“Barvo, bravo, consort.” The devil clapped a couple times, the sound echoing in the cavernous room. He stopped a foot away from me.
“You did well—for your first day,” he said, staring down at me, and those unnerving eyes of his seemed to see into my soul. “Destroyed law and order, spilled blood, brought my servants to Earth.”
“You knew that would happen?” I asked. “That my blood would create them?”
“Mmm. They’re there to guard you and do my bidding.”
Months ago, the devil wouldn’t have thought to have his demons guard me. Since then, something had changed. Even the fact that he mentioned protecting me before he mentioned the other ways his demons served him … it said something about where I stood in his mind. Had he noticed the change?
I rose to my feet and fought the urge to take a step back. He was dangerous enough when he simply wanted to kill me. I didn’t know what to do now that I could see hints of a conscience.
He stepped forward and I backed up. “You’ve been a naughty little siren.” His tone changed, and I could feel the heat of his wrath. “I know you’ve been with Andre since you went topside.” He crowded me until my back hit an obsidian wall.
Here comes my punishment. I was ready for it.
Pluto’s arms came up, trapping me between them. “You insolent little thing. My wife doesn’t get to fuck other men. Even here in hell we have standards.”
“I wasn’t here in hell.”
His hand shot to my neck. “Don’t try to play me at my own game.” He squeezed lightly, his face contemplative. “Perhaps it’s time I show you what happens to my vampires.”
I reached up to dislodge his grip, but it might as well have been a shackle. Behind him, the room dissolved away, and then we stood outside his palace, right where the flames began.
A line of fire spit and crackled in front of me, the light from it dancing along my skin.
Pluto released my neck. “Follow me.” He turned and strode right into those flames. It reminded me of the first time I’d seen him, my childhood home going up in smoke. Even then he watched me. Even then he knew.
My feet refused to move.
“Don’t make me come and get you, consort. You won’t like it.”
“I’m not going in there.” Repercussions be damned.
A moment later, the fire blasted out at me, engulfing my body in flame.
Well, that was one way to end the stand-off.
I screamed.
He wants to trap me here like the rest of his prisoners.
But as the seconds ticked by, I realized that the fire didn’t scorch me. In fact, if anything, it felt cool.
Hellfire doesn’t burn me.
That couldn’t possibly be good.
A hand clamped around my own, and the devil loomed over me, looking far too handsome for a monster. His hair swept back from his face and his eyes glittered. Inside them the flames danced, and I realized this fire was just as much a part of him as the siren was a part of me.
“Stop being melodramatic and come, my queen.” My skin crawled at the title. Not just a queen, but his.
My gaze bored into his back as he led me through the fire. He was being nice to me again—or at least not overtly hostile. Even his grip on my hand was gentle. It made my heart pound. I knew the devil, being the devil, would punish me for sleeping with Andre. It was an insult to him to have his mate stray. If there was one person who wouldn’t tolerate that, it was him.
So why the unnecessary kindness?
Like usual, I couldn’t figure him out.
We traveled for what felt like an eternity. I couldn’t see anything beyond the flames, but the devil must’ve because he never once hesitated as he led us forward.
Right in the thick of the flames, the screams of the damned vibrated against my skin. I flinched as I felt someone’s hot breath. I swiveled to see a wisp of a man—nothing more than a shadow, really—writhe in the flames. He was almost completely gone, all but his voice. I had a feeling that was the last thing that went.
What happened to a person once there was nothing left?
“They become the fire.” Pluto answered my unspoken question.
So the tormented turned into the tormentors.
“And ash,” he continued. “Some become the earth and walls of this place. And some become demons. It all depends.” I sensed a rising giddiness coming off of him. That and a flash of something else, something I didn’t have a name for.
Suddenly, he stopped. “Here we are.”
The devil stepped aside, releasing my hand, and I finally got a good look at what he’d been so eager to show me.
Another screaming soul. But not just any soul.
My knees went weak as I stared at the man who raised me and then saved me the night he lost his life … and his soul.
Santiago Fiori, my father.
“D-dad,” I said, stumbling forward.
He didn’t react. His eyes were wild, moving over me as his body contorted. He screamed and screamed, and the sound sliced through me.
I reached for him. I needed to save him from this; I couldn’t bear to see another second of his pain.