Page 2 of Queen of the Wicked (Afterlife #1)

Erebos

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS LATER

A fter his first kill, he felt remorse.

After the second, he felt ashamed.

After the third, there was no turning back.

The man stared at Erebos with amusement, seemingly unaffected by the unbearable heat in the cavern. His brown hair was slicked to his forehead with sweat, and he panted from the plumes of lava burning in a circle around them on the stone platform.

It irked the Lord of Hell to the core.

Was he this nonchalant when he raped two innocent females? When he murdered one of them in a forest in broad daylight without a flicker of regret? He deserved the pain Erebos put him through over the past few days, yet he still hadn’t broken.

The lord’s eyes roamed over the man’s chest at the burn marks he created, the skin blistering and bubbling in a snake-like pattern.

Most of the demons that came down here were so broken that it didn’t take much to get them to confess their sins, but there were a few stragglers who were more difficult than others.

Gregory fell into that category, his arrogance and pride much too large to consider feeling a drop of remorse for the women he tortured.

“I didn’t think Hell was an actual place,” Gregory mused, his eyes dancing with delight even in the aftermath of the suffering the lord had inflicted upon him.

The sick fuck seemed to get off on the sadistic scenery, standing proudly on the circular platform where Erebos’s throne sat.

The chair crafted of bones only intrigued him, his attention stolen every few minutes by the brazen monstrosity.

A chuckle escaped Erebos’s mouth unwillingly at the realization, and he cursed himself.

The Lord of Hell didn’t like to show emotion in front of the newly administered souls in Hell.

They needed a stern leader—someone who would break them down enough.

His facade wasn’t something he could wager to lose.

“And now that you are aware it’s an actual place, what are your plans to repent?” Erebos asked. The lord reached to loosen the top two buttons of his dress shirt, the fabric clinging to his skin from the roasting temperature of the magma.

Gregory cocked his head to the side as if he’d never heard the word before. “Repent?”

Walking around him in a slow circle, Erebos allowed just a drop of his power to rattle him. He forced flames to lick along Gregory’s body, but still, the man didn’t break. He stood stoically, his face twisted into a manic smile, the lava dancing in the reflection of eyes as black as his soul.

“I don’t need to repent,” Gregory sneered. “Those women deserved everything coming to them. Dressing like skanks .” He scoffed, flicking his eyes around the enclosed cavern. “They were asking for it.”

“Were they?” Taking a step closer to the man with a scraggly beard and a beer gut to match, he stared down at him in disdain.

It wasn’t hard, given that Erebos commonly towered over newly administered souls.

The Lord of Hell was six feet four inches of cultivated power envied by thousands, and those he encountered ran for the hills at the whispers they’d heard of his abilities.

“I see a lot of your kind, Gregory , and all of you tend to have one thing in common.”

His thick brow arched in response. “Oh yeah? And what’s that?”

Erebos sent another flame straight to his dick, enjoying it all too much when the cocky son of a bitch finally cried out in agony.

“You all blame the victims for your actions rather than consider the possibility that you are the problem in this scenario. That your actions brought you here to me, and whatever maternal issues you faced as an adolescent were precisely why you targeted innocent women.”

Taking pride in how Gregory’s face blanched, he latched onto that flicker of fear, fueling it to enhance the power that flooded his veins. Another cry of agony echoed through the cavern as black shadows coiled around his dick and twisted, causing the rapist to drop to his knees on the stone slab.

“You have two options available.” Erebos squatted down so he was eye-level with him, the breath hitching in the man's throat when he looked into the eyes of pure blackness. Pure evil . “You remain a sadistic imbecile with a superiority complex, which is of no use to me, or you admit you’re willing to repent for your sins. Your choice.”

He gulped as his body trembled—a liquid dripping down the pant leg of his shorts onto the stone slab.

“If you refuse, there’s always another option.

” He smiled sinfully and glanced down at the swishing lava beneath them.

All it would take was a simple tilt of his head to toss his body into the depths of the lava, and due to the lack of new souls recently, the magic in him was practically begging for it.

The chance of a new prospect, especially one as horrid as Gregory, had the darkness inside him urging the pursuit of death.

“I-I’ll do whatever you want,” the man relented as he followed his gaze to the bubbling magma. “Whatever you need. Anything. Please. ”

With a simple once over, Erebos didn’t see anything useful in him. He was weak, spineless, and despite what he claimed minutes before being thrown to his death, Gregory was only apologizing to appease him. He didn’t truly feel remorse for those women. He never would.

For the administered souls who did feel remorse, Erebos dealt with them accordingly. Thieves, those who committed tax fraud, and other petty criminals craved a second chance. Erebos could see the potential in them, their willingness to change.

But no rapist was capable of redemption.

Since Erebos had full jurisdiction over Hell, he could do whatever he wanted with Gregory. Toss him into the lava, sever his head, tie him up, and throw knives at him until he bled out slowly and painfully at his feet… The options were endless.

There’s nothing quite like turning the tables on someone and watching them cower.

Those women never received a chance for revenge, their souls too pure to encounter a dark place such as Hell, so Erebos would gather the darkness that lingered beneath his skin and bestow that revenge for them.

Flashing Gregory a manic smile in return, he reveled in the fear he found. “How do you feel about monsters?”

“W—what?” His mouth opened and closed like a gaping fish.

“Monsters,” the lord repeated. “You know, creatures that haunt the dungeons below. Creatures with claws and teeth longer than the length of your arm.” His voice dropped lower, into a menacing growl. “Creatures that will hopefully bite that puny dick of yours off.”

Gregory’s eyes bulged out of his head. “I-I don’t want to be locked up, man! I can’t be. I’ll never survive down there. Oh, God.”

Erebos barked out a laugh. “Don’t call for him now. There hasn’t been a decent god in Heaven for decades. He wouldn’t save you.”

Or, maybe he would, but it wouldn’t be the type of sanctuary the man in front of him was taught in those churches of his growing up—the churches that had no idea he was a rapist.

“You don’t think you deserve to be broken down?

To be punished? Believe me when I say the creatures there will be very pleased to meet you.

” Then, after a beat, he added, “The only favor I ask is that when you’re seconds away from taking your last breath…

Before your flesh disintegrates and your soul burns into the depths of nothingness when you enter the Unknown, never again seeing the light of day, I want you to remember their names. Can you tell me their names, Gregory?”

His chubby face turned white as a sheet, and it wasn’t long after that before he passed out on the stone slab at his feet.

Typical response.

“Monica and Victoria,” Erebos muttered for him. “Makers rest their souls.”

A pair of sliding doors opened, and Ambroz, the lord’s skeletal servant, floated through the door with an envelope. He knew not to interrupt his torture sessions unless absolutely necessary, so it must have been important.

“Your Majesty,” he apologized, bowing so his skull was fully displayed.

“A letter I suspect you will need to read at your earliest convenience. It arrived via golden transport.” The fastest mailing system of Heaven was only beheld by those with powerful magic.

With a snap of their fingers, they could send a letter to anyone they desired in a matter of seconds.

The thin envelope landed in his hands, a shimmering aura that insinuated it had been enchanted by someone or something.

This couldn’t have come from anyone in Hell, as they didn’t use letters to communicate.

And this envelope didn’t have the royal seal from Heaven.

There was no angel wing emblem, no stamp of approval…

This letter must have come from Earth.

Erebos controlled that realm himself, which meant archangels and anyone from Heaven required his permission to visit. He rarely visited Earth unless necessary; he had commanders who patrolled it on his behalf.

The gold ink stood out against the tan envelope, which had his name inscribed on the front in a single line, with no return address. Whoever sent it to him didn’t want it to fall into the wrong hands.

“Is there a clue as to who sent this?” Erebos asked.

The skeleton shook his head. “No, Your Majesty. It arrived on my desk just a minute ago.”

Erebos twirled the envelope between his fingertips and gave him a nod. “Very well. Thank you. Please ensure that our new friend becomes acquainted with the dungeons. He will reside there for a few weeks before entering the Unknown.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Of course.”

Passing through the sliding doors, he approached the elevator built into the deep tunnels of the underground cave, with jagged spiked stone and gargoyles surrounding it.

This level of Hell was intended to be the most intimidating, and it was like a breath of fresh air when he arrived on the first floor, releasing a deep breath as pillars of stone and marble floors came into view.

He stepped out, followed by Izara, his soul seeker—the one who brought him the rejected souls from Heaven to deal with.

“Any news?” Erebos inquired. The envelope was still clutched tightly in his fingers as his dress shoes clacked against the marble floors.

Luxurious chandeliers hung from above, guiding their way to his private quarters.

Eryx, Izara, and Ambroz were the select few people allowed to cross over into this section of the castle. He trusted no one else.

“No new souls to report,” Izara said reluctantly. She was still strapped up from her mission with various knives and a bulletproof vest, even though she didn't need them. She never needed them.

“This is the fifth day in a row without a new soul,” Erebos said.

Gregory had arrived last week, and Erebos took his time playing with him.

Partly to release his anger about him being the only soul to arrive in weeks, but also because he was bored.

His entire livelihood was based on handling the demons and forcing them to repent.

With no souls to manage, he’d been going stir crazy.

Eryx bristled. His general aimed to please, and he despised letting him down. It was precisely the reason he made him the general of his army. “We will check again tomorrow. Although if this continues…” He trailed off, not wanting to overstep his authority.

“Then we invade and ask questions,” Erebos finished. “I’m well aware of the danger this presents, but there is even more danger if we don’t. We all know what a risk that would be.”

He nodded. “Very well.”

With a bow from them both, they disappeared down the hall, leaving Erebos alone at the entrance of his study.

He locked the door and sat in the massive leather chair behind his desk, tentatively inspecting the envelope again.

There wasn’t any immediate danger emanating from it that he could sense, and after he pried the piece of paper out of the damned thing, he sprawled it across the mahogany wood.

Lord of Hell,

An important soul is waiting for your collection. It is imperative you travel at your earliest convenience, and it must only be you who retrieves the soul.

No one signed the letter, but there were coordinates for the precise location. Normally, he wouldn’t give this the time of day, but Hell hadn’t had a rejected soul in days, especially an important one. Without rejected souls, Hell wouldn’t be able to function, and without Hell functioning…

He shuddered at the thought.

I’m leaving for Earth immediately to collect an important soul. Only my presence is required, he silently communicated to Eryx and Izara. And since Ambroz didn’t have a brain, he added, Please relay to Ambroz that he is off duty until I return.