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  “Well, Mira, what should we do now?”

  “We go look for my mother.”

  His face showed his internal struggle to her answer. His displeasure evident, he waved a hand. To her left a tunnel appeared in the rock face.

  “Shall we, my lady?” He bowed to her.

  She sensed the mockery in his voice and lifted her chin. She walked through the tunnel, head held high.

  He came out behind her, close enough to touch, but she didn’t turn around—the view in front of her was spectacular.

  An enormous obsidian-rock cavern spread out before them. She peered out over the ledge they stood on. The cavern swept above and dipped down below to a dizzying depth. The black walls shimmered brightly due to the red blaze emitting from the abyss below. Walkways and bridges crisscrossed through the cavern and tiny figures scurried along them, like a giant, stunning ant farm.

  “The depths of Hell,” she whispered.

  He chuckled. “Come. I’ll show you around.”

  “What about my mother?”

  “The best way to find her, if she is here, is to look around, right? You will be able to sense her presence I assume?” His voice told her he knew she didn’t know she could.

  “Right, sense her. I can do that?”

  “Yes, you can.”

  He sounded exasperated and held out a hand. With hesitation she took it. Her palm tingled at his touch and she wondered again how long the Calling spell lasted, was she still attracted to him because of it or was it something more? She glanced at his striking profile, fighting the sudden urge to stroke a stray piece of hair back behind his ear.

  “This is the Guiding Space,” he said. “Spirits come here to find their guide to the next plane.”

  “What happens if they fall?” Mira didn’t like being that close to an edge of a cliff that dipped down to end in a fiery pit. “Do they burn up?”

  “It’s not actually a fire down there. It’s the passageway to the next plane. And they don’t fall.”

  Mira peeked over the edge again but it made her dizzy and she pulled back. Karnon smiled and urged her along the path. She bit her lip as his body brushed against her.

  He led her around the edge of the cavern and onto one of the bridges.

  “There are many levels for the human spirits. The purer the spirit, the higher up they are, and they will find a matching demon guide on that level.”

  They passed other demons, who stared at them with hooded eyes. She noted they were all naked and all male. Occasionally Karnon’s grip would tighten on Mira’s hand and he would stare back. Whatever demon had been watching them would look away.

  In the middle of the causeway Karnon paused and pointed up. Mira caught her breath. A hole opened high above them to a dark sky with billions of stars. But they weren’t the same stars from her world. These stars twinkled and pranced, so brilliant and so big they looked close enough to touch.

  “It is where the spirits come from, the Spirit Stars,” he said, his lips close to her ear.

  She shivered, the low tones of his voice making her weak. His presence loomed behind her, his breath, heavy on the nape of her neck. It made her woozy. She turned and looked up into his eyes, luminous as the stars above. This wasn’t lust or passion or the spell of the Calling, it was something else. She sank into his gaze. He stared down at her, his expression unreadable as the Spirit Stars danced above them and the fiery depths blazed beneath them.

  “Blood-witch!”

  The yell interrupted the moment. An angry demon bore down on them. He was stouter than Karnon and his hair lighter. He focused on Mira with a glaring, furious energy. It made her feel exposed, like her skin. She remembered what Karnon said and concentrated on sensing the intruder’s power.

  Karnon stepped between her and the demon.

  “Ferr,” Karnon said.

  Ferr stopped a few feet from them. He hissed. “What is that thing doing here?”

  “She is in my power,” Karnon responded calmly.

  “How dare you bring one of those evil bitches here?”

  “There is no law against it, Ferr. Remember, once it was common.”

  “Until those witches showed us their true nature!”

  Ferr circled them. Karnon mirrored him, keeping himself between the demon and Mira. Mira trembled. She didn’t like the impression she received. Faintly she detected this demon thirsted for blood. He wanted to hurt her. Her excitement over her newly found ability was dampened by the anger emanating from Ferr. Could Karnon protect her? Would he? He couldn’t hurt her but would he stop others?

  “Back off, Ferr. You’re upset. You don’t want to get in fight with me. Remember who I am.” Karnon bared his teeth, his stance threatening. If she was on the receiving side of that glare she would back down.

  “Someday you’re not going to be able to rely on Daddy anymore, Karnon,” Ferr said. He spat on the ground. Wheeling around, he stalked off.

  “Do all demons react this way to blood-witches?” Mira asked as she stepped away from Karnon, forcing herself to calm down. “Is this why we don’t mingle anymore?”

  “You’ll have to excuse Ferr. His younger brother was one of those caught in the Great Betrayal. The brother survived, but with a warped mind and will never be the same. Ferr took it hard.”

  From the expression on Karnon’s face he had taken it hard as well. She wondered if Ferr had been the one who had kidnapped her mother, then dismissed the idea. The stout demon hadn’t felt powerful enough to create the energy that had been there that night.

  “You said witches used to be common here?”

  “The relationship between demons and witches was once a good one. It is a shame that it has been reduced.”

  “Can’t you change that? You’re the son of Satan, right?”

  “I don’t like getting caught up in politics.”

  “What did he mean, that you wouldn’t be able to rely on your father?”

  Karnon looked over her head at something in the distance, his face grim. “He didn’t mean anything,” he said.

  “But he said Satan won’t be around. How is that possible?”

  He looked back down at her, humor in his eyes. “Satan is the title of the ruler of Hell. When the old king passes, his replacement takes the title and becomes the Lord, just as Gaia is the Lady.”

  “Lady?”

  “Gaia is the blood-witch to Satan’s counterpart on Earth. I recommend you find out about her when you return home.”

  At the mention of home Mira’s heart lifted. So he did plan to return her, but something about his tone bothered her. What was his deal? Why was he so evasive about his father? She took in a sharp breath. “So if Satan can die, then does his son succeed him?”

  Karnon was silent.

  “That’s a lot of responsibility. I understand why you would scared.”

  “It’s not important what I feel.”

  “Yes, it is.” Mira wanted to reach out to him. She knew what it was like to feel alone.

  “It is what it is. Besides, it could be one of my brothers,” Karnon said.

  “How many brothers do you have?”

  “Two full brothers, Cronus and Xander, and one half brother, Pharic.”

  “So you have to fight them for the throne?”

  He stared at her. “Why would I do something that stupid?”

  She shifted and looked down. “If all four of you are up for the position, isn’t there some sort of campaigning or contest that needs to happen?”

  “That is not for us to decide. It is the will of the Prince of Darkness, who shall follow him.”

  “Do you want to inherit the throne?”

  “No,” he said so softly she almost didn’t catch it. Before she could respond he started walking away. She hurried to catch up.

  Damn that woman. Karnon strode over the bridge to the other side of the cavern, uncaring if the witch followed him or not. She had a way of making him want to open up. And the unexpected reaction he had had t
o watching her looking up at the Spirit Stars, her skin glowing like the moon, had shaken him.

  She’s an innocent, he reminded himself. But he wasn’t so sure. Ferr’s reaction to her was not unfounded. Blood-witches hadn’t been seen in Hell for years and as much as he wished it different, these days even he felt more comfortable without them around.

  He heard her come up behind him. She touched him gently on the shoulder. His skin burned for more but he shrugged her hand away. He needed to get a grip, needed to put some distance between them. He remembered the mission she had unwittingly contracted him to do. Or maybe she knew what she was doing. Maybe he played the idiot blinded by the Calling passion and a pretty face. He sighed. Either way he was under contract to hunt for her missing mother.

  “Let’s continue on,” he said.

  She didn’t say anything.

  They left the Guiding Space with its dancing spirit stars and fiery pit to roam through the many smaller caves and tunnels. He showed her where the glowing waters of the Styx rippled and told her about the many myths that originated from there. They caught a glimpse of the ghostly ferry used by the living to visit Hell. They passed the judgment room of Osiris with its crook and flail, dusty from disuse.

  Karnon watched Mira as she struggled to use her sense ability with every new landscape. Her strength continued to impress him, if only she knew how to use it. With more experience maybe she could cast out a hunting spell thread to find her mother. But that was advanced magic and for some reason this witch was untrained. It troubled him that she had been left behind, someone of her power. Down here she crackled with energy. If he hadn’t added that binding spell when he’d Called her, every demon in Hell would be chasing them down right now.

  She caught him staring. “I can’t feel her anywhere.”

  The slump of her shoulders made him want to gather her in his arms. He shook the notion away.

  “Let’s keep looking.”

  They passed the mountains of Mictlan and the deserts of Hetgwauge. He was pleased she showed the respect due to these places. Her expressions of wonder were hard to disbelieve. They turned to horror when he took her to the other sites, the torture chambers for those that had tortured in life, or the place that housed the black hole, waiting to suck in the spirits that wished for oblivion. They passed more demons. Some watched them angrily, some hungrily, but none approached as Ferr had.

  She began to look desperate. Still no sign of her mother’s energy.

  “You’re tired,” he said.

  “No.” But her worn eyes betrayed her response.

  “Come, we will take a break.”

  He took her back to the Guiding Space and up to a lookout where they could rest with a view out over the stone pathway bridges and observe demons guiding spirits.

  He brought some bread and water and fascinated, she watched a demon guiding a spirit across the obsidian bridges down into the abyss. The spirit, a wisp of smoky white tendrils, wove around the demon’s head. The demon had fat cheeks and a jolly nose and he giggled when the tendrils tickled his ears and nose.

  “It probably tickles the demon on purpose,” Karnon said.

  “That’s so cute.”

  “The spirits find matching personalities in their spirit guides. This spirit was probably fat and happy in its previous life.”

  She smiled up at him. It shot straight to his heart, testing his resolve not to touch her. The woman had no idea he had bound her power to him. He could take her right here and there would be nothing she could do. He fought the compulsion. If it wasn’t mutual it wasn’t worth having. He hadn’t felt these types of emotions in a long time. He liked this witch but it wasn’t as though she could stick around after they ended their quest. Better to keep his distance. He kept his gaze firmly on the scene in front of him.

  More demons paraded by them, bits of white air and light swirling around their heads. Some not so jolly-looking and their guided spirit not so playful. Some appeared downright mean. Mira watched them all and Karnon watched her.

  Abruptly she turned to him. “They’re all male.”

  “What?”

  “The demons, they’re all male.”

  “Of course they are, just as all blood-witches are female. That is why the Calling exists, to produce offspring.” She really didn’t know anything about her own kind.

  “Blood-witches and demons are kin and only an offspring of the two will wield the blood power.”

  Her eyes grew wide. “You mean my father is a demon?”

  He wondered why none of her family had taught her. Even with her mother gone someone should have stepped in. “Yes.”

  “Could he be the one who took my mother?”

  “I doubt it. If your mother conceived she would have enjoyed the Calling. To conceive a blood-power offspring the spell needs to be powerful and in the witch’s control.”

  “Then I could have gotten pregnant?” she interrupted.

  He caught his breath and cursed himself for an idiot. He hadn’t thought about it. It had been so long since he had been Called he had forgotten to take precautions.

  “I apologize. I should have made sure that wouldn’t happen. If it does there are spells for that too. Although, if it did happen, it might be a good thing. There have not been many new blood births since the Betrayal.”

  Her eyelashes lowered and her hand stole over her belly. “So every time there is a Calling it’s to get pregnant?”

  “No, many use it only for pleasure, or used to. It even led to Joinings, the marriage of a blood-witch and demon. But these days most choose only to use it for conception or not to use it at all, unfortunately. Our community grows smaller every year and some have found other ways of release.” He gestured to a small cave visible one level below them. He recognized the two demons inside as lovers. It was common for demons to join as partners now that there were not as many Calling rituals performed or Joinings with a blood-witch partner. Mira leaned over the rail to get a better view. As they watched, the lovers began kissing.

  “Do they know we’re watching?” she whispered.

  “Yes,” he said, amused at her reaction. “It makes it more exciting for them.”

  Mira blushed but she didn’t take her eyes off the scene in front of her.

  The shorter of the two was getting down on his knees while trailing kisses down the other’s shoulder and stomach. Mira gasped when he took the thick penis of his lover in his mouth and lazily began stroking it with his tongue and hand. Karnon watched her reaction, lust stirring in his belly, trying not to become hard. He wondered how isolated she had been in her world that she seemed like a teenage girl observing her first male-on-male sexual encounter.

  The demon receiving the blowjob threw his head back, his face filled with ecstasy, his hands raking the top of his lover’s head, griping his horns. Mira’s breathing became heavy. Karnon clenched his fists, trying not to stare as her tits moved with her breath, her nipples poking through her shirt, enticing him. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could control his reaction.

  “All rested?”

  Mira blinked and looked away from the lovers, blushing.

  Karnon held his breath as she brushed against him. Her skin glowed with sweat. She looked incredibly sexy. He could sense her lust and before his body betrayed him, he gently pushed her away and walked out of the vista room.

  His attraction to her was becoming stronger. He knew where he had to take her. Only one had the power to help them now.

  Mira’s head pounded. She wasn’t sure what to think anymore. She had never felt so alive, so sensory. With the exception of the random glares she received, she was more comfortable here than she had ever been in her world. Watching those two demons make love had been exhilarating. The only damper had been Karnon’s reaction. When she touched him, he’d about thrown her away from him. Was he attracted to her or was the desire he had for her before only from to the Calling spell? Her body hummed with craving but Karnon had already disappeared aro
und the corner.

  She shook her head to clear it and hurried after him.

  They continued walking through the dark tunnels of Hell but this wasn’t so much a tour as it was a race to get somewhere. Mira’s sensual yearnings faded as she struggled to keep up with Karnon’s long strides while casting her sense ability. They headed down, deep into the bowels of the cavern.

  The tunnels widened and became more opulent. The glowing red rocks were shaped like chandeliers and the obsidian walls gleamed brighter, almost sparkled. They passed open caves with groups of demons at work or play. Most of them stopped when they caught sight of Mira. Some saluted Karnon, others just stared. Karnon ignored them all and kept walking.

  “Karnon!”

  Karnon waited for the demon who had called his name, surprising Mira as they had raced by everyone else. This demon was tall with the same sharp features as Karnon.

  “Cronus, what’s wrong?”

  “It’s Father. He’s not well. And about Xander, he’s at it again,” Cronus said. He caught sight of Mira and paused. She reeled back from his glare. Obviously the illness was not something they wanted her to know.

  Karnon glanced at Mira and gestured her to an empty enclave with a bench and table.

  She sat down at the table. Karnon and his brother moved down the tunnel just out of sight. Whatever his older brother Cronus wanted to talk to Karnon about it was a private family matter. Why would it bother them if she knew Satan was sick? Maybe they thought she was a spy? But Karnon should trust her by now as her lack of experience was painfully apparent. She examined the table in front of her, made from the same obsidian as everything else. She looked closer and caught sparkles of light scattered throughout the material. So lovely.

  After watching the sparkles for a time, she grew bored and turned her attention to practicing her sense ability.

  She reached out and was slammed back by the power. A chilling presence lingered nearby, one that brought memories of that night rushing back.

  She staggered out of her seat.

  “Karnon?” she whispered, but he was still far down the tunnel, deep in conversation. He wouldn’t hear her. The aura faded. She couldn’t lose it now. She tiptoed in the direction it came from, away from Karnon and his brother. The presence strengthened again and she paused, unsure. It began to fade again and desperately she charged after it. She could not lose it after getting so close.