"that's not how this works." it turned back to face us. "i apologize for any miscommunication. crimes were committed and payment is due. we do not barter." before it could mask it, the demon's eyes blinked and its pupils flashed serpentine. the irises went completely oval. in the next blink they were back to normal, which were a true, solid black.

"i told you, i'm not going anywhere," i stated again, throwing power into my words. i could use all the help i could get. "according to my pack laws, i perpetrated no crime. supernatural sect laws will prove my innocence, and i know you have to follow the rules on this plane to some extent, or you'd already have swept me away. you can't take me without my permission, right? i have to agree to something. isn't that how it works? did you really think i'd agree to go with you willingly?"

"i will not debate my laws with you." its voice shook the cavern and sulfur permeated the air so quickly i coughed into the back of my hand. "i am a demon lord, a prince of thrones, the lord treasurer of hell. i am not some low-level imp! if i say you are in offense of our laws, that is enough." it pointed its manicured hand at the ground and rocks jumped. "you will be tried for your crimes in the underworld and you will be found guilty."

"no." i threw as much power into the word as i could and i felt my power press up against the demons energy. "that's not what's going to happen here. what's going to happen is you're going to go back to where you came from and be thankful i want nothing more to do with your race."

its eyes flipped to full serpent and it made no move to correct them. "i can carry you to the underworld without your consent. i do not need your permission. you have a court date with the high court of mephistopheles. it has already been written in the book. it is a mandatory appointment. if you do not show up, you will die."

"you can't bind me without my consent."

"your own blood has made the binding already."

i gasped. "what?"

"you left your blood on the imp. you shouldn't be so careless. in the future, i would advise against it."

"that's impossible," rourke interjected for the first time. "i don't know a lot about your race, but i know words have power to you guys. she has to agree, verbally, to what you are saying. you can't sweep her off to the underworld without verbal consent. a deal has to be brokered between the two of you."

"not correct." it waved its finger at us, looking like a possessed anchorman with its snakelike eyes. it was a creature with very little humanness. this demon couldn't possibly function in our world without being noticed even though it was doing its best to glamour itself into what it thought was a proper human form. "when crimes are committed, the magic shifts. our world has branded her a criminal. we have her blood and her full name. that is enough to place her in our book. once it is written there, her future is sealed."

i had to think fast. i wasn't a criminal and power was power. if this demon lord wanted to take me, and what it was saying was true, it could've already taking me. why hadn't it just whooshed me away? why is it sitting here debating me? something is up. i cleared my throat. "if i'm in your powerful book, why didn't i just instantly materialize to your plane?" i paused. "it's because my court date isn't today. right? and you can't take me against my will ahead of time unless i agree to go with you," i said. "the only way you can is if you manage to trick me into agreeing, which is what demons live for."

its facade glimmered for a second. behind the human mask was more ugliness. sharp, bony features shadowed by an exaggerated brow. i was pissing it off.

it energized me. "i'm right! you can't, can you?" i shot at it. "you were allowed to cross over to get selene and nothing more. finding me still here was a bonus, and now you're trying to trick me into believing i will die if i don't go to your court. well, it's not going happen. even though i'm a new, i wasn't born without a brain."

its eyes flicked. did it just blink a clear eyelid? "i will see that you pay for your indiscretions here today. if you had come with me of your own volition, things might have been easier for you." its perfectly white teeth snapped tightly. "i will personally see that you suffer." its mouth opened again, and instead of glamoured white, there was a row of sharp yellowed stubs. the demon lord was losing it fast. "you have earned an eternity of pain and agony, the likes of which you have never witnessed."

"that sounds lovely," i replied. "but for right now, i need to recover from a hard day killing a goddess. so why don't you run along. and don't forget to take her with you. i'm sure the two of you can swap plans about my imminent demise over noon tea, but honestly, i'm not interested in hearing about it anymore."

the walls shook so hard, i thought the mountain was going to tumble down on top of our heads. rocks and stones flew around the room as suffocating power shoved us all to our knees. the sulfur was so strong i wanted to rip my nose off my face so i could breathe again. i now knew why rourke had used sulfur to cover our smell in the creek before. with the cloistering smell of rotten eggs in my nostrils, i couldn't even begin to scent anything else. it burned all the way down my esophagus.

the demon's voice boomed around the enclosed space, but we couldn't see him anymore. "you will answer for your crimes, jessica ann mcclain. i look forward to our reunion."

"um, can you give me a time frame for that?" i coughed, gagging on the putrescence. my wolf forced power into my vocal cords, trying to channel pure air into our lungs, and gold immediately wound through them like a protective netting. "i'd like to get it on the calendar. i've got a date with a vampire queen soon that i can't miss, so it will have to be sometime after that." a few days to them could mean months or years to us, if my limited understanding of the underworld was correct. i'd bet money aunt tally knew the rules. i'd have to set up a meeting once we arrived home.

and the information wouldn't come cheap.

"sooner than you think" was all it said before a ring of power echoed in the room.

then everything fell blessedly quiet. the sulfur smell started to diffuse and we could all breathe again.

"so that's what a demon lord looks like up close? i thought they'd be taller." danny coughed as he stood up, his sheet hanging at a precarious angle. his hair was disheveled, but he looked great, because he was alive. we were all alive.

"selene's gone," my brother said, directing our attention to where she had just been. "she vanished with the demon."

i glanced over. the demon lord had indeed taken her, which was the real reason why he'd come. likely a goddess warranted a lord to pick her up. "she won't stay dead in the underworld, but her new normal will be ugly. i hope we never meet up with her again."

"you're not going there if i can help it," rourke growled, warm hands encircling me. "i know some about the underworld, but we'll have to learn more. i believe they have to serve you papers of some kind. the demon sect is carefully controlled by the coalition. you can see what happens when they're in this plane. it's an explosion of power." rourke pulled me close. his touch electrified me. is that always going to happen? i asked my wolf. she gave a happy bark. i licked my lips.

there were just a few more things we needed to do and we could leave this wretched cave forever. "where's ray?" i asked naomi. she had retrieved the cross, which meant she'd found eamon. i didn't really want to know the answer, but it was time.

naomi walked over to the spot where selene had just been. she bent over and picked up something by its edges, surprise on her features as she turned toward us. "the cross must not be able to travel to the underworld or it would be gone." she placed it into her pocket. then she turned to face me. "i did not see your human. i encountered eamon coming back in one of the tunnels." her voice was hard. "he did not survive our reunion."

i wasn't sad to hear that eamon had found his end, but i was sad to know his sister had had to mete it out. there was no way that was any fun. i would never be able to kill tyler. "did he say anything about ray?"

she shook her head. "he had no time to... speak."

"then there's a chance he might be alive, right?" i know my face held hope, even though my heart didn't believe it. "do you think eamon drank him dry?"

naomi bowed her head. "there is very little chance the human survived their encounter. eamon was not in his right mind. it would've been... a brutal feeding."

"i have to find him before we leave," i said. "which way was the tunnel?" sulfur still clung to the air, making it impossible for me to scent anything.

she pointed back behind the dais. "there is a small opening in the corner. follow the tunnel for a few meters. you should be able to scent him there."

i looked at the group. danny lowered his gaze and tyler set himself onto an old wooden chair that had somehow survived the carnage of the room. i took a step forward and rourke made a move to follow me. "no," i said, reaching back to place my hand on his warm chest. all i wanted to do was crawl into his arms. but that would have to wait. "i just need to say goodbye. he was a thorn in my side, but he was a decent guy in the end, however misguided."

i crossed the room and entered the tunnel.

it was no more than a crack in the wall at the beginning, easily missed from the wrong direction. i stepped over eamon's bones at the entry point. the only thing left was a skeleton wrapped in his clothes. the bones were old and rotted looking. vampires must degenerate to their actual age, because those bones looked five hundred years old.

"ray?" i called. i knew he wouldn't answer, but it made me feel good to think he might. i moved through the tunnel slowly. as i walked, it opened up. there were boulders jutting out from each side, closing the circumference considerably in places and making it more like a maze than a tunnel. as i paced farther in, i began to scent blood. the sulfur smell was less concentrated in here, and my nose was clearing.