“Please let us out,” I said, no longer above begging for our lives.
“So it is,” he said.
A low growl ripped from Sam’s chest.
“Careful, kitty,” Beelzebub taunted. “Make me angry and I will reconsider letting you out.”
The iron door swung open and I lunged forward, but Sam pulled me back and once again put himself in front of me as he and Cole walked out of the door first. When it was my turn to go through, Sam put a hand on my arm as if to anchor me to his side—like he was afraid I would be snatched away at any moment.
Maybe I would be.
We were at the very end of the long hallway, the only light coming from flame-lit torches that lined the walls. Our cell was to the right and just in front of us where the hallway ended was a wide door, arched at the top and made of black steel. It was to this door that Beelzebub strode, throwing the lock and yanking the heavy door open wide.
Intense heat rushed at us through the opening. It was so hot that it took my breath. There seemed to be no floor and no walls inside the new room and the back of the door was blackened—scorched.
It was a fire pit. An endless hole of fire that I knew never went out.
As I watched the flames lick through the door, Beelzebub lashed out, grabbing Cole and dragging him toward the flames.
“Cole!” I cried, rushing forward only to be yanked backward by Sam.
“You have a choice,” Beelzebub yelled as Cole fought and struggled to no avail. “You can open up this scroll case and give me the Map or watch as I send him to a fiery grave.”
“Don’t do it, Heven!” Cole yelled as sweat dripped from his forehead.
I wasn’t about to let my brother die. I looked at Sam, his face set in a grim expression. He knew I wouldn’t allow my brother to die, and after what just happened to his brother, he wouldn’t ask me to.
“Okay,” I said, my voice barely audible. But he heard me and smiled triumphantly. He took a few steps away from the flaming pit and I let out a breath. Cole was shaking his head, but I ignored him. I had to do this.
Acting nervous (not that it really was an act), I put my hands into my pockets and lowered my head, allowing my hair to fall and curtain my face, letting my shoulders shake—like I was trying to get it together.
“Now!” Beelzebub screamed.
My body was shaking now, and it wasn’t from fear.
Hell was trying to claim my soul.
I yanked my hands out of my pockets, gripping the single remaining Lucent Marble and reached back toward Sam, pretending to want his comfort. He reached out and I dropped the Marble into his hand and turned back to Beelzebub.
When I get my hands on that scroll, bust that Marble and let’s go.
Sounds like a plan, Sam answered and I didn’t dare look at him for fear that Beelzebub would get suspicious.
“Let him go,” I said, motioning to Cole.
Beelzebub narrowed his eyes.
I took the chain that held the key from around my neck, pulling it out from beneath my shirt. I swung it between my fingers, taunting my tormentor. “Let. Him. Go.”
He shoved Cole away roughly and he smacked against the wall with a sick thud. I didn’t look at him or Sam as I stepped toward Beelzebub and held out my hand. He ignored my outstretched arm and grabbed me roughly, yanking me against him. He wound his arm around my waist and I felt the hard metal of the scroll case through my T-shirt. With his free hand, he reached up and caressed my face.
I recoiled.
Behind us a menacing growl ripped through the air.
“You are a beauty,” Beelzebub murmured as he ran a single finger down the left side of my face exactly where my scars used to be. “But I liked you better when you wore my mark.”
I gasped.
We always thought maybe China hadn’t been acting alone and now we knew for sure. My mother had been right all along. I had been marked.
Marked by evil.
Behind me I heard a scuffling sound and I knew Sam was about to shift—to attack. Beelzebub lifted his hand up as if to stop him. “You change right now, I will toss her into the fire. I prefer you in your weak human state.”
Sam wasn’t weak in any form. But he was more vulnerable to injury in his human form so I said, “I’m fine, Sam. Stay back.”
Beelzebub looked at Hecate. “Keep him in line. Keep him back.”
“My pleasure,” she said from within her hood. My stomach knotted.
“Open it,” Beelzebub snarled, grabbing me by the neck and holding me toward the fire. I looked down into the flames that seemed to go on forever. I might be holding the scroll in my hands, but Sam couldn’t throw that Marble down because the minute he did, Beelzebub would toss me in the pit. I had to open it, make him think I was doing what he wanted so I could get away, get closer to Sam.
I held up the key and brought it toward the lock, but my hands were shaking too badly to insert. “Please,” I said. “Can we move back? I’m scared.”
Beelzebub sighed dramatically, but he did move back and I sighed in relief. I took a chance and roughly pulled away from him, but he kept hold of my arm. I inserted the key into the lock and listened as the inner mechanism clicked and the lid popped off.
Beelzebub laughed.
It was now or never.
I swung the tube upward, hitting Beelzebub in the face and jerked free, yelling. “Now, Sam!”
Beelzebub roared and Hecate flung out her hand, sending Sam flying backward and crashing into the hard stone wall. The Lucent Marble rolled across the stone floor.
“Cole! Get the Marble!”
Cole was already moving, already diving at it, but he was too late and the Marble rolled into a darkened cell, behind iron bars. Out of reach.
“No!” Cole screamed, reaching out his hand. A hand that no longer had a true shape.
We had no way out of Hell.
We were trapped.
And we were out of time.
My vision was beginning to blur and my teeth were chattering as Sam lifted me to my feet. The bleakness of the situation pinched his face and eyes.
“You shouldn’t have betrayed me!” Beelzebub screamed and ripped a length of chain hanging from the wall.
This wasn’t the first time I had seen his anger. I knew how violent he could be so I anticipated his next move. He would go for Sam, the one thing that could hurt me most. Somewhere inside me, I found the strength and agility to move quickly and throw myself in front of Sam and take the hit intended for him.
“No!” Sam shouted and tried to shove me out of the way, which saved me from taking the full lash of the chain.