25. Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Three

Azizia

“But Rae-Rae, we’ve been walking forever,” I complain, stomping my foot with each step I take. I’m running out of energy. I’m as dry as the desert. I feel like I’ve been thrown into a dryer for hours! This is awful. I’m hot but I long lost the ability to sweat because I’m so dehydrated. Hell sucks.

“She’s not wrong,” Silo agrees.

Still don’t know how I feel about that guy, but he’s here and he’s helping my brother, so I guess he’s okay. I do catch him giving my brother weird looks though, kind of like he wants to eat him… I’m pretty sure he’s not a demon, he doesn’t really look like one. I guess he could be a vampire, it’s fitting to how he looks, but he isn’t acting like a vampire. He hasn’t turned into a bat or said “I vant to suck your blood” in a cheesy Transylvanian accent.

We keep trudging along, Rae not saying a word as we walk through literal hell. This is terrible for so many reasons. Not only the heat, or the dryness, or the hunger and thirst, but my husband is waiting for me… no doubt looking for me at this point. It’s been days. Days!

Why did I decide coming along on this trip was a good idea? I have a comfortable bed, cool air, and actual food. Real food! Not many people get that down here, but I did and I left it all.

Okay, I didn’t really have much of a choice, since Rae threw me over his shoulder and started running, that giant corn on the cob chasing him, but still. I could have fought a little harder. But something in me knew that going with Rae was right, even though it didn’t make sense. Still doesn’t.

“It isn’t much further,” Rae says after another week of walking. Okay, not a week. Maybe like ten minutes.

“I think you said that a month ago,” I comment.

“Stop being dramatic, Azizia,” Rae says.

I pout, not bothering to say anything.

Looking ahead as we walk, I don’t see anything. It’s just open space. There’s nothing there, so how can it be “not much further”?

I learn how a few moments later, when things start to appear. Because yeah, that’s how hell works sometimes. You think you’re in the middle of nothing when everything is really close. Everything down here plays tricks on you, messes with your head, does whatever it can to make you feel like you’re crazy. Which I am starting to think because I still can’t figure out why I chose this over my castle.

“See, told you,” Rae says more gently, taking my hand. It’s too hot to hold his hand, but I don’t say that. He’s my brother and I love him, so I’ll suffer through it.

We get into the town, demons of all types walking up and down the roads. Not all demons get to work, but those who do are lucky. Working in the towns is the better of the jobs around here, even if they don’t get paid for it. This is hell, there are no good things down here. They don’t get paid for working. They get nothing for working, other than another day to live. Which plenty of days seems more like a burden than anything.

“Xadrian is going to be so mad,” I mutter.

“Don’t give a fuck,” Rae answers.

“Of course not. You don’t have to go home to him.”

“Neither do you.”

“Yes, I do, Rae. He’s my husband and I lo—”

“Don’t you dare say it,” he says, coming to a stop and yanking on my arm. He gets close, tilting his head down so he’s looming over me. “Do not say what I think you were going to say.”

I grit my teeth and hold my chin higher.

“Hey, is that the place?” Corn cob says.

I don’t look away from Rae, until he closes his eyes and shakes his head. He looks at where Silo is staring and then nods. When he moves forward, dropping my hand, I see the place they’re both looking at. It’s a small building with a sign on the front that says MAGIC , and it’s falling apart like most of the other buildings around here. All of them are crumbling and will eventually just give out, probably trapping some demons in the meanwhile. They won’t die, they’ll just sit under the rubble and suffer until the business owners find time to get them fixed. Happens all the time.

When we reach it, Rae yanks the door open and we step inside. It smells like old cheese and dirty socks.

“I need to see Valek,” Rae says when he reaches the man toward the back. The building is empty, outside of the desk and the man sitting behind it. His feet are up on the desk, crossed at the ankle. There’s pebbles and dirt all over, as if it’s used for nothing more than a foot rest. There is one door behind him, but that’s it. No windows in here, no decorations, nothing for entertainment. That’s Hell for you.

“Not here,” the guy says, leaning forward to pick a scab from his leg.

“Yes he is,” my brother says. “Tell him Azrael is here.”

The guy slow blinks and looks up at Rae. “Said he ain’t here.”

Rae leans forward, grabbing the guy by the dingy shirt, and grits out, “And I said yes he fucking is. So take your grimy ass through that door and go fucking get him.”

Rae shoves his so hard he falls off his chair, landing on the floor with a thud.

I look at Silo with raised brows. My brother is a jerk, he can be mean, he’s a freaking demon, so it makes sense. But this was something new. Much worse than I’ve seen him in a long time.

I expect to see a similar look of concern coming from Silo, but he only has a smirk on his face, and that’s… weird.

The guy gets to his feet, not bothering to wipe the dirt off his shirt, before going into the door behind him while muttering something.

“You’re going to get us thrown into someone’s dungeons,” I say quietly.

“Let them fucking try,” my brother grits out.

It takes way too long, I’m starting to get nervous, but eventually a man comes out of the back room. A different one than the one who went in. This one is cleaner, well-dressed, and smiling. He doesn’t look like a demon or a vampire, which is usually what you find in Hell. Which is odd, because who would choose to live down here? Maybe he’s just a weird looking demon, I don’t know.

“It’s been a while,” the man says, offering his hand to Rae. They shake, and the man brings his attention to Silo and then to me. He nods once, then looks back at Rae. “I can guess why you’re here, but maybe you should tell me.”

Rae moves aside, allowing me a direct view of this guy.

“Something is up with her. I need to know if it’s magic,” Rae says.

“It is. I can feel it from here. Bad. Strong, too.”

“Doesn’t sound good,” Silo says.

“It’s not,” the man says.

“Wait, are you talking about me?” I look around.

Rae sighs, grabbing my arm and pulling me into the room in the back. The short hallway opens up into a much bigger room. There are couches, a soft rug, one of those disco lights, and a large TV that’s playing a football game.

What a weird place this is. You don’t find things like this in hell. This is all human stuff. Demons smuggle stuff down here, but they aren’t usually out in the open like this.

“How do we fix her?” Rae asks.

“You need to find the person who put the spell on her and make them remove it.”

“That’s impossible.” Rae shakes his head.

“There isn’t really another option. Not with this kind of magic.”

“What is it, exactly?” Silo asks, dropping onto the couch. He pulls out a cigarette from the pack in his pocket and puts it between his teeth. “This okay?” he asks, looking at Valek.

“Sure,” he says, waving him off, then turning back to my brother. “It’s powerful magic, is what it is. A spell binding her to someone. Her soul, her emotions, all of it.”

“Makes sense,” Rae mutters, looking at me.

“Something like this can’t just be reversed, it needs to be removed from the person who did it.”

“And if they don’t want to remove it?” Silo asks.

“Then you’d better kill them.”

“What a waste of fucking time,” Rae growls as we leave the building.

I’m still confused about the whole thing. I know they were talking about me, but it didn’t really make sense. I don’t have a spell on me. I’d know if I did. I don’t remember anyone putting it on me, and Valek definitely said it would have taken some time. That I’d have remembered it. A spell like this isn’t quick. So… obviously they’re wrong.

But also, I’m offended. Just because I love my husband doesn’t mean I’m being brainwashed or controlled by magic. I just love him because he’s my husband. Why is that wrong?

We continue to walk through town, not sure where we are going or why. Rae hasn’t said anything else, and neither has Silo. I don’t know what the plan is now and I’m afraid to ask. I shouldn’t be, but I can see Rae isn’t in the mood to talk. But… if there is nowhere for us to go, I need to go home.

“Rae, can I go home now?”

“You are not going home, Zia,” he growls.

“Why not?” I shout. “It’s what I want.”

“It’s not!” he bellows, causing a few demons to look our way. We come to a stop, and he glares at me. Looking almost like fireballs are going to shoot out of his eyes. “Don’t you see what the hell is going on here? You want to go back to Xadrian? That’s not normal!”

“Of course it’s normal. He’s my—”

“No, Zia. You hate him! You ran away from him. Escaped that castle. You went topside. You did everything you could to get away from him, but he found you. He kidnapped you and he fucking spelled you.” I take a step back, shaking my head. “This,” Rae gestures to me up and down. “Isn’t normal. You acting like this isn’t normal. Your head is not up Xadrian’s ass, Zia. You hate him.” His hands are on my shoulders now and he’s still yelling at me. Angry. “You fucking hate him, and I swear I am going to kill him for this! I don’t give a fuck what happens to me this time. He’s dead.”

“You can’t kill him!” I shout back. “I love him!”

Those words have his eyes going nearly all black. I’ve never seen Rae like this before. Never. I’ve seen him grumpy and angry and furious. But this? This is something new altogether.

“You’re wrong,” he seethes, his voice so low it actually sounds demonic.

I open my mouth to say something, but all of the air is stolen from my lungs. My chest aches like someone shoved lava into it. I reach for my throat, grasping at it, wanting to breathe, but I can’t.

“Zia? Zia, what’s wrong?”

I blink, falling to my knees as the pain in my chest gets worse. It’s like someone shoved their hand inside there and is rearranging everything. I can’t breathe, and my head is getting heavy.

I fall forward, just barely catching myself when the sharp pain starts in the base of my neck. It hurts so bad, it’s blinding. The white light hurts my eyes, until it dulls out and turns into images.

Memories.

Flashes of moments I vaguely remember since I’ve been back of me practically begging Xadrian to love me and give me attention. It makes me sick to my stomach. They replay over and over, going all the way until the day in the library when that man came to visit. It flashes behind my eyelids, playing over like a movie. Them talking about the spell, explaining what it’ll do. Me sitting there, all proper and well-behaved.

My stomach lurches, and I dry heave, over and over until I finally catch my breath. The ache in my head settles, my chest slowly stops burning, and everything around me comes back to focus.

“So help me, Zia, if you don’t fucking answer me.”

I open my eyes and see Rae leaning over me, face full of concern.

I grin. “Hey, big bro.”

He growls, slamming his hand in the dirt. “You are not funny. What the hell was that?” he shouts.

I sit up, shaking the dirt off me.

“Well, it seems you were right, and I was spelled.” I force myself to smile wider, holding my hands out. “Surprise?”

He sighs, pulling me in for a hug. “I thought you were dying,” he says softly in my ear.

“Still here, and not going anywhere.”

“So I guess we can assume the person who put the spell on her is dead?” Silo says, causing Rae to pull away from me. His eyes narrow and he looks back at me.

“We can’t be that lucky.”

“Him being dead may not be a good thing,” I say. “Could mean Xadrian is pissed and looking for me.”

“Good point,” Rae answers. “Fuck, what are we going to do now?”

I blink a few times, my head getting fuzzy before another sharp pain hits me right at the base of my skull. I hiss, curling over.

“Zia!”

“I’m fine,” I say, holding my hand up. More images flood my head, and this time when my chest hurts, it’s for good reason. I straighten up, looking at Rae and feeling like I’m going to throw up. “Felix,” I whisper. “Where is Felix?” I look around. “He was here, and now… where is he?”

Silo looks at Rae, and they share some sort of communication in their heads.

“Guess we’re going to save your boyfriend,” Rae mutters, turning on his heel.

It’s the least I can do after I handed him over to that woman.

The woman I am going to get great joy out of murdering for taking my man.

Felix came here for me. He came to hell to save me, and he busted into Xadrian’s castle without a care in the world, all to save me… and I—God, he thinks I betrayed him. The more we walk, the more I think about this, and the more that comes back to me.

This is awful. Terrible. I can’t believe I did that to my sweet Felix. He must be so upset, so hurt. He’s too fragile for this. He can’t handle these things. He’s so nice and innocent and—”Oh my god, where is Roger?” I blurt.

The guys stops, and it’s Silo who answers me. “Uh, Felix left him topside with his landlord.”

“So he’s okay?” I ask, gripping onto Silo’s arm.

“As okay as an obese hairless cat can be.”

I smirk, then pat him on the arm. “Okay, let’s go get my Felix back.”