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After grabbing the glaives I’ve been working with and sheathing them to my lower back, I meet everyone in the hallway. It seems I was the last one to get weapons, but I had to make sure I could safely pull them free without cutting off my own ass. To anyone else, we would resemble a group of warriors, even my puppy has a protective vest over his little body. All my guys are wearing dark pants and either long sleeves or a jacket. I think my favorite is Levi, who has chosen a long black coat that goes down to his boots and gives off a Nick Fury vibe.
Everyone else is dressed in dark clothes with thick guards along their arms and legs. Even Moni is sporting the Gabrielle outfit, including the sai attached to her hips from Xena: Warrior Princess, and I wonder if Zissa had anything to do with her choice of clothes.
How did I miss that in the kitchen?
She smiles up at Chester, and I practically see hearts in her eyes as she holds his hand. He’s wearing a backpack and holding his weapon in his other hand, and it’s Moni’s tail that whips up to push his glasses back up his nose. It would be a total swoon moment if not for JP making the gagging noise. Moni’s expression drops before locking her gaze on their feet as they walk. I walk over and pinch him hard on the arm. “Stop it,” I hiss, “Or I’ll deny you sex also. Knox, Levi, and Ryker are already in hot water for making me drink armpit sweat.” He does a horrible job of hiding his smirk, but I know better. “And that includes getting any from Zeke.” I have to admit, I take great pleasure at seeing his smile drop. Hooking my arm through his, we follow Zissa down the hall to the throne room. “How would you feel if Moni didn’t approve of us?” I ask, keeping my voice down. “I know you do it in teasing, but it must weigh on her at times. And you’re her big brother. I know it would mean the world to her if you supported her when she’s experiencing new things. Even if they are exciting or scary.”
JP doesn’t meet my eyes for a moment as we walk, but he does tilt his head in thought. “But that’s my baby sister. It’s hard to imagine her growing up,” he counters.
“Yeah, and you’re her big brother. Imagine how hard it is to have you hate her for what she's doing?” I reply.
JP visibly recoils. “I don’t hate her,” he says and peers over his shoulder. Moni catches his eye, and her bark turns a shade of pink before cycling to blue and seafoam green. She starts to drop Chester’s hand. Not having any of that, he grabs her hand and leans down to say something in her ear, and JP focuses back on me.
“Doesn’t seem that way.” I shrug. “It’s all about perception.”
“Well fuck. I guess by keeping myself away and not listening to her body language, I was missing the signs,” he admits.
“See, that’s the first step,” I say, smiling as we reach a silver door at the end of the hall.
“This doesn’t mean I’m gonna stop picking on her. It’s my right, as a brother,” he says, pointing his finger in my face.
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
I know better than to truly get in between those two.
CHAPTER 26
Follow the Blood Slick Road
Rez
We walk into the room, and I stop dead in my tracks. I don’t know what I was really expecting. When Murmur said throne room, I first pictured a big room containing a big elaborate chair at the end, with Lucifer sitting in it, bored out of his mind. But this is Hell, so I wasn’t really anticipating that to be an actual thing. The night club feel was definitely a surprise for me, though.
Draped in front of us are sheer red, black, and silver curtains blocking the view, but a hypnotic tune plays on.
“Did we take a wrong turn?” JP asks, leaning into me, but Zissa walks past us and through the curtains.
“I guess follow the leader?” I say, stepping away from him and weaving through the fine material. As I walk through, I’m bumped from behind as I take in everything. To the right are booths set up like a nightclub; dark lights and heavy fog make it hard to tell what else is back there. I do catch sight of a bar and a few demons serving drinks. What the fuck?
Straight ahead is a glen out of a fairy tale. Talk about an about-face, going from a club atmosphere to a forest. The back wall is a pale sandstone rock, where water trickles down into a small basin. A few Fae creatures with gossamer wings are gathered around the edge. Something splashes under the water, but I can’t tell what it is. Trying to squint like that will help me see deeper into the water, a shadow moves above, distracting me. Glancing up, I see monkey-like creatures leaping from tree limbs, and I figure it’s time to move.
Following the path that Zissa took, I head to the left. It’s another drastic change from the green glen to a sparkling cave, where both stalactites and stalagmites are abundant. With a shiver, I notice there’s a vague pile of stones in a corner that, from my point of view, look like a bunch of discarded skulls.
“Come on, slowpokes,” Zissa calls as she slips through a crevice.
Following, I step out into a dark and dank dungeon. There are cracks in the cobblestone floor, where more lava flows down into multiple drains in the floor. The smell is atrocious, reminding me of rotten meat.
Stepping over the first crack, I warn the others. “Be careful of the brimstone, or is it lava? It’s flowing pretty heavily.”
“It’s not brimstone,” Zeke replies, and I glance over and see his bright eyes shining yellow and his fangs elongated.
“Are you okay?” I nervously ask, realizing what the river is now. Shit, I’m a horrible girlfriend. I didn’t even think to ask him if he needed blood this morning.
He shakes his head and smiles at me, his eyes back to normal and his fangs retracted. “There’s just a lot.” Nodding, I give him a reassuring smile.
Walking a little further, I finally see a row of thrones with steps leading up to them as the room completely opens up. There’s a large black one in the middle and two smaller ones on each side, both sets in gold. Smack dab in the middle is Lucifer, and he’s shaking his head at something Bez is saying.
“Took you long enough,” Murmur says, standing from his place at the end of the row of thrones.
