CHAPTER 15
Kobal
Arriving at the bolted, smooth, rock door, Ijerked at the handle, but it remained unmoving within my grasp.Lifting my fists, I pounded against the door. “River!” I shouted.“River!”
“Kobal, come on. We’ll find another way in,”Bale said.
“You don’t know if there is another wayin.”
“Magnimus would always have another way inand out,” Corson replied. “He’s a pussy, but he’s not stupid.”
Magnimus.I’d peel the skin from hisbody one leisurely inch at a time if the last surviving demon ofillusions hurt River in anyway. Magnimus had once been one of mystrongest and most loyal supporters. He’d once stood proudly besideCorson and Bale as he helped to wage war against Lucifer and hiscronies.
Then, one day, he’d abruptly pulled out ofthe war and retreated to this corner of Hell where he’d spentcenturies weaving his illusions. I didn’t know why he’d retreated,he’d never said, but I’d only seen him a handful of times since.Every time, he’d walked away from me without a word.
If he’d joined Lucifer’s side, I would havekilled him. However, though he’d pissed me off, and I thought moreof sludge than I did of Magnimus, I could not bring myself to killsomeone because they became too cowardly to fight anymore. I couldkill him without blinking if he touched River.
“He’ll know she’s your Chosen,” Corsonsaid.
“Is that going to be a good thing or a badthing?” I grated through my teeth.
Corson opened his mouth to respond beforeclosing it. At one time, the answer would have been clear. Now itwas not. None of us knew who Magnimus was anymore, what side hestood on, or what he was thinking. All we knew was he enjoyedluring others into this corner of Hell.
I’d never stepped into Magnimus’s domainbefore, but he was known for his illusions of grandeur and horror.Known for his ability to drive souls and other demons who stumbledinto his trap insane with his grueling torment. Few escaped, andmost of those who did ranted about unimaginable monsters, ofgruesome games, rooms that were not rooms, and things that came tolife.
My breath heaved in and out of me as Iturned away from the door. I was brought up short by half a dozenlanavours floating only feet away. “Now is not the time,” I snarledat them.
Lunging forward, I closed my hand around thethroat of one and lifted it into the air.
Its voice filled my head when its handsgripped my wrists. “You’re not good enough for her, you never couldbe. Even with her heritage, she is innocent and you aretheson of Hell. Look at you fighting for the throne of darkness whileshe suffers because of you. She will die and you will be the onewho brought her that death.”
I shook its voice from my head as it fed myfears back to me. Thrusting its head to the side with my thumb, Ishoved its limp body away from me before turning to the next one. Ididn’t give this one a chance to try to read me. I clasped its headand spun it on its thin shoulders, tearing it away in one motion.Taking the head, I heaved it at the next lanavour in line, smackinghim on the forehead with it.
The lanavour fell back as Corson leaptforward and slashed it across the middle, effectively slicing it inhalf. I spun to face the rest of them, but Bale and Corson hadalready taken them out.
“Kobal.” Turning to face Bale, I froze whenI realized the thick door had opened a crack.
I grabbed hold of the door and thrust itopen. Stepping into the room, I barely noticed the creaturessprawled around it as I searched frantically for River. She wasnowhere to be seen amongst the blood and carnage.
“She did some damage,” Corson said as thedoor closed behind us.
I spotted another door in the center of thespinning contraption across from me. “What is that thing?” Idemanded.
“A carousel,” Corson replied. “Humans usethem for entertainment.”
“That looks far from entertaining,” Balemurmured.
“I don’t think Magnimus intended it to be,”Corson replied.
Striding forward, I barely registered thehigh-pitched strains of music as I climbed onto the glass floor ofthe carousel and headed directly toward the door.
***
River
“I always knew carnivals were a creation ofHell,” Hawk said as he stared at the booths and rides spread outbefore us. Except these rides werenothinglike I’d everseen as a child.
I didn’t know what I’d been expecting whenwe’d gone through the carousel door, but it certainly hadn’t beenthe giant clown hanging over the gates before us, or the silverturnstiles glimmering in the flickering lights wrapped around thepoles of the gates. It all seemed surreal, but it was as real asthe boots on my feet.
