“Yes, but where in the underworld? It’s so vast, I can jump from one mile to another for days and not cover the entire expanse.”
“Some palace of Lucifer’s.”
“You’ll have to be more specific. He has as many palaces as there are miles.”
Getting nowhere. “William,” Torin shouted.
“You rang?” The warrior stepped up beside Lucien.
“Go to Hades.” Never thought I’d say those words, and not mean them as a curse or a threat. The male could save Keeley; Torin couldn’t. The very idea sickened him. But her survival was more important than his pride. “Ask him if he knows where Lucifer is and tell him I need him to get Keeley away from the guy.”
Hades could take her anywhere inside the underworld, but not out of it. She’d entered through the Rod’s portal, and so she had to leave through it. Flashing wouldn’t work. But without the Cloak, she couldn’t go through the portal. Torin would have to give the artifact to Hades—unless Torin went with him, which he would absolutely insist on doing. But at the end of the day, he had very little bargaining power here. Would do anything to keep Keeley safe. Whatever Hades wanted.
She might hate Torin for arranging this, but he would rather deal with her hatred than her torture and death.
Yes, she was strong, and could take care of herself, but Hades knew about the wards. Lucifer did, too. And as soon as Lucifer discovered his prisoners were missing, he would connect the dots and Keeley would be blamed. He would try to punish her.
William scratched his chest. “I can tell you’re upset by this, and my heart bleeds for you. Probably. Also probably not. But I’m going to graciously decline and blame the necessity of the refusal on you. You should know me better. I don’t do anything free of charge.”
Torin grabbed him by the collar and shook him. “I wasn’t asking.”
William didn’t bat an eye. “Is this a challenge? This feels like a challenge.”
He wanted payment? Fine. “Your price?”
“Keeley must steal my book from Anya.”
The book. His precious. Within its pages were prophecies detailing how to save his life...or something. The goddess had stolen it years ago and hidden it from the warrior. For “funnzies.”
“Done.”
“Then I shall return with Hades,” William said and vanished.
“I won’t give it up,” Anya called. “You don’t know what he’s like when that thing is in his possession.”
And he didn’t care. Torin told her what she could do with herself, and it involved several things that weren’t actually anatomically possible.
“Torin’s done gone dark, y’all,” Kaia muttered.
Get the mess cleared. Be ready. No telling how quickly William would return—and he had better return quickly. “Maddox, carry Viola to a bedroom. She needs medical attention. Lucien, Pandora is in there, too. Same condition as Viola. She’s wearing wreaths, so anyone should be able to touch her.”
A flurry of activity erupted as his orders were obeyed.
“Baden?” Sabin asked.
“Didn’t see him.”
William materialized, Hades at his side.
“Out,” Torin snarled at the crowd, clearing the artifact room of everyone but Reyes and Danika.
William and Hades entered behind him, and William kicked the door closed.
Enough testosterone in this room to choke a rhino. “Can you save Keeley or not?” he demanded, glaring at Hades.
The dark lord glared right back at him but remained silent until his attention moved to Reyes. “Your woman is to rest for two days. At the end of the second, she is to open a portal for Keeleycael. I will be very displeased if she fails.”
Reyes, already on edge by the turn of events, gripped his daggers by the blades. Blood poured on the floor. “How can she rest while she’s trapped inside the cage?”
“She will have to find a way. And you,” Hades said, at last deigning to speak to Torin. “You will come with me. You will return the Red Queen through the portal.”
Meaning Hades couldn’t go through, even with the Cloak? “What do you want in return?”
The male narrowed his eyes. “We both know I’ll do this without demanding anything in return. For her. Not for you.”
Hades...loved her? Truly?
Mine! My woman!
“But when we return,” Hades continued, “I’m done waiting on the sidelines. I’m coming after her. And I will win her. I can give her what you have not.”
Every dark emotion magnified, but he held his tongue. Now wasn’t the time to indulge.
A second later, the walls of the room disappeared. Another world took shape around him. The stifling heat of the underworld. The screams and the smoke and the despair. Outside Lucifer’s palace, the fires were more numerous, erupting everywhere for no seeming reason. Demons of all shapes and sizes crawled over rocky walls and guarded the ginormous entrance that was shaped like a skull.
So far, no one had noticed them.
“She wouldn’t be in this position if you had taken me up on my offer,” Hades remarked.
Please. “We both know you would have ripped Disease out of me only to give me another demon.”
Hades didn’t deny it. “Erectile Dysfunction. Or Self-Mutilation. Probably both. Instead, I’ll make you wish that’s the way this had played out.”
Two short swords suddenly appeared in Torin’s hands. A gift from Hades—a stupid move on the male’s part. “Not if I kill you first.”