Execution (The Divine Book 6) by M.R. Forbes

his control. I can't fight both of you alone."
    "You can take a different path."
    "And leave you with him? Not a chance."
    "Won't you come to save me again?"
    "Of course I would, but-"
    "But what?"
    My mind flashed back to the meat locker in China, to the sight of Espanto's brand and Alyx's story about how he used her. It wasn't an uncommon thing amongst demons, and I had become numb to it most of the time. Not with Alyx. I couldn't stand the thought of his hands on her body.
    "If I don't do this, then I'm hindering you again," she said.
    Damn. Why did my words always get me in trouble?  
    "Well?" Cabal asked.
    Alyx pulled away from me before I could respond, using a claw to cut her other hand open. Cabal dipped a finger in it and finished the rune. It burst into flame, and I could feel the demonic energy pass between the circle and Alyx, binding her to it.  
    I suddenly felt guilty for not doing more to stop her.
    "Even if you take another Rift, she'll be passed here through the Nether," Cabal said. "There's no way around it, so you can either come with or leave her behind. Either way I get paid."
    Damien returned to the room, three more fiends trailing behind him. They arranged themselves around the circle with Cabal. Apparently, the fiend wasn't strong enough to activate the Hell Rift on his own.
    "Damien, don't forget to make the pickup. This isn't just a sightseeing tour."
    "Of course, Master," Damien replied.
    The four fiends knelt, putting their hands on the stones and whispering. A moment later, a ring of fire enveloped the edge of the circle.
    "Let's go, diuscrucis," Damien said. "Ladies first."
    Alyx looked back at me, her eyes apologetic, before stepping into the Rift and vanishing.  
    A moment later, I did the same.

Twelve

    The trip between Earth and Hell was instant. One second I was in Cabal's subterranean lair, and the next I was much, much further down.
    Of course, that wasn't an accurate description of where Hell existed. At all. It felt like an eternity since Josette had explained the physics to me. My version was that each realm was in its own plane, stacked together like a hamburger. Purgatory was the cheese melted on top of the mortal realm while Heaven and Hell were the buns. From what Cabal had said, I guess there was another layer called the Nether. That would be the mayo, or the mustard, depending on how they build burgers wherever you happened to be from.
    In any case, we had arrived. I tested my power before I even considered looking around, not wholly convinced that it would translate.
    It did.
    "Are you okay?" Alyx asked, taking my arm again.
    "I am right now. I'm not thrilled about what will happen when we're done here."
    "I'm sorry, Landon. There was no other way. You need to do this."
    "I wish I didn't."
    I finally noticed our surroundings. If the walls of the room hadn't been darker and clear of runes, I wouldn't have known we had gone anywhere.
    "I have to say, if this is Hell, I'm a little underwhelmed," I said.
    "Please," Damien said. "You see one tiny little crap room, and you think you know anything?"
    He smiled, showing a mouth full of sharp teeth that he didn't have topside.
    Then he tried to hit me.
    I was caught by surprise. Even so, I still managed to shift my feet, grab his punch, and keep going with his momentum, throwing him hard into the wall. He hit it with a grunt, and then turned and came at me again.
    By then, I had the spatha out, and I summoned it just in time to leave the blade an inch from his chest.
    "What the hell was that?" I asked.
    "Just testing you out. You need to be quick to survive as a free soul out here."
    I glanced over at Alyx, who hadn't moved a muscle. "You knew this was coming?"
    She nodded. "I could smell his aggression. I knew you would be fine."
    I let the spatha go back to the lettuce, or the tomato, or wherever it went when it wasn't in use. I pocketed the stone again.  
    "Lead the way," I said to Damien.
    He headed for the exit, and we followed.