Page 57 of Hell Hath No Fury (Tear Down Heaven #4)

She clenched her fists. “No matter how many times I told you the war was futile, you never stopped throwing yourself at Gilgamesh’s wall.

Even after you lost everything, you refused to let it go.

I thought I’d accepted that as part of the inevitable truth of the universe.

Even when your obnoxiously competent witch laid my repaired horns at my feet, I still thought there was nothing I could do.

If Gilgamesh won back when there were nine of us, what could two queens possibly hope to accomplish?

The whole concept was hopeless. I’d be sacrificing my precious freedom for nothing.

I wasn’t going to do it, but then I heard the queens’ stolen voices ordering everyone to kneel.

I realized you were about to lose, and my hands moved on their own. ”

She reached up to smack the forked tower of beautifully shining obsidian-black horns that now dominated her head, but Bex looked stunned.

“You put them back on for me?”

“I make all of my stupid decisions for you,” the queen said in an irritated voice, but her lips were smiling.

“I told you before, Bexa. You’re the one I chose to keep.

I hated being queen and thought the war was pointless.

I knew we were all doomed to be slaves forever no matter which side won, so I didn’t care if Gilgamesh caught us or not.

You cared, though, and I care about you.

I couldn’t stand the thought of your despair when he won, so I made a rash decision based on emotion, and this is how it ended up, just like he predicted. ”

She flicked her yellow gaze to Adrian, who immediately started to squirm.

Bex’s eyes, however, stayed locked on her sister.

She walked forward next, striding through the ghostly snakes like the sun passing through clouds until she was standing right in front of the new queen, whose actual name Adrian suddenly realized he didn’t know.

Not that he could’ve spoken it if he did know, but it still felt odd not knowing what to call the person Bex was staring at with her entire heart in her eyes.

“I won’t let you regret it,” she said as she fell to her knees, lowering her head not to bow, but so that she and the sitting queen could finally see each other eye to eye.

“You gave up your freedom to save me from my failures today,” she whispered, clenching her hands into burning fists.

“I can never undo that, but I swear it won’t be forever.

I know you think the war is pointless, but the whole reason we’re fighting is so that demons everywhere can be free to live the lives they choose.

That includes you. Even if I have to defy Ishtar herself, I swear on my lost name, I will find a way make you free again. ”

“You were always quick to swear,” the Queen of Pride muttered. “You’ve made so many promises that you have no power to keep. It’s always been your worst trait, but…” She lifted her head to give Bex a weak smile. “I still like that you try.”

“Of course I try,” Bex said. “What else am I supposed to do? Give up and let everyone be miserable forever?”

Her sister shrugged. “Suffering is inevitable, but the fact that you refuse to accept that is why I love you. If no one pushes back, all we’ll do is sink.”

“Don’t make it sound like a lost cause,” Bex growled.

“Breaking into the Hells was supposed to be impossible, but here we are. Gilgamesh thought he had us cornered, but you came back from the dead and stopped him in his tracks. We’ve done a hundred impossible things in just the last two hours, so don’t you dare tell me I can’t keep my promises.

” She clenched her burning fists even tighter.

“I’m going to set every single demon free, including you.

I’m winning this whole damn thing, horns or no horns, so keep your eyes on me, Nemini, because I’m not going to let you down. ”

“You never do,” the queen said as she leaned forward to hug her sister.

The cloud of shadow snakes retreated as she did, shrinking down until they were back in their usual place on Nemini’s head.

Adrian didn’t know if that was a new feature of her restored horns or if Nemini had always been able to make her snakes enormous and this was just the first time she’d used the power in front of him, but he was very happy things seemed to have turned out all right in the end. More or less.

“So what happens now?” Bex asked, finally out snuffing her flames as she scrubbed her eyes in a way she probably thought no one would notice.

“I suppose I should go get my demons,” the Queen of Pride replied unenthusiastically.

“Now that I’ve got my name back, they’re no longer falling into the void of my loss, which means I can feel them waking up.

” She scowled. “They’re very confused. This is the first time they’ve been aware of their surroundings since the war, so, naturally, they’re in a state .

” She rose to her feet with a huff. “It’s such a bother. ”

“I’m starting to see why she wasn’t a popular queen,” Iggs whispered, scooting closer to Adrian on the broom.

Adrian nodded, but he didn’t get to say a word as the queen formerly known as Nemini strode imperiously past them and started descending the spiral stairs toward the crowd of demons waiting anxiously below.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

High, high above in the second-tallest tower of the Highest Heavens, Crown Prince Alexander was sitting alone in his office, frantically trying to read through the avalanche of report scrolls that wouldn’t stop landing on his desk.

The scroll system was automated, and it was only supposed to go off when emergency protocols were triggered.

It was the Prince of the Hells’ job to deal with day-to-day problems, which was why the current flurry was so alarming.

Alexander had designed the scroll system to only bother him if there was an actual threat to the integrity of Heaven’s interests, but he couldn’t even tell which part of the Hells was in trouble because reports were coming in from every section.

The first alarm had come in thirty minutes ago notifying him of infrastructure damage to the Middle Hells’ central stair.

Next came a bevy of letters from the tower wardens assuring the Crown Prince that the problem would be dealt with quickly, then nothing.

He had plenty of reports from the Upper Hells about screaming and explosions below, but no one from the Middle Hells had made contact in nineteen minutes, which was eighteen and a half minutes too long.

My prince?

“Finally,” he growled, closing his eyes to focus all of his attention on the familiar voice sliding through his head like an intrusive thought. “Report.”

I’ve ordered my war slaves to reinforce the Middle Hells as you commanded , the Crown Princess replied calmly. But they’ve been unable to proceed due to the presence of the lockdown barricades.

“Lockdown?” Alexander repeated furiously. “On whose authority?”

I’m not certain, his princess replied, her calm voice tinged with the slightest hint of anger. The Princess of Hate isn’t responding, so I’ve been unable to reach Prince Demetrios.

“Then he’s dead,” Alexander snapped. “Whether he started this mess or merely failed to stop it, Father will kill him for his incompetence. What about the Princess of Wrath?”

Also unresponsive.

That was the worst news so far. If the lockdown had already been triggered, then the trouble in the Hells was contained, but Adrian was his father’s current favorite, and Alexander was the one who’d let him out of his cage.

Broken princes could always be put back together, but the process took time, and the Eternal King had made it clear he was on a strict deadline.

If Gilgamesh’s plans got derailed because of this, Alexander’s head would be the one to roll.

“What do we need to do to lift the lockdown?”

I’d have to check the documentation, his princess replied. We’ve never gone into full lockdown before, so I’m unfamiliar with the override protocol, but I believe Gilgamesh’s personal intervention is required.

“I was afraid of that,” Alexander muttered, grinding the heel of his palm into his eye socket. He was already plotting what he’d need to say to his father to minimize the damage when his princess spoke again.

It gets worse, she warned. When the lockdown went into effect, the Edict of Seven Voices—eight voices now—was automatically triggered. Unfortunately, it appears to have failed. The order to kneel was given, but my war demons reported hearing a countermand.

It took every bit of Alexander’s discipline not to curse. “Was it the Coward Queen?”

No, the Princess of War said. This was a different voice, one I have not heard in a long, long time. The presence in his head grew cold. My eldest sister.

Alexander did curse then. He’d known he should never have let that damn witch into the Hells.

He’d only permitted it because Gilgamesh had specifically ordered him not to get in his new favorite’s way.

Alexander had also thought that Demetrios and two princesses would be enough to quell any bad behavior, but it looked like Prince Adrian had lived up to his miracle-working reputation.

Now two-thirds of the Hells were no longer under Heaven’s control, and as Crown Prince, Alexander was the one who was going to have to inform the king.

“Gather as many soldiers as you can and set up a defense on the stairs,” he ordered. “I don’t care if you have to pull every war demon you’ve got. We cannot allow this situation to spread any farther.”

With respect, noble prince, the Princess of War said curtly, the Upper Hells are already well defended, and the Eternal King requires the war demons’ constant labor to maintain his schedule. If I move slaves away from the forges, it could set his plans back—