Chapter Four

"Wait!" I cry. "What's happening!" I throw myself into the invisible barrier again and again, crying and shrieking, but it does no good. What the actual fuck? I'm stuck behind some invisible barrier and my friends who brought me are just gonna leave me here? I know we're not like, besties for life, or anything, but come on. You don't just ditch your girl at a club when she needs help.

People throng past me on either side, and I throw myself at the doorway again and again, until I'm bruised and sobbing. Finally, a strong hand grips my elbow and pulls me back. I whip my head around to see Ty. "What the fuck is going on? Why can't I leave?"

"You broke a rule," he says.

"What the fuck are you talking about? Why can't I leave?" The pitch of my voice rises with my hysteria.

"You stole from me."

I swipe tears from my eyes and glare at him. "What? I did not!"

Ty heaves a sigh and snaps his fingers. Suddenly, everyone who was around us vanishes and the music goes silent. We're alone, in a quiet, empty club. He reaches up and pulls off his mask, revealing an even more handsome face than I could have expected.

His hair is dark, his eyes are sea-glass green shot through with amber, and his nose is strong and straight. I'd already seen his stubbled jaw and strong mouth, but now, combined with the rest of him, the effect is arresting.

If I weren't in absolute panic mode, I'd take a moment to appreciate the hottest man I've ever seen. But now is not the time.

And also, what the actual absolute fuckity-fuck just happened with him snapping and everyone disappearing? What the hell Halloween horror movie is this?

With a gentle hand, he reaches out and removes my own mask, revealing my delicate features. "You are lovely," he says in a low voice.

Again, in different circumstances, I would very much appreciate the compliment and the searing way he's looking at me.

BUT NOW IS NOT THE TIME.

I scrub a hand across my cheeks again, rubbing away more tears and discreetly removing any snot that may have dripped.

Am I losing my mind? Why can't I leave? Where did everyone go? And why is he being so chill about it? And accusing me of stealing? None of this makes any sense and I don't know whether to be mad, sad, or committed.

"What's happening?" I whimper. "Who are you? What is this place? Where did everyone go?"

He gazes at me with sympathy and a dose of confusion, as if he's the one who doesn't understand the situation. "I'm Typhon, ruler of the Underworld. And thanks to your act of theft, you are trapped here for eternity, as per the rules."

A truly hysterical screeching noise comes out of me, like a raptor caught in a blender. "What are you talking about? Trapped here? Ruler? Rules?" I fall to my knees. "Please let me go. I swear I didn't steal anything."

He smirks. "Oh, but you did. On that very dance floor. You stole a kiss."

My heart sinks even lower than my knees. Is this fucker for real? "You have to be kidding. That's just an expression. Honestly, none of this makes any sense."

He drops to his own knees and takes my face in both his hands. He studies me with a frown. "Sweet Penny, you truly don't know what's happened, do you?"

I shake my head. How many more ways can I make that clear?

"As I said, my full name is Typhon. This club—The Underworld—serves as a portal from the human realm to my own. I am the Lord of the Underworld. To put it another way, I rule over hell. Humans are invited to my revels," he gestures absently at the club around us, "but any who break the rules are forced to stay here with me for eternity. It is one of the ways I collect souls. But most of those who come here know the rules. Rarely does anyone break them these days."

I chew my lip. He's claiming to be the ruler of hell? I suppose that explains his devil mask—his idea of a joke. But that is the only thing I'm comprehending. "My friends Athena and Selene brought me. But they didn't mention anything about rules or getting trapped here." Yes, Athena had warned me about spiked drinks and strange men, but if she truly knew what could happen, why hadn't she told me? Why had she let me wander off on my own?

He shakes his head. "Then they were careless, or perhaps not true friends. For that, I'm sorry. But the fact remains, you are here with me now and forever. Not in this club, of course. But in my realm." He rubs a thumb across my cheek, trapping another tear. "I cannot find it within me to regret that. You are the loveliest, sexiest human I have ever met."

I swallow hard, trying to grasp anything he's telling me. I know it's Halloween, a night for parties and pranks, but this feels real. After all, there's toilet papering somebody's house, and then there's snapping your fingers and making a hundred people disappear in a blink.

He stands and then grips my elbow and helps me to my feet. "Come with me," he says, leading me through the club to a sort of lounge area, with velvet couches and pretty sconces that offer soft light.

"Sit," he invites. "Let's see what we can do to sort this out."

Sort it out? This doesn't need sorting. Just let me go!

He snaps his fingers again and two things appear on the table: a tall glass filled with ice and something fizzy, and a plate covered by a dome.

"What's this?" I ask.

"Sprite and hot French fries. Eat. You'll feel better."

I uncover the plate and shove a few fries in my mouth. How he knows they're my favorite is beyond me, but whatever. They're delicious. And he's right. They make me feel about 1.3 percent better.

"I don't want to be here," I say after I've eaten a bit and calmed down. "I want to go home. I want to find my friends." I choke on the last word. Are they my friends? If so, why wouldn't they have warned me? Why would they have just left me here?

A look of sympathy passes over his face. "I understand. Unfortunately, that's impossible. You triggered the spell that traps you in the Underworld with me. I'm as powerless as you are to change it."

I blink at him. I thought I was in for a fun Halloween party that got a little dirty. But he's talking about alternate dimensions and spells and being the Lord of the Underworld. Which makes him…the literal devil?

Nope. I cannot process this.

"What spell? Magic isn't real," I protest, even though I witnessed him magic a whole bunch of people out of this club just minutes ago. I keep getting hung up on that. Everything he's saying is bonkers, but the fact that the door won't let me out and he can evaporate people seems to suggest that there's at least some truth to what he's telling me, incomprehensible as it may seem. That and the magic food.

He apparently knows what I'm thinking. "Sweet Penny, everything I've told you is the absolute truth, I swear. I wasn't aware that you didn't know the rules. In fact, after what we experienced up in my booth, I thought you broke them on purpose. That for the first time ever, a human was choosing to stay with me." His expression remains impassive, but I swear there's the tiniest note of hurt in his voice.

My heart gives a pang. He's the most attractive man I've ever met, and our chemistry could blow up a lab. Would I like to keep seeing him? Sure. Would I like to keep hooking up with him? Absolutely! Would I like him to be less lonely, if that's what he's telling me? Of course.

But would I willingly give up my life and my freedom to hang out in this club with him for the rest of my life? Um, not so much. The sex is spectacular, but nothing is good enough to trap me in hell forever.

"Sorry, but I had no idea about the rules. And since that's the case, can't you make an exception this time and just let me go? We both know my ‘theft' was a petty one at best." ‘Stealing' a kiss after he finger banged me in his private booth doesn't really seem like it should count, especially considering that he fucked me six ways from Sunday afterward.

"I'm afraid I don't have that power," he says, his voice laced with regret. "I'm not the one who created the spell. That was courtesy of my mother."

"Your mother?" Oh, good. Things are getting even weirder.

He nods. "A vengeance goddess who was quite angry on my behalf."

Sure, yes. Naturally. Hell and magic weren't enough. Potentially having sex with the devil wasn't enough. This Halloween shitshow is now bringing vengeance goddesses into the mix. "What does that even mean?" I finally ask.

He sighs. "It's a long story, but here's the short version. My father bound me to hell as its ruler as a punishment. Part of my job is to collect a quota of souls; if I fail, I face an even worse punishment. The kind only he can mete out." He grimaces. "This can be a challenge, as I rely on damned souls to do this. My mother, furious at losing her only child to an…unpleasant, shall we say?...situation, cast a spell to assist me. Anyone who committed a sin in the club forfeited their soul to me. As you can imagine, it used to happen quite frequently."

I raise my brows. " Anyone who commits a sin? How are there not a hundred people here right now? How is not half the city trapped in your little dimension?" On any given night, the club must be ripe with lust, if nothing else.

He frowns. "It's not little," he mutters. After clearing his throat, he continues. "There are restrictions. The spell isn't active every night. Just on special occasions, like holidays and masquerades. Also, not just anyone can get into the club, and Hell is even more exclusive than Purgatory. It only applies down here, and only a select few ever get this far. And third, a lot of my clientele are aware of the rules and are careful not to break them. It's been quite a while since anyone was affected by the spell. You just got caught in a perfect storm, I'm afraid."

Lucky me. "So it can't be undone? I'm seriously just stuck here with you forever? As the Lord of the Underworld, you really aren't powerful enough to set me free?"

"I'm extremely powerful, but I'm as bound by the spell as you are. My mother ensured it," he says with a grimace. "As to your other question…" He purses his lips in thought. "Can it be undone? No. Circumvented…maybe." I glance up at him, barely daring to hope, as he continues. "This has never been attempted before. I've never even shared this with anyone before." He holds out his palm, and in a poof of flame, a parchment appears. In an old-fashioned scrawl, it says:

He who shall complete these challenges three, within a span of twelve hours, shall be granted return to the mortal plane:

Redo a mistake.

Undo a sin.

Outdo a demon.

The tiny granule of hope that had flared in my chest dies. These tasks are weird and impossible. What do they even mean? And in just twelve hours? Yeah, right.