“Now, let’s just sit down, talk like civilized people, and figure out our next steps. Karen, I still have questions. I hope you will have some answers.”

So saying, Logan took a seat on a rock he had rolled over to the fire as an impromptu chair upon first moving in. Beauty did the same, settling into her accustomed place on their moss bed by the fire. Both of them pretended that there was not an awkward silence still hanging between them. Reluctantly, Karen shuffled over and lowered her naked bum to an outcropping of rock.

“I’m so confused,” she mumbled.

“Then you are in good company,” Logan replied. “Because I have been in a constant state of confusion since waking up in this nightmare. Maybe together we can clear some of that up.”

Karen nodded. “I’ll try.”

“Good.” He made an effort to smile. “That's all we can expect. I know almost nothing, so anything helps.”

Karen looked at him as if seeing Logan for the first time. “Who are you?”

He shook his head. “No one of consequence.”

“I don’t believe that.” She looked him up and down, especially at the weapons and armor he wore. “You’re Essence is as strong as one of them. Strong enough to fight them and win. Yet, you know almost nothing of the world outside this cave. How is that possible?”

“I honestly do not know,” he replied. “That is just one of the things I hope you can help me understand… eventually.”

“Alright,” she sighed. “What do you want to talk about?”

“How about we start with that word you just said. What do you mean when you say my Essence?”

“You know, you’re…” she struggled to find the words. “The strength of your spiritual energy. Your power.”

“My… power,” he repeated in a dubious tone.

“Yes, of course.” She reached out with a hand toward his arm and hesitated. “May I, um… touch you?”

“I don’t see the harm,” he replied, more curious than concerned.

Karen laid her fingers on his arm, then slid her hand around as much of the muscles of his forearm as she could, and gently squeezed. Playfully, Logan made a fist to make the muscles roll beneath her fingers. Karen made a low noise in her throat and pulled her hand back as if burned.

“I can’t believe it.” She shook her head, wide-eyed. “I can feel the heat coming off of you like a furnace. Your Essence must be incredible!”

Beauty just smiled and nodded.

Karen looked back and forth from him to Beauty. “How could she not have fed from you by now?”

Her question shook Logan to his core, a harsh reminder of the fears that had begun praying on his thoughts only hours ago. Jesus H Christ! Is that the truth of it? Is Beauty literally feeding on my soul? His skin crawled to think about it.

That was not a conversation Logan was comfortable having with a stranger. No so Beauty. She opened her mouth as if to answer. Logan jumped in with a quick change of topic.

“What can you tell me about Hell itself?” he asked. “There is so much I need to know. About the human souls trapped here and about the Master's ruling over them. Please, assume I know absolutely nothing and explain it to me if you can.”

“I’m not sure where to begin to answer that,” she admitted.

Logan smiled. “There is no rush. Wherever you like.”

Karen stared into the fire and shrugged. “Only three things matter here; sex, strength, and power. Sex because every human soul damned to this Circle of Hell craves it, and power because the demons know that only they have the ability to grant us even a moment’s peace from that awful, endless hunger. Strength is the measure of who rules and who is ruled. At the top is Asmodeus, prince and absolute ruler of this realm and all who have been damned for the sin of lust. Below him are the Dukes and Barons of Hell. Below them are the Masters, and below them are the soldiers; demons too weak to claim a title for themselves. At the bottom, of course, are the souls of the damned.”

“You said “Circle of Hell” just now,” Logan said. “As in Nine Circles of Hell? Like in that book… what was it called… Dante’s Inferno!”

“That is what I have been told,” Karen replied. “But I know nothing except this place.”

Logan nodded. “The Circle of Lust. Well, that certainly explains everyone’s obsession with sex. That would also mean there are other Circles for the rest of the seven deadly sins.” He tried to tick them off on his fingers. Anger, greed, um… wrath?”

Karen spoke up in a soft voice. “Pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed, and sloth.”

“Right,” he nodded. “Yes. Thank you, Karen. I’m not a Christian so I’m not too familiar with all of this nonsense.”

She nodded. “Many here claim they were not of the Christian faith. That did not save them when their time of judgment arrived.”

“And isn’t that a very curious thing?” Logan mused. “What of all the other faiths in the world such as Islam, Buddhism, Wiccan, and Hinduism, just to name a few. Were they all wrong and Christianity was the only truth?”

“Obviously,” Karen answered.

“Is it?” he replied. “Have you ever met another damned soul who claimed to be a devout believer in any other major religion? Or even a devout Christian for that matter?”

Karen thought about it. “Well… no.”

Logan nodded. “And what of all the religions older than Christianity? Mankind is something like 10,000 years old. Christianity is a little more than 2,000 years old. What about the billions of souls before then?”

“I…,” Karen shook her head. “I don’t know.”

“Ok,” Logan waved it away. “No worries. Let’s table theology and talk geography. If there are rulers then there must be some kind of civilization to rule. Beauty tells me there is something like a city around here.”

“I have heard rumors,” Karen answered. “Two cities, both enormous, vile nests where the Masters live in luxury and slaves service their every depraved desire. Sodom and Gomorrah. The nearest is Gomorrah, only a few days travel from here.”

“Ah,” he chuckled. “Of course. How very Biblical.”

“Yes. It is said that male slaves are sent to Sodom. Gomorrah trades in female souls. Or so I have heard.”

“That sounds about right,” Logan said. “That was what the other demon was doing, yes? Capturing you to be a slave?”

“Yes,” Karen shuddered at the memory. “I met another soul once who claimed to have escaped from Gomorrah. He said he was captured and sold to a Master as a sex slave. He also said…” Karen huddled into herself and rubbed at her arms as if suddenly chilled. “He said that he was one of the lucky ones. That there was a worse fate than slavery.”

“What does that mean?”

She shook her head. “I was too afraid to ask.”

“No worries.” Logan smiled gently. “It’s ok. Remember that you are safe here.”

“No place is truly safe,” Karen sighed. “It is our fate is to suffer for our sins.”

“Your fate?” Logan asked. “If you don’t mind me asking, why do you think that?”

“In life, I was a prostitute,” Karen whispered almost too low to hear. “I attended church every Sunday but that did not change the fact that I damned myself by accepting money in exchange for sex.”

A hot, surge of primal fury stole his breath away. “That doesn’t make you a bad person. Prostitution is perfectly legal in many countries and your body is… was yours to do with as you wanted.”

“I knew it was wrong,” she replied. “The Bible says it is a sin.”

He was sorely tempted to argue further but refrained. What would be the point? Nothing he said would make any difference except to rub salt into the wound of her guilty conscience. “Can you tell me more about this uncontrollable lust you say all souls must suffer in this Circle? When we first met, you offered yourself to Beauty. Why would you do that if you fear all demons?”

Karen gave him an odd look. “The two of you saved me from that hunter and from an eternity of slavery. I had hoped that, if I proved myself worthy, she might allow me a place in her harem.”

Logan blinked at her in surprise. “Why would Beauty have a harem of all things?”

Karen just looked at him, uncertainty was written all over her pretty face. “As I said, sex, strength, and power are all that matter. A harem represents all three. A demon’s power can be gauged at a glance by the size and prestige of his or her harem. And for the one who joins, it is the closest thing to security and family than any of us will ever know.”

*****

Logan lay on the moss, in the silence, and watched the shadows creep in as the fire continued to flicker and die. Even the ever-present Hellwind had ceased to moan and scratch at the rock outside. The cluster of crystals was a steady, orange glow against the back cavern wall. Karen slept awkwardly on the far side of the fire, on unyielding ground, with her back to him. A small pile of animal hides had been the only comfort he could offer.

Beauty was curled up almost in her accustomed place, on her side with her back to him. They did not spoon, did not touch as they normally would. Only a few scant inches between them but it felt much farther.

Perhaps she slept; perhaps she merely lay still. Like so many things where the Succubus was concerned, he could not know for certain. Despite the luscious curves of her naked body, it had never been more clear that she was not human. To judge her by human standards had been a painful mistake that he did not intend to repeat. What that meant in practical terms remained to be seen. The current status of their relationship remained… undetermined.

That would have to be addressed, and sooner rather than later. The simple reality was that he could not afford to alienate his only ally. Now that Karen’s recovery seemed well underway, Logan had to find a way to set things right with the Succubus. How he was going to do that also remained a mystery.

Like his future.

Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it. It was a thought that tasted of bitter irony, that circled around in his brain like a vulture over fresh roadkill, ugly and persistent.

He had wanted to better understand Beauty. He had wanted answers from Karen. Now Logan had both.

Goddammit, he thought.

Long after the conversation was over, Karen’s words still haunted his every thought. The picture she had painted of life in Hell was all he feared and more. Human souls, wandering naked and helpless across a nightmare landscape. In small tribes when they could, but more often alone because large numbers drew unwanted attention.

Hungry, but too weak to hunt. Weary, yet scared to sleep. Tortured by their own unending, insatiable sexual hunger. Aching for a release that could only bring greater suffering. Endlessly hunted by demonic overlords, for sport, or profit, or just for amusement.

All his life, Hell had been nothing more than a children’s cautionary tale. Be good or you will go to Hell. Even experiencing it first hand had not revealed the sublime horror of what it truly meant to be a damned soul, forever trapped, forever suffering. And for what? Was this part of some grand plan from a cosmic being that he didn’t even believe was real?

It made no sense! An eternity of pain, prison without hope of parole, for the sin of being human? A starving person steals a loaf of bread and gets to pay penance until the end of time? How was that fair? How in the fuck was that a plan, divine or otherwise?

The very idea was twisted and sadistic. It was wrong. It was evil, and he wanted no part of it.

Not my god. Not my afterlife. I don’t belong here.

Logan went very still as an idea took root in his mind. A seemingly impossible idea but under the circumstances…

Queen Maeve put me here. She claimed she could take me back out again if I just called her name. That means there is a way out. It can be done!

To escape Hell itself. How such a thing could be done, he could not begin to imagine but that didn’t matter. He had to try. Find a way out or die trying. Either option was preferable to where he was now.

Even a desperate plan was better than no plan at all. For the first time since descending into Hell, Logan fell into a peaceful sleep and dreamed of blue skies, the smell of fresh bread, and the sound of laughter.