His gray eyes shimmer, catching on the gold speckles. “Who are you? Tell me everything. Now.”
There’s zero room for argument, and that power of his is back in full force, nearly taking me to my knees. My teeth grit and my body locks as some outside force presses into me.
I take a deep breath, trying not to let it sound too shaky. “I’m Delta Gates. I’ve always thought I was a human. Never even knew demons existed until a little while ago. My parents were human, Tanya and Ray Gates,” I supply, the words just falling off my tongue without my permission. “I saw an ad for a job to guard a graveyard, but it turned out to be a job to guard a Hellgate. I didn’t know anything before that.”
An exhale expels out of me with force as my eyes widen. “Did you just…?”
“Yes,” he answers arrogantly while my blood turns hot.
My hands curl into fists. “If you could’ve just forced me to tell the truth this whole time, then why didn’t you just question me instead of sticking me down here?” I demand.
“I do not answer to you, daughter.”
“I am not your daughter.”
“Unfortunately, it appears that you are,” he says back to me.
“No,” I shake my head adamantly. “You said so yourself, you don’t lie with humans.”
“Correct. Which means someone dumped you on earth to be raised by humans.”
My mouth drops open. Is that...true? Were my parents...not my parents at all?
I knew that when the whole I’m a demon truth bomb dropped, that either my mom or dad had kept a secret from me. But I didn’t expect for neither of them to be my blood. Distress soaks through my stomach and churns in the acid. Was my mother other too, or not my mother at all?
“I will discover the truth,” Tazreel says, but I barely hear him. “Until then, you will be prepped for the party.”
“I don’t want to go to a fucking party,” I snap, feeling way too overloaded right now. Dealing with Tazreel is enough. I don’t know if I can handle dealing with more of these Abdicated at the same time.
“Neither do I,” he growls back, like this is my fault. “We will discuss more about how you got here afterward. Until then, do not anger me or step out of line. You may be my offspring, but I will still hang you by your wings if you do anything to displease me.”
Gee, thanks, pop!
He turns and stalks away without another word, leaving me behind in the dank, fire-shadowed corridor.
“This way,” Lanky says at my back.
I turn and follow him in the other direction where he opens another mystery door out of thin air. We climb a steep set of stairs, and as soon as we reach the top, the lighting is that bright white hue again, making me squint.
I look around as I follow behind him, our steps muffled by the floor made of sleek black fur. I have no idea what kind of animal this hide is from, but it’s big enough to stretch throughout the entire space of the room, so under no circumstances do I ever want to meet it. All around, there are weapons hung on the gray walls, along with every torture device imaginable.
“Did you really have to take me through this room?” I ask Lanky while sidestepping a shrine of pliers that are the perfect size for pulling teeth. There’s even a wall at the end of the room where two large clamps hang from a wire. It’s the perfect size to hang someone up by their wings.
He shrugs, unconcerned at my inner dismay. “This is the shortest route.”
“Mm-hmm,” I say, not believing him for a second. This was done on purpose, probably on Tazreel’s orders, to scare me and make sure I behave. And I gotta be honest, it’s working.
Once we leave this room, Lanky takes me into a hallway, the floors and walls made of polished black stone, while the ceiling gleams white. The walls are bare, and there are no windows, but the ceiling seems to be lighting everything up like it’s emanating daylight. We pass a lot of doors, all of them shut tight, and then I follow Lanky up a set of stairs.
I grip the smooth black banister as we start ascending, but my mind shoots back to the trek down a very different set of stairs. If only I’d stopped the guys right then and there on our way to the Vestibule. If only I’d made us all turn back. I wish so much that I would’ve, because then they’d still be alive.
They’d be alive, and I’d be with them.
Unwanted tears try to pool on my bottom lids, but I quickly wipe them away. I can’t break down again and again. My life is in danger here. I don’t know what these Abdicated are going to do to me, so I need to save all my energy on staying alive and getting the hell away. If I can go back, maybe I can find the demons from the other Hellgate, Flint and Alder. Maybe they can help me, or at least tell me who the hell the Ophidian is.
I can’t keep thinking like I’m Delta Gates, boring human woman. If I’m going to make it out of this, then I need to start thinking like a demon. The wings at my back and the fact that I’m walking through Hell right now proves that. No more fighting what I am.
It’s time I embrace it.
4
The room I get dumped into is very different from the dungeon cell.
Lanky leaves me alone as soon as he drops me off at a large white door that stands out against the polished black walls. There are already two demons standing on either side of the door, obviously here fulfilling Tazreel’s decree that I be watched at all times.
The two of them are huge, probably hired for their sheer size alone. I thought Iceman and Jerif were big, but these two have to be almost eight feet tall. Instead of wings at their backs, they have crisscrossed swords, and the blades are made of that same gleaming black stone as the daggers that the Outer Ringers were using to stab Jerif. I can’t stand to look at them.
With a quick “stay here” from Lanky, I’m left alone, shut into a room.
I take a small, relieved breath as I look around. The room has a small entryway, holding a head bust of Tazreel on top of a short red column. Rolling my eyes, I walk past the white marble likeness of his arrogant face and pass through the archway that leads to a large bedroom. My eyes widen as I take everything in. The floor has that same black fur acting as carpet, and there are two other doors on the left, probably leading to a bathroom and closet. But straight ahead, past the black and silver canopy bed, there’s a balcony.
With a surge of excitement, I rush over to it, flinging open the double French doors. A breeze instantly hits my face as soon as I step out. I gape as I walk up to the railing and look over. It’s night. At least, I think it is, but I really don’t know how these things work in the Center Ring of Hell. Maybe it always looks like this. The sky is black with red pinpricks of light bleeding into the darkness like magma stars. Down below, I can see a huge, winding river that casts off an eerie blue glow.
As far as I can see, there’s nothing other than the river and a smattering of houses far in the distance, but I can only make out their shadows since there’s no moon in sight. The landscape looks fairly normal, other than the stars that flicker like flames, but there’s a taste to the air...it doesn’t smell or feel the way a breeze does on earth. There’s a sweet taste to it, and it’s...invigorating. Like every breath I inhale is making me stronger, like it’s restoring something in me that I didn’t realize was lacking.