Blood Stained Tranquility (11 page)

“What did it do?”

Crius walked back to the creature. The blade hadn’t even touched its flesh, and already it had begun reacting to the added white energy. It thrashed in earnest, broken sounds managing to escape even though its face was turned inward. Crius slid the blade into the
draugar
’s
back and exhaled a puff of smoke as it convulsed in spasms.

“He was trading information with my enemies.”

Punishable, yes, but nothing new. Within all the underworlds, treachery abounded. Those types of crimes happened every day, and were usually left to the higher ups to punish.

“And you’re the one punishing him, why?”

“You mean aside from my need to carve into something?” Crius walked around the creature again, stabbing it in the side with the blade. Sliding the blade out, he placed it between the
draugar
’s
neck and shoulder, and sunk home.

Zen almost felt bad for the poor creature. It went into a seizure, its body pulling on the chains as it jerked frantically. The holy light glowed inside it, leaking out of the exposed cavities on the creature’s chest. What it was experiencing was the equivalent of a human being exposed to three hundred thousand volts of electricity. He felt the temperature in the chamber rising and saw more pieces of flesh beginning to cook.

“Yeah, aside from that.”

“It’s the nature of the information it was trading. That’s why this piece of shit will suffer the worst I can subject it to for the rest of eternity.” This was only the beginning. There were levels within
Renentr
that thrived on agony, bloodshed, violation, and misery. There was no doubt where Crius was sending the
draugar
to next.

Looking away from the creature, Zen focused on Crius, searching his grid. Images, colors, and emotions flickered across his mind, all proof of what was really behind Crius’s mood. Now the carnage made sense. He hadn’t condemned it at first, but now he definitely had no beef with what Crius was up to.

“Do you know who he was speaking about Dimithinia to?”

“Of course. Some lower minion from the mines of southeast
Eren
. I will follow its trail to the next one, and the next, till I find which Aviraji asshole is trying to find info about her.”

In Zen’s mind there was no questioning who would be at the top of the chain. It wasn’t necessary.
Eren
was the demon dimension, one the size of Jupiter. The different factions of demonology lived there, including the war
Erencei
his father had once ruled over. A place so large was always ripe for malice, and many of the mythical low lives of old made their home there.

It was
possible
that it was a coincidence, because the order to gather information about Dimithinia could have come from anyone, but hearing the name of his father’s birthplace set off an alarm in Zen’s gut.

“You will keep me up to date with what you find,” he said. Not a request, nor a demand, either. Just a simple statement of fact.

Crius nodded stiffly. “Of course. Now, I’m busy here, in case you haven’t noticed. What did you come for? Because I’m starting to regret allowing you fucks free entry.”

A roll of his eyes, that’s all Zen could muster for the God of the Underworld. “Stop being so melodramatic. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t urgent.”

With a snap of his fingers, Crius made the prisoner, its remains, and the table with blades disappear. The blood on his hands was gone the next instant, and his black coat appeared on his shoulders.

“I’m serious. I’m starting to become aggravated. One more of you storm in here today, and I will shove my foot up your asses.”

He didn’t even bother to ask who else had been there. “I need you to come with me to visit your brother. He has something that I need in his possession.”

Crius turned to Zen, his face studiously blank. Zen could tell that he was searching through his thoughts.

“What could he possibly have that you would risk going into his hell in your currently weak state?”

Zeniel growled low. In a flash, he appeared before Crius and stared him in the eye. Zen
felt
his eyes changing, the marks on his face becoming more pronounced.

“A soul. One that I need to punish. More than that, I need you to appease me in this. I’m having a hard ass time keeping my inner asshole from tearing you a new one.”

“Me? What the fuck? I haven’t done anything selfish in—” Crius’s eyes widened. He staggered back one step and his expression melted into realization.

Zen barely resisted the urge to scoff. “Why are you doing this to her? Because of Cilpera?”

“Don’t mention that name to me.”

“You’re making one female suffer because of what some bitch did thousands of years ago.” He watched as rage clouded Crius’s eyes. It was there one moment, then gone the next, replaced by that blank mask Crius wore so well.

“Because of that bitch, two of my brothers and I were ripped apart and put back together as monsters. Reincarnated into lives we would never have chosen.”

He didn’t have to elaborate any further. What had become the fall of him and his two brothers was common knowledge among the gods.

A demoness, Cilpera, had become the first Goddess of Deceit by seducing the three holiest brothers in existence and leading them to their deaths. As punishment for the things they did in her name, each of them was reborn as the opposite of what they once had been.

Love, Honor, Light. All three were warped and forced to become the lords of the first three underworlds. Renentr, Hades, and Hell.

And Cilpera had made herself the self-proclaimed queen of the war
Erencei.
If the order to find out information about Dimithinia had come from his father’s people, it meant that Cilpera was most likely the one after said information.

“Is Dimithinia truly . . . bothered without me?” Crius asked.

“Try hurt. That defines it better.”

Crius glared at Zen, not appreciating his honesty one bit. “As if you’re any better. You haven’t gone back because of this need for vengeance, I see. There’s a newly awakened immortal that is suffering without her
R’mann.
”

It was Zen’s turn to stagger backward. Denial tried to rise up in his throat. It died halfway out of his mouth as shock replaced everything else. Crius’s eyes went wide as they followed Zen.

“Wha—how . . . She’s awake?”

“Oh, shit. You didn’t know.”

The world tilted and for the first time in his entire existence, Zen felt Mavrak turn his powers on himself. The urge to punish himself burned through every cell in his body. How could no one have told him? Damn it, he’d told them all to find him when it happened!

Crius flashed to him and grabbed onto his upper arms, his hands biting through the leather jacket Zen wore.

“Sit down. Sit the fuck down.” He shoved Zen onto his throne and held him down by the shoulders. “Committing suicide isn’t going to help her, you ass.”

Zen clenched his jaw as the roar in his head blasted through. “I know that, dick.”

“I’m talking to the thing inside you.”

“He doesn’t listen to common sense.” Which was true. Mavrak was raging in two separate directions, one half demanding the vengeance it craved, and the other demanding Evesse.

Mine. She’s mine. Give her to me. I
own
her.

For a few short seconds, there was a brief moment of peace. Of unity. Zeniel couldn’t blink as the rightness of that feeling slid into place. There was no denying what both sides of him were claiming.

For once, they were in perfect agreement.

The moment was shattered when he saw Evesse in his mind. The bellows built back up, the sound staggering.

“I need that soul, Crius. Please. Once I take out some of this rage on it, I can go back for her.”

Zeniel never pleaded. Ever.

Crius obviously knew this because he gave his shoulders a squeeze before speaking. “All right. Let’s go. It’s about time I gave Lucy a visit anyway.”

“Don’t call him that when we get there. I need him to agree to give me that fucking soul,” Zen said seconds before Crius sighed and flashed them out of
Renentr
.

The infamous smell of sulfur assaulted Zen’s nostrils. Screams and laughs drifted up to them from afar. Crius’s footsteps echoed behind him. Zen spared him a glance as he dusted his shoulder off.

“Was it necessary to fling me into the damned wall?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. That was an accident.” He said it so calmly that Zen almost believed him.

Almost.

“Bullshit.” Rolling his shoulders, Zen looked around them.

Hell truly did resemble the inner crust of the Earth, complete with stone, dust, and areas full of boiling lava. The narrow tunnel they were in was devoid of any flames or magma though. The only light illuminating their way was the glow of their respective auras.

“Losing it yet?” Crius asked.

“As a matter of fact . . . no. I can hear all the sins from afar but I’m not seeing them.”

“I can smell the mating on you. Kinda disturbing.”

“I know. And you’re sounding like Cyake.”

“You wound.”

“Stop being a smartass and I won’t compare you to your brother.”

“Seriously, though. She focuses you, it’s obvious. Surely she’s committed some sort of crime in the past and yet you don’t feel the need to punish her.”

“She did nothing out of selfishness. You’ve read her mind. You know this.”

Crius shrugged. “I’m pretty sure that even if she had, you and your buddy would still be too enthralled to hurt her.”

They both ducked as a large piece of rock came down right behind them. Pounding footsteps could be heard above. Zen pulsed out a
Gnetica
around them as smaller rocks crumbled and fell.

“You’re one to talk about buddies. Need I remind you of the
buddy
you have locked inside you?”

Crius glared at Zen and seemed like he was about to retort.

Footsteps, slow and methodical, sounded. The colors of their auras became lost in a burst of golden light.

“Evening, gentlemen. If creatures like you can be called such.”

Zen and Crius came to a stop. They locked stares, Crius rolling his eyes before turning to address the newcomer.

“If anyone can be considered a creature, it’s your odd ass. And maybe Nylicia, too. But that’s neither here nor there.”

It wasn’t lost on Zen how Crius’s stare narrowed in Zexistr’s direction, watching for any reaction to the mention of Nylicia.

Existence approached them, his feet gliding an inch above the stone floor. His arms were crossed behind his back.

“You speak of the Watcher, right? Never met her myself, but I’ve heard of her.”

Zeniel pressed his lips together. Usually, it was an effort to even stare at Zexistr when they were around each other. Even before Evesse had caused Mavrak to break free, there had been moments when all Zen could see was what Zexistr had accidentally—but selfishly—done in his past.

They continued walking, Zen taking up the lead. “Why are you here?”

“Lucy has a message for me. Always a pleasure.”

Zen inclined his head before turning away and heading on. The other two gods followed behind him. Combined, all three of their auras lit up the way so brightly that the walls around them didn’t even appear black anymore.

“Is this whole ‘soul ass-whipping’ thing so important?” Zexistr asked.

Crius sighed. “I’ve been wondering the same thing.”

Zen prayed for patience, knowing that until either of those males found themselves in his position, they weren’t going to understand. He was barely making sense of it, and he was the one experiencing it.

“I’m in fucking hell.
The
hell, of all places.” Footsteps pounded above them again, this time followed by high-pitched shrieks. “Apparently, we’ve come right as some kind of torture-orgy or pathetic escape plan is taking place.” Crius and Zex laughed right before something let out an ear piercing scream. “I value my peace above all else, yet I’m here in this cesspit. Now, I ask you, how important is it?”