Page 10 of Queen of the Wicked (Afterlife #1)

Alessia

I n her head, Alessia envisioned Hell as a fire pit with deserted lands, rolling tumbleweeds, and lost souls crying out in pain from its various torture methods. She expected skeletons, chains, or anything worse than the sight before her.

The big burly man, the woman with all the weapons, Erebos, and herself landed outside of black iron gates. The world spun, and Alessia braced her hands on her knees to prevent herself from puking her guts up.

“That’ll get easier,” the muscle man noted. “Traveling sickness sucks.”

Only when Alessia found her balance again did she have the chance to analyze Hell for the first time.

For starters, the sky was red—blood red—but it looked almost…beautiful—like the beginning of a sunset before the night took over. Past the gate, a road beside lush green grass led to what seemed to be a town with houses scattered about.

“I…don’t un derstand,” Alessia said.

The burly man released a laugh. “Expecting worse?”

“ Much worse.”

Beyond the town, nestled far up on a vast mountain created of sleek, black stone, was a castle.

It was something she only saw in movies, never in real life, but this…

This castle was something out of her wildest dreams. It was nestled into the mountain, as if it had been created to be one with the land, and it sparkled with little ruby gemstones beneath the color of the sky above.

With the jagged peaks and rise surrounding it, the castle was created to be foreboding, but as it shimmered in the red hue, Alessia couldn’t help but gaze upon it in awe.

She caught Erebos staring at her, but as soon as her eyes met his, he strode ahead to lead the way, leaving her behind with the girl decked out in weapons. Great.

“I’m Izara,” she said. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Was she in some weird, alternate dream? People in Hell weren’t supposed to be nice .

The weather was supposed to be unbearable here.

Her skin was intended to melt off the bone, disintegrating into a puddle at her feet, not be offered this slightly cool but welcoming breeze.

And the girl with all the weapons was supposed to use them on her, not make small talk.

“Alessia,” she replied. “What do you do for Erebos?”

Izara’s eyes drifted ahead to the two men who walked in front of them.

“Security,” she replied vaguely, but a vermilion glow suddenly started glinting around her like an aura, and Alessia remembered Erebos saying something about being able to tell when others were lying.

She had a feeling this was the sign of it, but she couldn’t be certain, not entirely, so she formed her lips in a thin line as they strode ahead into the small town.

There were no prisoners, no shackles, no chains…

The people of the town were dressed from the 1800s and offered warm smiles as they sauntered past, bowing and paying their respects to Erebos.

The women were all dressed in skirts, aprons, and bonnets, while the men wore suspenders or overalls.

Baskets of fruit were perched on the hips of the women, and from a distance, cattle and horses grazed on grass in a nearby field.

“This is…not what I was expecting,” Alessia breathed.

Izara’s lip twitched to the side. “Be lucky this is the version Erebos wanted you to see.”

What?

Izara strode ahead to catch up with Erebos before Alessia could ask any questions, leaving her to the confusing thoughts and disbelief swirling in her head.

Curious glances shifted her way from a few women standing by a wagon, but she didn’t take it personally.

She was dressed for modern times, and based on their big skirts and accompanying bonnets, it wasn’t what they were used to.

The big burly man whispered something to Erebos, and with her new and improved hearing, she caught the tail end of it.

“But the scent ? —”

“I know,” Erebos hissed. “We’re not talking about it. Not here.”

The burly man huffed. “Fine, but you should probably start figuring it out soon.”

“I don’t need to figure it out. It’s not happening. End of story.”

“You act like it’s a choice , Erebos. Sooner than later, you won’t be able to hide the?—”

“It is a choice,” the lord snapped. “I don’t have to accept it. Have no desire to.” Erebos sent him a look Alessia couldn’t see, but it shut the burly man up immediately.

Taking that as an opportunity, Alessia sauntered to both of them, squeezing her way between the unbearably muscular men. “Why are people dressed like they’re from Little House on the Prairie?”

“Little House on the what? ” Erebos asked. The burly man chuckled and slapped him on the back.

“You need to spend more time up on Earth,” he told him. “To answer your question, Alessia, Hell didn’t exactly get the memo to update their fashion taste. This is how it’s always been and how it will remain.”

“Erebos isn’t dressed like them,” Alessia pointed out, waving up and down his outfit.

“Because he had to go to Earth,” he replied. “Earth has a different dress code.”

“And did he go to Earth to kill me?”

Erebos grunted and stalked further ahead toward the gates to the castle. “Tell her nothing , Eryx, ” he ordered.

“You certainly know how to get on his nerves,” Eryx observed. “Alas, I can’t go against his orders.”

“And what is it you do for him?”

A sly smile spread across Eryx’s face, and Alessia was relieved to have a joyful conversation for the first time in days.

She needed the humor. “I’m instructed to tell you nothing, and I, unfortunately, can only take orders from him and whoever his mate will be, of course, whenever he or she decides to claim that title.

Then I’ll have two people to answer to, and most of the time, their desires will trump his. ”

Alessia’s eyebrows lifted. “His mate ?”

Eryx nodded, his chiseled jawline working as he replied, “The person he is fated to be with. It’s the connection all of us desire to find in our lifetime. One we can only dream of.”

Alessia laughed, and at the sound of it, Erebos whipped his head around, lingering by the gates and guards surrounding it. “Well, I feel truly sorry for whoever his mate will be. What a task they have ahead of them.”

Eryx chuckled as Izara elbowed him in the ribs. “Indeed.”

When the guards opened the twenty-foot doors to breach the castle walls, what lay before her took Alessia’s breath away. Two grand staircases flanked the sides of the foyer, their banisters wrapped in gold, with towering ceilings that seemed to extend to the top of the mountain on which it resided.

A red, three-tiered chandelier cascaded from the ceiling with black gemstone teardrops equivalent to the size of her fist. It had Alessia questioning if those gemstones were real when a circular stone table in the center of the room stole her attention.

Different varieties of black flowers were sprawled on top; she’d never seen anything like them.

They were like sunflowers, but without their vibrant color.

Shimmering specs of white danced across the petals as if made of stars.

She stepped closer and brushed her fingertips against them, smiling to herself.

“Corathins,” Eryx supplied, noticing her infatuation. “They only grow here in Hell.”

“Good evening, My Lady, do you have a coat for me to take?”

Alessia spun around at the voice in her ear, and when she saw the floating skeleton before her, she crashed back against the table, sending the vase of flowers shattering against the pretty black and white checkered floors. She almost screamed, but she couldn’t find the breath to do it.

This was what she expected Hell to be like.

At least some part of it was true.

“Ambroz, this is Alessia Eastwood. She will be staying with us for the time being,” Erebos explained. “Please show her to her chambers on the west side of the castle, and have Isla see to it that her needs are met.”

“Of course, Your Majesty,” he obeyed. “Right this way.”

Wait. That was it? She just got here, and Erebos was going to leave her alone with a skeletal servant? Could he be any more selfish? She hadn’t even gotten a tour of the castle. She didn’t know where to get food, water, or even where the bathroom was, for crying out loud!

Alessia was a grown woman, but Erebos acted like an insolent child on their journey, so she felt like throwing a tantrum of her own by stomping up the staircase. With her arms crossed, she huffed after Ambroz with a flourish, hearing Eryx release another chuckle.

“She’s not staying on your side of the castle?” he asked Erebos in a teasing manner.

“Over my dead body,” Erebos hissed. “I’ll see you both at dinner.”

Alessia heard the snarky remark, but it didn’t bother her one bit.

She’d rather pluck her eyeballs out than stay on his side of the castle, where she would run into him.

That arrogant son of a bitch wouldn’t know manners if it hit him in the face, and you’d think he’d encompass just a smidge of them since he lived in a swanky castle where everyone seemed to be stuck in medieval times.

All he was missing was a moat and a crown.

She thought they were going to find the Seeker and make plans to find her mother.

When the hell did he plan on doing that?

Maybe he needed time, but she wanted to be involved with those plans.

What did he expect her to do? Sit in the castle and look pretty while he paraded around without his powers?

Ambroz led the way, corridor after corridor. After what seemed to be a ten-minute walk, when he reached the end of another marble hallway to the very last door on the left, she decided Erebos had placed her the furthest away from him as she could be.

Good.

At least he did something nice for her.

“Your Majesty has requested your presence at dinner,” Ambroz said. She was too busy staring at the way his mouth worked, wondering how he could talk without a throat or tongue to relay the information. “Isla will arrive to prepare you shortly.”

“Prepare me? For dinner?”

The skeleton nodded. “I assumed you would want to freshen up beforehand before seeing His Majesty again.”

Alessia scoffed. “He’s the last person I’m worried about impressing. I’ll just take a shower and make myself a grilled cheese. Thanks, though.”

Ambroz cocked his head to the side, studying her like she was a foreign object. “I do not know what a shower is, but if you request it, I can bring it to His Majesty’s attention. I assume he will be delighted to provide you with what you require.”

Oh, God. Of course, they didn’t have showers here. The last thing she needed was for him to bring up to Erebos what an insufferable diva she was being. As much as she wanted to anger him, she was exhausted, and she’d much rather get some sleep before having to interact with the lord again.

“Never mind,” she told him. “I’ll just take a nap.”

The skeleton bowed to her. He bowed to her. “As you wish. Isla shall wake you up to prepare you for dinner.”

When he disappeared out of thin air, her mouth gaped before she stomped her foot stubbornly on the ground, continuing her rampage a tad bit longer. “I didn’t say I was going!” Alessia called out to no one.

She’d return to being a grown woman tomorrow.