Hell's Redemption- The Complete Series Boxset

by Grace McGinty

  “Who’s the head of your organization?”

  “No.”

  “Who runs your organization?” I said again, laying a kick into his ribs. Still silence. “Fuck it. Eat him.”

  “No, no. Vladimir Rousevik. Vladimir Rousevik!”

  The name rang a bell, but I didn’t know why. “Thank you.” I refused to turn away as he died. I cemented his face in my memory. Romanus swiped one of those steak knife sized claws across his throat, separating his head from his body.

  I walked over to Charlie, who was eyeing me warily.

  “Are you okay?”

  He just nodded, but he wouldn’t look at me. I reached up and grabbed his face, lowering his eyes to mine.

  “You know I had to, right?” He nodded, but there was so much sadness in his expression that I felt my heart crack.

  Rouen was lifting Nazir into his arms. “He’s stirring.”

  I ran over, stroking his face. I could feel his pain and his confusion. “It’s okay. We’ve got you now. It’s gonna be fine.”

  Naz’s eyelashes fluttered against his cheeks, and then they slid open. I held back my gasp, but Charlie didn’t.

  One eye was his normal dark brown, the other a swirling mercury silver.

  What had we done?

  Part II

  Chapter Eight

  Naz looked around the room, his mercury silver eye darting from Romanus and Rouen, to the floor which was painted red with blood and littered with body parts. When his gaze settled on me, my heart stuttered to a stop. I could feel him. I could feel them all, but Naz’s emotions were like this bright flare of pain that burned like acid in my veins. He was so confused, scared even, although his outer demeanor looked in control.

  “Hey, Naz. Are you okay?” My voice was gentle, like I was talking to a wounded predator. The feral look in his eye was making my heart pound. “It’s alright now. I’ve got you, okay?”

  Praying that the bond worked similar to the one I had with Hope, I sent reassuring feelings down the golden thread. I always imagined it like one of those tin can phones you made as a kid.

  He sucked in a breath, and if anything, looked more outwardly panicked. He stepped toward me, but Romanus was suddenly there, his body partially blocking mine. Naz raised his lip in a silent snarl that was almost animalistic.

  I rested my hand on Romanus’ back. “It’s alright.”

  Romanus didn’t turn to look at me but Rouen crept around my other side, one hand resting on my arm.

  “Charlie,” Rouen said pleasantly. “Could you do me a favor and take Rella out through the back door? Things are about to get bloody. Again. It will be worse if they have to fight over her like a dog with a bone.”

  Charlie was beside me before Rouen had even finished his request, wrapping his fingers around my wrist, tugging me away.

  “Come on,” he urged, sounding desperate. I looked at him quickly, noticing that his face was pale and his hand was trembling where it was gripping my wrist. I'd been a cop for long enough to recognize the signs of shock. I was torn.

  “What are they doing?” I asked Rouen, letting Charlie tug me a few steps.

  “They are going to fight it out to see who is more dominant,” Rouen said casually, but he reached out a hand and cupped my cheek. “It’ll be fine, Rella. I promise. They just have to establish each other's strength, and then everyone will be happy. Rom won’t hurt him too much. You have my word. He’s pack.”

  I jolted like I’d been hit. I’d changed him. I’d made Naz something else. He was going to hate me.

  Rouen wrapped his arms around me. He pressed his lips against my temple. “It’ll be fine, my Queen. Just go.”

  I finally let Charlie pull me away, and I was careful not to step in any of the rapidly congealing blood. We needed to get out here. We didn't have time for this shit, when anyone could turn up at any moment and find us in a room full of dead bodies.

  We got to the kicked-in door, and I pulled out of Charlie’s grasp. I needed to watch this. I’d stay out of the way, but I couldn’t leave. He might need me. I didn’t know which he I was referring to, but I couldn’t leave when everything was so tense. The new bonds were already fucking with my head.

  “Stand down, Soldier,” Romanus growled, maintaining eye contact. Surely, one of them had to blink, or look at Rouen, or for me, or something. They wouldn’t stand there in a room full of body parts forever, right?

  “No,” Naz growled. Actually growled, like a lion or a tiger or some other predator that was basically prowling death.

  “So be it,” Romanus growled back, and handed his knives to Rouen, never looking away. “Let’s do this, but make it quick. Our Queen needs us.”

  Naz’s eyes shot away then, searching for me in the falling darkness of the warehouse. His eyes locked with mine, and oxygen seemed to turn to lead in my chest. So much darkness in him. So much pain. I felt like I was having a heart attack.

  He tore his gaze away and rolled his shoulders, his feet apart, his balance centered. They sized each other up, and then Naz attacked.

  He was inhumanly quick. He whirled in with two quick left jabs that Romanus ducked, but a low kick got the gargoyle in the knee. But Rom’s reflexes were equally as fast, and he kept his feet, using his forward momentum to get inside Naz’s reach, throwing a hard left that Naz dodged, but following it with a quick right and an uppercut that connected with a jaw cracking thud.

  I stepped forward. I knew that a blow that hard would break a man's jaw.

  But apparently Naz was no longer simply a man. He shook his head, and then swept out with his legs again. He couldn't reach Romanus’ head for a clean knockout blow, because Rom stood a good half a foot taller, but he was slower than Naz. The low kick connected hard and Romanus stumbled backwards. Naz was on him in a second, taking the gargoyle to the ground, laying brutal blows to Rom’s face with his elbows. But he had no chance of keeping him there. Rom rolled over until he was under Naz’s back, pinning his arm around his throat, Naz’s other arm locked in a brutal hold that I was sure would pop his shoulder right out.

  “Submit.”

  Naz just shook his head. He couldn’t get enough air to speak.

  “Submit, you fucker. We don’t have time for this bullshit,” Romanus’ voice echoed around the warehouse.

  Naz just continued to struggle. With a snarl, Romanus flipped them both over, and in a move so fast my eyes couldn't even track it, had Naz pinned to the ground on his back, his huge body lying over the top of the smaller man’s and his fangs on his neck.

  Naz stilled. His eyes met mine, and I saw him tilt his head a little to the left, baring his throat. It wasn’t a submission by any stretch of the imagination, his eyes still held fiery anger, but it was the end of the fight. Romanus reared back a little, and hammered a fist into Naz’s temple, and the body beneath him went limp.

  I ran over to them. “Romanus, what the fuck? He submitted.”

  Rom stood, and wiped the blood from his mouth. “Hardly. We don’t have time for his posturing bullshit, and we need to get the hell out of here before the cavalry arrives. We’ll figure the rest out when we get back to the hotel. Don’t worry, Red, a hit like that won’t kill him anymore.” He turned to Rouen. “The human got our strength. Hits like a sledgehammer and takes injury like a tank.”

  Rouen bent down and picked Naz up like a ragdoll, cradling him almost gently against his chest. “Think he’ll get the dragon?”

  I sucked in a breath. Holy shit. Would he? Would I? Fuck, why couldn’t I breathe?

  Both of the Gargoyles turned in unison. Their concern pulsed in down our bonds. They could sense my panic too.

  Romanus came over and wrapped his arms around me. “Don’t panic. We will figure it out. Maybe we can find a way to undo it.”

  I felt a wave of Rouen’s anguish as Romanus spoke. He might not have chosen to become a pack this way, but he didn’t want to take it back.

  I looked around at the carnage. I slipped out of Romanu
s’ arms, and tried to think. We needed to burn this whole place down. “Do your dragons have fire?”

  Romanus shook his head. “No.”

  That was disappointing. I looked around. In the movies there was always an extremely convenient form of accelerant just lying around. Best I had was Volchek’s Range Rover. I walked over to the back and prayed that someone was a boy scout. While I didn’t find a convenient can of gas, I did find a small case of vodka. I couldn’t read the label, but it was definitely Russian. I raised my eyes at the alcohol percentage. We might just have to confiscate one of these.

  Hmm. “Romanus, can I have your shirt?” He didn’t even question me, just peeled off his shirt. I openly appreciated the ripple of his muscles as he pulled it over his head. I popped open the gas tank, took a bottle of vodka and poured it over the fabric in my hands. “Tear it please?” Romanus tore the vodka drenched shirt like it was tissue paper, a smug grin on his face.

  I stuffed one end in the gas tank and used the vodka to make a trail to the closest body part. “Grab a bottle and start pouring it over the bodies. Especially over Naz’s blood.” I looked at Charlie, who was staring at me as if I’d grown horns. I touched the top of my head, just in case I had. I wasn’t about to dismiss anything as crazy anymore.

  “I know, Charlie. Let’s just do this and go home, okay?” I held out the vodka to him. His jaw tensed, but he took a long hard pull at the bottle, but then started coating the decapitated heads. We made short work of the whole thing. Charlie pulled out an old-fashioned Zippo lighters, the type that flipped open with a click. He’d gotten it for his sixteenth birthday from Uncle Joe. It had the Mulligan family crest on it. He carried it everywhere, even though he didn’t smoke, like some kind of security blanket. Plus, he used it to pick up women, the suave bastard.

  I lit the end of the alcohol that now puddled around Naz’s chair, so I was sure it would burn.

  Then we all ran for the door.

  “Where is your car?” I panted, and Charlie pointed to the back side of the next warehouse.

  “They ran us off the road, zipped tied us while we were out and then drove the car back here. Guess they wanted to be thorough. Hopefully, the keys are still in it.”

  It wouldn't matter either way. We could both hotwire a car. Misspent youth and all that, but it would be a bitch to get the spare key.

  I jumped as the car exploded in the warehouse. Romanus put a steadying hand on my back, and I could feel his calm confidence flowing down our bond. Our fucking bond. I still hadn’t wrapped my mind around the whole thing.

  We found Charlie's car easy enough, and the keys were still in it, thank fuck. Rouen slid Naz, who was still unconscious in his arms, into the cargo area. I don’t know how hard Romanus hit him, but it must have been a punishing blow if even the car exploding hadn’t woken him. I knew it would be enough to kill a normal man.

  I slid in the cargo area beside him, despite Romanus’ disapproving glare. Rouen stretched across the back seat. No one argued about seating arrangements. I needed to be with Naz. He was gonna have a killer headache at the very least, and the last thing we needed was a special forces trained mercenary freaking out while we were driving. Romanus drove, and Charlie sat in the back beside Rouen, his head in his hands.

  Romanus sped out of the docks, and I looked out the back windscreen fire licked out the windows of the wooden warehouse. Good. I hope the whole thing burnt to the ground before anyone noticed.

  I laid down beside Naz and just watched his face, focusing on our connection. I knew why Hope flinched when she met him now. It wasn’t because he was bad or evil, but because he emitted wave after wave of guilt, pain, and darkness. That would have been like a physical slap to sweet little sixteen year old Hope.

  But I wasn’t a sixteen year old empath. His darkness called to my own. I rolled onto my back as the car bounced over uneven road. That little part of my soul that revelled in bringing pain to those who had harmed my own, the part that wanted to drink and fuck and do every terrible, sinful thing I could think of, clung to my new links. The part of me that knew that Hell was the best I would ever obtain, so I was going to make my time here worth it. Besides, I was almost unofficially the Princess of Hell, so why not?

  I sensed when Naz came awake, and now that I could brace myself for his pain, it wasn't so suffocating. I turned and met his eyes, trying not to focus on his left eye, with its shining silver iris. My body tensed, waiting for him to go full kamikaze on me.

  Instead, he just stared at me. Maybe we’d broken him. “Do you feel okay? Physically?” I asked quietly.

  He just nodded. I let out a little sigh of relief. At least it hadn’t been all for nothing.

  “For what it's worth, I'm sorry. But I couldn't let you die.”

  He nodded but still didn’t speak. Despite what he said, I was worried we had done some serious damage. I felt fine, but I wasn’t all that human to start with. Nazir had been one hundred percent Grade-A human. Who knew what effect it would have, making him part of a gargoyle pack.

  Physically, he’d changed almost completely. I didn’t mean his aesthetics. He still looked like Naz. Hard, tattooed body, sexy square jaw, the scar I could see that started on his hip where his shirt had ridden up a little. But he could survive a temple blow from Romanus, and that was no easy feat. He’d gotten their nearly impenetrable hide. If the heat warming my own shocked system was anything to go by, he’d gotten their inner warmth as well.

  “Are you okay, you know, up here?” I tapped my temple.

  “It hurts.”

  I let out the breath I hadn’t even realized I was holding when he spoke. “That’s probably because Romanus hit you in the side of the head like a steam train.”

  He shook his head again, and winced. “No. It’s you. Your pain. It hurts.”

  Oh shit. I took several deep breaths and locked away everything but my concern for the people in this car. I could deal with my own crazy emotions later. I sent my reassurance down our bond again. Hopefully it would help this time.

  “I need to touch you. I’m compelled to do it. I can’t help it,” he forced the words out through gritted teeth, fighting the impulse. I held back the sob that clogged my throat. He was going to hate this, having his autonomy stripped from him.

  “It’ll get better, Naz. I know it, okay? I just couldn't let you die,” I repeated. It was a plea for understanding.

  “I know. Thank you. I’m alive because of you.” His words were sincere, I knew that. What I couldn’t understand was why the thought of being alive caused him so much pain. I let out a shuddering breath, and that was as much as Naz could take. He reached out and wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me close so he could spoon his body around mine.

  I held still, letting him take a few shuddery breaths as he sniffed my hair deeply. He was working on instinct. He was no longer in control.

  “We will try and fix it. Romanus said we could. I didn't want you to die, but I don’t want you to live trapped by this bond either. I’ll find a way to take you out of the bond without hurting the other two.”

  Naz didn’t say anything, just dipping his head so his nose was buried in my neck. There was nothing sexual in the act, even though we fit together like two pieces of a whole. He just needed an instinctual comfort, and I would give it to him if it eased some of the tangled, dark emotions that were sliding through the bond between us.

  We stayed like that the rest of the way to the motel, everyone in the car trapped by the uneasy silence. When Romanus finally pulled up in front of the tiny little crap shack we’d been calling home for the last few days, I nearly cried with relief. I put on a brave face but realized that would never work again because most of the rooms occupants now had their own plug into my emotional hotline.

  For the first time since Charlie rented the room, I didn’t give a damn about bugs, or dirt or suspicious stains. We were battered and bruised, physically and emotionally. I just wanted to sleep for a month.

 
But we couldn’t sleep. Not really. We just committed murder on US soil. What if the cops linked it back to us? I straightened my spine. I’d committed to this and now was not the time to get assassins remorse.

  Naz walked through the room, heading straight into the bathroom. Moments later I heard the shower running. I flopped face down on to the big bed.

  There was so much I still had to do. We needed to set alerts to ensure that the local cops had no idea it was us. We needed to research this Vladimir Rousevik guy. We needed to be in Geneva ASAP before the trail ran any colder.

  But all I wanted to do was lie in bed in a massive puppy pile of bodies and reassure myself that we were all okay. Different, but okay.

  And I needed Charlie.

  “Charlie.” He hadn’t looked me in the eye since we set the warehouse on fire. But I needed my best friend right then.

  My eyes found him standing at the foot of the bed, staring down at me with something that looked like anguish on his face. “Please.”

  I wasn’t above begging sometimes. I need his familiarity, because my world had gone completely crazy.

  His face folded. He kicked off his shoes and hopped into bed beside me, stiff. I wasn’t going to let that happen. I refused to let things be weird. I burrowed against his body, tucking my head on his chest, and wrapped my arm around his middle. I breathed in deeply, allowing the fear for his safety, the horror show at the warehouse and all the other shit that played on my mind, just drift away. His body eventually relaxed minutely, and he stroked my hair.

  “What have you done, Rella? This changes everything,” he whispered so softly that I wasn’t sure I was meant to hear. So, I didn’t answer because I didn’t know either. I’d saved a life and taken a dozen more. My soul wasn’t as light as a feather any more, if it ever was.

  I shook my head minutely. It changed nothing, not really. I still loved Charlie, and I wished he had a bond with me so he could feel that. Then he could feel my heartbreak that he was pulling away. I could feel the distance increasing between us, deep in a part of my heart that belonged only to Charlie.