Infernal Games by Jenna Wolfhart

30

Okay. No need to panic. So what if the King of Hell had sneakily trapped me inside a dungeon packed full of medieval torture devices? It could definitely be worse. For example, there could be horned creatures crawling around down here trying to eat me, and so far I hadn’t seen any sign of that.

Knock on wood.

So what now? As far as I could tell, I had two options. I could keep banging on this door and hoping I could break it down by sheer force of will. My hands might shatter in the process, and there might be some blood. Or I could search the dungeon for another exit.

I wasn’t particularly fond of either of these options. The dungeon was...weird. People kept vanishing. I didn’t know if it had something to do with the gate to Hell, and I really didn’t want to find out. But banging on the door wasn’t going to get me anywhere. Not unless someone showed up at the club to check things out. And everyone who might fall into that category had walked down these stairs.

To the dungeon, it was.

After tiptoeing back down the stairs, I eyeballed the torch-lit path that led to who knew where. It was the only way out of this main room. Before I made my move, I wandered over to the wall and grabbed one of the spikey things. Heavy and metallic, it looked like it could pound through steel.

Let’s see how Lucifer enjoys having this pointed at his face.

I took the path out of the main room. It tunnelled through rock, twisting and turning so quickly that it was impossible to see more than a few steps ahead. That plus the darkness made me feel as though I was so far beneath the earth that it would take me hours to reach the surface.

The further I walked, the more time I had to think. I didn’t understand what had happened, but something had gone terribly wrong. Az and the other demons had vanished. So had the girls. It didn’t seem like a coincidence or random accident. Nothing ever was when Lucifer was involved.

He’d planned this. He’d known that we weren’t going to go along with his deal, no matter what we told him. He’d put assurances into place, designed to stop us from working against him.

Despair pressed down on me, as heavy as lead. With every step I took, it only got heavier. We’d all made a terrible mistake. We should have done something more random, something harder for him to anticipate. Lucifer had moved his little pieces around the board and watched as we slid ours exactly where he’d expected.

If I could go back in time and change it, I would.

I finally reached the end of the path. From here, it branched in opposite directions. One path led into darkness. The other toward light. I shifted on my feet. Lucifer would expect me to choose the lit path.

Gritting my teeth, I turned toward the shadows and followed the darkness down into the earth. Time ticked by slowly. My steps were quiet and short. I didn’t dare walk too quickly for fear I’d stumble upon a sudden cliff and tumble to my death.

The path opened up into an enormous cavern. A glimmering seal shimmered in the distance. Flames whorled around the symbol, sparking up the cavern with orange light. I ducked behind a boulder and stared, heart thundering in my chest. I recognized that seal. It was Lucifer’s.

Twice as tall as I was, the glowing seal hummed with a powerful energy that set my hair on edge. My mouth went dry. I had a sneaking suspicion I knew exactly what that thing was. A gate. A portal. A first-class ticket to Hell.

Voices echoed off the walls. With my breath in my throat, I ducked behind the boulder and shoved my back against the rough stone. Two pairs of footsteps headed my way. I tried to calm my breathing. Demons had enhanced hearing. Any sound I made would snag their attention in an instant.

A familiar voice filled the cavern. “Thank you for your help tonight, Rafael. Everything is finally going according to plan.”

Chills swept down my arms. Rafael. Noah. Lucifer had brought him here to help with the standoff against Az. He hadn’t been alone when the Legion had stormed into the dungeon. It would have been enough to help even out the fight.

Shit. Heart pounding, I loosed a silent breath and pulled another in.

“My pleasure,” Rafael replied. “Asmodeus has gone far too long without facing repercussions for his actions. I’ve been trying to tell you for years. I’m glad you finally saw the light.”

“Careful,” Lucifer said, his tone lethal. “I do not appreciate being questioned by the likes of you. There is no loyalty between us, Rafael. Wrong me, and I would not hesitate to make your fate the same as theirs.”

A knife of pain stabbed my heart. Hands fisting, I bit my lip to stop myself from crying. The same fate. Surely that couldn’t mean what it sounded like. Death. It wasn’t possible. Az was the strongest person I’d ever met. He couldn’t have gone down that easily. And yet...where was he? Where were the others? Lucifer had done something, but what?

Rafael cleared his throat uneasily. “Of course, Your Highness.”

“Good.” Lucifer’s voice echoed as he drifted through the room. “You’re learning quickly.”

Rafael followed him toward the gate. Their voices were growing distant, and most of their words were hard to make out from this far away. With a deep breath, I darted from one boulder to the next. I needed to hear what he said. Maybe Az was still alive, trapped somewhere. If Lucifer said more, I couldn’t miss it.

“So, what’s next?” Rafael smiled. “Where do we go from here?”

I could hear the evil in Lucifer’s voice far before I felt it. “Mia McNally is here in the dungeon. It’s time to hunt her down.”