Page 35 of Hell Hath No Fury (Tear Down Heaven #4)

Bex felt like death warmed over. She’d felt that way since she’d lost to the Queen of War, though, so she just shook her head. She was picking up the rope to get back to it when she heard the unmistakable sound of a cat clearing his throat.

Bex looked up at once to see Boston perched on the carved wooden beak of Adrian’s broom, which was floating over the crowd of demons so the familiar wouldn’t have to dodge legs or get his paws wet walking on the tunnel’s damp floor.

“If I may interrupt,” Boston said with great self-importance. “There’s been some interesting developments with my finding charm.”

“Did you find Adrian?” Bex asked, whirling around to give the flying cat her full attention.

“That is the spell’s entire purpose,” Boston replied, leaning forward so Bex could see the witch-shaped leaf effigy he’d made earlier, which was now hanging from his fluffy neck on a string.

“As you can see from the way it’s turning, Adrian is on the move.

Has been for some time, actually, but I didn’t say anything sooner since there was a chance the quintessence in his blood was throwing off my readings.

At this point, however, I feel safe in saying that he’s definitely moving toward us. ”

“ Toward us?” Bex repeated, shocked. “You mean he’s coming down to the Hells?”

Boston nodded, but Bex still couldn’t believe it. “Are you sure?” she asked. “Because that makes no sense. Adrian’s a known demon sympathizer. Why would Gilgamesh let him come down here?”

That seemed like an obvious disconnect to her, but Boston responded with a scoff.

“Have you forgotten whom we’re talking about?

” he demanded with an affronted lash of his tail.

“Adrian is a fully initiated witch of the Blackwood Coven! Gilgamesh likely didn’t ‘let’ him go anywhere.

I’m sure the Eternal King tried his best to cage him in, but just like the forest he’s named for, my witch cannot be contained. ”

He tapped the pointed-hatted leaf figurine hanging from his neck with an excited paw.

“I bet he’s got a finding spell looking for me just like I’ve got one looking for him.

He probably started making his way down here the moment he saw us arrive, but he’s been picking up speed over the last fifteen minutes.

” Boston’s furry face grew worried. “I know you want to keep building up your troops, but this might be a matter of some urgency. I request that we pause our efforts here and go meet him just in case he’s on the run and needs our help. ”

Bex had zero objections to that. She’d thought they’d have to sneak all the way into Heaven before she saw Adrian again.

Rescuing him before they’d even left the Hells would be a game-changing stroke of luck.

Just thinking about the possibility was making her giddy, but Lys was shaking their head with a scowl.

“How are we getting to him?” they asked, finally removing their knife from Leander’s neck so they could stand up and address Boston directly.

“Whether Adrian’s sneaking in by himself or marching down here with Gilgamesh’s blessing, there’s only one way into the Hells from Heaven, and that’s through the central stair. ”

“So what?” Bex asked, refusing to let go of her hope. “We were headed there anyway.”

“Yeah, after we caused a distraction and cleared out security,” Lys reminded her.

“The whole reason we’re doing this is to kick off a prison break big enough to get the Hells prince out of our way, but he’s not going to take the bait if the newest prince—who’s famously in love with you —happens to show up right when things go south. ”

Bex’s whole face flushed again. She didn’t have time to be embarrassed, though, because Lys had a point.

She hated thinking of Adrian as Gilgamesh’s anything, but he definitely counted as a VIP.

If a rebellion kicked off while he was in the tower, the warlocks would rush him to safety first and ruin everything.

If they didn’t run the distraction, though, the only other possibility was attacking the tower head-on.

“Why don’t we?” Iggs asked, reading the dangerous line of logic right off Bex’s face.

“I know you don’t have your horns or sword yet, but I just spent the last hour arming a hundred of the saltiest demons I’ve ever met.

It’s not just the ones who used to run with you, either.

There are demons here who stood up to Heaven all on their own and got damned for it.

That’s a hell of a force to fight back with, especially since we’ve got a prince of our own now.

” He looked down at Leander. “Can you still cast spells with a single word?”

“Absolutely,” the prince said, rising to his feet. “Sorcery is in my blood. Even Gilgamesh can’t take that away from me so long as I’m alive.”

“Then we can do it,” Iggs concluded, turning back to Bex.

“This is the guy who punted me off the top of Pike Place Market with a flick of his finger. If we’ve got him and Adrian and a tunnel full of armed demons, a single prince won’t be able to stand a chance against us no matter how crazy his princess is. ”

“Or we could get slaughtered and lose the whole mission,” Lys countered, crossing their arms over their chest with a glower.

“I’m all for sticking it to Gilgamesh, but we came here to get Bex’s sword and horns back.

Freeing every demon we can get our hands on is a nice bonus, but if we jump straight to full-scale war before we’ve even gotten what we came for, we’ll never make it out of the Middle Hells alive. ”

“Who says we can’t make it?” Desh demanded, shoving his thumb over his shoulder at the crowd of scowling demons behind him.

“I’ve been talking to the blokes here, and shocker to no one, they’re not exactly keen about being used as a distraction.

They were still gonna do it out of respect for the queen who set them free and because it was the best option on the table, but that’s not the case anymore. ”

He flicked his hand back over to point at Leander. “We got him now, and it sounds like we’ll be picking up a witch as well. That’s two heavy hitters who can’t be dropped by a true name added to our roster, which gives us enough for a real assault.”

It did sound plausible when he put it that way, and Bex wasn’t the only one who thought so. By the time Desh finished, the whole tunnel was nodding in agreement except for Lys.

“Didn’t you just say not to trust Leander?” they snapped at Desh.

“And aren’t you the one who’s always telling me to trust our queen?” Desh snapped back. “If Bex is ready to roll the dice on this, then so am I. ’Specially if it means I’ll get to punch back at the wankers who put this collar on me.”

An enormous cheer went up at that, and Leander broke into a grin.

“The keys that unlock the collars are all kept inside the central tower,” he told them.

“They’re in the big metal cabinet four floors up.

If you can get your hands on them, you’ll be able to uncollar and unchain every demon in the Middle Hells. ”

“I like the sound of that,” Bex said, smiling at the tunnel full of demons, who’d gone from sullen acceptance to actual excitement.

“This plan has the potential to net us way more than just creating a distraction, but Lys is still right. If we charge into a tower full of warlocks, a prince, and a princess, we’re going to get hammered.

That’s true whether Prince Leander’s on our side or not, especially since our witch’s status is still unknown.

I’m still for a direct assault, but we need a better way in.

Something that’ll let us blindside and bowl the enemy over before they even realize they’re under attack. ”

She turned back to Leander, which, now that he was on his feet instead of the ground, meant that she had to crane her neck back to look up at him. “You said you knew all the secret passages through the Hells. Do you have anything that fits that bill?”

“As a matter of fact, I do,” Leander replied, brushing the black Hells grime off his white silk shirt and trousers, which Bex suddenly realized must be what princes wore under their golden armor.

“I can lead you to a path that will put you right under their noses, if you trust me enough to follow me there.”

Bex glanced at Lys, who nodded their head with a sigh.

“Looks like we’re in,” she said, holding out her hand for the rope General Kirok had already rolled back into a neatly bound coil. “Let’s go kick the hornet’s nest.”

Another cheer went up as she finished, making Bex feel better than she had since the bombardment.

She especially liked how fast the demons sprang into action.

She’d barely finished the order before everyone was on their feet with their new guns ready in their hands.

Even Streya had a petite submachine gun dangling off her shoulder as she clung to Desh’s back like a little winged monkey.

They might not have been much of an army by the numbers, but looking at all those armed demons crammed into the tunnel made Bex feel like they could actually do this as she moved to stand with Leander at the front of the crowd.

“Which way are we going?”

“Straight ahead,” Leander replied, pointing into the dark.

“That’s the direction Adrian is in as well,” Boston said from his perch on the broom, though his voice sounded more worried now. When Bex glanced up to ask why, the cat hopped off Bran to land on her shoulder.

“Not to pile on additional complications,” he whispered, “but I’m close enough now to start picking up on Adrian’s mood, and he’s understandably very nervous.

That could be due to the Hells themselves, but I suspect he’s under guard.

” Boston’s ears went flat against his head as he leaned even closer, his whiskers tickling Bex’s ear as he whispered, “Drop the steadfast leader act for a moment and give it to me straight. Can this lot actually beat a prince?”