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Chapter Fourteen
I’d assumed the competition would occur elsewhere, but when all the partygoers moved to the outer edge of the courtyard, creating an empty space at the center, I realized nothing would be as simple as I’d thought.
Lucifer waved his hand and the area in front of us shimmered, then cracked through the ground and space. It seemed to open on itself until it showed somewhere else.
I shifted side to side, and the view changed as if inside that small area—a cylinder only about ten feet across—there were hundreds of feet inside. Even with that, however, I could somehow see all the details of the large, open, desert space.
“What is that?” I asked out loud.
Lucifer didn’t turn to look at me as he answered. “I attempted live competitions before, but cleaning blood stains from my stone floors became tiresome. We open this small tear to a pocket universe within hell for these, now. It enables us to see the events while at a safe distance.”
I peered past the space to see a few people meandering near the food tables. “Safe distance meaning near the snacks?”
He made a noncommittal sound before placing his elbow on the arm rest between us. “You seem rather attached to those immortals.”
“Surviving hell on my own wasn’t all that likely. I get attached to the people who keep me alive.” Saying the lie chafed, but it was better he thought they were simply a means to an end for me. Giving the devil any leverage to use screamed of a bad idea.
“Of course.” The slightest curl of his lip said he didn’t buy my story. “Well, now that you are here, and under my protection, you won’t need them anymore, will you?”
I swallowed hard, wanting to tell him to shove it but knowing it was a piss-poor idea. Instead, I leaned forward, narrowing my eyes to try and see more of wherever the men were.
The teams were spread out on the edge of a large circle with tall stone walls surrounding it. There didn’t seem a direct light source, like a sun, but it was brighter than where we were. The sand was a light brown, but huge splotches dyed it red all across the obvious battlefield.
Findingmycompetitors wasn’t all that difficult. The other groups were made of hell creatures, ones that didn’t look close to human. There, at the far side, were the men I was looking for.
They wore different clothing, as if they’d been given things for the competition. Each group was color-coordinated in a jumpsuit, and my team wore black.
It seemed oddly fitting. They faced off against yellow, red, blue, green and purple, but at least it would make it easier to tell them apart amidst the chaos.
“Why did they change?” I asked.
“To make it easier to see who is on what team, and to prevent advantages for creatures such as shifters, who could impersonate another team. Also, I prefer combatants stand on their own abilities, so we strip them of their weapons. I like a fair fight.”
I doubted that. Lucifer struck me as the sort of man who considered a fair fight one he could win. He judged everything by his own power, skewing the rules to help him.
There was no reason to say that out loud, though, so I kept it to myself.
My stomach grumbled, not out of hunger but anxiety. I knew my men were dangerous, butthiswas different. There was run of the mill lethal, then there was competing in hell lethal.
“Are you hungry?” Lucifer asked.
“No.”
“Then would you cease thatnoiseyou’re making?” He nodded at my stomach, as if I could have a chat and make it settle down.
“Sorry, but it isn’t something I can control.”
“You mortals are so complicated. It is a wonder you manage surviving even your short lives.”
“Yes, because planting body parts so you all can get high is amuchless complicated way of life.”
I knew I kept going back to that, but it felt like a sticking point, like the thing I couldn’t get past.
I was sitting on a chair made of bone, there were demons with hooves and horns around and people happily masticated bloody chunks of raw meet.
I didn’t feel much like being told how oddIwas.
“I have questions for you, Ms. Harlin,” Lucifer said as a large bell rang. The sound didn’t come from the courtyard, though. It filtered through the barrier between the pocket realm and this one, so it was less abrasive.
