Page 55 of Bound By Love
“We have to go,” Ronan said.
Kadence thrust out her arm and turned her wrist toward him. “You should drink some of my blood first.”
“There’s no time for that.”
“There is, and we need you at full strength.”
“You’re hurt too.”
“Nowhere near as bad as you; now stop being stubborn.”
She assumed he would continue arguing, but he took her wrist and brought it to his mouth. He didn’t drink as much as he should have.
Trying to get him to take more was a battle she’d never win, so she grabbed his hand and followed him into the tunnel.
CHAPTERFORTY-FIVE
As the tunnelcontinued to plunge downward, heat enveloped Saber. Sweat cleaved what remained of his clothes to his body.
In all his time with the demons, he’d never been anywhere like this. He’d never known such a place could exist, but as the rocks around them became a deeper red in hue, he had no doubt what they were rushing toward…
The entrance of Hell.
When he glanced at Caro, their eyes locked, and he saw the same realization within them. If they kept going, they could plunge into an ambush of demons, but if they stopped now, everyone they’d lost would have died in vain.
And they would lose this war. They couldn’t come back after the demons again; they didn’t have the numbers.
They’d decimated some of the demons’ army today too, but it was a lot easier to recruit and make Savages than it was members of the Alliance. There was no turning back, even if certain death lay ahead.
His injuries had mostly healed, something that wouldn’t continue to happen if he received many more. For now, he could take these things on again, as could Caro; he still scented her blood on the air, but it wasn’t as strong as before.
When they turned another corner, the demons came into view. They didn’t rush; they were fleeing the battle but had little fear of those pursuing them. They simply glided along as they descended further into the earth.
He didn’t like it. Yes, they were all weaker than the demons, but with the swords, they were stronger and more capable of taking these demons down.
They’re leading us into a trap.
He was certain of it, but the demons would also be trapped. They could wait for the others with the swords to catch up, but there was no guarantee they were coming. For all he knew, they were dead.
He glanced over at Brie and Asher as they ran beside him. The hunter couldn’t die here; he wouldn’t allow it, but if they kept going, it could mean his death.
Saber’s mind spun as he tried to figure out a plan. Going back wasn’t an option, but was going forward?
When the demons vanished around a corner, they gave chase, but as they rounded the bend, it was to discover the demons had turned to face them. They’d entered a larger area, one more suited for battle, and that was where the demons waited before what could only be a gate to Hell.
A fiery opening, no bigger than a doorway, stood behind them. Waves of fire rolled behind it, illuminating the jagged edges of the rocks sticking out from the edges of the opening.
From within the fire came screams of torment. They weren’t loud and didn’t reverberate around the black stone walls surrounding them, but those cries cut into Saber in a way no sword or blade ever could.
They were the cries of the lost and eternally bound to Hell, of those who did so wrong in life, their souls were forever tortured. They were the cries of the damned.
And they flitted across the fire like spirits floating through the air. They couldn’t escape as they burned in the fires that would consume them for eternity… or however many years they were bound to Hell.
And facing them were even more demons than the ones they pursued here.
Saber skidded to a halt as he jerked Caro to a stop. Beside him, Brie released a cry of such despair that Saber knew she was coming face-to-face with her worst nightmare.
She pulled Asher back as she jumped protectively in front of him. When she moved, so did the demons.
