Chapter 3Sasha

Chapter

Three

SASHA

I pulled my motorcycle to a stop outside the doors leading into Brimstone. With a nod of my head, I tossed the keys to the demon posted on the door, confident that he would have it moved to a more secure location. I ignored the looks of the hopefuls waiting to gain access to the nightclub. I wasn’t worried about what they would see as I walked past them. I was loaded with weapons, all mostly hidden, but that isn’t what they would be seeing as I strode past.

I was a succubus, and as such, I had a natural allure, and sex appeal was literally oozing from my pores in the form of pheromones. I couldn’t turn it off, no matter how much I wished it were possible.

There had been many times over my life that I wished more than anything to be normal. To be any type of demon other than what I was. The number of times I’d had to fight both men and women off of me, those who were so drawn to my allure that they believed they could take what hadn’t been offered, had me swearing off any form of sex. Witnessing my father using his natural sex allure as a weapon against others had only strengthened my resolve.

Ignoring the glances, the whispers that could be heard over the loud, thumping music, and the hands that reached for me, I strode straight to the door that humans were warded against. They wouldn’t see the door against the far wall, for them, it was nothing more than a blank wall, their eyes automatically skipping over it without interest. It allowed demons to enter into the passage that led to the elevators.

What humans also couldn’t see, was their favorite nightclub wasn’t just a single floor, large building where they could dance and drink the night away. Instead, it was several stories tall and much wider. Not only was there a nightclub where demons who needed to feed off of the energy of humans, but there was also other entertainment for the demons on the Earth realm ranging from a casino, a demon nightclub, a fighting ring, and even a sex club.

I used to work in the building, absorbing and feeding off the sexual energy that emanated from both the humans and demons alike. I didn’t even need to be in the sex club to get my fill. Just being near it was enough. I wasn’t going upstairs, though.

As soon as the heavily warded door closed behind me, the heavy bass lowered to a low thumping beat. I walked away from the muffled sound and headed for the first elevator. Nodding to a guard that was walking past, I pushed the call button and waited, staring at the metal doors. I was about to do something that I had never expected to. Once the doors slid open and I was able to step onto the thankfully empty lift, I raised my hand and let my finger hover over the button marked with a B. Then I pressed it.

Within seconds, the doors slid back open, and I was in an unfamiliar room. I hadn’t been in front of the portal in three hundred years. Not since the day I stumbled through and right into Varek’s arms. I had been grateful every day since that he had been there. If someone else had been the one to find me, my life would have gone in a much different direction.

The guard at the portal did a double take when he saw me, and I internally groaned. He wasn’t someone I knew well but had seen around quite a bit. As far as I knew, he always did his job well, with no complaints from him or his superiors. But I also knew he usually answered directly to Rake.

I gave him a curt nod, hoping he would keep my little trip to himself. If he mentioned seeing me enter the portal to the Underworld to Rake, the information would get to Varek faster than old ladies shared gossip over tea and biscuits. I didn’t want Varek to worry, and he wouldn’t be able to try to save me anyway. Varek was the only demon who couldn’t enter the portal. Though, I suspected his brother, Valen, was also somehow blocked from entering as well.

They believed it was Lucifer’s doing. All the memory erasing, them being unable to return to the Underworld, was something Lucifer had done to keep the four brothers from doing… something. No one knew exactly why just yet. As the memories were slowly returning, they were piecing together more of the story with the help of Charon, the father of Varek’s mate, Juliette. Though everything was still unclear, like a puzzle with most of its pieces scattered and upside down. They only had a small bit of that puzzle assembled so far, and it was clear they would need the other two brothers before they could piece it together.

And that was why it was so important that I completed this quest I had been sent on by an unknown woman.

“Have a good night,” I said to the still gaping guard, who just snapped his mouth shut as if realizing he looked like a fish gasping for water. Before he could acknowledge my greeting, I held my breath and stepped through the brick archway that outlined the wavy, iridescent nothingness that was the portal to the Underworld.

With one step, I left one world and entered into another.

It had been centuries since I had been in my home realm. As I stood just inches from the portal, I held my breath as I stared. It was as if nothing had changed since I had been gone, while at the same time, my fragile memories didn’t do it justice.

The deep purple sky told me that it was sometime during the night cycle and would be changing to a rosy pink later. The lush blue of the foliage looked black under the dark sky and would make it that much more difficult to spot the dangers hidden under and within their leaves.

I inhaled deeply, taking in the fragrance. It was sweet, almost sickeningly so, with the scents of dirt and lichen mixed heavily within. A snapping branch nearby told me I didn’t have the luxury of time. Whatever had made the noise was most definitely a predator looking for a meal in the darkness. Of course, even the prey animals in the Underworld could be deadly to the unsuspecting.

Instead of taking the wide, worn path that led from the portal toward the nearest inhabited town, I turned to the right, knowing that the High Dungeon would be in that direction. There was the faintest hint of a path where I needed to head, and though it was likely the worst way to go, it was the shortest in distance. Staying on the well worn road would take me longer to get where I needed to go by more than a day, and being spotted by anyone who knew the High General would put me in more danger than any of the creatures or plants of the forest.

I withdrew a dagger from its sheath in my jacket, and with a deep inhale that I let out slowly, I took my first steps in three hundred years into one of the most dangerous forests of the Underworld.

Though it was dark, all demons were born to be the deadliest predators in the realm. Only a few strides into the denseness, I could already hear the hissing of a creature as it scurried deeper into the undergrowth. I winced as a high pitched scream that sounded much too close to that of a newborn baby cut off as quickly as it began, coming from the direction the creature had ran.

I quickened my steps while trying to stay as silent as I could. I hoped that whatever had captured the animal was too busy devouring its catch to come searching for a larger target. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, more of the forest surrounding me became clearer. I could start to see the closed petals of the flowers that gave off the sickeningly sweet scent situated on vines that wrapped around the bases of the twisted trees. During the day hours, those petals would be open, luring in insects with large stalks covered in a sticky substance that would act as an inescapable glue to its prey. For the insects it was a trap, for a demon, it was like an acidic tar. The demon who touched it would be leaving behind their flesh for the plant to feast on. I’d learned that the hard way the last time I had fled through the forest.

I spotted what resembled ferns from Earth tucked away between other bushes. While other plants only looked black in the low light of night, the fern-like plants actually were black, but in the darkness, small dots of bioluminescence lined the long, thin, twisted tendrils of leaves. Those dots would act similar to a flame luring a moth. When an insect would land on one of those glowing spots, the tendrils would curl around the insect as quick as a whip and not let go until every hint of moisture was sucked away.

Movement from the corner of my eye warned me against the first sign of danger since beginning my trek. I raised my dagger in time to slice off the head of the snake-like creature that lunged open mouth, razor sharp fangs extended, from the spindly branches of a nearby tree. Its claws relaxed their hold on the paper thin bark, and the rest of the long body fell with a heavy thud seconds after the head into the undergrowth below. A sudden rustling of the plant growth and the low hum of growls let me know that there were other creatures waiting for a meal.

I swallowed thickly, and for the first time since I had made the decision to take this journey, I wondered if I was in over my head. Before I let my fear spiral out of control, I paused to breathe. I had to think of the words from the letter. The Fates had decreed that I would be the one to save the demon locked in the dungeon. If they saw my future than I had to survive to see him home. But nowhere did it say that I would survive intact.

I wasn’t certain how long I stalked through the forest. By the time I had defended myself against three more vipreths who tried to ambush me from above, and one who met the bottom of my boot, the sky was beginning to lighten. I spotted a flower that was curved into the shape of an upside down bell just a few feet from the path and felt the thirst I had been steadily ignoring suddenly become overwhelming.

I stopped in place and glanced around, checking for any sign of danger. Though none could be readily seen, I still couldn’t let my guard down. The Underworld wouldn’t be such a dangerous place if it was safe to step into the undergrowth. No, the danger liked to spring out at you from nowhere like a fucked up jack-in-the-box.

I took a tentative step off the path and then another until I was close enough to the beelennya plant to reach if I stretched. I didn’t dare go any further. The flower may hold fresh water inside its tightly closed petals, but the rest of the plant was covered in spines that could poison whoever attempted to steal its treasure.

With a firm hold, I gripped the petals gently and swiped the base of the flower with a clean dagger before quickly back tracking to the path. As I stepped backward, the plant made a high-pitched squeal and flung its spiny tendrils around the air. One of the longer vines struck the top of my boot, leaving behind a sharp thorn. Luckily, the thorns were sharp but small and impossible to penetrate the thickness of my leather boots.

I held the flower away from me, and using the sharp point of the dagger, I forced one of the thick petals from its tightly packed position. Because the flowers absorbed and held water, they tended to be overly alluring for many creatures. Those who made it inside often met a watery death where the flower would slowly digest its victim. But sometimes, creatures would hide, waiting for others to search out the liquid they craved.

As soon as the petal was open enough to peer inside, I caught the slight movement of an antenna hidden inside. I gritted my teeth as I considered my options. I could toss the flower away and try for another, though the plant was still waving its vines around in protection and warning, or I could fight for the water inside the one I already held.

Licking my dry lips, I made my choice. I sliced through the top of the flower, watching as the cut petals quickly withered and died, the dark blue turning black as I watched. In the next second, a long insect with an antenna waving wildly scurried up and over the side of the flower. It began to circle the wide circumference, searching for the danger, and out of instinct, I jerked my hand, wanting to throw it as far away from me as I could. The long, segmented body reminded me of a centipede, and I suppressed a shudder. With the tip of the blade, I caught the edge of the body and flung it to the ground.

I watched in horror as the insect immediately ran for my feet, and before I could step on it or jump back, it was already crawling up my boot and making it to my pants leg. “Son of a bitch! Get off me, you little bastard!” I had been doing my best for hours to stay as silent as possible, but having a six-inch insect from hell crawl up my body made me let loose a high pitched squeal that I would never admit to another living soul I was capable of producing.

Ignoring the urge to stab my dagger straight into the demon centipede and possibly severing my femoral artery, I instead swiped at it again, making it fly through the air several feet away. Within a split second, it had already righted its body and was again making its way back to my leg when, out of nowhere, a small, black, furry animal sprang from the nearby bushes and pounced on the bug.

I stood there, chest heaving and resisting the urge to dance around, swiping frantically at myself with my hands, and stared as the small, furry creature with long, round ears and huge eyes snatched the bug up from the ground with sharp claws. With my stomach roiling in disgust, I watched as the creature brought it to its mouth and chomped down on the head. When it pulled the dead centipede back, I shuddered at the dark green insides that oozed out of the space where the head had just been.

“That’s just nasty,” I whispered.

The sound of my voice caught the attention of the animal, and it looked up at me, cocking its dark head. I took a step back, expecting it to suddenly lunge for my throat with the razor sharp fangs I could see just peeking out of the dark purple fur around its mouth. Instead, it gave a trilling sound, stuffed the remaining five inches of demon centipede into its mouth, and hopped toward me.

“Nice little… whatever you are. Please don’t make me hurt you.” I held my free hand out in the universal ‘stay back’ gesture. The cute, furry creature that looked like a cross between a bunny and a monkey tilted its head again and sat back on its haunches. I wished I knew what it was. The thing was actually super adorable, but I didn’t know how deadly it was or if it was a danger to me. It certainly looked like it had the potential to be with the long claws and sharp fangs.

It moved its head to look at the flower I still held. I shifted the flower to the side, then moved it in the other direction, watching it as its eyes stayed riveted on the flower. I sighed in defeat. I used the heel of my boot to make a divot in the forest floor deep enough to hold the flower without spilling the water inside.

“Here, you deserve this for saving me from that bug.” I bent down, keeping an eye on the creature the whole time. “Besides, I don’t know if I could have brought myself to drink something it had been in, even if I am dying of thirst here.”

The little creature made more trilling noises at me, and its large purple eyes grew wider with excitement as soon as I set the flower down and stepped back. It immediately hopped over, and instead of dipping its face down like a version of an Earth realm cat, it picked up the flower and drank from it the same way I would have.

With a small smile at the cute picture it made, I adjusted the strap of my satchel and stepped around it to continue my walk while keeping my eye out for more beelennya flowers.