'Go to Hell?' Already There.

Chapter III; Lilith

The corridor was silent now as we walked down it. I held my brother's hand with a tight grip, my fingers digging into his skin, and he gripped back with the same amount of force. We might have been seventeen, but this was so much more reassuring than any words could ever be. The walls were dark, lit only by torches and candles that floated along in the air above us. Derxi didn't seem to pay them any attention, walking stiffly in front of us with her head forward. I wondered why she was acting like she was, and then promptly decided I didn't want to find out.

My brother's face, normally lit with a smile, was now blank and expressionless, flickering firelight casting long shadows across his face. He turned and looked at me, his hazel eyes flashing a billion different colors. I reached up with my other hand as we walked, brushing away some of the hair that had curled into his eyes. I let my fingers longer for a moment before letting them fall again, turning my attention forward. Daman repeated the action, tucking some strands of hair behind my ear.

"You two really should stop with that." Derxi said curtly. "I do believe incest is a sin in your day and age. You don't want to give people the wrong idea." She turned her head and glared at us, stopping in the middle of the corridor, her black eyes glinting like the scales of a snake. Blood rushed to my cheeks and my lips thinned into a line at her remark.

"My sister is rather gorgeous," Daman said, staring at Derxi with a coy smirk floating onto his lips. "And I would go after her if we weren't related. So if you're jealous, there is no need to worry about it, dear."

Derxi bristled as I blushed even more so, elbowing him in the side despite out intertwined fingers. "I am not jealous of your obvious relationship with your sister!" She snarled at both of us. She turned and stalked forward, so I tugged Daman after me as. I began to follow again.

"You wouldn't actually go after me, right?" I murmured quietly, hoping Derxi couldn't hear.

"Oh, God no," Daman snickered. "You're too unpredictable."

"Piss off." I thumped him and he pinched me.

We stopped in front of a large pair of iron doors. I gaped at them, catching little flashes of silver. Derxi put her hand against the iron and spoke a breathy sentence in something that was definitely not English. It didn't really sound much like words, just different ways of breathing. I watched as locks materialized, like gold draining the back out. Golden liquid dripped through the lock, making them visible until there were six in all, three on each side. Then she pushed it open and I heard Daman's breath catch in his throat.

The room was huge.

The walls stretched upwards and ended in a starry sky. Fire crackled all around us, in a fireplace that stretched around the perimeter of the room. Bookshelves climbed up to the ceiling, rows upon rows of them. There was a new level to this beautiful place every twenty feet or so, and I could only imagine the literary works stored here. We didn't get long to gawk, Derxi was pulling us along and into the labyrinth of books. She kept turning corners, left, left, right, left again, etcetera etcetera. It was hard to keep up, my attention consistently shifting to the towers of bookshelves all around us. Daman was practically dragging me after the demoness while I let out a low whine and complained.

"Hello Derxi. You've brought them?"

"Yes my lord."

I felt my brother tense next to me and I stopped next to him. I couldn't bring myself to go around that corner, anxiety making my stomach knot up.

You can do it, A voice whispered behind me, stirring my hair and sending a jolt down my spine. No reason to fear your father. I felt Daman shudder beside me and assumed that he had felt the same thing I had.