Infernal Games by Jenna Wolfhart

28

Normally on a night like tonight, Infernal’s walls would be thumping from the bass. A packed dance floor would be lit up by the strobing golden lights. The dancers would be in their elevated birdcages, swaying to the beat. And Az would roam the floor to meet his most distinguished guests.

Movie stars, singers, internet personalities.

Infernalwas famous among the supernatural elite.

Not tonight. The club was dark. The doors were locked tight. It felt like a ghost town.

Or a tomb.

Az unlocked the back door and motioned the team inside. I had a little bounce in my step, fuelled by the nerves sizzling through my veins. This was kind of scary, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit it was also kind of exciting. Finally, I was doing something useful. I’d spent a lot of time running and even more time hiding. I was ready to face the music, even if it was a chorus of demons as they dragged me into Hell.

Obviously, I hoped for the total opposite of that. We’d defeat Lucifer, and then everyone would live happily ever after. Of course, life wasn’t like a fairy tale. There was still the small matter of Lucifer’s throne. It would go to Az. But we’d tackle that complication when we came to it.

“Where will he be?” I whispered, mincing down the corridor on the tiptoes of my heavy black boots. We were on a secret mission. If we made one wrong move, we’d alert the enemy of our arrival. Like Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible.

Maybe we should have come in through the air ducts.

Az and everyone else just walked normally. Spoil sports.

“In the club’s main room,” Az said, raising his brows as I continued to whisper across the floor like a phantom wraith. “Why are you walking like that?”

“So that he can’t hear us coming.”

His lips quirked. “He knows we’re coming, Mia. I’m pretty sure he watched us walk through the door.”

“Right.” I started walking normally, but that meant I no longer had anything to distract me from the fact we were walking straight into the most deadly situation I’d certainly ever been in. Once we’d gone up against two fallen angels, but we’d had a full Legion against them. Then there was that time that Az had pretended to sacrifice me. At the time, I hadn’t understood what was happening, and I’d been pretty terrified. But my life had never really been in jeopardy then. Okay, maybe it had been. Just a little.

This was the King of Hell. The demon who had already killed me once in another life. Just because it hadn’t been this body didn’t make the memories any less real. I could still feel the terror of that moment. It haunted me in my dreams.

“You ready?” Az slowed to a stop outside the stage door that led into the main section of the club. I knew if I told him I’d changed my mind, he’d walk through that door right now and give himself up to Lucifer. No questions asked.

Which was why I nodded and squeezed his hand.

Together, the five of us pushed out onto the dance floor. Lucifer stood in the center of the quiet space, flipping through a book with a symbol on the front. A pentagram.

He lifted his eyes from the pages and snapped the book shut with a smile. “Ah. Interesting little collection of supernaturals you’ve brought with you. Two demons, a fae, a wolf, and a human all walked into a bar. There’s a joke in there somewhere.”

“I’m here to make the trade,” Az growled.

Short and to the punch, like always.

“Of course you are.” Lucifer’s gaze shifted to my face, and he scowled. “What’s this all about, then? Why’s your hair brown?”

“I wanted a change.” I gave him a blinding smile. “After you complimented the red, I suddenly hated it. Funny that.”

We’d decided to leave my hair as is. At least until this was over. It helped solidify our story. Az had decided to go with Lucifer because I’d disguised myself and run off. Kind of like what actually had happened. Only in our fake version, he’d decided to leave earth so that I could stay.

It was close enough to the truth that Lucifer might actually buy it.

Fingers crossed.

“No, you’re hiding something.” Lucifer waggled his finger and sniffed the air. “You changed your scent, too.” His eyes slightly widened. “You were trying to hide from him.”

My mouth dropped open as I faked surprise. “But how did you...?”

Lucifer laughed. “You’re far too easy to read, Mia. That’s why you never stood a chance against me. You’re like an open book. I’ve seen all your moves coming a mile away.”

I bit back the urge to say something snarky. Az stepped up to my side, placing a firm hand on my shoulder. “Which is why I’m not going to let her give up her life when there’s a better option. I’ve decided to go back to Hell with you.”

Lucifer’s smile stretched wide. “Good. You’ve finally come to your senses. It’s where you belong, Asmodeus. Not here with all these mortals and weak supernaturals like fae and wolves. Hell is your home.”

“It is my home. However...” Az released his grip on my shoulder and edged in front of me. “You made an offer. The demons in my Legion are to go free, as well as Mia.”

Lucifer’s smile vanished, and his gaze went hard. “Hell is the Legion’s home, too, Asmodeus. One might wonder why they’d wish to stay here in a world full of mortals.”

Az folded his arms and stared down his King. “You made an offer. If they wish to stay here, it’s their decision to make. If you back out of this now, I walk away.”

An animalistic growl rumbled in Lucifer’s throat, and his eyes sharpened like twin knives. Anger rippled off him, and I swore I could feel the heat of it slam against my skin.

His eyes cut my way, and for a moment, I felt like I could read his thoughts. Lucifer had hoped Az would never give in to his demands. He wanted to see me suffer. He wanted to rip me apart and watch me burn.

So why hadn’t he killed me? Was it because it hadn’t worked the first time? If he tried again, I’d only come back. Next time, he might not be able to find me.

What he wanted most was to keep me away from Az.

But why? It made no sense. Sure, he was the King of Hell, and I knew I could never fully understood the motivations for what he did. He was in the midst of a celestial game for souls, and humans were nothing but pawns to him. How could I ever understand the actions of someone like that?

There still had to be an explanation. One he kept close to his chest.

“Fine.” Lucifer relaxed, shuttering his vicious anger. “I will stick to my end of the bargain if it means that you will never have contact with Mia McNally again. You must remain in Hell until she is gone from this world.”

Az’s hands fisted. “Agreed. Now where is my Legion?”

Lucifer laughed. “Oh, Asmodeus. Sometimes I forget how single-minded you can get. Your Legion has been here the entire time.”

I straightened, my gaze darting around the silent club. There was no sign of the Legion anywhere. They couldn’t be here unless...

Dropping back my head, I stared up at the elevated birdcages. Four of the six held prisoners, each with a sock in his mouth. Phenex, Valac, Bael, and Stolas. They were all there. And based on the flashes of anger in their eyes, they were fine. Just a little pissed off.

Okay, a lot pissed off.

And they’d been here the whole time. At any point, we could have easily found them. Lucifer had put them right under our noses, and we hadn’t even thought to check. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get to them. The ladder leading up to the ceiling was gone. So freaking annoying. I kind of wanted to punch the demon king to make a point, but I didn’t think that would go over very well.

I’d get my chance to hit him where it hurt soon enough. Just had to play Little Miss Nice Human a little longer. As soon as Caim gave me the signal, I’d blast him with the ring.

“Caim,” Az barked. “Get them down from there.”

“No,” Lucifer said, his voice full of steel. “You will come with me through the gate, and then Caim can release them.”

Even though Lucifer had said the very thing we’d feared the most, my ears pricked up a little. The gate? What was that all about? My memories of my previous life as a fallen angel didn’t extend past anything that didn’t involve Az. So, I still didn’t know how all this worked. I knew demons and fallen angels could travel to the underworld, but I didn’t know how.

“Where’s the gate?” I couldn’t help but ask.

Lucifer gave me a strange look. “Where’s the gate? You don’t remember?”

“Should I? I’m not a demon and never have been.”

“How odd.” He cocked his head. “And here I assumed all of your memories had returned to you.”

I glanced at Az. “The important ones did.”

“The gate is below Infernal,” Az said quietly with a glance over his shoulder. His eyes met mine, but in his attempt to close himself off to Lucifer, I couldn’t read him, either. “It’s underground.”

Of course it was. The gate to Hell couldn’t be somewhere cheery, like the middle of Central Park or something. No doubt there were dog-sized rats down there, waiting to nibble on someone’s toes. It would be dark and dreary. The kind of place the clown from It would hang out.

So obviously that was where we’d have to go.

“After you,” Lucifer motioned toward Az.

When I made a move to follow, the King of Hell stepped in my path. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Um. Down into the creepy hellgate dungeon.”

He flashed me his teeth, and it sent a shudder down my spine. “You aren’t going through the gate. You’re to stay here. That’s the entire point of this deal.”

Heart hammering, I glanced over my shoulder at Caim. His face was impossible to read, just like Az’s. They’d clearly had a lot of practice at stuff like this. But how was I supposed to know what to do now? This wasn’t part of the plan. We needed to stick together if we wanted to have any chance of beating Lucifer.

“Aren’t you at least going to let me say goodbye to him?” I finally asked. “It’s bad enough you’re taking him away from me forever.”

Lucifer sneered. “I could make things easier on you, if you’d like. I’ve erased your memories once. I can do it again.”

I stiffened and took a big step back. “No, please don’t do that.”

“Then you’ll stay here,” he said in a venomous growl before lifting his eyes to the demon who stood behind me. “Caim, you come. I won’t have you flying up to release the Legion until after Az has walked through that gate.”

“Sure,” Caim said with a shrug.

Lucifer turned his sharp gaze on Serena and Priyanka, who’d nervously stayed silent during the entire exchange. “The wolf and the fae stay here, too.”

With that, the demons strode purposefully out the door, leaving me and the girls alone beneath the elevated cages. This wasn’t good. While Caim and Az were strong, the entire plan revolved around catching Lucifer off guard. He no doubt suspected we were up to something. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been so insistent to split us up.

“What do we do now?” Pri whispered, stepping up to my side to stare after the retreating demons.

“Cause utter chaos?” I tried.

Serena stepped up to my other side. “And how are we going to do that?”

I dropped back my head to stare up at the cages. The demons had started to get a tad agitated in the past few moments when they’d realized what Az planned to do. The cages were squealing, rocking angrily on the metal chains.

“Release the Legion. Lucifer will never know what’s hit him.”