Page 7 of Discord and Cinder (Fire Witches of Salem #7)

CINDER

D arkness closed in around me. Intense heat, hotter and more putrid than anything I’d ever felt, blasted into my face as if I’d flung open an industrial-sized oven filled with burning, rotten eggs.

The sulfurous stench made my stomach lurch.

My body seized, the pain of every injury, every cut, bruise, and skinned knee I’d ever acquired in my life flaring to life as if they’d all happened at once.

Holy hellfire and hotdogs. What had I just done?

I dropped to my knees and dragged in a breath.

The air felt like thirty-grit sandpaper scraping my lungs.

A coughing fit racked my body, and I leaned forward, resting my hands on the rocky ground and preparing to be turned inside-out.

My eyes watered and bulged, and snot poured from my nose, the mucus hanging like a gooey icicle as it stretched toward the ground.

Disgusting, I know, but it was the least of my worries.

“What in Hecate’s name?” I rasped.

“Silence.” Discord slammed a meaty hand over my mouth and kneeled beside me. “Do not invoke the goddess in this realm unless you are prepared to deal with her in the flesh.”

I huffed through my nose, breaking the snot chain before sitting upright and wiping beneath my eyes. Discord removed his hand and rubbed it on his thigh, glaring daggers at me as if looks could actually kill.

From him, maybe they could.

I swallowed, my throat so dry and raw that it stuck together and peeled back apart. My tongue felt like a wad of cotton, and my head throbbed like nobody’s business. “Why does everything hurt?”

“Welcome to Hell. You’ll get used to it. Eventually.” He laughed dryly. “Unless, of course, Lucifer discovers you here. In that case, you will suffer for all eternity. Good luck on your journey.”

He rose and strode away. I scrambled to my feet and followed, my muscles screaming with each step. How could I ever get used to this? “Wait. You still owe me a favor.”

“I owe you nothing.” He quickened his pace, heading toward an opening in a rocky wall.

We’d ended up in some sort of massive cave, the ruins of what looked like an ancient temple crumbling to my right.

A full Grecian column lay on its side at the foot of an obsidian staircase, the others standing at only half their original heights, their remains lying in pieces around them.

A stream of lava flowed up ahead, steaming and curving this way and that as it meandered by, disappearing beneath an arch in the wall.

“I freed you from your prison.” I jogged behind him, keeping my gaze trained on his muscular back. “You have to find my parents.”

He continued his pace, not bothering to turn around. “Even if I did owe you a favor, I brought you to Hell. My debt would be paid.”

“Technically, I brought you.” My foot slipped on the uneven ground, and my ankle twisted, searing, sharp pain shooting through my entire foot and making me yelp. Son of a bitch! Why was every little ache amplified in this place?

He stopped and whirled toward me, his gaze locking on my injured ankle. His mask of fury slipped for half a nanosecond, his expression morphing to concern…or maybe it was pity. Either way, he recovered quickly and returned to glaring lasers.

“You are correct, witch . You vanquished me. You forfeited any debt I owed the moment your dagger pierced my heart.”

“My name is Cinder.” I rotated my ankle, working out the stiffness. The movement only intensified the pain.

“Your name is meaningless. You have condemned me, used me to weaken the veil, and created instability in both our worlds. Have you any idea the damage you have done?”

“That wasn’t my intention.” I slipped off my backpack and lowered to the ground, rummaging through it to find my healing salve.

I had to get this pain under control so I could bargain with him.

So far, my negotiation skills were spaghetti, he the wall.

Nothing would stick. “What do you want, then? What can I do?”

“Unravel the binding spell. Remove our marks so I never have to see your face again.”

“What’s wrong with my face? It’s prettier than yours.” I slipped off my shoe and sock and spread the balm over my skin. The swelling subsided almost instantly, but that was the last of the enchanted medicine. Any more injuries, and I was on my own.

Discord let out a deep, rumbly growl, and I peered up at him as I pulled on my sock.

He stood over seven feet tall, with dark greenish-gray skin and a wide nose.

Thick horns grew from the center of his head, sloping downward before curling up like an African buffalo.

His eyes glowed a deep green, and taut muscles rippled down his chest and stomach, leading to powerful legs, and…

Did I mention he was naked? Holy mother of magic, was he.

My tongue slipped out to moisten my lips of its own volition. The heat made me do it. I swear the hot and bothered feeling I couldn’t seem to shake came from the intensity of the atmosphere and not the naked demon standing before me.

I forced my gaze to his eyes and slipped on my shoe. “If you want the marks gone so badly, why don’t you remove them?”

“If I could, we would not be having this conversation.” He narrowed his eyes. “You used blood magic to create the bond. Only you can remove it.”

“Find my parents and send us home, and I will.” I stood, testing my weight on my ankle. It was angry, but the pain was manageable now.

He stomped toward me, and I did my best not to stare at his junk. Hey, it was swinging side to side like a pendulum, begging me to look. Give a girl a break.

“Witches are liars.” He grabbed the front of my shirt in his fist.

My pulse took off in a sprint, as it should with a giant creature from Hell threatening me, but his accusation struck a nerve. Against my better judgment, I just had to poke the demonic bear.

“Careful. I only packed one more shirt.” I slapped his hand. He didn’t let me go, so I inclined my chin. “Light witches aren’t liars.”

The green in his irises undulated like lava. “You said you’d remove the marks if I brought you to Hell. Here we are, yet you still refuse.”

I grabbed his fingers, trying to pry his hand from my shirt. “Again, I brought you. If you would just listen?—”

He snarled and released my shirt, gripping me just below my jaw and digging his thumb and finger into the tender muscles beneath my ears.

Stars wavered in my vision, the amplified pain threatening to make me pass out, so I did what any reasonable thirty-year-old woman would do in a situation like this.

I grabbed him by the balls and squeezed.

When he didn’t yelp or loosen his grip on my neck, I twisted them hard. Then harder.

His jaw tensed with an audible click of his teeth, the tendons in his neck tightening as he relaxed his grip and released me. With the freedom of movement at my disposal, I lowered my shoulder and twisted even harder, digging in with all the strength I had as I tugged a knife from my thigh holster.

“Touch me again and I’ll castrate you.” I pressed the tip of my blade against the delicate skin of his sack.

He slowly raised both hands. “Understood.”

I let him go and took two steps backward, just to be safe. His dick had the nerve to twitch, and a ghost of a grin crossed his lips before he composed himself. The bastard.

“It appears…” He jerked his head to the right, tilting it slightly as if listening to something I couldn’t hear. “The sentry are coming for you.”

“What sentry?” I scrunched my brow, trying my damnedest to hear whatever he did. “Why are they coming for me?”

“Their job is to keep out those who do not belong.” He cut his gaze toward the darkness to his right. “You are not the first person who has attempted a rescue from this realm.”

“We need to hide.” I grabbed my backpack and tightened my grip on the knife. “Let’s go.”

“No.” He wrenched my arm behind my back and took my knife in one swift movement. Pressing the blade against my throat, he whispered into my ear, “If you ever wish to leave this realm, you will follow my lead.”

“Is that a threat?”

“A word of advice.”

I struggled against his grip, lighting fire in my palms and letting it lick up my arms to singe him, but he wasn’t fazed. Oh, right. Fire didn’t burn demons. I’d have to remember that.

I reached backward, grasping for his balls, but he pressed the blade harder against my neck.

Searing pain exploded across my throat, and blood rolled down in ribbons.

I had no choice but to stop struggling. I was technically dead, so I had no idea what would happen if he truly slit my throat in this realm. Now was not the time to find out.

Three winged demons approached. They were smaller than Discord, standing maybe six and a half feet tall, but they were just as muscled, and they radiated a menace that chilled me to the marrow.

All three had long snouts and pointed ears like hellhounds, but they walked on two legs as if they were some kind of cross between a dog and a harpy.

The most disturbing thing about them was their eyes. They held zero intelligence. No apparent thoughts turned the gears in their primitive brains. One look at Discord and you could tell he was smarter than the average bear, that you could converse and reason with him.

These guys? I had a feeling they had the single-mindedness of rabid dogs. Attack, attack, attack.

“You’re throwing me to the wolves?” I whispered.

“You deserve worse for the trouble you’ve caused me.” He straightened, tightening his grip and forcing me toward the fiends.

“What took you so long?” As his deep voice echoed through the cave, the sentry demons froze. Their eyes widened, their mouths dropping open as they stared. The one in the middle lowered to one knee, and the others followed suit, bowing their heads.

“Sire,” Middle Guy grunted. “You returned.”

“And found an intruder upon my entrance. You have been slacking in my absence.” Regalness deepened his voice even more, his accusation sounding more damnation than chide.

The two sidekicks trembled and barked like dogs. One of them looked up at me and growled.

“Forgive,” the middle guy said, and he lowered to both knees, leaning forward and resting his forehead on the ground. The other two whimpered and did the same. These guys were scared shitless.

So was I. Finally, a normal reaction to my predicament.

“If you turn me over to these freaks, I will kill you,” I whispered, lacing my voice with as much menace as I could.

“I would love to see you try,” he replied before raising his voice. “Take her to my personal prison, but do not harm her. Speak of this to no one.”

“Sire.” The middle guy stood, and his posse followed his lead. “Small bite?”

“If I hear of a single tooth mark, you all will spend eternity in the tarpits. Do you understand?”

“Yes.” They nodded in unison, and he shoved me toward them, yanking off my backpack—with all my weapons and supplies—in the process.

The moment Discord released me, I ran for the ruins. If I could find a hidey-hole somewhere, I might have time to figure out a plan. My boots pounded the rocky ground, and I made it to the first dilapidated step when a harpy-hound dropped in front of me. I spun, but another already stood behind me.

Shifting my weight to my left leg, I kicked my right, my foot landing square in the fiend’s gut. He grunted, and I dropped to the ground, swinging my leg out again to knock the other guy off his feet. Before I could make impact, he flapped his wings, taking to the sky and hauling me up by my hair.

Pain exploded across my scalp. I flailed my arms and legs, but it was to no avail. Harpy-hounds numbers two and three grabbed my arms, their grips tight enough to bruise.

“Prison, prison,” they chanted and lifted me higher.

“Do not inform Lucifer of her presence or mine,” Discord said. “She will be my offering when I return to the castle.”

“Your offering?” I screeched and struggled against the fiends’ grips. “You’re dead, demon man.”

He lifted his chin, arching a brow like the arrogant prick he was. “I am afraid you are the only one who is dead here. Take her.”

He flicked his wrist, and the harpy-hounds hauled me away.