Then it hits me, “Hellfire and brimstone! You mean to bring her to trial here in The Underworld. You can’t do that. She has no idea that she is even being charged with theft. You know as well as I do that she had nothing to do with the disappearance of Morríganna’s whip.”
“The laws are the laws, Daxell. There must be order here in The Underworld. It matters not what I think. She must go to trial,” Lucifer declares quietly, daring us to go against his decree.
“Not here!” I bellow, going toe to toe with my superior.
“You dare to challenge me, young duke?” Luc’s demon pushes to the surface.
“Yes. I will do what I must to protect her. She is innocent and you know it!” My demon pushes forward and, yes, I’m standing toe to toe with the Prince of Darkness, the Prince of the Underworld.
“Luc. Stand down. Our son means no harm.” My father, Asmodeus strolls into the room looking unaffected by the scene before him, he’s followed by my mother and Levi. “We need to talk.”
“Honestly, you can do all the talking you want, but I need to find LJ. I know that she’s in trouble. I can sense it.”
Luc looks at me and nods, “You’re right. She is. Once the portal closed that deposited her here, it didn’t take long for the dark sprites to find her. They have pulled her into her own personal hell in the Fields of Punishment. It’s what they do. It will be hard for you to persuade her that you are real at this point if she is even lucid. Some fall into the illusion of their worst fears and give into them more quickly than others.”
Alaric steps forward, “That was not my experience,” he growls.
“I brought you there for a reason and a purpose, Alaric. I ordered the dark sprites to leave you alone. I know that Lillie doesn’t belong here, and I assure you that I have had no hand in this. In fact, I’m trying to determine who has been able to create a portal in and out of my realm. It’s pissing me the hell off that I don’t know who is entering and leaving here without my consent. Lillie has always followed the rules in her duties to the souls that she has delivered to The Underworld. I know that something wicked is afoot, but Mammon’s complaint binds my hands. I can not direct. I can not help. The less I know the better. If Lillie is found here in The Underworld she will be held here. Do you understand?” He demands, hands crossed over his bare chest, which bears way too many inky black tribal tattoos.
Narrowing my eyes on my prince, I get his meaning, I think, but how the hell am I going to get her out of here without anyone knowing that she was here in the first place? Is Luc really going to turn a blind eye to us?
My father, Asmodeus, comes to stand by my side, and nods, “Thank you, Luc. We’ll take it from here.” He moves to address Alaric, “I know that you are worried about your daughter, but let us do what we can. There is nothing more that Luc can do. From here on out we will have to fly under everyone’s radar. That means that you must leave this place. You will only bring attention to us.”
Stepping forward, I address Alaric, “I mean to bring her home if it’s the last thing that I do. I’ll find her and when I do, we’ll figure out how to get her out of here. It is my solemn vow.”
“All right, but I don’t like leaving here without her. If she is not back in one day Faerie time, I’m coming back. That should be more than enough time to find her and get her back home.” He growls.
“Everyone out! The less I know the better.” Luc motions us all to the door. “Slarnok! Show our guest to the door. Slarnok? Where the hell did he disappear to? I swear that demon is slow as slug snot. Lust, Envy, you know the way out. I have other things to attend to, things that will hopefully stall Mammon.”
We head back down the stairs, an unusual gathering of individuals. All on the same mission.
27
Lillie’s Torment
(Daxell)
Once outside of Luc’s fortress, Alaric quickly traces back to The Otherworld, putting his faith in me to return his daughter to him. Both my fathers are having a quiet conversation with my mother and I’m honestly not sure what my next step will be.
Poppy pipes up beside my right ear, her wings fluttering softly, “So? What’s the plan? How are we going to find Lillie? I can’t trace us to her because I have no idea as to where she is. This place is messing with me.” She doesn’t sound like her normal snarky self.
“I know. It messes with me as well. I much prefer The Mortal Realm to The Underworld.” I stroke the top of Cara’s head, trying to reassure her. The action helps to calm my nerves in the process, right now she is my only connection to LJ. When I find her, I’m never ever letting her out of my sight again.
It’s then that I see my father, Levi, and my mother, wink out of sight. Asmodeus walks back toward us where we stand in the courtyard. “We can’t go with you. You know this already. We will only bring attention to you and your kindred. Son, you’ll need to let your demon out. You will need to shadow-walk from here.”
“I can only manage one if Lillie has been compromised. Poppy is small enough to tuck under my wings or hitchhike easily, but I won’t be able to take Cara with me. There has to be another way, maybe I can call Onyx? He can take all of us over the mountains.”
“Listen to
