Hell's Throne (The Devil's Assistant Series - 5 ) - Unedited

Chapter 9

"Can you tell us what happened?" Castiel asked, leaning back in his chair on the other side of the table.

Several hours had passed and we had reconvened in one of the many small dining rooms within the palace. It was different to the rest of the castle. The walls were painted with beautiful mural depicting scenes of the Elysian Fields. Peaceful greens wove into fresh blues, the souls in the paintings exuding peace and happiness. It was exactly what everyone needed in light of everything which had unfolded.

The earlier solitude felt like a distant memory to me. Lucius and I had barely ten minutes alone together before people had started to intrude. Ever since that moment, we had been surrounded by demons and fallen angels who wanted to reassure themselves that he was alive. I wasn't the only one who had been affected by Lucius's disappearance. He was an important person who meant a lot to his people.

Having that many people care quickly became draining. They asked questions, the same ones over and over again until my head started to pound its own drumbeat. We had barely managed to find our way to the dining room without any additional persons following at our heels.

I lifted my gaze from my dinner plate and reached out to take Lucius's hand underneath the table. His face squinted and he rubbed at the side of his head with his free hand. "I don't know. I remember leading the team out into Tartarus. There was the breach that you told me about. When we got there however... "

Lucius trailed off, groaning as he clutched at his head. "I think I must have hit my head. I can't recall what happened next."

"You were found unconscious on the floor. You and all of the guards had been incapacitated."

"Are any of them dead?" Lucius asked quietly. His hand turned over in his lap so that he could thread his fingers through mine. Turning my head, I pressed a kiss to his shoulder. We were among friends so I had no concerns about how I acted in front of them all.

"One of them has sadly passed. He was one of the newest recruits. He had only passed out of training a few weeks ago." The fallen angel shook his head sadly. "The combination of the strange toxin which incapacitated them all and the injuries were too much for him to handle. Even the demonic healing could not combat the wounds."

"This is my fault," Lucius muttered, slamming his hand down on to the table. "I went with untested guards into one of the most dangerous places in the entire universe. What was I thinking?"

"You were thinking that you did not have any other choice. Has there been more qualified guards to assist you, you would have taken them you went with the best that you had at the time." Castiel cut in before Lucius could get too submerged with the self-blame.

"He's right Luce," I murmured, leaning my head upon his shoulder. "The part we need to focus on now is who this threat is."

"I don't know who it is." He sighed, turning his head and pressing a kiss to my forehead. My lips pulled up into a small smile at the small unconscious gesture despite our topic of discussion. "We were going to check some of the deepest and darkest parts of Tartarus. Some of the alarms had sounded in areas of Tartarus only the most prepared should walk. But we didn't get all the way there. Of that I can be certain."

"How can you be certain?" Castiel asked, leaning forwards across the table.

"I know because the guards would not have found us if we had reached those parts of Tartarus. There are layers of protection in place which would first confuse and force you to turn back. And if you somehow made it past that, there are layers of magic which would fatally wound any of those who took the wrong course. Unfortunately, it means out attacker could have been just about anyone or anything. There are so many beasts and souls in Tartarus, souls whose only intent is to cause pain and suffering. It is why they are condemned there forever rather than enjoying the comfort of the cities."