I step out into the corridor, lifting my chin up to face Tazreel’s aggressive stare. “I will find out which female birthed you and lied to me,” he promises darkly. “And when I do, she will be punished.”
My hackles rise. “My parents are dead,” I say again. “My mom did nothing wrong. And for the last time, she was a human.”
He makes a revolted face again. “I would never lie with a human,” he tells me, looking practically nauseated at the very idea. I bristle. “Which means someone lied to me and stole you away,” he goes on, every word making his austere face grow harder and colder. “She pretended you were a human, and I intend to make her pay.”
I swallow hard, trying and failing not to shake. I can feel wrath coursing off his skin, and for the first time, my brain really catches up to the fact that this guy is other. Menacing power prickles my senses and tugs at my arm hair. Behind me, my wings snap against my back, like they’re trying to hide beneath my skin.
“I will find out what you know and mete out judgment,” he promises me. In this case, I have no idea what I should even say back. How do I dig myself out of a hole that I didn’t even know I’d fallen into?
“I just answered a Help Wanted ad,” I reply lamely. One measly job listing put me right on the path to Hell. How’s that for fair?
His gray eyes shimmer, catching on the gold speckles. “Who are you? Tell me everything. Now.”
There’s zero room for argument, and that power of his is back in full force, nearly taking me to my knees. My teeth grit and my body locks as some outside force presses into me.
I take a deep breath, trying not to let it sound too shaky. “I’m Delta Gates. I’ve always thought I was a human. Never even knew demons existed until a little while ago. My parents were human, Tanya and Ray Gates,” I supply, the words just falling off my tongue without my permission. “I saw an ad for a job to guard a graveyard, but it turned out to be a job to guard a Hellgate. I didn’t know anything before that.”
An exhale expels out of me with force as my eyes widen. “Did you just…?”
“Yes,” he answers arrogantly while my blood turns hot.
My hands curl into fists. “If you could’ve just forced me to tell the truth this whole time, then why didn’t you just question me instead of sticking me down here?” I demand.
“I do not answer to you, daughter.”
“I am not your daughter.”
“Unfortunately, it appears that you are,” he says back to me.
“No,” I shake my head adamantly. “You said so yourself, you don’t lie with humans.”
“Correct. Which means someone dumped you on earth to be raised by humans.”
My mouth drops open. Is that...true? Were my parents...not my parents at all?
I knew that when the whole I’m a demon truth bomb dropped, that either my mom or dad had kept a secret from me. But I didn’t expect for neither of them to be my blood. Distress soaks through my stomach and churns in the acid. Was my mother other too, or not my mother at all?
“I will discover the truth,” Tazreel says, but I barely hear him. “Until then, you will be prepped for the party.”
“I don’t want to go to a fucking party,” I snap, feeling way too overloaded right now. Dealing with Tazreel is enough. I don’t know if I can handle dealing with more of these Abdicated at the same time.
“Neither do I,” he growls back, like this is my fault. “We will discuss more about how you got here afterward. Until then, do not anger me or step out of line. You may be my offspring, but I will still hang you by your wings if you do anything to displease me.”
Gee, thanks, pop!
He turns and stalks away without another word, leaving me behind in the dank, fire-shadowed corridor.
“This way,” Lanky says at my back.
I turn and follow him in the other direction where he opens another mystery door out of thin air. We climb a steep set of stairs, and as soon as we reach the top, the lighting is that bright white hue again, making me squint.
I look around as I follow behind him, our steps muffled by the floor made of sleek black fur. I have no idea what kind of animal this hide is from, but it’s big enough to stretch throughout the entire space of the room, so under no circumstances do I ever want to meet it. All around, there are weapons hung on the gray walls, along with every torture device imaginable.
“Did you really have to take me through this room?” I ask Lanky while sidestepping a shrine of pliers that are the perfect size for pulling teeth. There’s even a wall at the end of the room where two large clamps hang from a wire. It’s the perfect size to hang someone up by their wings.
He shrugs, unconcerned at my inner dismay. “This is the shortest route.”
“Mm-hmm,” I say, not believing him for a second. This was done on purpose, probably on Tazreel’s orders, to scare me and make sure I behave. And I gotta be honest, it’s working.
Once we leave this room, Lanky takes me into a hallway, the floors and walls made of polished black stone, while the ceiling gleams white. The walls are bare, and there are no windows, but the ceiling seems to be lighting everything up like it’s emanating daylight. We pass a lot of doors, all of them shut tight, and then I follow Lanky up a set of stairs.
I grip the smooth black banister as we start ascending, but my mind shoots back to the trek down a very different set of stairs. If only I’d stopped the guys right
