My stomach turns. I’ll never condone murder, but in this Jordan’s case, it does seem a bit unfair. Had he not died, he could’ve atoned in prison and eventually made his way to Heaven.
“That . . . doesn’t seem just,” I admit. “But Heaven has to know something you don’t. They wouldn’t have just sent him directly here.” I shake my head. “No, you’re missing some key details.”
He shrugs. “I spend a lot of time in both Heaven and Hell, and quite frankly,
neither one is altruistic. Heaven is just as bad as Hell in some respects. They don’t do anything that doesn’t benefit themselves, Victoria.
“Careful, reaper. God might smite you.”
River grins. “I’m pretty sure we’ve all been smitten already.”
My eyebrow rises. “You mean the reapers?”
He looks around the room. “Well . . . at least one of us.”
I can’t help but grin back.
“Everyone out,” Nolda barks, and all the demons rise at the command, filing out of the room.
I stay seated with those that remain, waiting for demons to come usher me out. When they don’t, I slink down, trying to make myself as invisible as possible, wanting to hear what’s coming next. What plan could Nolda possibly have to overthrow Luke?
“Now, let’s get down to business,” Nolda says. “You two came to Hell for a reason, and I demand to know why.” He addresses the couple. “It’s very convenient that you two would stumble into Hell right before the doors were sealed. How?”
They exchange a glance but neither says a word.
“They were sent by Heaven,” River cuts in. “I have it on good authority that God placed them here to keep an eye on her.”
My head snaps to River, who’s looking at me. “Me? He closed Hell and sent them to watch me for what?” I ask.
“That’s what I’d like to know. For some reason, God doesn’t want Lucifer here, and that’s only been the case since you arrived.”
“You think Heaven is trying to divide them?” Nolda asks River.
“My queen believes so, and that has her curious. It’s why she’s granted this audience, Nolda. So . . . I’ll hear out your spiel, but let’s not pretend like Lucifer’s absence is anything but what it is—forced. He’d already be here if not for Heaven’s interference.”
Despite River’s early condemnation of Luke, this moment has me even more curious about the reaper. He’s making sure that everyone in this room knows that Lucifer is trying to get here.
Nolda glowers at River before turning toward the man-and-woman combo. “Is this true, Curtis? Sarah?”
Sarah nods.
“Sarah. You can’t—”
“Silence!” Nolda screeches. “What were you offered?”
Sarah doesn’t look at her companion when she rushes on. “Help against Elion. We were told that he has asked for the power of Hell to tear down our ward and extract the twins for Jacob Osborne. Lucifer told him no, but you . . . You agreed,” Sarah spits at his feet.
Nolda simply laughs at her vulgar display.
I’ve heard of Elion before. He’s supposedly Lucifer’s right-hand demon. The very demon who tortures souls and trains others how to do it effectively to bend their will to Hell’s.
“Do you know what they have planned for Anna and Andrew?”
Sarah chews on her cheek. “They don’t go by those names anymore.”
“Whatever,” Nolda’s hands shoo off Sarah’s words. “They won’t have a choice for long. Once they’re in Jacob’s clutches, they’ll be back to whoever he decides they’re to be, serving Elion. Serving me.”
Sarah’s face pales. “When?”
“The moment Lucifer is removed.”
A wicked smile curves Nolda’s face. “Just so we’re clear, I don’t want nor need his help.”
The couple share a glance, both of them looking confused.
Curtis’s eyes narrow. “So, you aren’t planning to work with Elion?”
“He believes I am, but no. I’m aware of his true motives. He won’t settle for ruling his portion of Hell. He’ll want it all. He’ll try to steal the throne as soon as Lucifer is out of the way. I won’t allow that to happen.”
I don’t know whether to be horrified or impressed that Nolda isn’t the complete idiot I thought him to be. For sure, I didn’t anticipate that he’d see through the other high demons’ offers of help.
“How do you know this? No offense, Nolda, but you don’t have the power that Elion does. It should be difficult for you to see through his glamours.” River’s tone is cutting, and I can’t help but smirk at his dismissal of Nolda.
“I have access to a witch who was easily able to read him. She’s far more powerful than the likes of Jacob Osborne.”
The two high demons at Nolda’s side appear to grow agitated, but at what, I’m unsure.
“Who?” River demands.
“She’s currently working with the Council to overthrow Julian here.”
“What?” Lawrence yells. “Who are you working with?”
I hadn’t noticed the four demons who’d crept up behind the two vampires until Lawrence’s outburst.
They snatch them up from their seats, binding their hands behind their backs.
“What is the meaning of this?” Julian demands.
Nolda’s eyes gleam. “I’m sorry, boys, but this couldn’t be helped. I was given a heads up that you’d ask for access to the portal to the Fae world. It was my duty to ensure you both arrived. You were never going to gain access to the portal. You were allowed in only so I could uphold my part of the deal. You two, in exchange for her alliance.”
“Whose alliance?” Lawrence bellows.
“Julian . . . I’m disappointed. I thought you were the sharp one.”
Lawrence’s eyes roll at that comment, completely unaffected by the slight.
“No guesses?” He sighs. “Your father’s old friend. Yvette LaVeau.”
Before either vampire can react, the demons shoot something into their necks and their bodies go slack.
“Take them to the cells,” he commands, and the demons drag the unconscious vampires from the room.
There’s no love lost between me and vampires. I hunt to kill where they’re concerned, but everything I know about Julian Bellamy—which admittedly is little—suggests he’s different. And that thought makes what just happened feel all wrong.
I look to River, who appears indifferent to what just went down.
“You’re not going to do anything?”
He shrugs. “Not my circus.”
I scoff. “It will be when there are more dead souls than living. They’ll end humanity.”
River stabs his knife into a piece of meat, popping it into his mouth and making a show of chewing. “The Earth could use a good cleansing,” he finally says around a mouthful.
“Ugh. You’re as sick as him,” I deride, nodding my head toward Nolda.
He isn’t paying any attention to us. His gaze is fixed on Sarah and Curtis, whose heads are together as they deliberate.
“Do you think they realize that either way, they’re doomed?”
“Doubtful. They’re too preoccupied with saving their heirs.”
“Twins? What’s the deal with them?”
“No clue. I haven’t really concerned myself with witch politics. No need.” He pops another piece of meat into his mouth.
“What politics do you concern yourself with?”
“Today? Which side of the war—if any—to join. To be honest, all reapers are kind of looking forward to a holiday. If humanity is wiped clean, there isn’t much for us to do. We can whisk away to another dimension and relax for a few decades. At least until God decides to make more of his pets.”
My nose crinkles in disgust. “You really are a selfish breed.”
“You have no idea, princess.”
“Call me princess one more time, and I’ll kick your ass in front of all these demons.”
He smi
rks. “Good luck with that.”
“If you’re not going to work with Elion, what does that mean for us?” Curtis asks, pulling all our eyes to him.
“Despite my preference, Yvette has requested an audience with you. She’s looking for a new coven,” Nolda replies.
“A new coven?” Curtis asks.
“She’s been excommunicated from hers. For what we have planned, she needs a new one. If you cooperate, you live. Resist, and you die.”
Sarah and Curtis speak softly to each other before Curtis raises his head back to Nolda.
“If we agree, are we free to go?”
“That’s not really an option right now. The gates are closed. Nobody in or out.” Nolda’s hands come up. “For now, you stay. It’s as simple as that.”
“You were able to come in,” I say to River without thinking, and now the attention is on us.
“You’re still here?” Nolda grinds through his teeth. “Someone take her back to her cell.”
Two demons move toward me, and River stands, placing himself between me and the demons. “I said she stays.”
Nolda leans forward, playing at fierce, but coming up short. “I’ve played your games, reaper . . . but I’m done.”
River throws his head back and laughs. “You are quite delusional, demon. You have no power over me. I’d have left the moment you opened your mouth if not for my curiosity where these newcomers are concerned. You don’t impress me. It’s only a matter of time before the other high demons come for you. Those two are probably making their plans to overthrow you while sitting next to you.”
“Insolence,” the demon with horns booms, shaking the table.
“Truth,” River says, bemused and completely unruffled. “You and I both know it.”
I’ve ended many demon lives over my lifespan and although I’ve come up against some frightening foes, none have been more so than the demon next to Nolda.
Yet River doesn’t so much as blink at the snarling being glaring down at him. I’ve heard stories of the reaper warriors and always wondered how much truth there was to those stories. They must be true. River is fearless.
“Detain him,” Nolda seethes, but nobody in the room moves to do so.
It’s almost comical how little respect this demon trying to overthrow Lucifer receives from his own subjects.
“If you dare, the entire reaper army will swarm Hell in minutes. I’m here at the sole request of Her Majesty,” River warns, earning a glower from Nolda.
“She won’t protect you.”
River laughs, but its deadly edge wipes all expression from Nolda’s face.
“You have no idea who you’re speaking to, demon. I am to be king.”
His words from earlier about being second only to the queen rush back to me. Does this make him her consort?
River stands unwaveringly tall, staring down Nolda with the fortitude of any king I’ve ever seen. It makes sense that the queen would want him by her side.
The room remains silent with the revelation. My eyes flick from River to Nolda, whose face is somehow sallower than it was before.
“You’re to marry Queen Camille?”
“No,” River shakes his head. “Not the queen. The princess.”
Turning back toward River, my eyes narrow. He hadn’t mentioned a princess before. How would that make him king?
“The princess? She . . . she’s been found?”
My head volleys back and forth between the demon and the reaper, frustrated that I’m missing key details that would help make this picture clearer.
“It’s why I’m still here,” River explains. “The queen believes she might know something about the princess,” he says, nodding his head to indicate me.
“Me? I . . . don’t,” I admit.
“Spit it out, reaper. What makes Queen Camille think she knows anything?” Nolda snaps, seemingly as aggravated as I am.
River glances at me for a moment before turning back to Nolda. “Your guess is as good as mine. I’m to bring her to the reaper kingdom. Only then will Queen Camille give you her aid.”
GOLD
My head jerks back. “What? I’m not going to the reaper kingdom.”
“Sorry princess, but you are. No way around it,” he says, sparing me one quick glance before turning his entire body away from me. “I’ll need to leave with her by nightfall,” River continues, and I have the urge to shake him.
“I don’t know anything. I already told you that.” My voice pitches from both frustration and a growing sense of panic.
I don’t want to be in Hell, but at least here, Luke will be able to get to me. If I’m taken to whatever otherworld the reaper queen hides out in, it will be nearly impossible for him to find me.
“She’s not going anywhere. If Queen Camille wants an audience with her, she shall come here. I, for one, would like to know what this angel could possibly know that the queen wishes to uncover.”
“That makes two of us,” I say curtly.
River takes a threatening step toward Nolda, and the wolf-like beast bares his teeth.
“If the queen learns that you’ve kept someone she deems special locked up here in a cage, you can be sure you’ll never wear the crown.”
Nolda blinks rapidly, looking between the two demons at his side. The wolf dips his chin as if to say let her go. Or he could be giving the approval to end River’s life. Either is a possibility.
“Fine,” he snarls, looking none too happy to have to kowtow to anyone’s wishes. “Go to the queen. Take her with you as a sign of good faith that when you return, I’ll have your allegiance for allowing her the audience she’s requested.”
Nolda’s tight-lipped smile belies his shaking hands. He’s good and pissed, all right. And worse, he’s not sure this is the right move. But he knows not to cross the reaper queen. “I must say, congratulations are in order, if she’s the key to uncovering where your future wife has been hiding out all this time.”
Future wife?
“Yes well, she seems to believe Victoria is the key to uncovering her whereabouts.”
“Are you all insane? I’ve told you already, I know nothing about this missing princess. I hardly knew a thing about reapers before today.”
I level River with a glare that promises harm. “If you’re counting on me, your future is bleak. And for the last time, I’m not going anywhere.”
His lip curls into a grin that boils my already scalding blood. “Sorry to disappoint, princess, but you are. I’m sure of it.”
Disgust is too small a word for what I feel in the moment. Rage. Hatred. All of it bubbles to the surface, and before I know it, my fists are slamming into a solid wall of muscle.
I might not have my full power here in Hell, but I’m strong, and that truth is evidenced by the way River’s brows tilt inward with every smack to the chest I deliver. He’s taking me away right before Luke can get to me.
“You bastard!” I yell, continuing my assault. “You’re not taking me anywhere. I won’t go.”
“Jesus Christ and Christmas, will someone get her under control?” Nolda bemoans.
My fists are caught in River’s solid grip as he bears down on me with that same infuriating grin. I want to slap it from his entirely too beautiful face.
My chest heaves with every shallow breath I take. The walls are closing in, and I know I need to get myself together or else suffer a major panic attack in front of these vile people.
“Calm down, Victoria.” River leans into me so that only I can hear his next words. “You don’t want to show weakness here.”
I continue flailing, trying and failing to kick River in the shins. I’ll show him weakness. “You . . . monster.”
River crashes me to his chest. “I’ve been called worse, princess. Now calm the fuck down.”
His tone is one of warning. And it pisses me off even more. If he thinks that dominance is the way to get my submission, he doesn’t know who he’s messing with.
I stomp my fo
ot down onto his, slap him across the face, and bring my knee up into his crotch.
Then . . . I run for it.
I don’t get far before strong arms circle around my middle, hauling me back into his firm chest. I know it’s him without even looking. The intoxicating scent of pine, leather, and whiskey gives him away.
“Let me go!” I screech, kicking my legs out.
“Damn it, Victoria,” he curses into my ear, before loosening his grip and spinning me around to face him. “Can’t you just trust me?”
“Hell no!” I snap out breathily. “Why would I trust you? Huh? You’re fine with just letting these demons torture and kill innocent humans. Children, River. How can I trust you knowing that you’re fine with all of that so long as you get your holiday?”
He sighs heavily, taking a step back, but still holding my arms to my sides.
“There is more at stake here than you know. I have a part to play, and you might not know what that entails, but you have to trust that I’m not the bad guy. Can you try that, Victoria? Can you give me some time?”
“Do you really plan to take me away from here?”
“Yes.”
“I won’t go. I can’t, River. He’s coming for me.”
He throws his head back in frustration. “He can’t. They won’t allow him in, Victoria. It’s why Heaven sealed the doors. I was meant to find you here and take you home. The queen said so herself.”
“How do you know this? How did she?”
“On my part? Call it a very strong intuition. As for the queen, she knows things that are beyond my comprehension. All I can tell you is that Heaven is trying to keep you safe while also preventing an all-out war.”
“And going to the reaper kingdom, which by the way I didn’t realize existed, is the way to keep me safe and prevent war?” I throw my hands up in the air.
“I believe so.”
“You believe so? That’s not good enough, River.”
“It has to be. It’s all I can offer you at the moment.”
Trust the Fall (Fallen Hunters Series Book 2) Page 7