Page 39 of Trust the Fall
What plays out, in what feels like the next hour, is nothing short of gruesome. I don’t want to watch, but I can’t turn away. The tortured soul shrieks in agony, begging for it to end.
It doesn’t.
The demon takes his time, and all I can do is cry. What have I become?
“Don’t shed a tear for him,” a voice calls from the cell next to me.
My eyes snap up to find the vampire, Julian, rubbing at his neck. “They’re here because they’ve done vile things to innocent people.”
“How do you know this?” I ask, because my head had concocted a sob story for the man in the chair.
“He’s in Hell, isn’t he?”
I chew on my lip, recalling River’s account of the child he brought here earlier. “That doesn’t always mean they’re truly unforgivable.”
His brow quirks. “How do you figure?”
“You’re here, and you don’t seem so bad,” I smirk.
He chuckles. “Touché. Although in this instance, I partly chose to be here. I’m not that guy.” He bobs his head toward the wailing man.
“Yeah, about that. Didn’t you question whether this was a trap?”
He laughs, but there’s no humor there. “No. I figured Nolda was using my brother’s request as a way of getting me here and convincing me to join his fight.” He sighs. “There are other rumored portals to the Fae land. I went along with this because I also had questions.”
One brow lifts. “Were you thinking about siding with Nolda?”
He shakes his head. “I’d never join his fight. He knows that. I was here to uncover whether my brother was.”
I look to Lawrence, who’s still out cold.
“Not him. We have another brother. He’s the one working with the witch Nolda mentioned.”
“Who is this witch he has working for him?” I’d never heard her name. Not that my path crosses with witches typically. Well... not until recently, that is.
“She’s... bad news. Way worse than Nolda.”
“That’s... not good. If he has access to a witch, it could be hard for Lucifer to get to him.”
“She’s powerful and dark. It’s not good news at all that she’s working with Nolda. Knowing she’s been behind the vampire revolt isn’t giving me confidence that war can be prevented. She was supposed to be bound to the Earth by her coven. If she’s managed to escape and they don’t even know it, that’s... well, it’s not good for any of us.”
There are so many wars on the horizon, and it’s looking bleaker by the minute for the humans. So many questions run through my mind, but only one matters in this moment.
“What do you plan to do?”
“After we get out of here? Go on a witch hunt,” he says without any trace of excitement. I can tell he doesn’t want to have to deal with any of this.
I nod my head. “Good luck with that.”
“Which part? Getting out of here or the witch hunt?”
“Both?”
“Have faith, Victoria.”
I huff. “Ironic that you’d be telling the angel to have faith.”
Julian laughs. “There have been many firsts since I arrived here. But we will get out. I’m biding my time. Eventually one of those lesser demons will come in here and we’ll overpower them.”