Hades

23 Blood Sports

WHEN the Hades’ dawn broke, I wasn’t prepared for it and neither was Jake. Voices outside in the hall blasted through the silence and jolted us both out of our trance-like states. I was surprised to find I hadn’t closed my eyes all night. I was still sitting stiffly under the covers, with my knees drawn up to my chin. Jake sprang up from his position on the couch, glaring at the door with a venomous expression.

“They’re here,” he announced in a voice full of doom.

When the door opened it revealed an entourage that included Diego, Asia, and several other demons I only vaguely recognized. No less than four hulking bodyguards accompanied them.

“Sure you’ve got enough backup there?” Jake growled, his dark eyes flashing with fury.

“Big Daddy anticipated you might put up a fight,” Diego gave him a lopsided grin and flicked his head in my direction. “Take her.”

The tank-like guards stormed into the room and soon I felt their vast hands close around my forearms, hauling me easily out of bed like a rag doll. I was still barefoot and in my nightgown. I stumbled when they tied my wrists roughly together with rope and used it to pull me unceremoniously across the room.

“Don’t manhandle her!” Jake took a step toward me and the other demons sprang, immediately closing in on him. It was appalling to see his brothers and sisters turn on him so quickly. In the chaos, he disappeared from view and all I could hear was a chorus of vicious snarling and spitting. The fear was beginning to well up in me now and I couldn’t stop myself from shaking.

“Beth!” I could hear Jake calling to me, his voice filled with desperation. “Beth, I won’t let them go through with it!” But I didn’t believe him and I could tell he didn’t either. All conviction was gone from his voice.

The guards pushed me roughly down the passage and headed for the lobby. The others followed, casually chatting among themselves. When I caught her eye, Asia winked at me. In the lobby, Tucker appeared out of nowhere, his face a mask of distress. I could tell from the haunted look in his eyes that he’d heard the news. I tried not to look at him as we passed. I didn’t want to make him feel any worse.

“Beth!” he yelled as the procession passed him. He lunged forward, trying to fight his way through the throng of demons to reach me. Nash snapped his fingers, and with a sickening crunch, Tuck’s legs buckled beneath him. He cried out and I heard the sharp crack of bones breaking as he crumpled to the ground. I craned my neck to look back at him as I was shoved through the revolving glass doors.

“It’s okay, Tuck,” I called. “I’ll be okay!” I glared furiously at Nash, who was striding casually alongside me. “Fix him,” I said in a thin voice. “Your vendetta against me has nothing to do with him.”

“You’re really not in a position to be making demands,” Nash replied pleasantly.

A fleet of black Escalades was waiting for us in the tunnel outside the hotel. I was bundled brusquely into the front one, sitting between Asia and Diego. Up close, they reeked of cigarette smoke, hard liquor, and pungent perfume. I slid down in my seat and tried to regulate my breathing, telling myself I wasn’t truly going to die. Something would happen; someone would come to my rescue. They had to.

“Take us to the Ninth Circle,” Diego told the driver. “And take the back route.”

“At least you get to check out from Big Daddy’s pad,” Asia told me. “How’s that for VIP treatment?”

I bit my lip and didn’t respond. I focused on the gliding of the car as it sped through the pockmarked underground tunnels of Hades. The fear had crept from my belly into my chest now and was snaking its icy fingers up my throat, cutting off my air supply. I swallowed hard, determined not to give them the satisfaction of seeing me lose control.

To get to the Ninth Circle we had to travel deeper underground and when the cars stopped I saw that we were in a vast and ancient amphitheater at the very core of the earth, its center strewn with red sand. The stands were packed as if the entire populace of Hades had been invited to witness this momentous event. Lucifer and the seven other Originals occupied the sheltered seats in the highest tier, where they watched the proceedings with zeal, as if they were expecting a show. Human servants refilled their goblets and offered platters of food. On a raised platform in the center of the arena rose a tall wooden stake. Its base had been driven into the ground. A pile of dry sticks and straw had been arranged in a pyramid around it. The flammable material reached halfway up the stake, around where I calculated my waist would be.

The executioner was not a hooded medieval figure as I’d expected but a man in a business suit, his clothes so understated he might have passed for a bank clerk. It was only his sunken gray cheeks and colorless lips that made him look like death personified. When his scabby hands reached for me my skin crawled at his cold touch. Although he was withered looking I was no match for his wiry strength. He untied my wrists and pinned my arms behind me so that I was pressed against the stake. I remained motionless as he used even thicker ropes to bind my arms, waist, and feet to the stake. He pulled the ropes so tight they chafed and cut into my skin. The sticks and straw bit at my bare feet and ankles, but I couldn’t move an inch. The crowd watched the proceedings with a sense of mounting excitement. I tried to keep my eyes turned upward and to dissociate myself with what was happening to my body. But I couldn’t keep my thoughts from taking a gruesome turn. How long would it take for a victim to burn — minutes or hours? Did the body burn in sections from the feet up? Would I pass out from the pain before my skin began to melt? Would physical burning or asphyxiation be the actual cause of death?

When he was satisfied that I was securely tied, the executioner stood back to survey his work. Someone in the crowd passed him a rusty can of gasoline and he began to douse the straw with it. The caustic smell wafted up and burned my nostrils. My heart was beating so fast, I thought it would explode through my rib cage. The metallic taste of fear filled my mouth, but I didn’t cry out, scream, or beg for mercy. My mind and body were churning relentlessly, but I didn’t let the terror show on my face.

“This,” the executioner croaked in my ear, “is what happens to those who serve the wrong master. Heaven’s gone bankrupt, haven’t you heard?” He jumped off the platform.

Lucifer rose to his feet and the crowd fell instantly silent. He looked around for a moment, his eyes seeming to absorb everything, down to the last minute detail. He didn’t speak, just slowly raised his hand as a signal for the execution to begin.

It was the simplest, most casual gesture, but it resulted in the crowd letting out an uproarious cheer. His power over them was absolute. It was frightening to watch how they both feared and adored him. When he motioned for silence the result was instantaneous and every sound was extinguished as if someone had flicked a switch. A deep hush fell over the crowd as the executioner struck a long match, held it aloft for a moment, and then dropped it with a theatrical sweep of his arm onto the gasoline-doused construction. The flames roared up with lightning speed. From his seat, I saw a smile of satisfaction cross Lucifer’s face while Jake thrashed desperately against the demons restraining him. Asia was biting her lip, but only to keep her excitement in check.

The flames rose around me like a hundred hungry mouths, quickly devouring the sticks and straw at the base of the stake. I squeezed my eyes tight shut, waiting for the suffocating heat, the inevitable agony to start. I sent a quick prayer to My Father, not in the hope of being spared but seeking forgiveness for all my failings. Then I waited for the flames to do their work.

I felt nothing. Had the torture begun but I was in too much shock to notice? Several more moments passed without any change. I looked around to see coils of flame leaping in every direction … only they weren’t touching me. The flames rose and seemed to part around me so that two columns of fire burned on either side of my body. But I was not burning. Not even a strand of my hair was singed. All I felt was a warm prickling sensation as the fire snaked around me. My flesh should have been melting from my bones, but the fire refused to harm me. If it chanced to touch my skin it seemed to bounce off and veer in a new direction. It was as though I were wearing invisible armor. For one fleeting moment, I thought I heard a choir of angels singing. The sound was gone in an instant, but it was long enough for me to know I hadn’t been abandoned.

It took a while for the spectators to realize what was happening. Once they did the cheers changed to howls of disappointment. Some shook their fists to indicate how cheated they felt. In the VIP stand Jake had stopped struggling and stared at me in open wonder. Lucifer looked momentarily confounded and then rose slowly to his feet, eyes flashing. Speculative whispers broke out all around the amphitheater.

I couldn’t believe what was happening. Could this be the work of Heaven protecting me? Had someone enchanted the flames or was it my own powers keeping me safe? I had no idea, but I murmured hasty thanks to whatever higher power had chosen to spare my life. One look at Lucifer’s face told me how humiliated he felt before all those assembled. He’d intended my death to demonstrate his power and I had unwittingly shown him up. The flames seemed to be subsiding around me now.

“Cut her loose,” he commanded in a voice like steel.

The executioner obeyed, climbing the platform and wielding an axe to hack through the ropes, which were too hot to touch. Once free, I stepped out of the fire completely unmarked. As soon as I did, the flames rose up to devour the wooden frame, which was quickly charred to cinders.

“What the hell is going on?” Asia leapt forward, looking wilder than ever. She whipped around to face Jake. “She should be fried to a crisp! What did you do?”

“Nothing …” I thought I heard Jake’s voice tremble. “I … I don’t know what happened.”

“Liar!” Asia screamed.

“Silence.” Lucifer held up a ringed finger. “Arakiel had no hand in this. It seems the angel has been holding out on us. Her powers are greater than we know.”

“What now?” someone asked.

Lucifer’s listless blue gaze met mine and this time I didn’t flinch away.

“Arakiel,” he said tonelessly. “Kindly escort Miss Church to the chambers until we decide what to do with her.”

As it turned out the “chambers” were Hell’s version of a prison cellblock and they made Hotel Ambrosia look like paradise. The bodyguards hustled me out of the arena into a car and before I knew it I was being thrust into a space in the wall barely large enough to contain me. It was made of rough, cracked stone and rusted iron bars secured the entrance. When I sat down, my elbows scraped against the walls and my legs began to cramp after five minutes. There was total darkness in the chambers, but strange noises like the shuffling of feet and the clanging of metal pipes filtered through, along with mute cries of despair. The smell of damp was overwhelming.

Once the bodyguards left I heard Jake’s voice through the bars. Although I could barely see him I could hear the mixture of relief and confusion in his voice.

“How did you do it?” he asked in a hushed tone. I heard his rings clink as he wrapped a hand around the bars. “Tell me the truth.”

“I don’t think it was me.”

“Well, don’t admit that to anyone, got it?” Jake said sharply. “It’s the only bargaining chip we’ve got left.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know yet, but I’ll speak to my father — try and persuade him to let you go. Maybe things will be different now he’s seen how special you are.”

I didn’t respond — I was too drained from the day’s ordeal. “Leave it to me,” Jake said.

A few moments later I heard his retreating footsteps and I was left alone in the darkness.