We walked in a fairly random fashion for the next twenty minutes. I was grateful we didn't run into anyone else, although I couldn't help but worry that I would be deemed a "threat" by the system and wander endlessly for years on end. I didn't voice my concerns aloud; I was too shaken by everything that had happened, too tired to open my mouth. I just wanted this journey to be done.

Yet as that thought crossed my mind, James tapped my arm suddenly. "Look!" he said, pointing.

We had somehow found ourselves in front of a skinny skyscraper. The awning over the front had a large "666" on it—something I'm sure Lana found amusing. It just made my stomach bubble.

We had arrived.

James looked up at me and asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Nervous. And scared. I can't believe we're actually here."

"You can do this," he said. "You've made it through the Underworld in one piece. And you were able to talk to her on Earth. It isn't any different here."

I wanted to contradict him, but instead I just squeezed him tightly. "Let's get this over with," I said, walking up the red-carpeted stairs and pushing my way into the lobby.

The entrance hall was extremely gaudy. The ceiling was covered in an intricate mural that reminded me of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel. Only, once I paused to examine it, I realized that the angels in the sky looked miserable, eyes glazed, bodies limp with exhaustion. It was a rather miserable looking painting.

"I sense some projection," James murmured in my ear, and despite the nerves gurgling in my stomach, I couldn't help but let out a short laugh.

Further into the lobby, there was a single elevator off to the right and a desk to the left. I couldn't draw my eyes away from the man sitting behind the counter. He wore a black suit that clung to thick layers of muscle, and there was a large scar carved into his face. I wondered if that was how he had looked when he was alive—or perhaps that scar had caused his death—but erred on the side of caution and didn't ask him to explain.

"Name?" he asked in a deep voice that rivaled Morgan Freeman's.

"Jessa Brown," I said. "I'm here to see—"

"The Devil. Yes, she's expecting you." His eyes then swept downwards, locking on James, and he held out his hand. "I'll need to take the bear from you before you head up."

"Wait—what?"

"That item is from between realms. It's not allowed."

I looked down at James, who only managed a limp shrug.

My heart started to pound wildly. "Will... will I get him back afterwards?"

The man nodded.

I swallowed, looking down at James. "I have to give you up," I whispered, terrified.

"You can do it," he whispered back, squeezing my arm.

"I don't know if I can... Not on my own."

"You can, Jessa. You have to. And I'll be here when you get back."

I hoped he was right, but there was a very large part of me that was convinced that once I entered this elevator, I would never see the lobby again.

I held him to my chest and gave him a tight squeeze. "Thanks for everything, James," I said into his fur. Then I reluctantly handed him over to the concierge.

"Thank you," the man said, placing James gently on a shelf behind him. Then he nodded at the elevator. The doors, as if on cue, dinged open. "You can go up now."

I stepped through the steel doorway and turned around, planning to wave goodbye to James. But without warning, the doors closed on their own, blocking my view of the lobby. My hand fell limply to my side. For the first time in this journey, I was alone.

The floor jolted, and although there were no buttons or screens to let me know which floor I was heading to, I could feel the rush of vertigo as I was carried upwards. After just a few seconds, the lift slowed to a stop and the door opened, revealing a small landing and a single apartment door.

I took a deep breath and raised my right fist. But before I could even knock, the door swung open.

Lana stood in front of me looking absolutely stunning. She wore a black slip dress with her dark hair twisted up in a messy bun. In her hands, she held two bubbling glasses of champagne.

"Jessa!" she cried, pressing a glass into my hand. "It's so nice to see you! Welcome! Come in!"

She ushered me inside her apartment, the door shutting behind me on its own. Her apartment wasn't as large as I had been expecting, but that didn't detract from its grandeur. The kitchen had marble countertops, gold fixtures, and an island with black leather stools. A little further in was a living room with a crackling fire and a fuzzy white couch. And to the left was a row of closed doors, which I assumed led to bedrooms or bathrooms—although I wasn't quite sure if bathrooms were needed in the Underworld.

Lana leaned against the island and took a sip of champagne. "Have a taste! It's Moet Chandon—well, not actually since you can only get that stuff on Earth, but it tastes just like it."

"Um... thanks," I said, taking a tiny sip. I had to admit, it did taste amazing, but it did nothing to calm my churning stomach.

Lana guided me to the couch. "Come on, sit down with me. Is the fireplace too warm?" She gestured and the flames dimmed down to a light smolder. She turned back to me with a smile. "So, how was the trip?"

"Umm," I said, running my hand over the fuzzy fabric. I wanted to say that it hadn't gone that well, considering I had been lured off the path by two corpses, nearly killed by a harpie, dragged into a lake that had given me vivid hallucinations, and had nearly been mauled to death by a fanatic bent on killing her. However, I didn't want to offend her so early in the conversation. I needed to keep my composure. Right now, it was clear that she was playing nice. I needed to do the same. "It was good," I lied. "You weren't kidding when you said it was a bit of a walk." And I gave a small chuckle.

She grinned. "Told you it's all about wearing the right shoes!"

I nodded, taking her in. Lana looked good here in the Underworld—not that she hadn't on Earth, but here, in her realm, she really looked phenomenal. Her skin shone and her eyes were wide and dark, like deep space.

I was so busy staring that it took me a moment to realize she had asked a question.

"Sorry," I murmured. "What did you say?"

"What brought you here?" she repeated. She was smiling, sipping the champagne with barely-contained excitement. "I was surprised when you asked for a ticket as your reward. I've never had a visitor unless they've wanted to strike a deal. Were you just curious about the Underworld or... did you miss me?"

The way she phrased it made my heart sink a little. It sounded so genuine. For a moment, I truly believed that she meant it.

Don't fall for it, I told myself, taking a slow breath. "Actually, I came down here for a few reasons. Billy being one of them."

"Billy?" Lana asked, and I could hear the surprise in her voice. Not real surprise, I tried to tell myself, but I was so confused by everything around me, it was impossible to tell what was real and what was fake. "What about Billy?"

"Well I didn't realize... that you were going to bring him here at the end of our deal. I mean, he is here, right?"

Lana nodded, sipping a bit more slowly from her glass now. "Yes, he's here." She didn't say anything more.

I chewed the inside of my cheek. "And how is he?"

Lana was silent for a moment. I felt like we were caught in a strange dance, orbiting each other at a careful distance, taking our time crafting our sentences.

"He's... adjusting. I think it was a bit of a surprise for him as well. But he's getting used to it."

Her eyes flicked, almost imperceptibly, to her left—towards one of the closed doors I had noticed before. My heart sank when I realized that Billy was most likely behind Door Number One. 

"Lana," I said, trying to keep my voice calm, "taking Billy like that... wasn't right."

"What do you mean?"

"The deal I made with you was to get him to ask you to the dance. There was nothing in it that said you could take him down here."

Lana pressed her lips together. "I understand your concern, Jessa," she said, her voice sounding notably colder, "but I didn't do anything wrong. You're right that our deal ended when we went to the dance together. But then I asked him if he wanted to come home with me, and he said yes."

"But he didn't know home meant the Underworld."

"It doesn't matter anymore," she said, setting her glass down. "Because he's here now. And he's happy."

"He's happy?" I said incredulously.

Lana nodded, but I could see the lie all over her face.

"Lana," I said, "I'm sorry, but there is no way he is happy down here."

Lana's eyes narrowed. "Excuse me? How would you know how Billy's doing? You've been down here for five hours." She gestured around her apartment. "I've made this place a paradise. Billy has everything he could ever want down here with me."

"You ripped him away from his family," I said, getting a bit angrier. "And this place is not paradise. There are corpses and monsters running around here!"

"There are no monsters in the Underworld," Lana said, emphasizing her words in a cold, crisp voice. "Yes, some people may choose to wear their death forms, but they aren't forced to."

"I was attacked by a harpie," I insisted, thrusting my arm towards her so she could see the gash. "If that's not a monster, then what is?"

Lana's jaw dropped, her eyes skimming my wound. "You left the path?"

I rolled my eyes in disbelief. "That's what you care about? I was nearly killed by a demon and you're mad I stepped off the path? You're not even bothering to deny it—"

"I didn't bring monsters into the Underworld," Lana insisted. "Every soul here is human."

"Then why—?" I started, but the words caught in my throat. The harpie's face floated through my mind again, its haunting, human-like face. And its horns... horns that looked similar to the pair sprouting out of Elizabeth's skull... and the girl I had just run into on the city streets.

I felt a shiver grow from deep inside, the rumbling of fear as I realized what Lana was doing.

"That harpy... it was a human. Before. But you..." I stood up from the couch, my shaking hands spilling champagne on my skin. "You turned it into that thing. You made it a monster. That's what you do, isn't it? Take people down here and turn them into monsters."

Lana's jaw dropped. "I do not!"

"Then how do you explain it all?" I said, heart racing. "All you do is lie. You're lying about the monsters. You're lying about Billy being happy. And you lied back on Earth about being my friend!" I closed my eyes, blocking out Lana's face, her jaw agape with my accusations. I squeezed my hand into a fist, trying to still the fear and anger that raced through my veins, each fighting for control. "It doesn't matter anymore," I said, trying to calm my racing blood with a breath. "What matters is you have to give Billy back. That's why I'm here. He doesn't belong in the Underworld. He doesn't deserve this. So let him go."

When I opened my eyes, there was a new look on Lana's face: disbelief. And then her features sharpened, eyes narrowing. She placed her empty glass of champagne onto the coffee table with a sharp ting, and then she stood up, smoothing her dress with her hands. They were shaking with anger. "You know what, Jessa," she said, her voice like ice. "I thought you were my friend. But it's obvious now that you never cared about me. You think I turn people into monsters? Fine. Think that. Just get ready to see the monster you've turned me into."

She raised her arms to the sky, and suddenly her body began to twist.

It was like something out of a horror movie. Before my eyes, the Lana I knew melted away, skin liquefying and reforming as slick, black scales. Writhing, she grew taller, as horns and claws tore out of her body, ripping past new, powerful muscles. And her face reformed into something shapeless, with empty eyes and a mouth like a black hole: no edges, just dark shadows.

I had thought the harpy was frightening, but I was wrong.

This was a monster.

- - -

Hello all! This chapter has some AMAZING illustrations thanks to the talented @orangej00s . I'm so in love <3 I only included a few panels in this chapter, but there is actually a full comic page! (I've posted the whole thing at the end of this book as a bonus chapter if you want to check it out).

Anyway, let me know what you thought of the chapter! Would love to hear your thoughts :)

~Bdicocco