Page 21 of Trust the Fall

He nods curtly, stalking from the room.

“What do his plans have to do with me? Why am I wearing this?” I snap.

“You’ll see. Patience, pet,” she croons, running a red-painted fingernail down my chest.

“I’m not your pet.”

“You will be.” Lilith leans in, her lips grazing my ear. “If Lucifer doesn’t claim me for his own, I’ll be forced to switch allegiances. You will be my slave.”

I huff a humorless laugh. “Looks to me like you’ve already switched sides. You demons don’t know the meaning of loyal. You’re grotesque.”

She frowns but doesn’t say anything, so I continue. “You’d actually turn your back on Lucifer? Someone you’ve had millennia with. For that low demon? He’s appalling, and if there’s one thing I know, Lilith, it’s that appearance, prestige, and power mean everything to you.”

She takes a deep breath, seeming to consider my words. “A lot can change, Victoria. Tonight will be interesting.” She looks lost in thought. “Who knows where alliances will shift. Including yours.” She quirks one brow, grins, and turns to leave. “Bring her, girls.”

The women grab at me, and I thrash wildly, trying and failing to get out of their grasp. It isn’t a fair fight, four to one with their demon strength. I’m stronger than any mortal without my powers, but I’m no match down here against four demons.

My hands and legs are shackled together within minutes. I don’t stop fighting, using my shoulder to try to knock the redhead off balance. Her growing anger is evidenced by the intensifying smell of sulfur. It oozes from her pasty skin and her elongated canines grind together. She pulls something out of her pocket, and I recognize the powdery substance. I twist and turn trying to evade it, but it’s no use. She blows the demonic drug into my face and the room swirls in a foggy haze.

Maybe this is a gift. Whatever’s to come is sure to be either torturous or humiliating. Or perhaps both. For once, being in a darkened state might not be the worst thing.

No.

Don’t give up, Tori. You have to fight.

It’s not my voice screaming those words to me, but Luke’s.

“I won’t stop fighting.”

FRICTION

The red-tinged walls of the cavernous room give me chills, even in my current stupor. Chains and other torture devices hang from the rock walls, only adding to the creep factor. This is Hell, the homeland of suffering, so I shouldn’t be surprised. But seeing it up close drives the point home and increases my revulsion.

At the front of the room is a raised dais with opulent gold-and-burgundy wingback chairs. Nolda is perched in the one positioned in the center, looking like the king atop his throne.

Except it’s all wrong.

Nolda isn’t worthy to be king.

Not even king of Hell.

He screams amateur, even wearing his true demon skin. Without his handsome disguise, he is off-putting to be sure, but no less than any other lowly demon. In the hierarchy of scare factor, he’s a solid five-point-oh. In other words, lame.

He doesn’t exude authority, which is key to holding the allegiance of the demons the master of Hell must rule over. If anything, he looks comical in the overly large chair that dwarfs him. And even more so next to the far more frightening demons seated next to him. No, he won’t rule. These higher demons will fight him after it’s all said and done to take control for themselves. It’ll be a never-ending war between the creatures of the damned.

On the right is a werewolf, who looks seconds away from lunging from the chair to snatch up something in front of him that I can’t see. Thick drool runs down his jowls as he licks a pointed canine.

To the left is a beast with two massive horns protruding from his head. His skin is a sickly yellow that appears to have been melted on one side. These two high demons are truly terrifying. I have no idea who they are, but they exude more power than Nolda, and I wonder why they’re lowering themselves to sit beside him. What’s in it for them?

Nolda stands, smiling at me from across the room as he raises his hand. The room goes silent. He motions toward me and my demonic entourage. “Our entertainment for this evening has arrived.”

The women holding my chains tug, dragging me toward the front. I’m pushed onto my knees, off to the side of the raised dais, facing out toward the tables lining the room.

In front of me, four others are seated on chairs chained to the floors. Three men and a woman who are definitely not demons.

It’s clear that two are brothers. Both have the same facial structure. Chiseled jawlines, straight, Greek-like noses, and blond hair. One sports a darker shade than the other. The man directly in front of Nolda—the angrier, fiercer looking of the two—fights against his restraints.

“Why the fuck are you holding us here, Nolda?” the man barks. “You gave me your word that I only needed to escort my brother to the door, and I could leave.”