Page 25 of Hell Hath No Fury (Tear Down Heaven #4)

“I said you would ,” Nemini corrected. “That doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.”

“But it would work,” Bex pressed, refusing to let this go. “The whole reason Desh wanted you for this is because you’re a void demon, but I’ve also lost my name. I’ve got a hole inside me, too, now. That means I should be able to go down there in your stead, right?”

“ No, ” Nemini insisted, her yellow eyes more terrified than Bex had ever seen before she dropped them.

“There’s no physical reason you can’t go,” she went on in a more measured voice.

“But you don’t know what’s down there, Bexa.

The Upper and Middle Hells were built to satisfy Gilgamesh’s need for sin iron, but what’s below us is a hell in the truest sense.

If you go down there, you might never return. ”

“I came back from the void,” Bex reminded her. “Is this worse than that?”

“Yes,” Nemini said without hesitation, gripping Bex’s one remaining hand with both of hers.

“There’s peace in the void. We were alone there, just the two of us, but the Lowest Hell is different.

That emptiness has hands that will drag you down.

If they latch on to you, they’ll suck you in just like everyone else, but unlike all the other demons Gilgamesh throws down there, you no longer have a name we can call to pull you back. ”

“Then I won’t get caught,” Bex said confidently, turning her hand around so that she was the one squeezing Nemini’s fingers. “If you say there’s no physical reason I can’t do it, then I’m going to do it.”

Nemini bit her lip. “But—”

“It’s my call,” Bex insisted. “I’m the one who wanted to come to the Hells in the first place, but so far I’ve done nothing but follow behind everyone else.

I’m tired of being the weakest link in my own team.

I’m tired of being helpless while my people suffer.

Everything I need is at the top of that tower, so I’m going to go down there and get us the biggest distraction Heaven’s ever seen.

I’m going to make sure the warlocks are so busy fighting the enemy in front of them, they don’t even see me coming until I stab them in the back.

Even if the distraction plan doesn’t work, I’ll still be freeing a bunch of our old allies from eternal torment.

That’s exactly the sort of thing a queen should risk her life for. ”

“Not your life,” Nemini said.

“ Yes , my life,” Bex insisted. “We’re all risking our lives by being here.

The difference is that, unlike every other part of this mission, this is something I can actually help with .

I can’t burn slave bands off demons anymore, I can’t toe-to-toe it with a princess, but I can go down there in your stead and get us what we need to make this work . ”

Nemini lowered her head again, but Bex didn’t let her escape. “Is there reason other than fear for my safety that makes you think I can’t do this?”

“No,” Nemini whispered, still refusing to look at her. “If anyone could, it’d be you. It’s just…” Her shoulders hunched higher around her snake-covered ears. “I don’t want you to see what’s down there.”

“Why not?” Bex asked, confused. “Have you been to the Lowest Hells before?”

“Never,” Nemini said, reaching up to scrub her eyes. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t know or don’t care.” She stared grimly at the wetness on the back of her hand. “I must not be as broken as I thought.”

“Oh,” said Bex, still not understanding. “That’s a good thing, right?”

“No,” Nemini replied, tucking herself back into the shadows. “But I’m done trying to stop you. Go be the bright queen and pick up my failures like you always do. I just hope you still want me around when it’s over.”

“I’ll never not want you around,” Bex said fiercely, reaching out to grab Nemini’s fading hand. “You’re my oldest and dearest ally, and you will never not be welcome by my side.”

“You always were good at making promises,” Nemini’s voice whispered as her hand disappeared from Bex’s grasp. “But nothing lasts forever, not even your good intentions. We’ll see if you still feel the same when you come back, if you come back.”

“I will,” Bex swore, glaring into the dark where Nemini had just been. “I will return, and I will feel exactly the same way about you as I do now. That’s something that will never change, so wait right there for me, Nemini, because I’ll be back to prove you wrong.”

That probably wasn’t the best way to say it. Nemini was just afraid, and orders never changed anyone’s mind, but Bex was so mad . Mad at Nemini for doubting her, mad at herself for being so weak and useless, mad at Gilgamesh for making them go through all of this in the first place.

She was mad at everything, which was a terrible way to go into a dangerous, unknown situation, but it also made her feel more like herself than she had since she’d lost her horns.

Bex swore she could feel the embers of her bonfire heating back up as she slung her backpack furiously to the ground, dug out her rope, and started tying one end around her waist.

When she had it knotted good and tight, she tossed the other end to Iggs, who caught it with a confused look.

“Hang on,” he said as Bex walked past him. “Isn’t Nemini the one who’s supposed to—”

His innocent question turned into a horrified shout as Bex jumped into the hole, plunging feetfirst into a freezing blackness that swallowed her up like a nest of hungry worms.