Page 7

Does she think she lost me?He shook his head in disbelief. She’d obviously never met a Cadi warrior.

This was his chance to catch up. He sprinted forward and had nearly caught up with her when angry buzzing echoed all around. His gaze swiveled toward the nearest dirt mound, to see a horde of insects spewing out the top. The female gaped at him in shock and started running again. More and more of the insects swarmed out of their underground hives. He snarled, slapping at the vile stinging beasts as he ran faster, trying to outpace them. His brow furrowed as he noticed the female seemed undisturbed, all the bastards converging on him instead.

I must have wronged the goddess in another life.He smashed another of the insects as it stabbed him in the arm.

He was so inundated by the swarm he nearly missed the female ducking behind a large rock on the hillside. When he rounded the other side there was an entrance to a cave, partially obscured by scrub brush. He forged ahead, pushing through the scraggly growth. A few paces in, something caught his boot and he glanced down.

What is that?His brow furrowed and he squinted in the dim light.

It looked like a cord and it was rapidly disappearing. His gaze jerked up as pebbles hit his head.

“Torment!” he shouted, just before the rock struck him and everything went dark.

Elena

“Ouch.” Elena cringed as the giant rock struck the devil in the head, laying him out flat.

She’d cursed the damn trap everyday she stepped over the trip line, but now it was worth the effort, though she always thought it would be used against those fucking reptiles, not something that looked like the actual devil.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck. What do I do now?” She paced, her hands fluttering.

She didn’t want to abandon her cave, she’d put too much work into it.

“Then you better do something fast before he comes around,” she growled at herself in frustration.

Her gaze landed on the trip line and she quickly rushed forward, untangling the cord from the rock. She grabbed his wrists and started pulling.

“Jesus, Mary and Joseph, you weigh a ton.”

Up close the devil was even bigger and taller than she realized. It was like his day job was playing for the NBA, but he moonlighted for the NFL on the weekends. She tugged harder, her muscles straining as she slid him slowly across the cave floor. When she first arrived here, she wouldn’t have been able to budge him at all, but Hell had been like boot camp for the damned.

Finally, she got the behemoth out of the entrance and close to the cave formations. While keeping a watchful eye for signs he was coming around, she swiftly tied one of his wrists then looped the rope around the nearby towering stalagmite. As she tied his other hand, she noticed the contraption strapped to his forearm.

I don’t know what this is, but you won’t be needing it.

She managed to unbuckle the equipment, nervous it was some type of weapon, and tossed it aside. Quickly, she tied his ankles to another stalagmite and stepped back with a grateful sigh.

Elena poured water into her bowl and took a drink as she stood at the far side of the cavern, staring anxiously at the unconscious devil.

What am I going to do?

She really didn’t want him in her cave, but it’s not like she could’ve hauled the giant to a safe distance outside the entrance. Tying him up was really her only option.

Except, now what?Why did the devil chase after her?Did he think I could help him?The thought sent a twinge of guilt coursing through her.But what if he works for those disgusting reptiles?Her guilt was instantly shoved aside. It was better to be safe than sorry, especially if it kept you from being murdered.

Absentmindedly, she washed off the sulfur dust and pollen from the wasp bombs. She was grateful the volatile plant got her through the wasp mounds unscathed, but if she inadvertently touched her eyes, she’d regret it. Her brow furrowed as she scanned the welts on the devil’s chest and arms. He’d run fast enough he’d avoided much of the swarm’s wrath, but the gash on his forehead and shoulder looked bad. He was also still unconscious which wasn’t a good sign.

“What if he’s not with those scaly bastards? Are you just going to let him bleed to death?” she asked herself. Had this place made her that callous, killing what was left of her humanity?

With a resigned groan, she dropped her washrag into the basin, grabbed the band-aid wand then hesitantly approached the devil.

“Don’t make me regret this,” she mumbled to the unconscious giant. “I don’t even know if this will work. If the damage is too deep, you’re out of luck.”

The miraculous Miran Sona healing tool could only do so much. She recalled ranting at Sidi when he first showed her the medical tool, angered that he hadn’t used it to save the people in the damaged stasis pods, only to learn it wouldn’t have helped.

She knelt beside the devil and ran the wand over the gash in his forehead. As she made several passes, she studied his face, disturbed to find that he was actually rather handsome.

Maybe he truly is the devil. They always said Lucifer seduced Eve in the garden of Eden.And El Diablo certainly was sinfully handsome.