Page 130 of Hell-Bound

“Let him go!” Ren hollered, glaring at the god.

Nainaur’s soundlessly walked forward, closing the tomeand tucking it under his arm.

“I would like to thank you, Renata. For leading me to Vutar’ka Zhartun. I knew that you wouldn’t fail me.”

“No-I-I didn’t-Leo, he—”

Ren looked up at Azur. He was staring at her in horror.

One of the Angels stepped forward and pulled a black dagger out of his robe, the counterpart to the one Ren still held.

“They are twins, these daggers, they call to one another,” Nainaur said softly, “I knew your innocence would be the perfect manipulation. I just had to give the dagger to that female near the tavern, and you would do the rest. Cursed objects are a wonderful way to make sure you always know where your quarry is. Almost like a brand,” he said, eyes flickering to his brother. “You led me straight here.”

Ren was horrified. She thrust the dagger from her, and it landed with an echoingclankon the stone floor. She hadn’t once stopped to consider that the dagger hadn’t been sent to her by Azur.

“You’re quite prolific, Renata. So young for one with Elven blood, and already you’ve murderedthousandsof innocents. And sonaive.Like a child, you flounder. Trying tospeakto the sleepers.”

He scoffed.

“Is…that why you chose me? To find the tome? You could have manipulated anyone.”

She barely was able to croak out her words, shame filling her chest.

“I knewhewould have a soft spot for you.” Nainaur shrugged in Azur’s direction. “I knew of you long before I sent Leonardo to you. You were sotroubledthat day, stumbling into my temple. So fragile and desperate. I needed only to show you the way to my brother. I knew he couldn’t resist your tragic little story and your desperate need for forgiveness and redemption—what he also needlessly craves.”

“Stop!” Azur shouted from above, still struggling. “Don’t,” he said, with a look of warning to his brother.

“Or what? You are powerless here,Pelegros.”

“I willendyou,” Azur fumed, wrenching his head from side to side. “I will raise the planes against you and eradicate your presence from the known world. Then you will benothing.”

“I am Immortal, Azur. No matter what you try to do to me, I am eternal!”

“And once I have ripped you from these worlds,” Azur shouted over Nainaur’s words. “I will obliterate all trace of you and your memory from the minds of Devils, Fae, and Mortals, and you will be what you’ve always feared—forgotten.”

A flash sparked in the elder gods’ eyes. He lifted the tome once more.

“To think that Faydir gave up everything for this, and you didnothing.Bah!Sloth truly is one ofyoursins.” He opened to a page in the tome. “And as Faydir says, ambition ismine.”

His hands, having once looked so soft to Ren, began to morph into golden talons and blazed with fiery light. His palms hissed as the brittle pages began to crackle and burn.

“No!” Ren shouted, throwing herself at the god.

But she froze. Restrained by the same invisible force that bound Azur in the air.

The two Angels sniggered.

“So excitable this one,” he mused with a sinister grin. “Do not worry, my dear. You will be rewarded soon enough,” he added, the edges of the pages curling as they ignited.

Ren could barely move her head, but she saw Azur floating only a few feet in front of her, eyes murderous. “Right, a reward like Leo’s?” she gritted out.

The flaming tome continued to snap and pop as vapor began to emanate, sizzling sharply. The vapor swirled, taking on a purple hue, twisting and shaping into something oddly humanoid.

“Faydir! Glad you could join us,” Nainaur said, feigning excitement.

Indeed, a translucent, distinctively Fae male was beforethem. His robes were in the fashion of centuries before and were the color of The Hells’ violet sky. His hair was long and sleek, his eyes with the same ethereal shine as his brothers’ and purple, like his robes.

“Faydir,” Azur whispered. “You’re alive?”