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“And the monster is…Death?” I clarified, and something about what I’d said amused him. His smile grew, still not reaching his eyes, as his fingers began to tap, tap, tap against his muscular chest.
“Now you’re catching on, dove. Now you’re catching on.”
“And the students who are taken by the professors—I mean, reapers, are brought to the monster and…killed?” My heart hurt, remembering the woman, Ali, who was devoured by that beast.
Josie.
Oh, Josie.
What would Aiden do when he discovered the truth about his beloved little sister?
Heath bit down on his lower lip and gave me a look I would almost describe as salacious. It made no sense in relation to the topic of conversation, but I didn’t dare call him out on it. Even if he was telling the truth about where we were, he still was batshit crazy. Icy. Cold. A psychopath with dead eyes.
“And to leave…?”
“The tools have been available to every student,” Heath explained with a nonchalance I didn’t understand. “That’s the thing about Death, doll—he always gives you a chance to escape.” He winked at me, even as my mind reeled at information being thrown at me.
“So the tunnels were put there…on purpose?” My tone betrayed my incredulity.
He snapped his fingers together. “Bingo.” Once more, his tongue poked at his upper lip as he moved his gaze to the ceiling, seemingly lost in thought. I let him be for a moment, my own mind struggling to play catch up, before he lowered his gaze and pinned me in place. “Most of the students who arrive here never choose to leave. Either fear stops them, the professors do, or Death himself. But the ones that do… Well, leaving the school is only one of many problems.”
“What the fuck do you mean by that?” I demanded, an angry flush erupting on my chest and cheeks.
“You have to get through Dante’s Nine Circles of Hell in order to return to the land of the living. They’re designed to destroy you. Break you. Ruin you.” A wicked glint appeared in his eyes, and he cocked his head to the side. “But I need to know one thing, doll, before I can tell you anymore.” He paused for dramatic effect, that asshole, before continuing. “What are you willing to give up in order to survive?”
My heart hammered, raced, scattered in the wind in pieces so small, no one could ever hope to tape them back together again.
What would I give up to survive?
I didn’t know how to answer that. A normal person would scream, “Everything!” but I didn’t know if that applied to me. Would I give up Beau?
No, I didn’t think I would, despite how devastated I felt about him right then.
Confessing your love to a man who had a girl in his bedroom would do that to a person.
Heath clasped his hands together, adopting a position of careful indifference and impassivity. His shrewd, cold eyes remained fixed on me as he flashed me another blinding smile.
“There are nine circles you have to travel through in order to find your way home,” he continued, not waiting for me to respond to his macabre question. “All of the circles will change themselves to reflect the people entering their territories.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.” I slowly shook my head from side to side as Heath sighed, as if I was severely disappointing him with my comments. He stood, moved to his desk, and returned with a piece of paper and a pen. He began to draw on the paper, starting with a small circle in the direct center and then branching outwards, with a slightly larger circle around the initial one and an even larger one around that. He ended with nine circles. Using the back end of the marker, he pointed to the very farthest one.
“This is where we are. The school is the First Circle of Hell…otherwise known as Limbo.”
“Limbo,” I repeated dumbly.
“Limbo.” He nodded his assent before moving his marker to the next circle. “Once we leave the academy through the tunnels, we’ll be in the Second Circle of Hell, Lust.”
“Lust.” God, why was I such an idiot? All I seemed capable of doing was repeating his words back to him like some kind of broken record.
His lips twitched in the beginnings of a smile before he forced it away, once again turning serious.
“Following Lust is Gluttony, Greed, Wrath, and—”
“Basically the seven deadly sins,” I said, interrupting his explanation, and he sighed heavily.
“Can you let me finish, doll? Or are you going to interrupt me again with your questions?” Feeling properly chastised, I clamped my mouth closed and nodded for him to continue. Smirking, he pointed to the sixth circle. “After Wrath, we have Heresy, then Violence, then Fraud, and finally, Treachery. Once we complete all nine circles, we’ll be able to travel to the land of the living.”
My body shook as my eyes flickered from him to the drawing and then back to his face. A splitting headache threatened to tear my skull in two, and I swore my right eye began to twitch.
“And these circles—”
“No one knows what to expect from them,” Heath said, cutting me off. “They change from person to person, group to group. What one person experiences may be completely different from someone else.” He once again tapped his pen against the piece of paper. “So I have to ask you once again, my perfect, beautiful doll, what you’ll be willing to give up to escape this place and return to the land of the living. The secrets that will be uncovered, the horrors and monsters that you’ll face… Is it worth it?” His eyes ensnared my own, reminding me eerily of a trap laid out beneath leaves and long grass, waiting for the unsuspecting prey to land smack dab in the middle. Captured. He made me feel captured. Suffocated.
“I don’t…” I swallowed, moving my gaze to the tiny minifridge. “I don’t know how to answer that question,” I responded honestly. Out of my periphery, I noted his curt nod.
“I understand. But I have to warn you, Bianaca…” His use of my real name had my eyes snapping back in his direction. “You and your men don’t have a lot of time. If you don’t leave by tomorrow night, you won’t get another chance.”
My mouth dropped open as curiosity, fear, and suspicion rampaged through me. My eyes narrowed, tightening. “How do you know all of this?”
“Because, doll” —he flashed another one of those disarming smiles, one that both unnerved me and piqued my curiosity— “people trust a man who has nothing and no one to live for.”
