“I’m sure you do. Now, if you’ll excuse me…” He stalked past her and climbed up onto another pile of bones the size of a small hill, hoping to get a better vantage point.
The mother and child followed, close as shadows.
Gabriel did his best to ignore them both, turning his attention to the wide expanse that now surrounded him.
The gleaming white halls where they’d fought Azerius only moments earlier had vanished. He saw nothing more than a fiery wasteland now, no landmarks to differentiate one direction from the other, nothing but smoke and bones as far as the eye could see.
“Jacinda!” he shouted. “Jacinda!”
But there was no reply. Not even an echo of his own desperate calls.
“She can’t hear you, young prince.” The mother linked her arm through his. “Why don’t we go somewhere a little less… apocalyptic. My place, perhaps? I’ll fix you a drink, and you can fill me in on everything I’ve missed about my daughter’s life on the outside.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you, demon.”
“Well, not withthatattitude, you’re not.” She laughed, low and throaty. “You and Jacinda have only just arrived, so I understand things are a bit… disorienting. But that will change once you’ve settled in. Better to make friends than enemies, no?”
“We’re not staying,” he said firmly.
Behind her, the ghost-girl laughed, a silent rasp he felt rather than heard. Goosebumps erupted across his scalp.
“Hmm. Pity.” The mother frowned, raking her gaze down to Gabriel’s feet, then back up. “It’s true, though. I have no official claim on your soul—not until your death. But Jacinda? She’s my daughter.”
“Not anymore.” Gabriel scurried back down the hill of bones. He had no idea where the fuck he was going, but he needed forward momentum in some direction—anydirection. As long as it was away from the mother and that cursed child, that’s all that mattered.
“Where are you off to?” The mother asked. She was practically on top of him again, her movements quick and silent. Horrifying, though he refused to reveal how badly her presence made his skin crawl.
More, even, than the child. Gabriel had gotten used to her, at least. The hollow eyes. The bloody dress. The accusations burning through his gut at her very presence.
But the demon was worse. Not because she was a powerful original. Not because she’d tortured and abused her daughter.
But because her very presence here made the base of his skull itch, as if something were trying to claw its way out. To warn him.
What the bloody hell does this bitch want?
“I need to find Jacinda,” he said.
“You won’t find her over there.” Like smoke, she slipped around from behind him to stand in front of him, hands on her hips, that hideous painted smirk stretched wide across her face.
“Where is she?” he demanded.
“I imagine she’ll be along soon. She and Viansa are in the Labyrinth—seems they’ve got some things to work out. Sisters, you know.” She rolled her eyes. “Ah, the drama. The two of them have quite a history.”
The Labyrinth.Gabriel had no idea what the fuck it meant, but it certainly didn’t sound like the kind of place you wanted to be trapped in with the evil succubus who’d been torturing you since birth and actively trying to kill you for weeks.
Tamping down the fresh terror surging inside, he said, “Tell me how to get there.”
“Youcan’t get there.” She turned and glanced out across the wasteland. Far in the distance, red lightning sizzled on the horizon, illuminating the black clouds overhead. “When Azerius died, the blast caused some sort of ripple effect. It tore the veils between hell’s realms, creating temporary access points to areas most of us haven’t visited in millennia. Viansa took her sister to one such place. You, on the other hand, ended up here.”
“Where are these access points? I need to get—”
“Closed, I’m afraid. Like I said—the tearing of the veils was temporary. An unintended consequence of Azerius’ little…” She spread her fingers and puffed out her cheeks, imitating an explosion.
“But you know where Jacinda is? Know for a fact she’s with Viansa?”
“Hell is my home, vampire. My domain. I sense the souls of all who pass through my gates, whether they intend it or not. My daughters? I know where they are. Always.”
Icy dread settled into his gut at that, but again, Gabriel refused to show the bitch even a hint of fear.
