24. Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Four

Rayven

Every whisper of hope shattered with the clang of the gate closing, and I felt my heart breaking all over again as Belial’s gondola melted into the darkness. Tears stung the corners of my eyes, a scream burning up my throat.

“Belial!” The sound was immediately swallowed by the hot, acrid air as we drifted deeper into Mammon’s domain.

I stared into the distance, even though any trace of Belial was long gone, hoping to see him on our tail again. I was desperate for him to get to me.

He’d been so close to saving me, and now…

“By the time Belial catches up, it’ll be too late,” Mammon’s voice mocked my internal thoughts, making my skin itch.

I whipped my head in the Lord of Greed’s direction, already working on a fiery retort, but the words died on my tongue when the forge came into view behind him. My mouth dropped in an involuntary O as it loomed, unlike anything I’d seen before.

It was an enormous stone fortress stretching several stories high, the tips of its spires disappearing into pitch blackness. An enormous iron statue of Mammon was erected in front of it, his legs parting over the River Styx to let the bloody water enter.

We sailed into the structure, Mammon’s boat moving along the outer perimeter of the stone, my eyes shifting quickly to take it all in. It was a circular space, with a giant opening in the middle where the floor should have been. It was also hot as fuck, my lungs burning with every inhale.

When we docked, Mammon grabbed hold of the end of my chain and dragged me off the boat.

It was difficult to walk with the weight of the iron links around me, but I managed. The stone was hot beneath my bare feet, the air scorching my skin. It felt like we’d walked into an oven.

Following in the Lord of Greed’s wake with goblin creatures on my heels, I inched my way nearer to the opening in the floor, curious to see what lay below. The sight had my stomach cartwheeling.

Nearly fifty feet beneath us was a lake of lava, bubbling and boiling. One wrong step was all it would take to die a very painful death.

My eyes traveled upward, above the molten magma, to a raised concrete dais. Four sets of stone steps led up to it, which a few goblin creatures were currently hobbling up and down. I expected to see giant anvils or other forge tools, but there was only a giant cauldron over a roaring fire.

What the fuck?

I imagined a bunch of iron workers making weapons or something in Hell’s very own forge…not cooking fucking soup.

“You’re just in time for a feast,” Mammon announced, sounding proud. He stopped short and whirled to face me, one of his flaming wings nearly brushing my arm.

“A feast?” I peered at the dais again in time to see a goblin dump a sack of various vegetables into the cauldron. Another stood on a ladder, stirring the concoction with a giant spoon.

As they worked, they sang a song, the lyrics creepy and the tune off-kilter. “Toil, toil, burn and roil, in the demon’s brew you’re sure to boil.”

What kind of macabre Hocus Pocus fuckery is this shit?

“Yes, a feast. How else would we celebrate?” The cocky look on his face gave me the impression I was missing something, like the invisible dots were laid out for me but I hadn’t yet connected them.

Were they celebrating…me? I nearly laughed as soon as the thought crossed my mind.

“What’s the occasion?” I asked when he didn’t offer any type of explanation.

Mammon merely laughed, the sound grating against my eardrums. “You, and the new era you bring.”

A new era? Celebrating me? No way this motherfucker kidnapped me and was now throwing me a party. Something wasn’t right.

Seeing the question plain on my face, Mammon continued. “Without you distracting the Lord of Bones, we will finally get the souls we’re rightly owed. My realm will once again be filled with the screams of degenerates. Definitely worthy of a celebration.”

“So you’re eating…soup?” I asked in disbelief, looking between him and the giant cauldron. A goblin was tossing in giant clumps of leafy greens.

“Of course not. That’s just an appetizer.” Mammon jerked on the chain, making me stumble toward him, and leered down to meet my gaze. “You’re the main course, morsel.”

Main course?

I barely had time to register it before Mammon wheeled around and jerked on the chain, leading me toward a set of doors in the stone. They were massive, much like the ones in Belial’s castle, and led into a long, narrow dining hall.

The longest table I’d ever seen was set and ready for the feast, fruit-laden trays spaced intermittently down the center with iron candelabras and bouquets wrought from metal. There were at least a hundred chairs tucked up against the table, though only three were filled.

Sitting at the head of the hall, his white hair spilling over his shoulders, was Belphegor. To his left sat a demon with pale, wrinkly skin and one large, cyan eye in place of a face. The large eye locked on me the moment I entered the hall. To his right was a demon with at least a dozen eyes and a teeth-filled, gaping maw, his many arachnid-like legs folded around him.

The power buzzing through the room was palpable, and I knew who the strange demons were before Mammon opened his mouth.

“It wouldn’t be a celebration without the Lords of Wrath and Sloth joining us,” he said, gesturing to his guests. “They were quite intrigued when I told them about our mortal morsel.”

“Belial is going to skewer you fucks when he gets here,” I snapped as Mammon dragged me down the hall. I wasn’t sure what his plan was, especially since he claimed I was the main course, but I wasn’t going to roll over and take it.

“Belial can’t do shit if he can’t get in,” Belphegor’s voice whipped through the silent space.

The demon was still in the feminine bombshell form I’d met at the ball, but now, he wore a strappy leather number that showed more skin than not. “He’ll give up trying and crawl back to his realm. You’ll see. Or maybe you won’t…”

He examined his long nails, looking bored. “Considering you won’t be here much longer.”

His eyes flicked up, gleaming at me from beneath his snow-white lashes. In this form, he was beautiful, and somehow, I got the gut feeling he was more dangerous than Lust, Envy, and maybe even Greed.

My eyes narrowed on him. “He’ll never give up.” I didn’t feel like arguing with any of these dickheads, especially over Belial’s obsession with me.

They would all see, and they would all pay.

Belphegor shoved his chair back, the legs scraping against the stone floor with a wail. Then, he trotted his way over, balancing on six-inch stilettos I would have broken my neck trying to walk in. All the while, the other demon lords observed quietly, making my skin crawl.

Belphegor stopped in front of us, towering over me with the added height, taking me in with those nearly black eyes.

“We’ll see about that.” He glared down his nose at me, a phantom smirk tugging at the corner of his plump lips. “There won’t be a point once you’re ingested anyway; he’s wasting his time.”

I swallowed hard. “ Ingested? ”

Oh, fuck. That’s what Mammon meant by me being the main course. This crazy fuck meant to literally eat me.

Was he going to plop me in the cauldron? Filet me in front of his servants? Eat me whole?

I wasn’t sure how he’d manage the last one, but I wouldn’t put it past him.

“Yes,” Belphegor confirmed with a huff. “It wasn’t my idea. Personally, I could think of more entertaining ways to get rid of you.”

“Enough,” Mammon snapped, cutting Belphegor off before thrusting the end of my chain at him. “I want you to get her ready.”

He might as well have been handing Belphegor a dirty diaper for the disgusted face he made. “Get her ready? You want me to tenderize the meat or something, Mammon?”

He chuckled darkly. “I cherish that demented mind of yours, but no. Bathe her; get her nice and clean.”

“I’m not your goddamn handmaid,” the white-haired demon seethed, snatching the chain from him. “If it wasn’t for that giant cock of yours, I’d tell you to make one of your filthy gremlins do it.”

“Aw, come on, Belly. Don’t be like that…” he cooed in a lovey-dovey tone that would have made me sick if I wasn’t already feeling nauseous, what with learning I was about to be eaten.

Oh God . That cauldron was for me. They intended to boil and eat me.

“Don’t.” The venom in Belphegor’s voice cut him off as he raised a slender, manicured finger. “I told you not to call me that.”

Mammon cackled and dropped his voice to a rumbly whisper. “You don’t seem to mind when I’m balls deep in that sweet ass of yours, brother.”

Rolling his eyes, Belphegor turned and dragged me through the hall, his eyes set on an iron door in the corner.

I wasn’t sure where he was taking me—from the outside, it didn’t look like there was much space for bedchambers or bathrooms—but I was relieved to be away from Mammon. The sheer heat pouring off his flaming wings had made my skin tender.

Whatever Belphegor meant by ‘more entertaining’ things to do with me, it had to be better than Mammon’s plans to have me for dinner. It was the thinnest silver lining, but it was silver, nonetheless.

The iron door opened into a surprisingly wide corridor, which must have led out of the actual forge and into a castle I hadn’t seen on the way in. It was a little cooler here, but still hot enough to make me sweat. Much more of this, and I’d be half-boiled before I even reached the pot.

I expected us to walk in silence, but a steady stream of mumbling seemed to come from Belphegor as we turned down a second hallway.

“Such a waste,” he muttered, his long white hair dancing as he shook his head. “He has never been the brightest though.”

“Are you talking about Mammon?” I attempted conversation, eager for information. If I could find out something—anything—from Belphegor that might help me get out of this hell hole, I’d take it.

“Yes, he’s so… greedy .” Belphegor huffed a laugh. “As if that’s a surprise, but it has to be his way or no way.”

He shoved open a door to reveal an empty bedchamber, dragging me toward the ensuite. My stomach dropped, realizing Belphegor would be the one bathing me. I didn’t like that thought at all, especially not after all the other fucked up things his brothers had done to me.

“If you run, I’ll turn you into bloody confetti.” He flashed his manicured claws that would definitely slice me into ribbons. “Got it?”

I nodded, shifting uncomfortably while he dug between his ample breasts and produced an iron key. He promptly fit it into the padlock attached to my chains, and they clanged loudly to the floor.

For the first time since the chains were put on, I could breathe.

“It really is a shame.” He tsked his tongue as he crossed to the clawfoot tub and turned on the water. It was so hot, the room immediately filled with steam. “We could have so much more fun.”

His hungry eyes roved over me for much longer than I would have liked, and I crossed my arms over my chest in an attempt at modesty.

I had no idea what kind of sadistic torture Belphegor could dream up, but I couldn’t imagine many things worse than being eaten. In fact, I was willing to bet that however Belphegor wanted to play, it was a million times better than being boiled to death and digested by a demon lord.

If I could just convince Belphegor of the same thing, maybe I’d have a shot out of here. I at least had to try.

“What kinds of things?” I asked, forcing innocence into my words.

Belphegor’s eyes snapped up to meet mine, and I froze. He was impossible to read, especially since the form he presented himself in wasn’t his true one. He was a shapeshifter, the ultimate demon of deception. For all I knew, his entire personality was a guise and he didn’t even care about Mammon.

“So many things.” The corner of his pouty lips lifted into a smirk. “Would you like me to show you?”