Corson

Wren and I didn’t speak as we traveled deeper into the labyrinth. I didn’t know if we were going in a new direction, heading back the way we’d come, or wandering in endless circles. Without light, there was no way to mark where we’d been or to detect any significant difference from one tunnel to the next.

When the rockier walls became mostly dirt once more, I thought we were making our way back up and possibly out, but the soil had given way to rock again after a hundred or so feet. The air felt and smelled the same no matter where we went, stale and earthy. Some tunnels had a breeze in them, and those were the ones I turned into with the hope an exit had created the breeze, but they never offered a way out.

Now we were in what I assumed was a small cave system due to the solid stone walls and the trickle of water drawing me onward. I ran my hand over the walls until my fingertips dipped into cool water. Wren’s arm brushed mine as her fingers fumbled over the wall too.

“Here,” I said and took her hand to guide it into the water. “Drink some.”

“I don’t dare,” she whispered. “Not when we don’t know the source, and I can’t boil it.”

“You have to be thirsty.”

“And I can remain thirsty for another day or two. That water could kill me before then. I’ve gone longer without water before, believe me, and at least it’s cool in here, so I’m not sweating. I do want to wash some snake gunk off me though.”

I listened to water splashing as she tried to clean herself in the thin stream while I struggled to control my impulse to grab her and hug her against me. She was so frail, so mortal. This water was something so simple, something I had no concern for at all, yet it was life to her, and there was nothing I could do to give her what she needed.

“You next,” she whispered and I heard her step away from the wall.

I cupped my hands and let the water fill them before splashing it over my face and hair. I washed myself the best I could before moving away. “I’ll get you out of here,” I promised her.

“Not if we keep standing here,” she retorted, but her tone held none of her usual defensiveness against me, and I heard the exhaustion in her voice.

I touched her arm, drawing her after me as I turned to wind my way through the maze once more. I wanted to return to the ouro and tear it apart some more for trapping us in this place, but I’d never be able to find my way back to it.

Wren stumbled behind me, and her hand hit me in the back. I turned and caught her before she fell to the ground. Drawing her closer, I closed my eyes as I recalled my lips brushing over hers. She’d been about to let me kiss her, something I’d never thought she would allow, but she hadn’t pulled away.

I’d been so close to tasting more of her when I’d sensed the ouro slithering toward us. If my instincts hadn’t alerted me in time, we’d both be dead right now. She was a giant distraction in this place, but I found myself wondering if she would let me taste her again now.

Then, her legs wobbled with exhaustion. Protective instincts I hadn’t known I possessed rushed to the forefront. She’d never admit it, but she needed to rest.

“We’ll stop here for a bit,” I said.

“We have to…” I heard her gulp. “We have to get out of here.”

“We’re not going to escape if you can’t walk.”

“I can walk!” Though I couldn’t see it, I knew her chin had shot up.

“You are an obstinate creature.”

“I’m not a creature; I’m a human being. You’re a creature.”

I would have laughed if her stubbornness hadn’t been so infuriating. “I’m an adhene demon. Not a creature.”

I was waiting for her wise-ass reply when she pulled herself out of my arms. “What is an adhene demon?”

“To the human world, the closest equivalent might be your elves. Adhenes aren’t magical or anything like that, but your elf legends are probably based on us. Adhenes are fast, powerful, and known to be mischievous.”

I almost jumped away from her when her fingers brushed over the tip of my right ear. At first, I half-expected her to cut it off until she caressed it. Unable to stop it from happening, I hardened instantly against my zipper. If she had any idea how sensitive my ears were to stimulation and what she was doing to me, she would pull away.

Unable to resist, I stepped closer until her chest pressed against mine, but I was careful to keep my waist away from her. Her breasts were the perfect size to fill my hands. I should know, I’d often fantasized about touching and tasting them since meeting her.

“Adhene demons are rare,” I murmured as I tilted my head into her stroking fingers and closed my eyes. “I’ve been the last purebred adhene in existence since my parents died, but the few demons who also possessed adhene blood were killed during the final battle with Lucifer.”

“I see,” she said, and her hand fell away from my ear. “It must be lonely for you.”

I restrained myself from seizing her hand and returning it to me. For the first time, I was grateful for the dark so she couldn’t see when I adjusted my erection. “I’ve become used to it,” I told her, though I didn’t like to dwell on the knowledge I was the last of my kind and that no other purebred adhenes would exist after me.

“So you believe the elf legend to be based on you because of your ears, and I’m assuming your build. I remember elves are supposed to be tall and lean,” she said.

“Yes.”

“I don’t remember any elves with talons sprouting from the backs of their hands.”

“It’s not like humans saw everything through the veils once separating our worlds, and most of what they did see they jumbled up, or the passing of years twisted their tales into something entirely different.”

“What are the veils?” she asked.

“Some humans were able to glimpse into Hell and Heaven through the veils separating our worlds. It’s how many human myths were born and how some people knew about the existence of demons and angels. Some people glimpsed things in Hell and Heaven and revealed what they saw to other people. Other humans encountered demons and angels when they were allowed to walk the Earth. From werewolves to vampires to leprechauns, many demons are the basis of your legends. I am the closest thing to an elf you will find in the demon world.”

“What about Magnus? I could also see him as an elf, especially since he does have magic of a sort.”

I thought of Magnus, the last demon of illusions, and his ability to weave things out of thin air. I didn’t like the idea of humans twisting Magnus and me into the same legend, but with his magical abilities, lean build, and ice-blond hair, I couldn’t deny that it might be true.

“He has horns instead of pointed ears, but yes, Magnus or one of his ancestors could also fit into the elf legends,” I agreed.

“Interesting,” she murmured.

“Didn’t you learn anything about us at the wall?” I asked her.

“I never thought to ask about these kind of things,” she admitted.

“Why not?”

“Because I knew most of what I needed to know about demons.”

“How to kill us,” I said flatly.

“Yes.”

I didn’t know why her confirmation aggravated me; I knew what Wren was and that she’d only agreed to work with us to save the other Wilders. “With the way you think about demons, you must be expecting me to leave you here to die.”

“No, I’m not. You would have let me fall into the ouro’s hole by myself if you’d planned to let me die.”

At least she gave me that much credit.

“Besides, worse things than you have tried to kill me and failed,” she stated.

“And one day they might succeed.” I had to work to keep my talons restrained over the idea of her dying.

“Most likely,” she replied with a yawn. “But I never expected to live this long to begin with.”

“This long? How old are you, twenty-five?”

“Twenty-two, but some days I feel like I’m a hundred. How old are you?”

“A great deal older. I’m thirteen hundred years old.”

She snorted before coughing. “Did you say thirteen hundred?”

“I did.”

“Impressive. I didn’t think I’d make it to thirteen. I sure didn’t expect to turn twenty, and I doubt I’ll see thirty, but thirteen hundred! I can’t imagine living so many years. Most days, I can barely imagine the next hour, never mind tomorrow.”

Her words stirred sympathy within me, something I didn’t have much of, and I rarely had it for humans. When it came to Wren though, I only wanted her to be safe and know peace. However, I wasn’t sure Wren could ever know peace, not in these Wilds and not when she would do everything she could to keep the Wilders with her safe.

I didn’t know what she’d endured in her lifetime or what she’d done to survive it. In many ways, her life had been as brutal as mine, maybe more so, and it had probably been more brutal than most if not all of the civvies. Even now, with escapees from Hell roaming more freely across the planet than they ever had before, the wall and towns beyond it, were still safer than the Wilds.

Wren yawned again.

“This is a good place to rest. Get some sleep, and I’ll keep watch,” I told her.

“There’s nothing to watch and what about the jinn? Are we far enough away from them?”

“I don’t know, but I’ll stay awake and alert for anything coming.”

“Okay.”

I heard the scratch of something sliding down the rocks. When Wren spoke again, her voice came from lower than before.

“Corson?” she murmured.

She was so tired that she’d said my name. I didn’t point that out to her as I slid down the wall to sit beside her; it would only shut her down if I did. “Yes?”

“How many seals were there?”

“Two hundred three.”

“Shit,” she whispered. “And there was something different behind each of them?”

“Yes. The jinn were behind the ninetieth seal and the ouroboros behind the eighty-second.”

“And you’re sure all the seals fell?”

“I am, but not everything behind the seals broke free of Hell. Some were killed before they could reach Earth, and others were trapped in Hell when the gateway closed again.”

“At least there’s a bright side,” she murmured.

“There is.”

Her soft breaths filled the air, and I realized she’d fallen asleep sitting up. After a few minutes, she slumped toward me and her head dropped to my shoulder. A strange sense of tranquility settled over me as her body warmed mine while I listened for something stalking us through the tunnels. I’d cut them to pieces before they got anywhere near her.