Read Online Devil's Punch by Ann Aguirre - Free Book Online

turn back.”
    For a second, I was tempted. One didn’t travel to Sheol casually. It wasn’t a trip to the mall, and there
would
be consequences. But I couldn’t give up on Shannon Cheney. I couldn’t. I hadn’t saved her in Kilmer only to lose her now. If I had to die to get her out of Sheol, Iwould. It was that simple, and by the way Chance’s lips compressed in pain, he knew. He’d always been good at reading me. To my relief, he didn’t argue; he just set his shoulders and went on. He trusted me enough to let me do as I thought best—and it meant everything.
    In the stories, the heroine was always told not to look back or there would be dire repercussions. So no matter what I heard creeping along in the shadows behind us, I didn’t. After a while, though, it became difficult to ignore the flap of leathery wings. Bats lived in caves. Intellectually I knew there were worse things that I ought to worry about, but bats freaked me out. Sometimes it was easier to fixate on small things than to deal with the enormous ones.
    The dark passage widened into a large cavern with a high ceiling. From the artifacts lying around, it looked like this might have been used for religious purposes at some point. More telling, this appeared to be the end of the path.
    â€œOur first drop,” Greydusk said. “Only seven meters.”
    That sounded like a lot. I took a breath while it made the preparations. Fortunately, it had a rope; it glimmered golden in the witchlight. The demon went first, sliding deftly down.
    â€œIt’s a bit damp, but safe enough. Come along!”
    Chance touched my cheek. “Now you, love. I’m not leaving you alone here.”
    â€œDon’t move,” I ordered the dog.
    â€œWhy don’t you let me take him?”
    Since he was more athletic and coordinated, that was a good idea. I unlooped my bag and handed it over, which left him with both the backpack and my purse. If I hadn’t been so scared, I’d have laughed over using Chance as a pack mule. He was far too elegant for that.
    I mustered my courage and sank to my knees, then tucked my glowing athame into the back of my pants.
That’s fantastic luck, I’m sure.
I had no idea if my upper-body strength could handle this. It took all my willpower to edge back off the rock and start inching down. I wanted to wrap the cord around my waist, but Greydusk held the other end.
    We should have belts and straps and pulleys and things, shouldn’t we?
Shit. Don’t think about falling
.
    I was halfway down when the bats appeared. At least they seemed to be, only they were more aggressive than any I’d heard about on National Geographic. They dived at my head, my hair, biting and scratching. My hands slipped on the rope, and I cried out as I slid down. Rock crumbled away against my feet.
    Above me, I heard Chance cursing. “I’m not sure the rope will hold us both. Keep moving. You can do it.”
    They’re small. They can’t actually hurt you. Only a fall can do that.
My hands were shaking by the time I got to solid ground again. As the demon had mentioned, a thin stream of water trickled down the rock, leaving the stone where we stood slick and dangerous. It was so dark that I couldn’t see without the witchlight. I held it up for Chance, not daring to say a word until he hit the ledge beside me.
    Thank you
.
    I threw myself into his arms. He rubbed my back and brushed a kiss against my hair. “I’m fine. You know I always land on my feet.”
    Just like a cat. And so he did. But it would kill me if anything happened to him. Maybe we were still figuring out how we fit together, but he mattered.
    He cupped my face in his hands and kissed me: leashed passion, restrained desire, and tenderness too. I knew him now in ways I hadn’t before. I could read between the lines of that kiss:
I’m here, and I care. I want you.
Butch poked his head out of