Corson

I assumed I’d be relieved to see light again. Instead, my steps slowed and my hand went out to stop Wren when she strode forward as if she were going to stalk straight into the light and announce her presence. She shot me an irritated look and went to shove my arm down. Leaning over her, I sank my talons into the wall on the other side of her to plant my arm before her.

The green flecks in her eyes shot fire at me. I didn’t doubt she’d happily slice my arm off if she could have. Her breasts rose and fell with her breaths, bringing them into contact with my forearm. Despite her torn, soiled shirt and the dirt streaking her cheeks and forehead, she was still undeniably enticing.

My eyes fell briefly to her pursed lips before rising to meet her gaze again. “We have no idea what is up there.”

“I know that, demon.”

My teeth ground together. “My name is Corson,” I grated. “And I suggest using it since I just saved your fucking life.”

Her mouth dropped. Before she could reply, I tore my talons from the wall and stepped away from her. I didn’t look back as I proceeded cautiously down the widening tunnel toward the orange glow ahead. I had no idea what was causing the light, or why it would be in the convoluted maze the ouro had burrowed through the dirt.

Ten feet away from the end of the passageway, I crouched until my ass brushed against the heels of my boots. I studied the glow illuminating the earthen walls of what appeared to be a large cavern before us. Craning my head, I couldn’t see past the tunnel enough to discover the top or bottom of the cavern. When I sniffed at the air, I inhaled the damp odor of the earth, the woodsy scent of Wren, and the musky aroma of sex.

My brow furrowed at the final scent. I rested my fingers on the ground, as the distant sounds of flesh slapping against flesh reached me. I had no idea what was going on, but though sex was usually harmless enough, my instincts disagreed.

Wren knelt at my side as a laugh floated up from below and someone released an erotic moan. Neither things sounded menacing, but whatever lay ahead was intimidating enough to keep the ouro away, which meant it was something Wren shouldn’t be anywhere near. She was stronger and more lethal than many humans, but whatever lay down there would destroy her.

I couldn’t retreat from here without knowing what it was though.

“Stay here,” I whispered to her.

She opened her mouth to protest before closing it again. I took that as a sign she would remain, but I doubted it. I’d have to get up there, see what lay below, and return to her before she could move any closer to it.

Creeping forward, I stayed low as I approached the end of the tunnel. I settled before the edge, rested my hand on the wall, and leaned forward to peer into the cavern below. My brow furrowed when I caught sight of the creatures gathered there.

At first, I didn’t recognize what they were as I’d only seen them once before. At the time, they’d been floating by me while I ran out of Hell. Then, their striking faces were tilted back as they gazed toward the surface. Now, they lay on thick red pillows, laughing as they watched a young couple having sex on top of one of those pillows.

A female jinn prowled around the couple, smiling as she ran her hand between her breasts before cupping one of them. Color rose in her cheeks; ecstasy flooded her face as she slid her other hand between her legs. While the jinn pleasured herself in rhythm to the couple, tears streaked the woman’s cheeks and the man’s flushed face twisted in agony.

Sweat dripped from the man’s forehead and onto the woman’s breast. Blood soaked his back from where the woman’s nails repeatedly raked his flesh. Then, the man threw his head back and cried out as if he were climaxing, but his hips kept plunging forward, and the woman kept clutching at him.

I didn’t know what the couple had wished for, but I doubted it was anything close to this macabre act the jinn had twisted it into becoming. I suspected these two unfortunate humans would be screwing until they died.

Wren arrived at my side as I set my foot back to return to her. Any annoyance I felt over her taking a risk by coming closer vanished when her hand flew to her mouth. The fires the jinn had created with their powers danced over the cavern walls. The flames illuminated her sun-kissed skin and the revulsion in her blue eyes. She shouldn’t be anywhere near this.

Grabbing her hand, I held it firmly in mine as I gave it a small tug and tiptoed back. Instead of trying to tear free of me, or telling me not to touch her, she held on as I maneuvered her away from the jinn.

“What was that?” she whispered when we were far enough away that her voice wouldn’t carry back to them.

“Jinn, or genies as they’re better known to humans,” I explained.

She looked like I’d just socked her in the stomach as she glanced over her shoulder at the cavern. “Do they grant wishes?”

“Yes. The jinn usually aren’t fighters, but they’re manipulative, and the wishes they grant often turn into nightmares. They have a way of getting others to make wishes without realizing they’re making them.”

“Is that what’s happening with the couple?” she inquired. “Is it a wish gone wrong?”

“Most likely.”

“We have to help those people.”

“They made their bed, and they’re lying it in—in more ways than one. The two of us cannot take on a cavern full of jinn. Whatever you do, don’t wish for anything while we’re in here. I have no experience dealing with the jinn, but I do know they aren’t brought forth by rubbing a lamp.”

Wren’s breath sucked in, and whether she realized it or not, she moved closer to me. “Are you saying if we think a wish, they could come to us?”

“I don’t know, but I’m not willing to take the chance.”

“Neither am I,” she murmured and glanced over her shoulder again.

I pulled her back, flattening her against the wall and pinning her there with my body as something shifted in the shadows before me. Wren’s fingers rested on my arm; she leaned to the side to peer around me as the ouro emerged from a side tunnel fifty feet in front of us. The serpent cut across the chamber we stood in before entering another tunnel.

Wren stopped breathing when the ouro continued to slither endlessly onward. Its smaller tails rose to stand out from its sides and back, but they bent down again before they slid into the other tunnel. The extra tails seemed to help propel the ouro as it sped onward.

When none of the rattles went off, I realized the ouro didn’t know we were here, or it didn’t want to attract the attention of the jinn. Wren’s hand tightened around my arm before going to the gun at her side.

I rested my hand on hers before she could pull it free. Not only would her gun not kill the ouro, but it would attract the jinn and alert the ouro to our presence if it didn’t already know about it.

Wren glanced at me before her hand fell away. Looking over her shoulder, her eyes went between the ouro blocking our way and the jinn behind us. Then, the ouro’s massive rattle at the end of its tail came into view before slipping away. The cloud of dust settling into place afterward was the only thing marking the ouro’s passing.

“We have to go,” I whispered and stepped away from Wren.

She followed me as we continued down the channel the ouro had crossed. All ability to see vanished once more as I turned into another tunnel. The serpent had bisected this tunnel and gone a different way, but it was only a matter of time before it tracked us down again.