I did more than retch this time. I vomited up the minuscule amount of sushi I’d grabbed from the hospital canteen on my way home from art therapy. That meal felt like a lifetime ago, but there it was, barely digested.

“Has he …?” I mumbled, wiping my mouth. “Since he arrived?”

Hellen nodded, eyes glinting, guessing the meaning behind my stilted words. “Oh yes, he has been watching your mother die in front of him, on repeat, for eighteen years. I’m surprised his soul is still intact, to be honest. So many of them wither too quickly or become desensitised to their torture.”

She sauntered closer. I scrambled back.

I had never hated a being as much as I hated her. Although, her father … he was the one who had done this to Dad.

Hellen seemed oblivious to my hatred. She leaned down, gripping my chin. “I can’t wait to own your soul properly, Jemma Bliss. If you’re anything like your father … and I think you might be, judging by the power in your little Token … you’ll feed our demons for months. Years even, just like Daddy dearest.”

A piercing wail echoed from behind us, and I ripped my chin from her grasp. Dad reared his head back, cracking it into the wall with so much force his body crumpled into a bony pile on the floor. A pile too insignificant to be the man who used to sing me silly songs as he tucked me into bed. The man who had a belly laugh so loud and infectious that it filled the entire house, and set me to giggling uncontrollably.

“Oh, bugger it!” Hellen grunted, shoving me down and getting to her feet. “Now we’ll have to wait for his soul to revive him before he can begin another round.”

She headed for the door, sniffing crossly. “May as well leave her in her beloved darkness,” she muttered. Whoever she was talking to killed the lights, and terror clawed its way up my throat again.

“Call me when he wakes!” she commanded. “I’ve got more important things to do. I’ll return when it’s fun down here again.”

I swallowed back a scream, determined not to let the darkness overwhelm me as I dragged myself over that rough, too-hot floor, until I found the thin, crumpled form that was my dad’s soul.

I curled up around it … him. In this Hellish place, he was so cold.

I sobbed.

49. Hold On, Mouse

Chapter 49

Hold On, Mouse

SJ

I portalled directly into Hellen’s living quarters. It seemed expedient, and there was absolutely no time to lose.

It was a long shot to think she would have strung them up in her room, but Hell was a large and labyrinthine place, and I needed to start somewhere.

“Sniff for clues!” I commanded Beezle, eyes frantically scanning the space.

“She was here!” Beezle yapped, trotting towards the bedchamber. “Her scent is in here!”