EVA

EVA WOULD HAVE GIVEN anything to see the intrusive early morning sunlight again. There was no sense of time in her cell, cloaked in darkness so thick that her eyes had never adjusted in the days she'd been there—or, what she'd assumed were days.

Every so often, she had been woken by blinding light from an exterior slot in her prison door before two plates of bland food were shoved inside. It had happened three times thus far.

Three days? It felt right.

Three long, suffocating days of sensory deprivation. Of trying to find the food that had been thrown onto the dusty floor and choking down a few bites. Of having to feel her way to a small bucket to use the bathroom—something she had knocked over upon waking the first time and retched at what spilled at her feet.

It had been one of the few and far between noises to break the deathly silence. Ever since, she had found herself wishing that the chamber stripping her of light and noise would also have taken away her thoughts.

Silence provided too good an opportunity for her mind to race through all that had transpired: how she had gone from a normal assistant librarian, writing normal books in a normal small town, to... the human half of a goddess, trapped somewhere in the bowels of Hell with nothing but terrible food and a wobbly piss bucket.

How had it even happened?

Part of her wondered if it was another dream and if she would wake up at any moment to the lavender walls of her bedroom. She could have shaken off the nightmares, returned to the library, and laughed it off while Jensen undoubtedly convinced her to turn it into a spin-off series.

Jensen.

The name almost sounded foreign. She hadn't seen Emrys' human form in ages, let alone used the made-up name she had known him by for so long.

Eva's heart ached as she thought of him for the billionth time since waking. Ever since Thana snapped her away, she had begged whoever slipped plates through her door to tell her where he was, or at least let her know if he was alive.

The Demons had only snarled in response. Tata, who had arrived on the second day, bellowed his hyena laugh all the way down the corridor, audible long after he had slammed her food slot to plunge her back into the abyss.

Now, on the fourth day, she had already felt her way to the metal door—one so hot that the moment her fingers landed on it, she drew them back with a yelp. Clutching her hand to her chest, she sat in front of her hatch, waiting for the opportunity to annoy her captors once more. Maybe one day, they would be so frustrated by her constant questions that they would relent.

She only hoped Emrys would still be alive.

Finally, clamoring footsteps echoed down the outside corridor. Eva perked her head up at the sudden noise and stared into the endless void ahead. Clearing her bone-dry throat, she hoped her voice would come out clear and demanding.

As the noise drew closer, Eva realized it didn't sound like the Demons that visited her each day. It could have been easily passed off as a different creature coming to give her yet another plate of stale bread, but... since when did anyone sprint to her door?

Whatever it was raced to her cell, where they came to a skidding stop on the stone floor. A solid thud rattled the door's hinges before the slot opened, blinding Eva with light that she forced herself to stare into.

"Eva! Get back!" The distinct, high-pitched accent was jarring. As Eva peered closer, she caught a flash of ivy skin through the glaring light.

"M-Mystia?" Eva croaked.

Mystia slammed the slot closed. "I said: get back!"

Eva did as she was told, scurrying away on hands and knees. The door swung open rapidly and ricocheted off the metal walls. The flood of light caused her vision to fail and blur the world until she could hardly make out her friend racing toward her.

"Are you hurt?" asked Mystia when she knelt beside her.

Eva swallowed hard. "I... I..."

"I asked if you're hurt, doll face."

Eva shook her head, unable to formulate proper words as relief and bewilderment flooded her mind. However, she didn't have much time to process it before Mystia grabbed her by the wrist and forced her up on trembling legs.

"We have to move. Quickly." Mystia pulled Eva's arm across her shoulder for support.

She half-dragged Eva down the corridor at a rapid pace. Eva could hardly keep up, but she willed her legs to move from sheer adrenaline.

Finally, she found her voice. "How did you find me here?"

Mystia put a finger to her lips. She picked up her speed once Eva's balance strengthened, pulling them down the corridor as quickly as their legs could carry them.

The surrounding walls, made of solid rock much like the cavern Eva and Emrys had dropped into, were lined with built-in cells similar to her own. While most appeared empty, the few with locked doors came to life as they passed. Prisoners scratched at the walls and cried for help that would never come.

"The mind-reading tonic," whispered Mystia. "Emrys was too far for me to hear his thoughts, but I could sense his presence... or a general direction of it. At one point, he vanished. I couldn't find his pulse for close to a week."

Eva gulped, thinking back to the week they'd spent at the cabin and the shimmering barrier used to "protect" them. Amaya must have also used it to keep their friends from tracking them.

Mystia cast another glance over her shoulder. "When I finally felt him again, it was brief—only a few hours. Bobbi and I escaped the tavern between waves of Corrupted to follow his direction."

"It led you to Hell?"

Eva's brain fought to comprehend how Mystia would have stumbled upon the mausoleum, let alone be sucked inside without also winding up imprisoned. She was crafty beyond belief, but even she wouldn't have been able to escape Thana's forces.

"We had help," Mystia said, "and that help will be waiting for us as soon as Bobbi finds your boyfriend."

Her elongated ears twitched. She stopped in her tracks, ears flicking up and down like a puppy while she listened to something only she could hear. A grin prodded her lips, and she turned to Eva with a sparkle in her eye.

Her lone, red eye.

The other, which Eva could have sworn had always matched, had been replaced by a milky white sphere that shimmered with purples, pinks, and blues in the dim light.

Mystia nudged for her to continue walking. "Bobbi's done it."

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