Human (15 page)

I looked around the room, suddenly feeling like I was trapped in a mine or something. The floor I'd seen in the throne room and in the hall was marble, but this one looked just like dried dirt.

"How can you breathe in here?" I looked at Leonard in panic. If I stayed out of air, I'd die.

"Relax. You can breathe just fine," he said. "The air is not the same as in the human world. Here it can actually go through walls."

I wasn't sure how exactly was that possible, but I was in Hell. Everything was possible in here.

"So this is Hell?" I knew the question sounded dumb, but I'd expected pits of fire, tortured souls or something equally nasty.

"Only a small part of it. This is our home, so imagine it as if you were in someone's house in the human world. That doesn't give you much info about the world outside, does it?"

"No, I guess not." I took a deep breath and realized it didn't really smell like in a cave. It was different, but not disgusting. "Hey, do I have wings?" I really wondered would my wings be blue or red.

I wasn't thrilled about closing my eyes near a demon, but Leonard seemed harmless. I could do this. Concentrating as hard as I could, I pictured a pair of huge wings flutter behind me. A sharp pain in my back made me gasp and open my eyes. It felt like someone had stabbed me in the back. I looked at Leonard, who was still sitting on the bed, a huge shadow hiding his face. Something fluttered and I slowly turned my head to look behind me, and found myself staring at my blue wings. They were so much like Amadeo's that it startled me. Where had those come out from? That would have never fitted all in my back. Stupid magic!

"How do I get that back to where it came from?" I had no intention of trying to walk around with that on my back.

"Close your eyes and picture your wings gone."

Ok, that sounded easy. But Amadeo never closed his eyes when he was getting his wings out. I guessed I had to practice to be able to do that. There was more stabbing pain in my back, and when I looked behind me, I couldn't see anything. Phew.

"That was... weird," I said at last. "Does that mean my angel genes are stronger?"

"I have no idea," Leonard said, getting up. "I'll go check on Devin."

"You're going to leave me here?" I didn't want to stay alone in this small room. What if some demons found me and decided they wanted to hurt an angel?

"You're safe. No one is going to come in here. This is Devin's room," he said, squeezing my shoulder reassuringly. This was Devin's room? Oh. Now I knew why he'd admired my room so much.

"If you need to go to the bathroom, it's just across the hall. And don't worry about the guards. They are not allowed to touch you without Maliadades' or my permission," he added. "Although it would be better if you stayed here. You don't want to anger Maliadades."

Nope, I didn't want to anger Maliadades because, despite some of my actions, I wasn't suicidal.

"What do you think will happen to me?" I asked before he could leave.

"We'll try to find your demon parent." He smiled and left me alone in the dimness of the room. My
demon
parent? Oh, great. I sat down on the bed, burying my head in my hands. If something happened to Devin, I would... I didn't know what I would do. I still had so many things to ask him that no one else could answer.

After who knows how long, the door of Devin's room opened, and I looked up, startled. The two guards I'd seen earlier dragged Devin into the room and threw him on the ground, closing the door behind them. I hurried over to him, afraid to touch him. Someone had replaced his black sweater with a black T-shirt, but there was still blood all over him. And if his chest hadn't been moving up and down, I'd have thought he was dead. His eyes were closed, bruises and cuts marring his face.

I reached out and ran my finger across his cheek. He winced like I had hurt him, and I pulled my hand away.

"Devin?" I said softly. "Are you ok?"

It was a stupid question because he definitely didn't look ok, but I wanted to at least hear his voice. He made a sound, something like a grunt, but he didn't open his eyes. The door opened again and Leonard walked in, carrying a glass of some strange dark liquid. He crouched next to Devin, placing the glass on the ground next to him. Then he gently lifted Devin's head and wiped away some of the blood from his mouth.

"Devin, hey, open your eyes," Leonard said, taking the glass and bringing it to Devin's lips. Devin's obsidian eyes slowly fluttered open, and he looked straight at me, a hint of a smile on his lips.

"Drink," Leonard said, but Devin moved his head away. I couldn't even imagine in how much pain he was, but he didn't show it.

"No," Devin whispered after Leonard's second attempt to give him the drink.

"You have internal bleeding. It won't heal by itself. You're going to die if you don't drink it." Leonard's voice was serious, his brow furrowed in worry. I didn't really want to know how Leonard knew Devin's condition was so bad, but I wished Devin would drink whatever he had to so he could get better.

"Devin, please, drink it," I said, hoping he'd listen to me.

"No," he repeated. Leonard let out an exasperated sigh.

"If you don't open your mouth now, I'm going to do it for you and pour this down your throat." The determination on Leonard's face scared me a bit. Devin seemed to be thinking about Leonard's threat, then he finally parted his lips enough for Leonard to sip the liquid into his mouth. When the glass was empty, Leonard set it on the floor, effortlessly picked Devin up in his arms and carried him to the bed.

"Not right now, Ariel." He smiled and left the room. Great. What was I supposed to do now? I sat on the floor next to the bed, observing a deep gash on Devin's arm. It had stopped bleeding and it seemed to be slowly closing. Huh. Why didn't I have an awesome healing ability?

I took off my coat because the cold and winter had actually stayed in the human world. It did take some time for my brain to register that, but Hell still wasn't as warm as I'd expected it to be. A smile crept up my face as I watched Devin sleep. He looked so human and, despite the blood and bruises, very handsome. I reached out and gently touched his hand. He didn't even twitch, so I started making circles across his skin with my finger.

What was wrong with me? I pulled away, shaking my head. No, I couldn't stay any longer trapped in this room with Devin, or I was going to go insane and start doing weird things. Getting up from the dusty floor, I crept up to the door. I really hoped the bathroom was more fun that this room, although I wasn't sure how that could be possible. Should I spill some water on the floor and jump in it? Taking a deep breath to calm myself, I went out in the hall and hurried to the bathroom. Yeah, I didn't want to run into anyone.

I closed the door firmly behind me and looked around. This wasn't the bathroom I'd seen in my vision; this one was much smaller. There were no tiles on the wall and no mirror. At least the floor was covered with the black tiles and not dry earth. I had a strange feeling the torches on the wall started burning brighter as I walked farther into the room. There was another door, which led to the toilet and shower. I was surprised to find a big dark brown closet in the corner. Too curious to let it go, I opened it and peered inside. It was full of clothing, which, judging by the style and size, was all Devin's.

It didn't take long before I got bored and decided to see what more I could find in the hall. I hadn't heard anyone walking outside, so I figured it would be safe for me to go around a bit. Luckily for me, my party shoes didn't make much noise, and I was really glad I'd decided against wearing high-heels because I'd have broken my neck already.

I hesitated in front of the door at the end of the hall because I wasn't sure what was behind it. Running into the guards or dangerous demons could result in me getting hurt, and I definitely didn't want that. Leonard might believe no one would dare to touch me without his or Maliadades' permission, but I wouldn't bet my life on it.

I stood there for a few moments, straining my ears to hear if anyone was inside. Curiosity prevailed in the end, so I slightly opened the door and peeked inside. Wow. It was the only thought my mind could form. Just wow. The room was actually a huge library with tons of shelves, books and pictures. I went inside, closing the door behind me, and stared in awe at the rows of shelves tall enough to reach the ceiling. There was a huge table on my left, covered with papers, maps and pencils. It looked so human that I thought I was back in my world... or was this my world now?

Some books were new like they had just gotten here from a human bookstore while others looked like they had been stolen from a museum. Wait, most of these did come from the human world. I recognized a few familiar names and publishing houses, wondering how demons managed to get those to Hell. Then I remembered that must have been how Devin learned things about humans and their lives and behavior.

"You children really like books, don't you?" A cold voice said from behind me. I spun around, startled, my heart jumping into my throat. Maliadades' laughter echoed through the room. He must have noticed I was afraid of him and he loved it. For a dangerous and evil demon, he was way too handsome, especially when he was wearing all black and didn't have that twisted sneer on his face.

"I'm sorry. I was just..." I stammered, unsure was I even supposed to say anything. Maliadades only looked amused at my attempt not to annoy him. It looked like it worked, but he was blocking my way out.

"You know, Devin loves this room as much as he hates it," Maliadades said, coming towards me like a cat trying to corner a mouse. Even though everything in me screamed to back off, I didn't move. He stopped an inch away from me, smiling down at me.

"Feeling brave, girl?" He chuckled. "Your visit was... unexpected. But don't think you've fooled me. I will get what I want, and you'll pay for this delay."

"Leave her alone, my love," Leonard's voice came from the door. I hadn't even noticed he was there. He came over to us and put a gentle hand on Maliadades' shoulder. Some of the coldness in Maliadades' eyes melted away at the touch, but he was still leering at me.

"Maybe I should make her my slave too. What do you think?" Maliadades turned to face Leonard.

"You forget we don't know who her parents are," Leonard said. "We don't want to piss off another king or an important demon."

"Ah, always so worried about me, aren't you?" Maliadades said softly, a small smile on his lips.

"Always and forever," Leonard breathed, pulling Maliadades into his arms and placing a soft kiss on his lips. I averted my gaze, feeling embarrassed by their sudden exchange of affection. If someone had told me demons could be in love, I wouldn't have believed it. But now I was sure that what Leonard and Maliadades shared was genuine love. I didn't look up until I heard footsteps retreating from the room. Leonard flashed me a smile.

"I hope he didn't scare you. He likes to intimidate others."

"Could he really own me like he owns Devin?" I asked, aware that Leonard had most likely saved me from whatever Maliadades had in mind to do with me. Maybe he'd seen it in a vision and come to my rescue.

"I can't tell you that, Ariel. You took that risk when you decided to come here. He can't do anything until we know who your parents are, or, to be exact, who your demon parent is. If your parent isn't high on the Hell's social ladder, then you're in trouble."

"Oh." Becoming a slave of a twisted and cruel demon definitely wasn't on my wish list. "And what if you don't find my parent?"

"We will." Leonard sat in one of the wooden chairs at the table, rustling through the papers. I went over to the table, but didn't feel like sitting down.

"How did Devin become a slave?" I really hoped Leonard was up for some nice chit-chat. He raised his obsidian eyes to look at me, his smile never leaving his lips.

"He was given to Maliadades as a baby."

"Given?" I said, shocked. How could anyone do such a thing to a defenseless baby? "But why?"

"Devin's father was in debt with Maliadades, so he offered the life of his son to replace the one he had taken. If he hadn't done so, he would have himself become a slave." There was an angry undertone to Leonard's voice, and his smile faltered. I frowned, wondering how cruel and selfish you had to be to give your child's life away to save yours. Suddenly my vision made much more sense.

"What about Devin's mother?" I asked. Surely she wouldn't have given up on her son. I'd seen and felt her pain as the knife went through her heart, but the last vision of her I'd had was confusing.

"She's dead. Valdas killed her and got their son out." Leonard stared in front of him, his eyes slightly unfocused, disgust curling his lip. I winced at the gory image his words created in my mind.

"Is Valdas still alive?" I really, really hoped the bastard was dead. My vision of the dead body and the evil glint in Valdas' eyes flashed through my mind, and I remembered Devin's smile. How could he have forgiven his father for what he'd done to him? How he could be in the same room with his father and smile at him like that?