Page 71 of I Hope This Email Finds You in Hell

She pauses, as though trying to remember. “Madeline.”

“Don’t think,” I tell her, closing her fist around the fire poker. “Just swing.”

She nods with quiet determination, gripping it tightly.

We creep toward the opposite end of the living room. As I hoped, it leads to the foyer. It’s as spacious and grand as the rest of the mansion, making for a risky sprint to the double doors leading outside. And sprinting isn’t even on the table. A speedy shuffle is more like it.

“Ready?” I ask. Madeline nods, raising her poker in a shaking hand. Poppi sucks in a breath. Krystal and the other woman cling to each other.

“Go!”

The word is barely a breath, but we launch ourselves into the foyer like a steed freed from its stall. I’m all but dragging Poppi and Madeline to meet my pace, while Krystal and the other woman hobble behind. I should have asked for her name, too. She must have been targeted to replace me.

We’re nearly to the door when we pass a large archway to our left. I make the mistake of looking in.

It’s a library with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves lining all three walls. Or maybe an office, for a giant wooden desk rests in the center. Sitting behind the desk is a man. He’s broad and foreboding, seeming to fill the entire room with his presence. His hair is salt-and-pepper, a betrayal of an age that doesn’t match his smooth face or muscled physique. But it’s his eyes that clue me in to who he actually is. They’re black, like the eyes of Demon Luke who stood in my living room trying to trick me.

Beliar.

Twenty-three

“What a pleasant surprise.”

It’s the same voice Luke and I heard from the top of the staircase. Beliar’s face boasts just as much arrogance. A grin lifts his lips as he stands. “It’s not often my sacrifices deliver themselves to my doorstep. Did you come in on the newest shipment?”

My brain whirrs, both for a response and a way out. The exit is steps away but our odds just shot way down, and they weren’t very high to begin with.

“I’m like DoorDash,” I tell Beliar, trying to stall. Krystal and the women behind me continue nudging their way toward the door. If I can keep him talking long enough for them to make it, we might still have a shot at getting out of here. “I arrive when you least expect it.”

His brows rise, clearly not understanding the reference. Good. That means whatever time he spent in my world wasn’t long. Just long enough to cause trouble.

“I don’t need a fifth sacrifice, but it couldn’t hurt,” Beliar informs me, stepping into the foyer. “You’re a fool for coming here. And fools always travel in packs, do they not?”

My mouth parts to throw another nervous quip at him, but Luke’s voice booms from the top of the stairs.

“Beliar!”

In the light of the enormous chandelier suspended overhead, I have a clearer visual of Luke’s shoulder as he descends the grand staircase. The arrow still sticks out of it, and blood soaks the entire top quarter of his jacket. His left arm hangs at his side while his right clutches the dagger.

Beliar’s grin grows. “My sacrifice and my target coming right to me? You’re spoiling me.”

“Bold of you to defy your king for your own personal gain,” Luke challenges.

“Your imbecile of a kin is no king of mine,” Beliar spits. “But an opportunity for revenge is hard to pass.”

Confusion rocks me. My gaze cuts to Luke, but his doesn’t leave Beliar.

“So it’s true then,” Luke says, resignation in his tone. “He sent you after me.”

“A questionable choice on his part,” Beliar muses. “I was planning to collect my sacrifices and off you in the process, but of course you just had to be a pain in my ass. Luring you back here worked out for the best. I fulfilled my end of the deal, and I expect to get paid handsomely for it.”

“What’s he talking about?” I ask Luke.

Beliar’s brows rise. “Oh, she doesn’t know sending me to the overworld was your brother’s elaborate way of dragging your ass back to hell? How special it is that I get to break the news.”

I did know that, but something isn’t clicking. Because Beliar used the words kin and king in the same sentence, which would mean—

“Your brother is the devil.” I stare at Luke, pulse thundering my ears. “Tell me he’s lying.”