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A ccording to legend—which is to say, the witches’ rumor mill—the catacombs had initially been built underneath the convent as a way to give witches who’d been denied burial in church cemeteries a final resting place. Alcoves shaped like arched windows held urns and plaques with names of witches going back hundreds of years. Here, as in the antechamber, their path was lit by flickering torches in wall sconces dotted along the length of the tunnel. Evelyn had half-expected the walls to be lined with skulls like the images she’d seen of the Paris catacombs rather than tidy alcoves with polished name plates and a few small trinkets or offerings.

Kirat turned her head to speak to them as they walked. “Don’t let this first stretch fool you. This is an extension of the antechamber and was created intentionally to be palatable to the public, just in case. We have yet to enter the first zone.”

“You mentioned zones before.” Valen ducked his head to pass through the next archway. “What does that mean? I thought we were going to an underground city.”

Kirat hesitated, and Evelyn could sense her concern. She was likely wondering why Evelyn had brought someone so little versed in the lore of the underground.

“The Dark City is the name given to the entirety of the underground world, but it isn’t like a typical city like you’d see up top,” Kirat said. “It’s more like a web of interconnected areas—or zones—that have been built and are sustained by independent magic users. There are no rules or regulations down here, so people let their imaginations run wild. These zones are limited only by the power level and… inclinations of whoever created them. There are encampments here and there, including at least one large one near the center of the web, but again, nothing like the city you’re used to.”

“What do we need to know about the first zone?” Valen asked.

“I don’t know a lot. The map mentions predators but doesn’t specify what kind or how many, so we’ll want to move quickly and quietly through to the other side. It’s hard to gauge time and distance down here, so we’ll need to stick together and stay focused so as not to stray off course. If we get lost within a zone, we’re done for.”

“How do you know where a zone begins or ends?” Evelyn could feel fear starting to curl its icy fingers around her stomach at the thought of getting lost within one of these strange places.

“I’ll show you when we get to the edge of this first zone. There will always be a runic marker at each entrance or exit. They differ by door, so it’s important to make note of where you enter and exit so that you can retrace your steps later.” Kirat paused. “Well, it normally is, but you’re buying a one-way ticket, aren’t you.”

“Do you know of any doors that open beyond New Orleans city limits?” Evelyn should have asked sooner, and she knew it. The cold knot in her stomach tightened again, and the throb in the back of her head threatened to return in full force.

“Just the one. The outskirts of the Dark City are the least known and most maps don’t go all the way to the edge, but this map,” she tapped the top of the rolled map with her fingers, “shows a door that opens on the other side of Lake Pontchartrain. It’s your best bet.”

They walked in silence for a few minutes until Kirat raised her hand for them to stop, then pointed out a rune carved into the wall. “We’re entering the first zone. Remember, quiet and fast and stay together.”

Kirat pulled out a knife with a wickedly curved blade and an open loop in the handle. She slipped her thumb into the opening and held the knife with the blade curving down toward her elbow. Evelyn wished she’d thought to get the ritual knife out of her bag before they’d passed the rune marking the entrance. She didn’t dare do it now for fear of drawing attention. Instead, she pulled the moonstone amulet from beneath her shirt and let the pale glow light their path through the darkness. She heard Valen unsheathe his knife behind her.

A snarl from somewhere outside her amulet’s glow sent shivers down her spine. It didn’t sound like any animal sound she’d ever heard before. It sounded—for lack of a better word—wet. As far as snarls went, it was a squelchy one. Bile rose in the back of her throat as a foul stench hit her nose. Whatever it was, it smelled wet too. And sour. Like vomit and wet laundry that had been forgotten in the washer had a baby. Behind her, Valen exhaled forcefully like he was trying to clear the stench from his nose.

“What is that?” he hissed.

“I don’t know,” she hissed back.

Kirat hushed them from her place at the head of the line.

Minutes passed like hours as they crept along in the dark. After what felt like days, they reached a matching rune etched on a wall on the opposite side of the zone. Kirat passed her hand over it, and a door slid open for them to pass through.

“They don’t have a name.” Kirat doubled over, hands on her knees as she recovered from their nerve-wracking passage through Zone 1. “At least not one that’s known.”

Evelyn shuddered. “Have you ever seen one?”

“No.” Kirat straightened and. “Nor do I want to, thanks. The stench is bad enough.”

“What’s next?” Valen asked.

Kirat stepped closer to Evelyn and leaned in close to whisper in her ear. “Do I speak freely in front of him?”

Evelyn nodded.

“The people responsible for putting up the barrier that’s keeping you from leaving New Orleans. Do you think it’s them ?” Kirat didn’t have to say the name for Evelyn to know who she meant.

“I think it’s possible,” Evelyn admitted, reluctantly. “It’s either them or someone unknown with power that rivals theirs.”

“That’s what I thought. I chose this map because the zones are labeled by alliance. Many are completely independent, but more and more are aligning themselves with the powers that be. All zones belonging to or affiliated with them are marked like this.” Kirat held her map up to a nearby torch and pointed to a tiny cursive L with a circle around it. Evelyn’s heart sank. There were so many. Kirat continued, “I think I’ve worked out a path that gets us where you need to go without entering any of those zones, but it comes at a price.”

“What price?” Evelyn asked.

“The non-affiliated zones are different. They’re independent, unfiltered. Sometimes utterly beautiful, but more commonly fully unhinged. And some of them haven’t been mapped at all because those who enter don’t make it back out. You’re sure you want to do this?”

Evelyn wasn’t sure at all. “I have to.”

“Okay, then. Next up is Zone 3 South.” Kirat’s expression was grim as she began leading the way down the next tunnel. “You ever read Dante’s Inferno ? Well, whoever built Zone 3 is a big fan. Huge.”

“What does that mean?” Valen was confused. Evelyn envied his lack of understanding because she was bracing herself for the literal literary hell they were about to experience. Her plan was looking worse and worse.

“You’ll see.” Kirat approached the next rune. “As long as you stay alert, the only thing endangered in this zone is your sanity. Keep your eyes on the floor and follow me. Do not interact. Do not engage. Do not look around. Trust me.”

“Which circle of hell is it?” Evelyn asked.

“All of them.”

With a wave of her hand, the passageway opened to reveal a wide cavern lit by fires burning in large metal barrels scattered around the space. It was so expansive that Evelyn couldn’t see the walls on either side or ahead. Even the ceiling above them was out of sight, hidden in shadow. As soon as they crossed the threshold, the sound of men’s voices raised in argument echoed around them.

Following Kirat’s instructions, Evelyn kept her head down as they crossed the cavern. She refused to look when they passed what sounded like a group of self-important wannabe philosophers “well actually-ing” each other endlessly.

“Have we not free will? If not, how can we be punished?”

“How do you know we are being punished? Perhaps this is the height of paradise!”

“It is not.”

“That is your perception.”

“And hence my reality.”

“Is reality purely relative?”

Yes, perhaps this was indeed hell. Evelyn stepped over a deep groove carved in the stone floor. It extended as far as she could see in either direction. Sensuous moans filled the air. The pleasured cries grew louder as they walked, accompanied by the unmistakable sounds of enthusiastic lovemaking. Evelyn kept her eyes on her boots. Voices called out to them in invitation to join whatever act they were currently engaged in. She felt Valen’s hand grip the back of her jacket as though he didn’t want to be separated. Good, she didn’t want that either.

She was relieved when they stepped over the next groove. Snow crunched under Evelyn’s boots, and Kirat pulled up the hood of her cloak as cold wind buffeted their faces. Bile rose in Evelyn’s throat again as the stench of death and feces was shoved in her face by the wind. All the circles indeed. Dogs barked in the distance. On they marched, heads down.

The cold wind eventually gave way to thick, sticky mud and wails of agony and suffering. They reached the edge of a swampy river. A small boat with two wooden oars was tied to a stake so it wouldn’t float away. Nearby, a rickety wooden bridge swayed over the sludgy water.

“The boat is a trap,” Kirat said. “We’ll take the bridge one by one.”

Kirat crossed first, then shouted for Evelyn to follow. The bridge rocked precariously when she stepped on the first plank. She gripped the side ropes tight enough to turn her knuckles white and reached for the next plank with her foot.

“Help me! Please!”

A woman was sinking into the thick river sludge a few feet from the bridge. Her wet hair was plastered to her face. Hands reached up out of the muck to pull her down, dragging her beneath the surface. Evelyn kept her head down and continued across the bridge, step by slow step. She took Kirat’s hand on the other side and leapt the last couple of feet to shore. Kirat called over for Valen to start, warning him to go slowly. Evelyn peered into the gloom, worried about the bridge holding Valen’s weight. Several minutes later, a pale and shaken Valen stepped onto the shore beside her.

“That was awful. The voices—did you hear them?”

Kirat put her hand on Valen’s thick forearm. “They aren’t real. None of this is real. It’s all an elaborate illusion, okay? It’s not real.”

The sticky mud gave way to stone floor once again. It grew dark, and a dense white fog settled around them. Evelyn pulled out her moonstone, but the light was little help. They were essentially blind. They stayed close together, stumbling into one another in an effort to not get lost. A horrible smell that Evelyn couldn’t (and honestly didn’t want to) identify assaulted their sense.

They passed through a dark forest, crossed a stretch of desert with hot sands underfoot, then squelched their way through sticky pools of congealed blood. Screams and cries punctuated the darkness just out of sight. Eventually, it grew colder again until Evelyn could see her breath in puffs of white as they walked. Ice crunched underfoot. That’s when she heard it—the unmistakable sound of heavy wings beating the air. Icy winds grew stronger the closer they drew closer to the sound. Evelyn knew what it was—or what it should be, given the theme of this place. They were approaching the devil himself.

“Do not look,” Kirat ground out the words through gritted teeth. “Keep moving.”

Evelyn felt Valen’s hand slip from her jacket, and she turned to find him gone.

Evelyn whirled around looking for Valen, Kirat’s admonition completely forgotten. Panic tightened her throat. Where was he? After several terrifying seconds, she spotted him a few yards away. He was walking directly toward the giant demon-looking creature trapped in the ice.

“Valen! Come back!”

“What is it?” Kirat had returned to her side.

“It’s Valen. Look!” Evelyn pointed to where Valen continued to make his way toward what looked like Dante’s Lucifer.

“Shit! We have to stop him! That’s the owner of this zone. FUCK!”

Kirat took off at a sprint, and Evelyn followed, her boots slipping and sliding on the ice as she ran. She nearly tackled Valen to the ice when she reached him. She grabbed onto his arm to stop herself from falling.

“Valen! What are you doing? We have to go.”

“He’s trapped.” His voice sounded strange. Dull. Compelled.

“He’s not. Not really,” Kirat explained. “He is in control of this place. He’s playing a game you don’t want to play. We need to go.

Evelyn looked up at the massive creature with multiple sets of heavy, leathery wings beating the air slowly. Many of the details matched the descriptions she remembered from Dante’s Inferno , except this version of the Devil had only one face, and a very human one at that. His head turned slowly toward them, and Evelyn forced herself to look away, to focus on their feet once again. She pulled at Valen.

“Please, let’s just go. He’s not trapped. This is all from an old book. It’s just a story. Please.”

Evelyn was afraid they’d have to leave Valen there. She and Kirat weren’t strong enough to force him to leave if he wanted to stay. But to her relief he finally turned and faced her, breaking his focus on the creature.

“Sorry. I thought he needed help.”

“It’s okay.” She gripped his arm in relief. “It’s okay, but we’ve got to go now. Let’s stay close together.”

Their exit out of the cavern took equally as long as their journey in, and they passed back through the rest of the circles of hell. At one point, Evelyn lost her footing and nearly slipped into a deep pit filled with writing bodies, but Kirat caught her shoulder and pulled her back to safety. Soon the ice melted away, and they were once again squishing their way across congealed blood, then hot sands, then putrid rain and finally strong winds filled with moans. By the time they’d passed even more philosophy bros arguing about the meaning of the word “table,” Evelyn was exhausted and eager to be free from this literal hell hole.

Kirat activated the rune and ushered them out of the cavern and into another tunnel. The passageway slid closed behind them, and they all collapsed on the floor in relief.

“Please tell me that was the worst of it.” Evelyn pulled a water bottle out of her bag and took a swig before offering it to Kirat, who waved her off and took out her own drink.

“I wish I could. It’s one of the largest zones, but many of them are terrible in their own ways. There is no real danger in that zone, not as long as you mind your business and don’t dance with the devil. I can’t say that about some others that still lie ahead.”

Valen took Evelyn’s hand. “Maybe we can find another way.”

“You don’t believe that.”

He grimaced. “No, I don’t.”

“On we go, then.” Kirat got back to her feet and took a torch from one of the wall sconces. Evelyn and Valen followed suit, then followed her down the tunnel.

It took a while to reach the next zone, a boon that Evelyn refused to take for granted. She focused on gratitude and on her reasons for being down here in the first place. Self-preservation played a role in this journey—she couldn’t deny that—but she also believed that keeping this book out of the wrong hands was important for the safety and well-being of a hell of a lot more people than just her and Valen.

The tunnel abruptly narrowed, and they were forced to go more slowly as Valen struggled to squeeze through. Tendrils of panic reawakened in Evelyn’s chest. She wasn’t normally prone to claustrophobia but the thought of getting stuck down here was scary enough on its own. They all breathed easier when the tunnel widened again, only to then slope downward so severely that they were forced to sit and slide down for about a quarter of a mile before it evened out.

Kirat stopped when they reached a crossroads with three tunnels branching out in various directions. She handed Evelyn her torch, then held her map up to the light to examine it more closely. She swore under her breath and folded up the map to return it to her pack.

“Okay, decision time. There are two options to get you roughly where you need to go. The first option is this middle tunnel here.” She pointed at it. “It leads to Zone 5, which is maintained by one of the expelled you-know-who. She’s very powerful and very angry. I’ve only peeked in the door once, and that was enough for me. If we can avoid going that way, I’d recommend it.”

“Sold.” Valen crossed his arms over his chest. “What’s the second option?”

Kirat sighed. “Zone 8. I’ve never been there, and the map is blank. It could be much safer and easier than Zone 5, or…”

“Or it could be worse,” Evelyn finished for her.

“Precisely. I know the general rule is to prefer the evil you know, but that’s not always true in the Dark City. Down here, there is such a blend of experiences… the unknown could be perfectly mundane and not evil at all.”

“What’s down the third tunnel?” Valen held up his torch to peer into the darkness.

“It leads deeper into their territory. Whether they created that barrier or not, the last thing you want it is to draw their attention right now. Right?”

“Right,” Evelyn agreed. “If you were alone, would you choose Zone 8?”

Kirat nodded. “I would. I never want to go near Zone 5 ever again.”

Valen grunted. “Then Zone 8 it is. Lead the way.”

Evelyn checked her watch. It felt like they’d been traveling for hours, maybe even the better part of a day. If her watch could be trusted, it was almost 9:00 a.m.—the New Orleans above would be bustling with activity like it was any other Saturday, but not in the land beneath.

“This way.” Kirat led the way down the left branch of the tunnel.

Evelyn followed, wrapping her hand around the moonstone amulet and reaching for her great-grandmother’s presence as she went.