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“I’ve never heard of him offering to train someone before, that’s all,” he confesses.
“Well, he did say I was growing on him.” I smile up at Knots, and he shakes his head in wonder.
We come to a stop as soon as we turn down a short hallway and find Lilith and L.A.M.B. at a door at the end.
L.A.M.B. heads through as Lilith remains until we’re all caught up to her.
“Ready for some fun?” She walks through the door with her eyes alight.
Entering the dark room, a chill runs down my spine as I take in the dim surroundings. The ceiling and marble floors are gone, and in their place is black and red stone. If I look closely, the red seems to move like living lava. Is that brimstone? The room is lit up by the red liquid, but it seems significantly cooler than the other rooms.
“Why is it so chilly in here?” Moni asks, shivering and leaning into Chester. It’s sweet how he wraps his arms around her, rubbing her arms. The half hoodie I’m wearing makes me grateful for JP’s mind-reading as he walks up behind me and does the same.
“Can’t have our guests be too comfortable now can we?” Lilith crows as she leads us to the back of the room. There’s an alcove where stairs lead down to a lower level. Astaroth motions for us to stay on the landing while Lilith heads down the stairs. Candles suddenly come ablaze one after another around the circle-like pit, showcasing hanging equipment I can only guess are used before on their guests.
A group of eight Arte Demons—led by Trometh—waddle into the room, half carrying, half dragging a body between them and plop it on the metal table in the middle of the pit. The thump of the body hitting the table echoes around the room, and Lilith squeals with joy as she steps closer to the table.
“Oh, Adam,” she says in a singsong voice. “It’s time to answer some questions.” She goes directly to one of the walls and starts looking at the knives, muttering eenie meenie miney mo. My stomach clenches at the thought of watching this so soon after breakfast.
I mean, I can handle a lot of things—blood, vomit, gross shit—but I don’t know if I have the stomach for torture. I think it takes a special type of person to stomach that. I turn into JP’s embrace and shield myself between his neck and my hair.
Bez walks to the other side and easily flips the body over. The man lying on the slab is barely dressed. I can only just make out the blond matted hair and crusted beard. “Lil?”
It’s so surreal to know that’s the real Adam. The first man to live on Earth. I feel as if I’m not real and this is all a dream or a movie that I’ve somehow gotten a glimpse into. Why do I feel like it’s more like a curse to see this, though? He looks so… weak. Nothing like I would imagine.
She lets out an exasperated sigh. “What, Bez? Can’t you see I’m trying to find the right tool?”
Bez walks away from Adam’s prone body and gives the rest of L.A.M.B. a look and a slight nod with his head before stepping next to Lilith. The motion of the rest of the guys jumping down into the pit pulls Lilith’s attention away from her wall of horrors.
“Wh—What’s wrong?” Her eyes go from questioning to demanding within a blink of an eye as Lucifer walks over to the body on the slab.
“He’s dead?” Murmur asks as he lifts Adam’s head and lets it fall. The crack is deafening in the silent room.
“Impossible,” Lilith says, grabbing the first thing off the wall she can reach, which happens to be a very long spike. She walks to his body, and with a scream, drives the spike into him and straight through the table.
I jump from the sight and sound of the impalement, but the body doesn’t move. Lilith’s eyes go wide and her lips part. Since there’s going to be no torture, I pull away from JP and move closer to the edge, where there’s a railing to keep us from falling into the pit. Who knew they cared about the observers’ protection?
“No. This is wrong.” The words pass through her parted lips as she jostles her head. Bez comes up and gently tries to pull Lilith away from the body, as Zeke tries to comfort his mother from where we watch above.
“It’s okay. There are other ways to get answers.” Zeke sends her a reassuring smile as she fully turns our way.
“You don’t understand.” She chuckles, but it just gives off a creepy vibe. The sound reminds me of a movie where someone is on the verge of insanity.
“Adam. Can’t. Die,” she spits out and throws her wings in the air, throwing Bez off of her.
I look at the body of her ex-husband as she does. When my eyes travel down to the spike in his chest, something catches my eye. It’s a small cyclone of inky black color that starts at the edge of the spike and slowly brightens to white the further away it goes. I look behind me, but JP is no longer there, only Lynx and Ryker.
“Do you guys see that?” I ask, leaning into them and pointing.
“Where?” Lynx asks, leaning in toward me to line up his eyesight.
“By the spike,” I say, swallowing the bile that suddenly comes up my throat from thinking about what organs the spike went through.
“The ripple?” Ryker confirms.
“What’s a ripple?” I turn to look at him.
“It’s the remnants of a spell or a potion that’s been penetrated; you’re seeing an edge of it.” He smiles down at me. “Good job, temptress,” he says, giving me a kiss on the forehead before rushing down the stairs.
