from his temple, ending in sharp points. When he smiled, his serrated teeth co

narrowly missing his t

cells. The first time his kind had tried to take me out for punishment,

several punishments, I'd learned that even fighting back with words could get a girl grille

I done wron

rin. "This will be a first for

about Griff's betrayal. "Is this verbal tortur

ings. "The boss has

swer i

way apart from exercise sessions that we were permitted to leave our cells. After the time some crackpot alchemist had

ause refusing means double punishments

nt of asking me if you're makin

d with a cold chuckle. "After all, ar

led. "Take me

ard beneath one arm and s

were as tall as hills and chewed souls like mine for sport. That had been my second punishment, by the way. After traveling through the bastard's digestive

to your future torture sessions." He wiggled his

narled and offer

wings a sharp flap, shifting the air

too late. Enough grit landed on their tender surface to keep them streamin

was hundreds of feet over a large courtyard consisting of

that looked like it might crum

ated my sinuses in a poisonous ash. I tightened my stomach muscles and shuddered as w

y imp who dropped a spirit they ferried out of the p

even-foot-tall, muscular grandeur and crad

and sex. I let my arms go limp and tried not to look at his muscles or inhale his brimstone scent. This part of Hell was dark, largely because the stalagmites were so tall that they blocked out

struc

around an open space. Except these towers were jagged and made of

the massive structures, filled with

h, trying to remain calm. "Excuse m

king my stomach lurch. "Are you going to barra

gut to the back of my throat, but I swa

ad to me and scowled. "He or

r po

into the lava and have to wait for the demonic piranhas

ryone who worked the pun

skin. "What would this boss of yours say

f his crimson face, and

and good, but demons had memories even longer than their tail

good for once in this awful af

glided over the configuration of rocks that bordered the e

ith their body twisted with a

he huge statues were smaller platforms where the demons laid out the Pits' inmates and delivered hours o

at the memory of t

ns were bl

ard the palace," the imp said with

eg for details so he could say some

at radiated from the surface, which formed

us?" he asked wi

I blurted before

ose serrated teeth of his

had always told me that my recklessness would get me and the p

r the weak. Once I made a decision, I stu

wever one could describe whatever

n, but one that didn't get the sun. Fire licked beneath the clou

he imp. "What?" I rep

because they existed to create torment: physical, mental

he thought of being taken away to some mysterious demon. To pass the time, he wanted me to beg and whin

rom you," he said. "When you said t

voice sound breezy. "Thanks for letting me

sna

nside, I

part of hell which was covered in sand, with the occasional fire lighting our way. Gigantic bones litt

I tried to convince myself it was the sk

n a supernatural creature, and that no creature swi

fun," sai

. "Maybe you'd feel a bit better if you spared a th

didn't deserve it." "You could be righ

ing Gerrison and Dad had taug

knew what I had done had been wrong. That's why Logris had laws and packs had unwritten co

ur and the dust and the grit. Things would have end

crushed it into a ball. I did w

ark zone into an open space where the air was lighter, brighter

n but also resembled a haunted castle. Twin towers stood from its pinnacle

I asked, interrupting

ifth Faction," he said, leaving a whole lot unspoken. "He's no

ath. Apart from sassing a few imps at the

s leader was Hades, the Greek god who had once ruled an underworld of the same name. We learned about him

ages, and shifters. It was hard to believe that Dad had been both the alpha of our pack, the Shifter King, an

t, then?" I asked

know, I can tell you

tly what he wanted. For me to amuse him with a round of whining and grove

said, my voice flat. "Will yo

ur

hed. It couldn

e told me that Hell was full, and I had to live at the bottom of the lake. Or that they'd caught me avoiding the screen repl

you need to know. But first

re the moment they'd cum? The worst part was that they'd add on the time a condemned soul spent pleasuring them to the punishment session. A

th Hades," I said. "Are

it comes

toss me on the ground like he might have do

wall surrounded by a lava-filled moat. The more practical part of my consciousness told me t

then toss me away. Not when it would take days for me to recover

y-foot-tall rock troll with curled horns rose fr

hed my teeth. If the building's exterior was this inh

rection of the Punishment Pits. Coming h