are mistaken if you think I’m not leaving this plane—with or without your help.” She leaned into my personal space, my wolf snapping her jaws. “And for your information, I can leave here on my own. But if we go together, you will have some control once we arrive on your plane. Which will it be?”

My wolf urged me to fight her, to eliminate her altogether. She shoved adrenaline through me like a hypodermic full of juice. It raced through my body and my fingernails ached, my claws an inch away from springing. It was everything I could do to rein my wolf in. I know this is bad, but let me handle it. If the Prince couldn’t kill her, we may not be able to either. And I’m not killing anyone in cold blood until we know the full story.

I cleared my voice, trying to stay calm. “We’ve already covered this, Lili—if you could’ve left, you would’ve already. You’re stuck here, and according to the myth I’m familiar with, it’s for a damn good reason. I’m not going to be the one to unleash you in our world, so if you can manage to get to our plane on your own, and cause trouble, I’ll figure out a way to deal with you then. But I’m not willfully bringing you with us. So you need to stop asking.”

She shook her head. “That’s where you’re wrong. I’ve stayed here by choice, because I didn’t want to leave. I had a good life up until—”

“The Princess of Hell found out you were banging her husband?” I finished as Rourke growled behind me, moving in closer. He sensed my distress, but had no idea what had happened between me and Lili thus far. I appreciated his patience, especially when I knew all he wanted to do was get rid of the threat and hurry us home.

“I’ve been ‘banging’ her husband for eons. That’s not the issue.” She shooed my comment away. “We’re not attached to our… mates… here”—she glanced behind me at my imposing significant other—“like you seem to be. The demoness seeks power, and she feels it is her time to rule. But she cannot do it if you or I stay behind. We are a distraction to the demons and our power is greater than hers. In order for her to ascend to power, and take the Throne of Astaroth from the Prince, we must leave this plane.”