Chapter 4
Getting out of hell was hard, only those with the blood of the devil could use the Ring Gate. Getting back is easy though. All you had to do was close your eyes and say diabolum ducere, which means 'devil take me'.
I ran through the graveyard and far into the trees, making sure that Angelo couldn't see me. Once I was sure he was out if sight, I stopped and caught my breath.
"Diabolum ducere." I whispered and the world rippled around me and I was standing in the main hall next to the ring gate.
I sighed with relief and daydreamed about Angelo as I walked back to my room. He was amazing, kind, funny, he did trick me into eating cold food which was horrid, but he was human. He couldn't know that ingesting cold food makes me sick.
My stomach gurgled. Yup, gonna need to get rid of that. I thought to myself. The process of making myself purge food from my stomach is not pleasant. I don't need food to survive, nor drink. But eating food is not unpleasant. The favors were wonderful. That ice cream was too sweet, and cold. It's too much for my system to handle.
Angelo. My tall dark traveler. He lied when he said he was from Puerto Rico, that much I knew, but he meant it when he said he traveled a lot. He seemed to be good at detecting lies, which surprised me. No one can ever get through my lies. Aside from Papa, but even with Papa I can get away with half truths.
But this man knew I was lying the moment the false words left my mouth.
That's going to be a problem. I thought as I turned down my hall.
Why did I agree to see him again? I scolded myself. This will only end badly, either way you will lose him. Papa could find out and he will kill Angelo without a thought. My brothers might think about it but they would kill him just for touching me. The best scenario is that no one finds out and he grows old and dies, while I stay young.
I shuddered at the thought of the worst scenario. What if he finds out who I really am and then I have to kill him? No. That will never happen. I've been walking among the humans for 32 years, he won't find out.
I opened my door, ready to fall into bed and sleep the night away, but I forgot about three things.
My brothers.
I was grabbed and pulled inside and crushed in a hug by a blubbering Errol as Edmund slammed the door behind me.
"Where in Hell were you?!" Erik roared, his eyes blazing.
I rolled my eyes. "I wasn't in Hell, I was on earth."
Edmund grabbed my arm and yanked me away from Errol. "Don't get smart with us Evelyn." He growled in my face.
"We were worried sick!" Errol cried. His carefully primped appearance was a total wreck. He pushed Edmund away and patted my face and my arms. "Are you hurt? Were you kidnapped? Did you get lost?"
"And if one of those aren't your answers then you better have a damn good reason for disappearing like that." Erik snarled.
I sighed. "No I'm not hurt, I wasn't kidnapped, and I didn't get lost. Do you really think I would let myself be kidnapped by some pathetic human?" I held out my hand and the glowing red flames of hell parked and lit like a mini bonfire on my palm. The flames licked at my fingers like old friends.
I grinned at my fiery pets then glared at my brothers. "I was dancing and I got shoved away from the crowd, then I took a walk and lost track of time. I thought you three had more faith in me. I'm not helpless." I closed my hand putting out the flames.
"Eve you tripped over your own feet and almost cracked your head open on the bathroom floor this morning!" Edmund roared. "Last week you slipped on the stairs to Mortain's tower and broke an arm! Three weeks ago you cut yourself on a broken piece of glass in Virasa's workshop! The glass was nowhere near you and yet somehow it got lodged in your arm!" He grabbed the tops of my shoulders and shook me. "You are small, you are fragile, and you can't go anywhere without being in danger! You need to be protected!"
That hurt. A tear fell slowly down my cheek, I closed my eyes and jerked away from my stunned brothers. It was hard to make me cry. So when it happened it was bad.
"Get out." I whispered. Turning away from them.
"Eve, honey." Errol pleaded quietly. "He didn't mean it, he-"
"I said get out." My tone was cold, stone, unyielding.
"Eve please, I'm-" Edmund started to say.
"GET OUT!" I screamed, whirling to face them. My rage and pain boiled over and I burst into flames, a living bonfire, my eyes blazing. "Leave! Go! You have done enough! I don't want to see your faces for the rest of the night! If I do so help me I'll-"
"What in the name of Lucifer is going on in here?" Virus demanded as she and Isa walked into my room.
My flames went out. And what they left was me crying silently with glowing red eyes.
"Leave us, boys." Virus ordered. And they left like kicked dogs, looking back at me with shame on their faces as they closed the door.
"Mongrels." I muttered, and wiped away my tears.
"Here." Isa tossed me a pair of ratty sweats and an oversized t-shirt, my favorite pajamas. "Get into something comfy and tell us what happened."
I sighed and pulled off my clothes and changed. "Edmund said I can't go anywhere without being in danger, that I'm fragile, and I need to be protected."
"Well that's not entirely untrue dear." Virus said, as she helped me unbuckle my coin skirt.
She held up a hand. "Now before you get all huffy, let me speak. Evelyn, among us sisters you have the least amount of strength, you are easily sickened by the cold, and of us all, you are the only one who did not rip her way out of your dead mothers corpse. You were born from ashes, your mother burned by the last rays of mortal sun as they entered Hell for a moment. You rose from the ashes soft and as hot as the fires of Hell. But I was born with sharpened teeth and claws at all fell off soon after I was born, Isa was similar."
"Eve, you are a bit of a clutz." Isa said kindly, as all three of us climbed on my bed and sank into my pillows. "You do attract danger because of it and protection is not an unreasonable thing to have, but we can see where those words hurt you and we understand. We just want you to understand that your brothers love you, and they were just worried about you. You frightened them."
"I did?" That thought hadn't occurred to me.
Virus nodded. "When they came home without you they were half out of their minds with worry. Everyone was worried. But Edmund, Erik and Errol were in such a state that no one dared go near them. We convinced them to stay here and wait for you. We knew you could take care of yourself and would come home eventually, but were were still worried."
"I'm sorry I worried you." I said.
Virus patted my leg. "It's alright dear." She kissed my forehead and rolled of the bed. "I must get back to my workshop, goodnight." And she walked out.
"Alright!" Isa grinned at me and bounced on the bed. "Now you can tell me what you were really doing running away from tweedle dee, dum, and dummer!"
I sighed and tried to suppress my smile, but I failed. "I wish you wouldn't call them that."
"Well I don't care, and you're avoiding the question." Isa flopped back down on the bed and sat on her knees, her yellow eyes wide with excitement. That mixed with her wild red hair made her look like a dangerous cat ready to pounce.
I laughed. "Okay I'll tell you but you can't tell anyone! Especially not Papa or my brothers. Got it?"
She puts a hand over her heart. "I Ignisa Acidya, the Acid Princess and fourth daughter of Satan, solemnly swear to not tell a soul, living or dead about what I hear tonight in this room."
"Good." I said, then grinned. "I met a boy."
That was all it took for the screaming to start. Be and Isa jumped up and down on the bed as we screamed with giddy joy.
"By the devil, Eve!" Isa cried, pulling me back down to the bed. "Tell me everything! Right now, go!"
"Okay. His name is Angelo-"
"Is he hot?"
I chuckled. "Oh honey I couldn't speak this man was so delicious! Tall, thick dark hair, golden brown tanned skin that you just wanted to lick, yum. Muscly arms and chest, trust me I fell on top of him like twice!"
Isa oohed and ahhed and gestured hurriedly for me to continue.
"He had a gorgeous white smile and a voice like honey. His eyes, oh his eyes, green as the amazon forest, greener than Virus's eyes! Warm and cool at the same time. I felt safer with this boy than anyone in the world."
"Even the triplets?"
I giggled, "even them. He took me to a restaurant and had me try these foods. He spoke fluent Brazilian! He said that he can speak five languages and kept calling me señorita. The foods were amazing, they set my mouth on fire and were so full of flavor. But then he had me try ice cream and chocolate cake. The cake was yummy, a little spicy as well, but the ice cream was gross and cold, too sweet."
"Are you alright?" Isa was now growing concerned.
"Yeah, I'll throw it up later, I'm fine."
Appeased for the moment she got excited again. "What else happened?"
"Well, he wanted to know who I was. And I told him that I couldn't tell him, that he didn't want to know, and you know what he did?"
"What?"
I grinned and giggled. "He said 'and what if I truly want to know?'"
We screeched in excitement. "And what did you say?"
"I told him that maybe I'd tell him someday."
Isa's face grew sad. "Eve, you shouldn't have said that."
"I know. But I can't lie to him, he already caught me in one lie. I had to give him something." I shifted uncomfotably. "Besides he was staring at me with those green eyes and I couldn't think."
"You must be careful sister." A quiet voice came from behind.
I whirled around to see Mortain standing like the grim reaper in my doorway.
Before I could blather out a convincing lie she stopped me. "I will keep your secret. But you must be sure that Papa never finds out, or your brother guard. It will not end well if either of those happen."
"I know." I said sadly.
"Listen Evelyn." Mortain urged in her quiet voice. "He can never find out who you are. It will destroy you." Something sparked in her deep black eyes, a flash of pain that was gone so quick I probably imagined it.
"I won't let him find out." I promised. "If he even suspects I will stay away from Brazil for a couple decades and then he'll be dead."
"You say that now, but you are young." She turned and left with a swirl of black cloth. "Guard your heart sister, it is the only thing you own."