The others grab him and pull him off.

‘You swore!’ yells Beliel as he struggles against his buddies. ‘I left her in your care! Do you know what they did to her? Do you?’

The Watchers subdue Beliel, putting a hand over his mouth and whispering in his ear to calm down.

‘We should talk,’ says Raffe, getting up. ‘Is this a good place?’

‘There are no good places in the Pit,’ says Hawk.

‘We should go someplace where we have easy escape routes,’ says Thermo. ‘Anything that might be looking for a meal just heard its dinner bell.’

In the distance, something screams. It’s hard to tell how close it is.

Beliel stops struggling, but he’s breathing hard and fast. He may be blind, but there’s nothing wrong with his ears.

‘Let’s get out of here,’ says Cyclone. He takes the lead. The rest of us follow.

Even though Beliel is obviously furious with Raffe, he still walks with his back to him like they weren’t archenemies. He also follows the group as if it never occurred to him to not cooperate. His bulging muscles start to unclench, and the tension in his shoulders softens as he walks.

The hate-filled edge I’m used to seeing in Beliel is not there, even in this horrid place. Whatever happened to him to make him that way hasn’t happened yet.

We follow the Watchers away from the hovel just as the screaming of those Consumed whip heads fills the air again.

Raffe pulls me into his arms and takes flight.

Chapter 38

38

‘Stay low,’ says one of the Watchers, ‘where they can’t see you.’

Raffe swoops down and flies at almost ground level along with the Watchers. We swing side to side, barely avoiding broken wheels, piles of rubble, and burned-out husks of something unrecognizable.

Behind us, the Pit lord with the flaming wings comes roaring after us. He whips his screaming heads at his set of newly Fallen who strain to fly as fast as they can. The spotted hellion that came with Raffe flies beside the Pit lord like a giant winged rat, pointing at us.

We glide along the broken street until we turn a corner and come face-to-face with a set of screaming heads.

Raffe shifts me so that he’s holding me from behind. Without speaking, I know what he wants me to do. He can’t carry me and fight at the same time. I pull out my sword.

Raffe swoops left, and I cut a swath through the Consumed. Their teeth and hair fall to the ground as the blade slices through them.

Behind us, the Watchers fan out in a wedge formation with us in the lead. I’m the only one with a weapon, so it becomes my job to cut through whatever gets in our way. The Watchers punch and kick their way behind us.