Page 46 of The Damned (Coven of Bones #3)

B EE L ZE B U B

I watched her go, rubbing my hand against my mouth as I took a step back and put more distance between us.

She disappeared from my view, heading south as instructed.

She was so careless, so oblivious to the danger that waited for her out there without me to guard her.

She’d been lulled into a false sense of security by the distinct lack of serious trouble we’d run into so far, but she hadn’t stopped to think that it might have been my presence that kept the demons at bay.

The new souls in Purgatory hadn’t yet learned the truth of what I could do to them if they got in my way, but the souls through the rest of Hell were familiar enough with at least one of the archdemons that they avoided all of us studiously.

She was in danger, walking alone this way. I blinked as I tried to decide what to do.

Did I respect her wishes and allow her to be alone? She’d made her intentions clear, condemned me for fuck only knew what, and been willing to brave the very circles that had terrified her only days ago in order to get away from me.

I shook my head, rubbing at my forehead as I tried to make a decision.

That tug in the black hole at my center where my heart should have been led me in one direction, my mind in another.

The logical part of me knew that I should let her go, explain to Lucifer that I’d done what I could but I couldn’t protect the witchling from her own recklessness.

I could make my way to the Ninth Circle more quickly without Margot in tow, wait for her in the comfort of Lucifer’s lavish palace.

I lost track of how long I stood there, aware of the eyes that watched me stare after Margot.

I turned to find Mephistopheles studying me as if he could see right through the lies I’d fed him that morning in my desperation to keep Margot safe from his collection.

She’d already put on enough of a show the night before by simply existing, attracting the demon’s attention when she would have been far better off hiding in the shadows and remaining unnoticed.

He couldn’t want to own what he did not see.

But he’d seen her, and worse than that, he’d seen that she’d meant something to me.

He’d seen that she was valuable to me, and the sin of greed was stronger in him than most. He was a slave to it, entrapped by the compulsions that drove him to collect the people and things he viewed as treasure, hoarding them here in the mansion in Mammon’s absence.

I’d told him she didn’t matter to me in the hopes it would reduce her value in his eyes, and judging by the tight press of his lips, the demon knew it now. The muscles on his forearm flexed as he raised his arm, signaling a demon forward with two curled fingers.

He’d follow after her now that he knew the truth, and Margot’s only hope of escaping capture was reaching the portal before Mephistopheles and his men.

I considered my choices, waiting as he watched me to see if I would follow after Margot—to see if I cared enough to go with her even after she’d eviscerated me publicly.

I held his gaze, the crystalline white of his stare boring a hole in me as we remained trapped in this moment.

Him waiting for me to follow. Me wondering if Margot would hate me for following after her, for offering her the protection she claimed she didn’t need or want.

The harshness of my words from earlier that morning played in my head as I snapped to look after Margot, realization dawning with an anguish that made my toes curl in my boots.

She’d heard me.

It was the only explanation. I’d been so certain that she was just pushing me away, putting distance between us as a way to protect herself because I was getting too close to breaking through her walls completely. It had blinded me from the truth that was right in front of me.

I took the first step, hurrying into a run as I followed the path Margot had taken to the portal to the Fifth Circle.

I was vaguely aware of the shuffling of feet behind me as Mephistopheles moved to follow, but I couldn’t waste time to look back at him.

Not when Margot’s safety required me to reach her first and hustle her through that portal before they could get to her.

If he forbade her from using it, we’d have to fight our way out of the situation and get to the boundary, where she would need to prove she could overcome her own greed to the magic of the circle itself if she hadn’t already.

But I suspected she had the moment she left me; that she’d been willing to leave me here when she clearly viewed me as hers meant that she was willing to sacrifice her own greed for the well-being of another.

If she’d heard me, she’d thought she was nothing more than an obligation to me when I had come to mean something genuine to her.

She could have tried to ensnare me with her song since she didn’t realize it wouldn’t have the same effect on me, could have done whatever it took to keep me.

Someone who was compelled by greed would have done just that.

Greed was not one of Margot’s greatest sins, and as such the magic hadn’t been able to touch her as deeply. It hadn’t been able to stoke the flames of emotions already lingering within her, and she could free herself from it easily.

To plunge straight into the circle of wrath, with anger in her heart from my cruel words.

“ Fuck, ” I hissed as I ran, sprinting past the hillside where souls worked to push that gold boulder up the incline before them.

Sweat slicked their bodies, hands slipping along the surface of the gold repeatedly.

It rolled back each time they lost control, often crushing bodies beneath it in its descent.

I scoured the souls at the base of the hill, looking for Margot in the crowd as I sprinted past. I didn’t see her blond hair in the masses, despite knowing that she would have been tempted to try to intervene.

She hated the constant barrage of pain and suffering that surrounded her here, unable to compare the reality of it to everything that happened on Earth.

It wasn’t all that much worse here, simply more consistent and it lasted for an eternity, but life came with the highs that made the lows feel all that much worse. The contrast between the two, the moments of hope that things might improve, was almost as bad as the suffering itself.

The portal ahead came into view, an armory building with the cross of two swords etched into the wooden door. Margot was nowhere to be found as I scrambled to a stop at the door, shoving it open with my shoulder and bursting into the armory.

It was empty, Margot’s gleaming head of golden hair nowhere to be found.

The sound of Mephistopheles and his men came through the trees behind me, and I swung the door shut and turned the lock, looking through the weapons hanging from the wall.

It was impossible to know what, if anything, had been taken, since the magic in this place of violence rejuvenated itself as soon as it was needed, but I found myself looking for an empty place regardless.

I needed the confirmation that she’d come this way, that she’d passed through here, before I continued into Wrath and risked leaving her behind.

A spot on the wall glimmered with a faint yellow glow, a trident sparkling with the hint of magic as it replenished.

I grinned, imagining Margot picking up the weapon of the legendary sea god out of pure spite, unknowing that it would likely be one of the most useful weapons to have at her disposal as she faced the circle of Wrath.

I grasped a small dagger off the wall with one hand, my other already grasping the scythe necklace from my throat.

Tugging on it, I pulled it free as the clasp unsnapped.

I swung it down from my chest as I plummeted into the portal, the world around me suddenly consumed by flames.

The armory disappeared, burning before my eyes as the weapons on the wall melted with the extreme heat that was but a kiss of warmth on my skin.

My scythe extended to full length as I moved, snapping my arm down to extend my elbow as the floor dropped out from beneath me, caving in the flames as the structure burned.

Becoming a massive weapon that only the archdemons could wield, it swung out at my side, the blade curving behind me as I landed on my feet and dropped to one knee to absorb the shock of my landing.

Wrath was on fire, an eternal flame burning in the pits where the bodies of souls battled one another endlessly.

I stood at the edge, gazing into the pit as I swung my scythe in a warning.

The soul who had dared to reach for me retreated, eyes wide as I turned to the narrow path that Margot would need to take to reach the manor.

The flames glowed yellow, but the waters of the canal that ran through the pit of souls ran red with the stain of blood.

The path was winding as I searched along it, hoping Margot had gone in the right direction.

Given the state of the trident rejuvenating, she couldn’t have gotten far.

I scanned the banks of the pit, my heart dropping into my throat when I didn’t immediately see her.

I raced forward, heading in the direction of the manor in hopes of finding her safe on the path.

Maybe she’d run, fearful of the creatures reaching for her.

I couldn’t blame her. Their bodies were forever altered by the battles they fought.

Faces were so swollen that eyes sealed shut, limbs hung limply at the sides of others.

The symptoms of their violence were evident in every inch of their scarred skin, from the burns to the seeping wounds.

“Margot!” I called, stopping as I looked for her. I searched all over again, my breaths shaky. I licked my lips, slapping my hand over my mouth as I looked.