Straight to Hell

by J A Hinchey

  “Who are you?” I asked. I’d pushed out my senses but couldn’t get a read on who or what he was. He had power, I knew that much. I was kicking myself for underestimating him; it was a rookie mistake and I should have known better. My brothers would have a field day with this, but maybe that had been their intention all along.

  “Zuska.” As he spoke I caught a glimpse of his teeth. Pointy. And lots of them. Two rows from what I could see. Yet when I’d seen him take Emily’s soul, he hadn’t bitten her, he’d dragged her soul from her through a kiss. So why all the teeth? And his skin was pale, more gray than anything.

  “Is that your name, or species?” I pushed. If I could find out what he was, I could find out how to defeat him—that is if I couldn’t get him back through the portal and back to his own dimension.

  “Enough talk, Devil.” His voice was flat, devoid of emotion.

  “You know me?” No surprise. My brothers had set this up, probably given him all the intel he needed on me. Not only did it piss me off, but it riled me that I was on the defensive, that I was in the dark with what I was dealing with. But since when had my brothers ever fought fair?

  The man on the ground groaned, drawing our attention. Zuska bent slightly toward him and Levi shouted, “Back off mother fucker or I will blow your goddamn head off!” I quickly glanced at him. Did he have a gun?

  It all happened so fast. A flash of anger on Zuska’s face. We’d interrupted his snack. He drew back his arm and I saw the bolt of energy leave his palm, aimed for Levi. I stepped in front of Levi. Swiveling to face him, I extended my wings and cocooned us with them. The energy bolt bounced off, doing no harm.

  “He’s gone.” I felt the void of the Zuska’s energy. So he didn’t want a confrontation. Or he didn’t want it here and now? I wondered why.

  “Lucy?” Levi’s voice was strangled.

  “Yes, Levi?”

  “What. The. Hell?”

  I cleared my throat. “So, these are my wings, and they come in handy as a shield if I’m not using them for flying,” I explained.

  “They’re…on fire,” Levi squeaked and I finally noticed he was standing ramrod straight, barely breathing.

  “Relax, they won’t burn you. Only if I want them to. Which I don’t. See?” Before he could stop me I moved the tip of my wing and lightly caressed his cheek. He sucked in a breath and closed his eyes and I imagined he was waiting for the pain. Which didn’t come, of course. Slowly his eyes opened and he looked at me in wonder. We stood pressed together and I became aware of the heat of him, his delicious scent that set my heart racing and gave me thoughts I had no business thinking over a human. He broke the spell before I could muster the will to do so.

  “You’re hurt!” He pushed me back and I retracted my wings, staggering slightly. Levi put his hands on my shoulders to steady me as his eyes took in my torn T-shirt and the bloodstain that soaked the fabric.

  “I’m fine,” I reassured him. “All healed. See?” I lifted my shirt and showed him my side. I jumped slightly when his hand reached out and traced across my flesh.

  “Only God can judge me,” he muttered. He was reading the words inked along my rib. I’d gotten the tattoo on a dare from Michael and Gabriel. I think they’d been hoping I’d get something embarrassing or cliché, but when they’d seen it, they’d been green with envy. Always one step behind, my brothers.

  “You need to get cleaned up.” Levi moved his hand away and I looked down at the tacky blood staining my skin.

  “Let me deal with this lot first.” The patrons in the bar were looking at us in astonishment.

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Just a little memory adjustment. They’ll think there was a brawl. They’ll forget about us and Zuska. But if you don’t want to be affected, I’d step outside,” I told him.

  “Right.” He hightailed it out the door and I allowed myself a moment to admire his tight ass encased in denim. He wore it well.

  Closing my eyes, I called on my power and adjusted the memories of everyone in the room. It took but a second, but once I was done I felt light-headed and a little wobbly on my feet. I’d used a lot of power today and I was starting to feel the effects. I didn’t recharge as quickly as if I’d been home. Earth’s dimension was draining.

  Stepping outside, I shivered in the evening air. It was dark now. The parking lot looked just as it had when we arrived, no sign of the spirits and the fight that had unfolded. Dacian was gone too and I wondered why he hadn’t come into the bar. He said he was also searching for Zuska, the soul stealer, and it crossed my mind that maybe that wasn’t his true purpose. I felt a twinge in my chest at the hurt that flared when I thought about his hatred toward me. Why had he turned against me, and why couldn’t he remember our past? Zuska was my first priority, but Dacian was definitely my second. I had to get things straightened out with him.

  8

  “Lucy?” Levi gave my shoulder a nudge and I jerked awake. Blinking away my fatigue, I turned to face him.

  “Wha?”

  “You okay?” The concern in his voice touched me.

  “Used too much power today,” I grunted, fumbling for the door handle and practically falling out of the vehicle.

  “Wait, I’ll help you.”

  Ignoring him, I managed to get my feet under me and glance around. We were in the parking lot behind Levi’s shop.

  “Let’s get inside. You’re freezing.” It was true. Clad in my ripped T-shirt that was soggy with my blood, I’d started to shiver. I could easily conjure myself a change of clothes or a warm coat, but I was concerned with how low my energy reserves were. Something was wrong. Had the sword done more damage than I thought? Had I not healed properly? It made sense to conserve what energy I had left, so I let my body shiver and shake, knowing Levi would take care of me.

  Once I’d dragged myself up the stairs and into Levi’s apartment I headed toward the sofa and was about to collapse onto it when he snagged an arm around my waist and pulled me up against him.

  “No getting blood on my sofa,” he grumbled. “Shower first. I’ll get you something to wear.”

  “You have women’s clothes here?” I couldn’t keep the surprise from my voice.

  “No. You can wear something of mine. It’ll be too big, but it’ll do for sleeping in. I can put your stuff through the wash.”

  “Don’t bother. Once I’m rested and have my energy back I can conjure up some clothes. But right now, I’m exhausted, no can do.”

  I could see on his face that he wanted to ask me about the conjuring thing, but he let it drop, instead leading me to the bathroom. Reaching into the shower, he flicked the tap on, then glanced at me. “You okay to take it from here?”

  “Why? You offering to strip me naked and wash me?” I couldn’t stop the image my own words planted in my mind and the heat that speared through my body in response. He ignored me. “Yell out if you need anything.”

  Brushing past me, he closed the bathroom door behind him. With a sigh, I stripped out of my clothes, leaving them in a heap on the floor. I adjusted the temperature, then stood beneath the spray. The water flowed red, washing away the blood. I looked at my side, where the glowing sword had pierced me and frowned. There was a mark. A scar. I didn’t scar. Was it because of all the energy I’d expelled fighting the zombie ghosts? Breaking the ward? Doing the mind wipe on all the humans? But that was small stuff. I shouldn’t be this exhausted. I could barely keep my eyes open, and even though the water pounding down on me was blissful, I simply stood beneath the spray, too drained to actually wash.

  After a while, there was a bang on the door and Levi asking if I was okay. I roused myself. I do believe I’d been dozing, standing upright in the shower.

  “Yeah,” I replied, flipping off the tap and stepping out of the shower. I grabbed one of the large gray towels hanging on the towel rack and wrapped it around myself before opening the door. Levi had one hand planted against the frame, leaning against it.

&nbs
p; “You look…” He trailed off.

  “Better?” I supplied helpfully.

  “Like a drowned rat.” His lips curled in a grin, but I didn’t have the energy to respond. Fuck me, something was really wrong here and I felt a twinge of panic. Was I? Dying? Seeing my face, Levi immediately sobered.

  “What’s wrong?” he demanded, straightening from his casual lean against the doorframe.

  “I think something’s wrong. With me. I think I’m hurt.”

  “What? Where?” His eyes devoured me from head to toe, looking for signs of injury, but standing there clutching the towel to my chest was tiring. Everything was tiring. Breathing was tiring. My eyes fluttered closed and I felt Levi catch me against his chest, swearing.

  “Lucy? What’s going on?” Suddenly the world tilted as he swung me up into his arms. I wished I had the energy to enjoy being so close to him, but alas, I could feel myself slipping into oblivion—I just hoped it wasn’t forever, that I’d recover from this. Otherwise, my brothers had won, and the Earth was doomed.

  “Good morning!” Levi smiled as he bustled around the kitchen. He was dressed in his usual jeans and T-shirt. Only his feet were bare. I liked the domesticated look on him.

  “Ummm. What happened?” I’d woken in a strange bed, still wrapped in a towel, another wrapped haphazardly around my head.

  “Ah, I wondered if you’d remember passing out last night.” Levi turned, spatula in hand. “You were exhausted, passed out in my arms, slept like the dead all night. I thought the smell of me cooking breakfast might be enough to draw you out.”

  “I’m starving.” And I was. My stomach was doing the growling thing again. “You stayed with me?” I asked.

  “You said you were hurt. I was worried, so I put you in my bed. Meant to check on you throughout the night, but I fell asleep too. You were still breathing when I woke up this morning so I figured you were okay, you’d wake up when you were ready.” He paused, looking me up and down.

  “You wear a towel well.” He nodded at the towel still wrapped around my body. The one in my hair had fallen loose as soon as I’d gotten out of bed and my hair was a mass of tangles around my head. I’d been too intent on finding Levi that I hadn’t bothered to dress. With a flick of my hand, I remedied that situation. Jeans, boots, a dusky rose blouse, and a snug leather jacket. My hair once more tangle free, it fell in shiny black waves down my back.

  Sliding onto a bar stool at the kitchen counter, I watched as Levi made me a coffee, sliding the steaming mug toward me before he turned his attention back to whatever was cooking on the stove. I took a sip of the hot brew, closing my eyes with appreciation. I’d developed an addiction to coffee the first time I’d tasted it, back in the ninth century when a goat herder discovered the benefits of the beans when his goats ate them off the coffee plant. There was such a fuss that I’d visited Earth to partake of this strange new beverage and had been hooked ever since.

  “So last night at the bar,” Levi began, “and the soul stealer. He wasn’t possessing anyone’s body, right? I mean he looked the same to me, even though I didn’t really see him up close before.”

  “No, he wasn’t possessing anyone.”

  “So the vision with Lucina? A dead end?”

  “I think you picked up on her energy, her true belief that something terrible had happened to her friend.” That was why Levi had the vision—anyone sending out powerful energy spikes like that would be bound to trigger him.

  “Aliens then?”

  “Not aliens. Twins. Her colleague, the one she thought was acting strangely, has an identical twin, only Lucina didn’t know that, just that he had a brother. They pulled a prank, switching places.” I’d pieced it together at the bar. The whole scenario had revealed itself to me when I’d placed my hand on the wooden surface of the bar.

  “So it was purely coincidence that we go to that particular bar to check it out and soul stealer is there? About to take a soul?”

  “Perhaps not a coincidence. A connection, a small thread for us to follow.”

  “And what about the parking lot? All those spirits, attacking us. And you were hurt.”

  “I don’t know what that was about,” I admitted. “The soul stealer is more powerful than I gave him credit for, and if he’s controlling spirits and giving them weapons to use against me, then…”

  “Then what?”

  “I need to be very, very, careful.” I thought again of the sword piercing my side, the pain like nothing I’d ever felt before. The mark on my flesh that hadn’t healed. Hiking my shirt up, I looked at my side to see if I’d finished healing during the night.

  “That looks…painful.” Levi peered at the scar still marring my skin and I took a closer look. It was still the light pink of last night. The puckered edges hadn’t disappeared at all. I touched it. No pain. No tenderness.

  “I’ve been on Earth before and never had such a reaction, such exhaustion,” I explained, smoothing my shirt back down. “I think it has something to do with the sword and my injury. Perhaps it took more energy than I realized to heal myself—it went in deep.”

  “And it’s scarred. Is that normal?”

  “No.” I pushed down my worry, not wanting Levi to realize what a big deal this was.

  Levi looked at me but didn’t say anything more. “Here, get this into you. Maybe you just need some fuel.” Placing a plate piled high with bacon, eggs, hash browns, fried tomatoes and toast in front of me, he slid onto the stool next to me, watching as I ate.

  “Aren’t you eating?” I asked through a mouthful.

  “Already eaten. I’ve been trying to channel Sarah and Brianna, get a feel for where they are, how they’re doing.”

  “Any luck?”

  “Yes, but get this—I’m pretty sure they went to school today.”

  “You think that’s strange?” I quirked an eyebrow.

  “Well, their best friend just died. I wouldn’t expect them to go to school. Not until after the funeral at least, and that is probably a few days away.”

  Levi had a point. The teenage girls had a get-out-of-school-free card. Why would they go to school when they didn’t have to? Unless they weren’t at the school?

  “Take my hand.” I held out my hand, palm up, to Levi. He placed his hand in mine without question.

  “What are we doing?” he asked.

  “Channeling them. I want to use your powers, help boost your connection to them.”

  “Do you think something is wrong?”

  “Not necessarily, but you’re right. It’s odd that they’re at school. I just want to check that they are at school and not somewhere else.”

  “Okay.” He his eyes in concentration, and I allowed Levi’s energy to blend with mine, then I zeroed in on the connection with the talismans. Closing my own eyes, I watched the scene unfold. There they were, Sarah and Brianna and yes, they were definitely at school, talking to each other while Brianna retrieved something—a workbook—from her locker. I broke the connection and looked at Levi.

  “Did you see?”

  “That was…amazing. I’ve never had a vision so clear. It was like watching television.”

  I grinned. “Pretty neat, huh? But back to the point. The girls are at school. Sitting ducks for the soul stealer. He can easily trace their old energy, and at the school, those remnants of energy would be very concentrated. He’d know they frequent that place a lot. He only has to wait to know they’d turn up there eventually.”

  “Shit.” Levi ran a hand over his face. “Do you think he knows? Senses them?”

  I shook my head. “Not yet. He can’t sense them, remember? So he’d have to physically go and check it out and see if he can find them. Maybe he’s already done that today and missed them. But we need to get over there before he can get to them.” I kept the concern from my voice. It would be bad, very bad, if the soul stealer caught up with them.

  9

  Levi had been right. Once I’d eaten and had a coffee I felt one hundr
ed percent my old self. I’d stolen a glimpse to see if the scar still marred my skin on the way out to the van, and tamped down my worry that while the scar had faded from pink to a thin white line, it was still a scar. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t precious about having flawless skin. I was worried about why I scarred. Ordinarily, you could slice my hand off and it would grow back with no signs of injury. But this? This was different, another complication to add to my worries earthside.

  In the confines of the van, it was impossible to ignore Levi by my side. He smelled so damn delicious I wanted to lean over and taste him with my tongue. It confused me, the heady emotions of being close to him, of the overwhelming hunger I experienced whenever I was within his orbit. It made me wriggle in my seat, drawing attention to myself.

  “Everything okay?” He’d put sunglasses on and I could see myself reflected in the lenses. I nodded. Fine. Everything was fine. I conjured my own sunglasses to hide behind.

  I listened to his inane chatter as we headed out to the school. He told me about the town and its history, how it was founded in the mining era, how he’d moved here after his grandmother had died. My heart melted a little when I realized he’d been caring for his grandmother, that he’d seen to her every need until she’d passed. That said a lot about a man. That was back in Redmeadows. She’d taught him the craft, had recognized the signs of clairvoyance in him and had nurtured them, and kudos to her. She’d taught him well.

  “Sorry. I must be boring you.” Levi laughed self-depreciatingly and I shook my head in denial.

  “Not at all. Your grandmother sounds like a wonderful lady. I’m sorry for your loss.” For I could feel it, beneath his words and memories and recollections was the thread of pain for what was gone.

  “She was.” He glanced my way. Taking one hand off the wheel, he reached over and placed his hand over mine where it rested on my thigh. The untamed bolt of desire was volatile, scorching me with the fierceness of it.