Page 23 of Hell Hath No Fury (Tear Down Heaven #4)

“You think some oversized head ornaments are the only thing that makes you a queen?” he demanded.

“They’re just the signposts, luv. There ain’t no shame in getting shot down when you’re taking on the Holy City like a one-woman army.

We felt you shaking the place all the way down here!

Damn warlocks were pissing themselves in fear. ”

He paused to savor the happy memory then turned back to Bex with his orange eyes shining brighter than ever.

“Look at it like that, and the biggest shame’s on Gilgamesh.

He sets himself to be this infallible king, but even after he stole your horns, you’re still here.

You’re in his Hells giving his warlocks the slip!

That’s the Bex I signed up to follow. That’s why I scrambled to grab you just now even though I knew Lys would slit my throat for it.

Because crown or no crown, you’ve never stopped fighting the good fight, and this time, I intend to do my part. ”

Bex was horrified by the time he finished, because Desh was looking at her now the way Lys did, like he actually believed.

Bex didn’t know how to respond to that, because she wasn’t what he said.

She’d sneaked into the Hells as a thief, not a savior, but Desh was grinning at her like she was about to strike a match and burn this whole place to the ground.

Bex was still scrambling for a way to explain how impossible that was when Lys burst out laughing.

“Well, well, well,” they said, rising up on the tips of their clawed feet so they could loom over Desh’s smaller human form with the smuggest expression Bex had ever seen. “Looks like someone owes me an apology. I was right, wasn’t I?”

The Desh Bex remembered would’ve had a rude remark for that, but this Desh just nodded.

“Yes, you were,” he admitted humbly. “And I owe you a lot more than an apology, but I hope you’ll take one anyway.”

Lys looked like they were getting ready to hold this over him forever, but then Desh bent forward in a bow, dropping his wickedly curved black horns so close to the ground that Bex was amazed he didn’t fall over.

“I’m sorry, Lysanae,” he said in a solemn voice.

“I thought I was doing the right thing when I tried to end Bex’s cycle of reincarnation, but I was a damn idiot.

I thank Ishtar every day that you and that witch boy stopped me.

I nearly committed the worst crime of my life, and I am so, so grateful to you for staying my hand.

I thank you from the bottom of my heart, and I hope you’ll accept me back at your side in the fight to come. ”

By the time he finished, Lys was in shock. They stood there, speechless, for almost thirty seconds, before their lips curved back into a smile.

“Grovel accepted,” they said, reaching down to pat Desh’s lowered head. “But you’re begging forgiveness from the wrong demon. Bex is the one you tried to backstab, so get down on your knees this time and apologize properly to your queen.”

“There’s no need for that,” Bex said quickly. “I wasn’t even there when he tried to kill me.”

Lys harrumphed, but Bex had already put her hand on Desh’s shoulder to pull him back up. “Your apology is accepted,” she told him. “And thanks again for getting us out of that mess.”

“Least I could do for the Savior Queen,” he replied with a grin.

Bex winced. “Is that what they’re calling me?”

“They’re calling you all sorts of things,” Desh told her excitedly, counting off on his black-nailed fingers.

“We’ve got Savior Queen, Vengeance of Ishtar, Gilgamesh’s Executioner, Hope of the Hells, and those are just the ones I remember off the top of my head.

I tried telling ’em not to get their hopes up, but when the order came down to send all the constructs upstairs ’cause you were melting the cannons off the Holy City’s walls, even I had nothing to say. ”

Lys snorted. “You? Speechless? That I’d like to see.”

“There’s only so many times a man can be proven wrong before he’s forced to change his tune,” Desh admitted with a shrug.

“I wasn’t the only one, either. By the time we heard the all-mighty voice of Gilgamesh announce that he was sparing the Queen of Wrath’s life as a favor to his new prince, every demon down here was already convinced it was a cover-up.

Even the war demons were whispering that you must’ve given him the slip, and now here you are with a strike force in the very heart of the Hells!

What else is there to say after that except ‘All hail the conquering queen’? ”

“That’s too far in the other direction,” Bex argued, holding up the severed stump of her right hand. “I did get away, but as you can see, I’m not going to be conquering anything any time soon.”

“You’re still here, though,” Desh argued stubbornly. “That means the rumors can’t be all wrong. I mean, just look at where we’re standing!”

It looked like a dusty, forgotten maintenance tunnel to Bex, but Lys’s amber eyes lit up like Desh had just pointed out a miracle.

“You’re right !” they said, whirling around. “These are the Founders’ Tunnels!”

“The what?” asked Iggs.

“The Founders’ Tunnels,” Desh repeated. “Buncha cracks and crawlspaces dug eons ago by the first generation of demon slaves. The stories say it happened right after the war, before Gilgamesh perfected the art of keeping us down. They were trying to dig their way to freedom. Never made it, of course, but their old tunnels still make a handy hiding place for slaves who slip the chain. That’s why they’re normally packed with golden constructs who kill on sight, but—”

“But there are no constructs right now,” Lys finished breathlessly. “Bex melted all of them!”

“I didn’t melt all of them,” Bex insisted.

“You must’ve melted enough,” Desh said, sweeping his arm down the dark, empty tunnel.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but there hasn’t been a patrol through here in days.

The warlocks are all too scared to come in themselves, so we’ve had the run of the place.

Couldn’t ask for a better breeding ground for a rebellion. ”

“He’s got a point,” Lys said, starting to sound excited. “This place should be seething like a kicked anthill after the chase we just led them on, but I can’t even hear the war demons yelling outside anymore. Listen.”

They were right. The other side of the fake wooden wall was silent, and the smile on Lys’s face got bigger.

“I think we’re in the middle of a golden opportunity,” they said. “Running into that prince was bad luck, but everything else we’ve seen has been just as shoestring as the war-demon kids outside said it’d be.”

“They could still be bringing reinforcements down from the Upper Hells,” Kirok cautioned. “But you’re right. Security has been shamefully sparse. During our approach to the tower, I didn’t even count the minimum number of patrols on the collection floor.”

“It’s been that way all week,” Desh said. “That’s why I had Streya keeping an eye on the tower. I figured if Heaven’s going to take their eyes off the ball, then we’re obligated to take advantage and get a few more of our people off the chains.”

“Exactly,” Lys said, spinning around to face Bex. “I know you were worried about our disguises, but what if we didn’t need disguises? What if we were able to walk right up those stairs into Heaven because every warlock in the tower was somewhere else ?”

“Where else would they be?” Bex asked, confused.

“Attempting to do their jobs,” Lys replied with a grin.

“Imagine what would’ve happened if we’d been inside that tower after the princess bolted.

The whole office would’ve been in chaos!

Forget bullying our way through. I bet we could’ve walked right up the stairs without so much as a second glance. ”

“You’re talking about a distraction,” Iggs said.

“I’m talking about the biggest distraction there is,” Lys replied, pointing at Bex.

“You heard Desh just now. The whole Middle Hells are buzzing about the Queen of Wrath. Now, imagine she shows up and says ‘riot!’ This whole place would go up like a powder keg. What’s left of the security force would be completely overwhelmed, leaving no one to stop us from scooting up to Heaven and getting everything we came here for. ”

“And then we could come back down to actually set everyone free,” Iggs finished excitedly. “That’s a great idea!”

“No, it’s not,” Bex growled, clenching her one remaining fist. “I’m not using a bunch of starving, desperate slaves as a distraction. Even if they were willing to help, I can’t ask them to fight for me when they’re still chained to the floor. It’d be a massacre.”

Lys’s face fell, but Desh was snapping his fingers like he’d just come up with something grand.

“What if they weren’t chained?” he asked as the grin returned to his face. “If it’s a distraction you’re after, I know where there’s a bunch of demons who aren’t collared and who’ll definitely want to fight.”

“Are they in the Hells?” Lys asked skeptically. “Because that sounds too good to be true.”

“There’s a pretty big catch,” Desh admitted as his eyes flicked over the crowd to where Nemini was hanging at the back. “But I think we might have a way around. Here, follow me, and I’ll show you what I mean.”

Bex still wasn’t sure, but Desh had already scooped Streya onto his shoulders and started jogging down the dark tunnel with his lantern.

Iggs took off after him at once. After a long hesitation, Lys did as well, tapping the bottom of Bran’s broom to let Boston, who’d been ignoring the demons this whole time in favor of fiddling with his tiny leaf-version of Adrian, know they were moving.

Kirok stayed put, clearly waiting for Bex to start moving before he did, but Bex was staring over her shoulder at the only member of their invasion team who’d yet to offer an opinion.