Runes of Truth (A Demon's Fall #1)(31)

“The only way is up,” Azi says, walking to the staircase and walking up. I jog to catch up, and the others follow as we walk up the dusty, sand-covered steps. The steps are huge, causing me to have to pull my legs up high to make each step.

“What where these steps built for? Giants?” I mutter, making Azi laugh.

“No, there used to be a royal family of hell, and it is said the very first queen of hell was a goddess. There are no royals around to tell us if that was true or not anymore, though,” Azi tells us. Royals of hell? Sounds like a terrible inheritance. It takes ages to climb all the steps to the top, and I’m out of breath by the time we get to clearing.

“You should do more cardio, you clearly need it,” Trex comments.

“You need the stick that is stuck up your ass removed, but you don’t hear me offering you advice,” I reply as Trex glares down at me, going to step closer.

“Enough,” Azi snaps, making me look away from Trex, to see him waving a fire-covered hand over what looked like an empty circular space. The ward or whatever it is burns away with Azi’s touch, and a bigger room appears. This one isn’t empty, no it has five doors, and polished stone floors with fire in pots around the room. Four of the doors are wooden, nothing special about them, and the one in the middle looks like it’s made of solid glass. You can’t see anything other than smoke through it, and if I had to guess what a door to heaven looked like, this would be it and not the door to the deepest level of hell.

“Azi, my man, what do we have here?”





Evie


I follow the deep voice of the man that spoke to see the door to the far right was open and a demon leaning on the door frame. He only has jeans on, a cheeky grin on his attractive face, and a mop of messy red hair. His black eyes look at us all, before settling on me.

“Azi, tut, tut, tut. You shouldn’t bring a beauty such as her to place like this,” he comments as he walks over to me, but Azi places his hand on his chest, stopping him from coming too close.

“Touch her, and I will enjoy killing you, Cody,” Azi warns, and Cody laughs, pushing his hand away and walking over to the other doors. He bangs on them both, before leaning on the wall in the middle of them.

“Who have you let into hell recently? And was there three women with them?” Trex asks, stepping next to Azi. Cody’s eyes go to Azi, who nods, and then back to Trex.

“I will tell you what you want . . . for a price,” he replies as the door on his right is opened, and a demon who looks the image of Cody steps out, narrowing his eyes on Azi.

“The wayward overlord returns,” he looks at us, “with friends, it seems.”

“It’s none of your business, Caleb,” Azi snaps.

“You’re right, it’s not. You and your brothers are playing with fire, and every single one of you will be burned for it,” Caleb replies dryly.

“What does that mean?” Azi demands, and Caleb looks at Cody rather than answering.

“Have my key and let them in, I want no part in this,” he says as he pulls a necklace off and hands it to Cody before walking to the door he came out of and slamming it behind him.

“Sorry about that, my brother is a dick,” Cody explains.

“At least you know it. Let’s hope he realises it sometime soon,” I say, and Cody laughs, standing up.

“So, a price for the information? You want to make a deal, man?” Cody asks Trex, who looks at the smoky door, and then back to Cody.

“Yes.”

“I will tell you some shit you are sure to find interesting, if you promise to do anything I ask when I call you. I’m not crazy, so it won’t be killing anyone, or any shit like that, but that is my offer,” Cody says, but I wouldn’t trust him. He smiles like the creepy Cheshire cat from Alice in wonderland when Trex offers his hand to shake on the deal, and Cody shakes it.

“Done. I will keep my promise,” Trex says.

“Oh, I know you will. You seem like one of those serious fucks that keep your promises,” Cody grins.

“What do you know? We don’t have all day,” Nix interjects.

“About a week ago, one of his brothers came through here with three women. All of them were tied up and had bags on their heads, so I couldn’t see their faces,” he tells us, and I watch as Trex tightens his hands and looks back at Connor and Nix.

“Which brother?” Azi asks, the seriousness on his face makes me a little concerned for a second.

“Roth,” Cody says quietly.

“Shit,” Azi replies, rubbing his face. “Cody, go and find your other brother and give us a minute alone.”

“Sure, no thanks for the advice or anything,” Cody grumbles but walks over to the door he knocked on that no one came out of and opens it up, stepping inside and slamming it shut behind him.

“Is Roth someone we should worry about?” Connor asks just what I was thinking.

“I was hoping this had nothing to do with any of my brothers, but it looks like it has,” Azi admits, not looking happy about it.

“Why would your brother steal the princesses?” Nix asks.

“Roth has a thing for science, and not a good thing. He likes to create creatures, mix bloods, and in general mess with nature. When I saw those green creatures that came after us, I wondered if Roth could have sent them,” Azi admits. “His sin is curiosity.”