Page 23 of A Match Made in Hell

I do not feel good about Scrabble. I am terrible at Scrabble.

And yet somehow, we end up playing it all night.

Sath wasn’t joking about spending a year learning the dictionary, because he trounces me every time with ridiculous words like callipygian .

I don’t know what it means, but he laughs every time I ask, so I can only assume he’s cheating.

By the time I’ve persuaded him to magic over some other options from the games room, I’m too tired to play, my eyes closing and my elbow slipping from the arm of the sofa.

‘You should get some rest.’ Sath scoops up his tiles and deposits them in the drawstring pouch.

I stretch. I should sleep, he’s right, but I can’t bring myself to leave.

My room is cold and far away, whereas this sofa is right here, along with Sath, who’s – as always – emitting as much heat as a small furnace.

Besides, this is the first night since I arrived where I’ve been able to forget where, exactly, I am.

It’s easy to pretend there are no demons lurking outside when I’m not caught up in my own thoughts, staring at the ceiling of my room, terrified to fall asleep in case I have another nightmare.

Time is finally moving at a sensible pace, and I want to keep that momentum until the next task.

‘Okay,’ I say eventually, hoping my disappointment isn’t evident. I eye the pile of games we haven’t played. ‘Maybe tomorrow . . .’

‘Tomorrow I’ll need to make an appearance in Dionysus,’ Sath cuts me off like a sucker punch to the gut. I must not hide the pathetic way my face falls in time because he plants a hand on my shoulder before I can exit in a huff, and adds softly, ‘Perhaps the night after?’

His words stoke the embers of a fire in my belly, warmth blooming within me in a rush. Maybe my Find Willow a Friend mission hasn’t been a total failure after all. Outwardly I shrug, gifting him with the smallest of smiles. ‘Sure.’

I half walk, half skip to my room, and not even the stares of two demons loitering in the entrance chamber can bring me down. It’s only when I’m inside that I worry those stares may have been something other than curiosity at seeing me leave Sath’s chambers.

What if Aric’s been talking?

Despite how shattered I am, I don’t sleep well.

Semi-conscious, I toss and turn, feeling sweat pool in my armpits, down the back of my neck, unable to open my eyes and do anything about it.

I dream of the tunnel again, of blood crashing over me in one great wave, only now there’s a shape within that fluid, a shape with a spiked tail and sharp claws.

I wake with my heart pounding and my hair in a matted knot.

Knowing sleep is lost to me now, I drag myself out of bed and head to the showers on level three hundred.

The cliff opens into a cavern hosting a communal swimming pool, a waterfall tumbling down one side of the rock face, the splash of water so thunderous it nearly drowns out the shrieks of humans playing with a colourful beach ball or jumping off the sides into the shallow end.

My feet slap against damp stone as I make my way past the pool. One section is unoccupied, and it’s only when I draw closer I spy something green deep beneath the surface – a demon lying in wait for anyone who draws too close.

I shiver, hurrying towards an archway that leads to the showers housed in hundreds upon hundreds of alcoves carved into the grey stone.

Our privacy is maintained by a black veil that shutters over every entrance as soon as you step inside.

I walk down the corridor – I’ve never reached the end – searching for a free cubicle.

Humans clutching towels pass me with chattering lips and gooseflesh skin.

The showers here are fairly pathetic, the spray of water barely more than a trickle and tepid in temperature.

Maybe that’s part of our punishment: we’re staying in a budget hotel that didn’t pay for decent boiler pressure.

The corridor splits in two halfway down, and a familiar voice makes me pause.

The other tunnel leads to various hot springs, and I peer through the mist and steam in the first of many small caves to find Harper and her friends sitting in the pool.

A pang of longing pulsates in my chest, like the reverb from a string that’s just been plucked.

Even if Sath holds to his promise of a rematch tomorrow, I still have tonight to deal with, plus all the others he declares himself unavailable.

I’m tired of being alone.

Watching them interact, I deliberate whether or not they’ll accept me after what they witnessed yesterday.

I step soundlessly through the mist, so they don’t notice me spying on them. Glowing crystals are inset in the walls of the cave, bathing them in an ethereal green light, and the smell of salt stings the air.

The boy is in the water, dark curls plastered to his face.

Harper and the girl sit with their legs dangling into its depths, Harper’s arm around her shoulders, her fingers playing absent-mindedly with strands of black hair.

They speak in low murmurs, and then the boy grins and jumps up, splashing the pair of them.

They shriek, leaping into the water after him, ducking his head under before allowing him to resurface with a gasp.

Their laughter bounces around the walls of the cave as the three of them swim to the edge of the springs.

The way Harper looks at them makes my chest ache harder.

Noah used to look at me like that, at least in the early days.

I can barely remember it now. His whole face is a fading dream, his features turning vague, pictures of a puzzle I can’t piece together.

Guilt is a stone in my stomach. I spent last night playing Scrabble with the Devil, and I didn’t think of my boyfriend once.

As though sensing my presence, Harper turns her head. Her eyes go wide when she spots me. ‘Willow!’

‘Hello again.’ I wave, a gesture I hope says I am not a violent person and you would not be at risk if you let me join you. ‘I can’t stop bumping into you.’

‘Asphodel has a way of leading you to where you need to be,’ the boy says.

Please. If that were true, it would have led me to the exit by now.

Harper lifts herself out of the springs, a puddle forming at her feet, before wrapping a towel around her waist. Her hair is streaked pumpkin orange today, contrasting with the blue in her eyes.

‘This is Amelia and Henry.’ She gestures at her companions. ‘We weren’t sure . . . We thought King Sathanas might have . . .’

‘Set me on fire?’ It’s weird hearing his name on someone else’s lips. To me, he’s Sath, and to her, he’s a stranger. Someone to be revered, feared. All I want to do is beat him at Scrabble. ‘He did something else instead.’

I let her infer what she wants from that. Besides, it’s not like the tasks aren’t punishment, in a way.

‘Why don’t you sit with us?’ Harper says. ‘And tonight, we’re going to Dionysus, if you want to join. You’re always there alone.’

I bristle. She makes it sound like a flaw, rather than a choice.

But admitting why I’ve been avoiding people would be a can of worms I’d rather not open, so I settle for saying, ‘That’d be nice.

’ It’s not a lie, but it’s not the truth either.

Nice would be getting out of here. This is merely a way for me to keep my sanity before I do.

I shuck off my sandals before sitting on the edge of the springs and dipping my feet into the water. The temperature here is much hotter than the showers; the steam mists over my face, a little too warm to be comfortable.

‘So, let’s start with the obvious,’ Harper says. ‘How did you die?’

I freeze.

‘ Harper .’ Amelia nudges her in the side. ‘You can’t keep asking people that.’

She pouts. ‘Why not? It’s an icebreaker.’

‘You need to find better icebreakers.’ Henry rolls his eyes and hoists himself out of the water. ‘Don’t tell her anything you don’t want to, Willow. She’s a frightful gossip.’

‘I don’t gossip , I listen. There’s a difference.

’ Harper loops her arm through mine as though it’s the most natural thing in the world.

‘But fine. I’ll tell you about me instead.

When I was alive, I’d attend all these balls and high-society parties, and I loved them, don’t get me wrong, but after a while all the people were so .

. . similar. Every person Mama introduced me to wanted to talk about the weather.

And now I’m here, meeting new people every day and collecting all these stories I never would have heard before.

I wouldn’t call that gossiping, would you?

’ She shoots Henry a glare that’s got as much force as a feather. ‘It’s . . . good fun.’

I glance at Henry and Amelia in turn, waiting for them to tell her she’s clearly lost her mind. Instead, they stare at her with an unfathomable fondness.

‘You realise there are demons here, right? Nothing about this is fun.’

‘You learn how to avoid them eventually. Besides, they’re a small price to pay for everything else. I couldn’t look like this when I was alive.’ She gestures at her hair.

This, at least, earns me some solidarity from Henry, who exchanges an incredulous glance with me before saying, ‘I’m not sure magic hair dye is going to win her over, Harp.’

‘Well, it’s not just the magic. Or the people. Have you found the art gallery yet? The library? Or what about Asphodel’s garden? It’s so beautiful. I can take you if you like.’

I’m hit with a familiar sense of longing, of desire for new things. I chew my lip. There’s no harm in a tour, I suppose. I can’t get out any sooner – the tasks will happen when they happen. I’m not wasting time, I’m merely filling it.

‘Okay,’ I say. ‘I’d like that.’

Harper beams, her smile warmer than the sun, but then she catches sight of something over my shoulder and her smile falls.

Henry angles his body as though he can shield Amelia.

A crawling sensation creeps up my back, the feeling of eyes on me, eyes that burn with loathing.

I swallow before turning to face . . . Aric. Of course.

He lopes into the room, fully recovered after our confrontation, settling on a bench embedded into the rock that people usually use to store towels. He doesn’t speak, merely watches, red eyes fixated on me.

‘We should go,’ I murmur.

Harper nods, not moving. I don’t blame her. I’m rooted to the spot in the same way, not knowing what Aric will do when we climb out of the pool. Despite the heat of the cave, I’m cold all over.What if Sath failed to protect me, and Aric’s here for revenge?

Sath . I think his name over and over, as though he’s a magic lift.

‘You reek of him,’ Aric finally speaks. He cocks his head to one side. ‘One day, I will reek of you both.’ He eyes the other three. ‘Of all of you. Your blood will bathe my tongue, delicious and sweet.’

Nausea coils in my gut. ‘You’re a real charmer, you know that?’

Harper gasps. I wince, regretting the words the second they leave my lips.

Aric’s here because of me, and if I don’t keep my mouth shut they could well be the ones to suffer the consequences.

I fold my hands together in what I hope demonstrates contrition.

I need to get everyone out of here before I do something inherently stupid.

The room trembles before I get the chance.

Dust shakes free from the ceiling. Henry lurches from the far wall right as a jet of lava punches a hole through it, spewing thick orange liquid into the springs.

I pull my legs from the water, scrambling back as the lava bubbles and spits heat at my face.

Stone grinds all around us. Rocks drop from above and are immediately swallowed whole, melting beneath the surface.

It stops almost as soon as it started, the room rumbling to a halt, like the world was spinning on its axis too quickly before righting itself.

Mouth ajar, I pant for breath, but it’s only me acting surprised by this turn of events.

Harper and the others merely look perturbed, whereas a quick glance at Aric tells me that, whatever just happened, he’s delighted about it.

Asphodel is changing.

This is the kind of thing Sath warned me about, a sign Asphodel is cracking at the seams.

Aric’s upper lip curls, revealing a glimmer of white fangs. ‘Not long now,’ he whispers. Directly to me, he adds, ‘When I tear them apart, I will let you watch.’

My fists clench. Sath must have the patience of a saint. Five minutes in Aric’s presence and I want to do more than set him on fire. My anger radiates off me hotter than the steam from the surface of the springs, and I’m on my feet before I can stop myself.

Aric tuts, waving a finger at me. ‘Not today. But soon.’

He disappears before I can tell him what I think of him.

Whirls of mist coil around my feet like ghosts of snakes, and I kick them away before turning to face the others.

The springs glow red behind them, but they barely give the lava a second glance, like it’s as mundane as traffic on a Monday morning.

‘Does this happen a lot?’ I ask. What I mean is join me in alarm, why don’t you?

‘I suppose,’ Harper replies. ‘Lava gets everywhere in this place. We used to have a lovely ballroom – so fancy compared to Dionysus – but it got flooded a few years ago. I heard Asphodel has to stretch to make room for more people.’

Another of Sath’s lies. Maybe I can press her into working it out on her own. ‘Flooding kind of defeats the purpose of stretching.’

She contemplates this for all of a second before shrugging. ‘Maybe it stretches because of the flooding.’

I press my lips together, wishing I wasn’t bound to secrecy. Wishing Aric hadn’t seemed so damn happy about what just happened – like he knows full well what it means.

‘Come, sit.’ She taps the ground beside her. ‘It should be settled for the day now.’

The word settled is doing some heavy lifting there, but I comply, sitting cross-legged at her side and finding myself agreeing when she asks me again to join them in Dionysus tonight. My attention is on the lava blackening before my eyes, layering the springs like charred pond scum.

This is supposed to be for eternity, Asphodel an hourglass that will never tip the other way, but now it feels like the glass has been turned, the sand already falling.

And if I can’t complete the next four tasks, I’ll sink with it.