21. Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-One

Rayven

From the shadows emerged one of Leviathan’s servants haloed in an orange glow. He wore dark, water-logged clothes and looked like he’d just taken a swim. Water streamed from his stringy black hair, and most of his sickly-looking blue skin was crusted in barnacles. I didn’t know if he was a demon native to this realm or a soul sentenced to this layer of hell, but he looked terrified.

A second later, I realized why.

The orange glow I’d seen was coming from a pair of enormous flaming wings attached to one of the most grisly-looking beasts I’d seen, apart from Asmodeus. He was enormous, even bigger than the Lord of Bones by my estimation.

He had heavy muscles packed onto his wide body and rough, armor-like skin as black as midnight. Dark horns curved up toward the cavern ceiling. He wore a thick leather belt around his waist that reminded me of a tool belt, and a leather apron hung between his meaty thighs.

Judging by the swell of energy emanating from him that made my hair stand on end, he was no doubt one of the demon lords.

“I don’t remember sending for you, Mammon,” Leviathan said, annoyance lacing his tone. My eyes widened at the name, recalling how he’d looked at the ball. This had to be his true form, since this was hardly the same motherfucker who’d helped kidnap me.

A smile bowed Mammon’s lips as his blood-red eyes drifted past Leviathan to my cage. They lingered on my naked form, and I curled in on myself again, shielding myself the best I could. I was tired of being ogled like a zoo animal.

“Y-your Majesty, I told him you didn’t want any visitors,” the servant stammered. “But Lord Mammon insisted—”

“ Silence ,” Leviathan snapped.

The servant bowed and backed away into the shadows without another word.

Leviathan’s gaze leveled on his brother, anger flickering behind his eyes. “This better be important.”

Mammon cocked a dark eyebrow at him. “You think I’d waste my time coming up to this grimy place if it wasn’t?”

The serpent demon made a noise that suggested that was exactly what he thought.

”You have something I want,” Mammon continued.

“Take it and go then,” Leviathan said impatiently with a dismissive hand wave. “Obviously, I’m a little tied up.”

Mammon’s intense gaze once again landed on me, and I squirmed. “Let her out, then, and I’ll be on my way.”

“I think not.” Leviathan’s tone was vicious, sharp. “She’s my pet now.”

Mammon took a step closer to me, tsking. “Now, now, Lord of Envy. That wasn’t the plan. We agreed to hand her down the line and each have our fun with her.”

Leviathan stepped into his path, shielding me from him. “Come on. Asmodeus never intended to let her go, and now that she’s mine, neither do I.” He obviously wasn’t afraid of his brother, which either made him really stupid or really cocky. I hadn’t seen Leviathan’s true form yet, but something told me he’d still be outmatched.

“How did you even know she was here?”

“Souls whisper, brother,” Mammon answered Leviathan while keeping his eyes fixed on me. “They speak of the mortal queen of Limbo. The tortured souls of Asmodeus’ realm kneeled to her in fealty.”

My heart fluttered at the memory of the souls in Asmodeus’ throne room kneeling before me. Had they communicated with other souls? Was word spreading through all the layers of Hell? A lump formed in my throat at the thought, but I couldn’t worry about that now.

“What has me scratching my brain is how she got away.” Mammon hiked an inquisitive brow at me. “Asmodeus’ realm is a fortress. Souls never escape his clutches unless he means them to.”

“I bit his dick off.” I forced a grin, trying to look intimidating. Maybe neither of them would touch me if they thought they might end up like their three-headed brother.

If anything, it only seemed to heighten Mammon’s curiosity. His red eyes nearly glowed with excitement.

“You are a tasty-looking morsel.” Mammon stepped around Leviathan and pressed closer to my cell. The flickering torch lights played over his face, distorting his features. “I think you’ve been kept in this cage long enough.”

That, we could agree on.

“I’m taking her to the Forge, brother.”

Leviathan laughed dryly and shook his head. “Maybe you didn’t understand me before. She’s mine . The only times she’ll ever leave that cage will be the short excursions to my bed.”

I hadn’t worked out what sin Mammon represented, but I doubted it was pride or wrath. Either one would have probably exploded and ripped Leviathan’s head off by now. What did that leave? Gluttony? Sloth? Greed?

Something hooked beneath my gut.

I’d put money on Mammon being the Lord of Greed.

“It wasn’t up for debate,” the winged beast snapped. “I’ll make you a deal. Give me the girl, and I’ll let you live.”

Leviathan just laughed, which intensified the dread creeping up my spine. I was either about to see Mammon turn him into a snake-kabob, or he had a trick up his sleeve yet.

I moved to the far end of my cage, trying to put as much distance between myself and these two as possible, but it wasn’t nearly far enough. My back pressed against the metal bars so hard, it hurt.

For a tense moment, no one moved or said anything, the tension so thick, Leviathan could slice through it with his claws. Mammon gripped my bars, ready to bend them apart to free me.

Leviathan lunged for the winged demon lord, who reacted just as quickly and swung a punch at the serpent demon’s face.

It was so fast, I was sure I was about to see the serpent hit the ground. He dove to the side, dodging the blow, and his body began to shift even before he righted himself.

Leviathan’s legs disappeared, replaced by a long, reptilian tail. His claws grew longer, his muscles twisting and contorting as he tripled in size. What was left was a hellish naga creature, half man, half snake. My eyes popped as I watched him whip forward, hitting Mammon straight in the chest.

They tumbled backward on the stone floor in a tangle of limbs, fists, fangs, and claws.

Leviathan’s sharp nails raked across Mammon’s impossibly thick skin, doing minimal damage that I could see, and the fire demon grappled with the thrashing tail. One of his blazing wings brushed against the silk sheets of Leviathan’s bed. The whole thing went up in flames in the blink of an eye.

Leviathan roared, his fist connecting with Mammon’s face, and I screamed as flames licked dangerously close to the cage.

As if disturbed by the Lord of Envy’s rage, the ocean outside began to crash harder, waves washing into the cavern and soaking the floor. A white crest crashed into the bed, putting out the fire a second later and leaving a crispy, drenched heap behind.

In the midst of the brawl, there was a crackle of red magic, and a giant iron hammer appeared in Mammon’s hand. He swung it—hard. It cracked Leviathan in the side of the head, sending him sprawling across the stone.

The demon Lord of Envy twitched on the cave floor but fell still a moment later and didn’t move again.

Seeing the serpent demon’s body splayed on the ground, I found my voice and finally screamed.

Mammon’s eyes snapped in my direction.

“As I was saying…” He approached the cage, still wielding the giant hammer in one hand. It was nearly as tall as I was, with multiple faces and ornate demonic runes carved into the handle. “You’re coming with me.”

I tried to back up, but there was nowhere to go. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

I had to stall. Belial couldn’t be far away now…

Mammon laughed as he gripped the copper bars. Fire blazed beneath his touch, and the metal glowed hot before melting enough for him to bend them.

The bars groaned, and I screamed, “Leave me the fuck alone!”

He ignored me and warped the metal until there was a space big enough for me to fit.

“Come here, morsel,” he said, grabbing me by the forearm and yanking me out of my prison. I stumbled, trying to wrestle my arm out of his hold, but to no avail.

On the one hand, I was thankful to be free. But Belial had been right—as much as I hated it—that the cage had been the safest place for me to wait for his rescue. He’d told me to stay put in Leviathan’s realm until then.

By the time he got here, I’d be gone, pulled deeper into the depths of Hell.

“Let me go,” I screamed, pulling against his iron-like grip. I clawed, kicked, scratched, and bit at his hand until he grabbed me by the waist and tucked me up under one of his arms. He probably would have thrown me over his shoulder if not for the wings; they’d burn me alive.

“You’re a light little thing, morsel,” he said, carrying me as easily as if I was a bag of groceries. I swung my legs frantically, desperate to connect with something, but it was no use. “We’re gonna have to fatten you up for sure.”

My insides turned. I didn’t want to know why he’d want more meat on my bones or why he kept calling me ‘morsel’. Whatever he had planned for me, it wasn’t good. It wasn’t good at all.

I screamed again, making eye contact with a helpless water demon servant as we marched by.

“Help me! Please!” I begged, but he simply watched us go with pity in his eyes.

I couldn’t blame him. What was he going to do against a fucking lord of Hell?

“Put me down. I can walk just fine,” I argued, still kicking as we headed deeper into the cave. I wasn’t sure where he was taking me exactly, but maybe I could give him the slip if he just put me down.

Mammon laughed as though I’d told a joke. “Did you forget? I’ve seen how much of a runner you are. Gonna keep you safe and sound until we reach the ship.”

Ship? I balked, wondering why the fuck there would be a ship. Then, I remembered the demon ferrymen. I might not have seen one of the ferries yet, but Belial told me they existed. Were there other lords with vessels that could sail the bloody waters?

Mammon’s boat was little more than a glorified sailboat and hardly qualified as a ship, but I wasn’t about to tell the Lord of Greed what I thought of his little dinghy.

It was made out of metal, with black sails and iron details. He dropped me to the deck the second we were on it, and I screamed when a creature darted toward me. A small, ugly, beady-eyed, goblin-looking creature quickly wound a chain around my naked body and locked it into place around a pole.

It then hobbled away to the steering wheel, barking orders at the rest of the crew as they hobbled into view. I tried to move, but the chain weighing me down was too heavy.

“You’ll be glad you’re naked,” Mammon said, grabbing the wheel and guiding the boat down the Styx. “It’s hot where we’re headed.”

“Your realm?” I asked, hoping he would elaborate.

He only leveled me with a glare, his red eyes flickering. “The Forge.”