by Susan Hayes
“Then why am I here?” she demanded, not sure she wanted to hear the answer. Her life had been one long, lonely struggle. She wasn’t sure she could deal with having anything more offered to her. Not now, when it was too late.
He stared into her eyes, and she saw confusion lurking in those strangely glowing depths. “Fuck if I know. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I needed you. I needed to have you more than I needed my next breath. I’ve already taken you once, and I still fucking need you. I don’t know what this is, but it’s not going away.”
“You’re crazy, and apparently, so am I. I don’t know what’s pulling us together either, but if this is my last chance to grab a few moments of pleasure and happiness, I’m taking it.” If the rest of her life could be measured in hours and minutes, this was the best way she could think of to spend that time.
“I’m keeping you for more than a few minutes.”
“You can’t. I know how this works. You’re bound to obey Lucifer, right? He wants me in Hell. There’s nothing either one of us can do about that, except postpone it as long as we can.”
Alaric growled and for a moment she thought he was going to say something, but instead he simply kissed her.
Their lips were still mated when she felt the familiar tingle that accompanied a teleportation, and the next thing she knew she was stretched out beneath him on a bed piled high with thick furs. She got a brief impression of dark wood, tapestries, and a wall full of weapons, but then all her attention turned to the man looming over her, kissing her with more passion than she had ever known.
She wouldn’t say the words. But in her heart, she knew that for this one, brief moment in time, he was right.
She was his.
CHAPTER FIVE
Carnage didn’t let her out of bed for hours, or maybe it was days. Time moved differently in Purgatory, and he wasn’t paying attention to anything but Leta. Armageddon might have happened, and he wouldn’t notice, not when he had her in his arms and in his bed. She was his match in every way, keeping pace with his demands and making a few of her own. They rode each other to the heights of pleasure so many times he lost count before they finally drifted off into the dreamless sleep of sated exhaustion. It was the best sleep he’d had in centuries.
It was the acrid stench of brimstone and scorched wool that slammed him back to wakefulness. His eyes snapped open, and he looked around the room, well aware there was only one visitor who could get past his home’s defenses. “If that’s the smell of my rug being singed, I’m not going to be happy, Luc.”
“I don’t think you’re in any position to be snarling at me, Car. I sent you on a simple mission. Fetch. So why is it you’re here, sleeping, instead of getting me what I asked you for? Was I not fucking clear? Did you get confused by my instructions? Where the fuck is the girl?”
Carnage sat up and spotted a very angry Luc pacing the floor by his bed. The King of Hell had gone all out for this visit. He was sporting horns, tail, cloven hooves, and there was even a hint of smoke rising out of his ears. Oh yeah, His Highness royally was pissed.
“The girl is right here,” Leta said, tucking a sheet around her as she sat up and swept the dark fall of hair out of her eyes. “He did his job. He brought me to Hell.”
Fuck.
“Sweet cheeks, you’re not helping matters,” he muttered, reaching back to push her behind him, out of Luc’s sight.
Luc’s eyebrows rose, and the flames in his eyes burned brighter. “You banged my bounty, Fido? What part of my request that you bring her to me did you not understand? I even used small words to be sure you understood. Instead, you brought her to your place and fucked her, breaking rule number one in the process.”
Carnage frowned. “She’s in Hell, like you asked. The angels can’t get to her here, and I was bringing her to you eventually. And I didn’t break your rule, either. She doesn’t have wings.”
“Don’t try to play lawyer with me, mutt. I’m the patron saint of fucking lawyers and hair-splitters, you won’t win. Did you miss the part where I told you her mother was an angel? Of course she has wings.”
Luc turned his attention to Leta, and it was all Carnage could do not to growl at his liege for daring to look at his woman while she was naked. Fuck, he wasn’t just obsessed, he was becoming suicidal.
“Didn’t you show him your plumage, Little Bird? Or did you two skip the small talk and go straight to the main event?” Luc asked.
“Leta?” Car asked, a wealth of questions in that single word. His dick had been overriding his brain since Luc handed him the scrap of leather with her scent. He knew she was half angel, but somehow he hadn’t considered what that would mean. All he knew was that he wanted her, and he wasn’t used to denying himself the things he wanted.
Leta moved out from behind him, and he had to take a moment to admire her guts. She was naked and facing off against the Devil himself, but she was acting like it didn’t bother her a bit.
“I don’t know what the fuck he’s talking about. I don’t have wings. I can’t fly. I can’t do half of what my mother could, and I don’t have much control over my demon—I mean fallen, powers.”
Luc stopped pacing. “So, you still haven’t figured out what you’re capable of? Good. That’s very good. We need to talk, you and I. And you...” He pointed to Carnage. “Get back to the clubhouse. I’ll deal with you later.”
“No.” Car rose, naked, from the bed, putting himself between Lucifer and Leta. There was no way he was letting her go anywhere without him. He and his hound were in agreement on that. She was theirs, and not even Satan was taking her from them.
Luc clapped a hand over his eyes and swore. “For fuck’s sake, put some clothes on. And what do you mean, no? You don’t get to say that word to me. I own you, remember? Mind, body, and soul, for at least another two weeks.”
“Give her to me and you can keep my contract for another five hundred years.” The offer was out of his mouth before the thought was fully formed in his mind. It would be a small price to pay if it kept Leta alive and by his side.
Luc opened his mouth to speak, but before he could comment one way or another, Leta punched Car hard in the arm and interjected.
“Don’t you dare give up your freedom for me, asshole. That’s not your call to make!”
“It is my fucking call. You’re mine,” he snarled past his already lengthening fangs. His hound was challenging him for control, demanding they fight for what was theirs.
Leta shook her head. “No. I won’t let anyone else sacrifice themselves for me.”
“I’m not sacrificing anything, Leta. He already owns my soul, remember?”
She touched his arm almost in the same place she’d struck him only seconds before, but this time, her fingers were gentle. “After my mother gave her life to save mine I swore I wouldn’t let anyone else do that for me. I already have to carry the weight of her sacrifice. Please, Alaric, don’t make me carry yours, too.”
Leta withdrew her hand and directed her next words to Lucifer. “I’ll go with you, Luc, or Lucifer, or Your Royal Evilness, whatever your preferred title is. I’ll go willingly, but you have to promise me you won’t punish Alaric. No one else gets hurt because of me. That’s the deal. If you don’t like it, then you might as well kill me now and get it over with.”
“No!” Car roared, but Luc was already nodding. The King of Hell snapped his fingers, and Carnage found himself standing in the sealed vault beneath the clubhouse, stark naked and with his last bellow of rage echoing off the walls. Worse, when he tried to teleport, nothing happened. He tried again, then again, but it was clear that his bastard liege had stripped him of that particular ability.
He had no way to get back to Leta. She was alone with Satan, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck
* * * *
Alaric was gone. Vanished—no, banished—by a snap of Lucifer’s manicured fingers.
Part of her was thank
ful he was gone before he could convince the Devil to make good on his offer, but damn, she didn’t relish the thought of being alone with Lucifer, either.
Leta tucked the sheet around her a little more firmly and rose from the bed, determined to face her death with at least a little dignity. She did her best to ignore the unfamiliar ache in her chest as she thought about the way Alaric had tried to protect her. No one but her mother had ever done that. Everyone else had seen her as an abomination, a thing to be hunted down and used, or destroyed. He might not have had the right to lay claim to her, but she appreciated what he had tried to do. She reached up and absently touched the still-tender mark on her throat where he had bitten her, and the ache in her heart eased, just a little.
“Where did you send him? Is he alright? He won’t be punished, will he? I want your word that he’s safe and won’t be in trouble for what happened,” she said, her concern for Alaric strong enough to give her the courage to make demands of the devil in his own house.
The Devil gave her a dashing smile and shook his head. “You shouldn’t ask the Prince of Lies to give you his word on anything. Didn’t anyone tell you that I’m not to be trusted?” He ran a hand through his ebony hair, and when he was done, his horns were gone. He looked human now, save for the eerie flames that glowed in his eyes. “But to answer your questions, yes, he’s safe and sound back at the Hell Hounds’ headquarters. No, I’m not going to punish him. I never intended to do anything to him, that was all for show.”
“Why?”
Lucifer made a gesture with one hand, and she found that the sheet that had been wrapped around her had been transformed into a toga-like garment of deep red trimmed in gold.
“Why? Because I needed to know how you felt about him. If you’d stood by and let him be punished, that would have spoken to your character, and your feelings for him...or lack thereof.” He held out his hand to her. “Come. Our conversation is going to take some time, and I’d rather not do it here. Carnage is my finest Hound, but his taste in interior decorating leaves a lot to be desired.”
“Can I leave him a note? I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye.”
“Who said anything about goodbye? You’ll see him again, if you wish to, that is. I’ll have a message sent letting him know you’re fine. Good enough?”
“Yes. Thank you. And uh, I’m glad to hear I’m going to be fine. I thought you might want me dead.”
Lucifer arched a dark brow. “Dead? No, Little Bird. I don’t want you dead. If I did, I’d have sent Carnage to do the deed directly. We really need to talk, you and I.” He gestured with his outstretched hand. “Come.”
There was no turning back now. She closed the short distance between them and placed her hand in his, marveling at the turn of events that had led her here, to the moment she came face to face with the most feared being in all creation. “What do I call you?”
“Your Highness is always acceptable, of course. Grandfather would also be applicable, but it smacks of sentimentality, and implies I’m closer to my dotage than my prime.” He gave a dramatic shudder. “Why don’t you call me Luc?”
“Grandfather?” she asked, stunned.
“Mhmm. Didn’t your mother tell you? She was well aware of your father’s lineage.”
“She almost never spoke about my father, and she certainly never mentioned we were related.” Grandfather? Holy hell mom, you should have told me. That would’ve been handy information to have all the years she was alone and running for her life.
“There are some remarkably large gaps in your education, Little Bird. Come with me and I’ll see what I can do to enlighten you.”
There was another shift in the air around them, and the next thing she knew, she was standing in the middle of a palace so opulent it dazzled her senses. Reds and golds in a hundred different shades shimmered and danced in the light of a thousand torches, lamps, and candles. The air here was perfumed with exotic scents that almost hid the underlying tang of sulfur and ash that tainted the air.
When she had her bearings, Lucifer led her a short distance to a pair of gilded, ornate chairs set by a window, providing her with her first real view of Hell.
“Welcome to my home,” he said, gesturing to the vista outside.
It wasn’t what she had expected. In fact, it looked like Earth...more or less. Earth’s sky wasn’t a burnt, murky orange, though. It was also far less crowded and a lot quieter. That struck her as odd, given how many people seemed to be destined to spend eternity being punished for their sins.
The palace was set in the center of a typical modern city, with streets and buildings stretching off in all directions. The architecture was different in subtle ways, and everything was bathed in the odd orange light, but it was definitely a city, not a fiery pit of suffering. There were even people—or fallen— moving along the sidewalks, and a few vehicles trundled up and down the streets. It all seemed perfectly normal.
“You’re looking for the pits of screaming, tortured souls, and the eternal flames, are you?” Lucifer asked, his voice rife with humor.
“Yes, actually. I thought that was the point to this place?” She turned from the view and found her grandfather already seated in one of the chairs, a jewel-encrusted goblet in his hand.
“Oh, that happens here, certainly. But there aren’t many truly evil souls in existence. Purgatory is far larger than this place. That’s where most souls wind up. Not good enough for Heaven and far too good for Hell. Frankly, given how many regulations my winged brethren have, it’s amazing anyone gets past the pearly gates at all.” He beckoned her to join him. “Have a seat, Leta. I’ll answer what questions I can.”
She took the chair he pointed to, taking a moment to rearrange her dress once she was seated. It bought her a few seconds to try and come to terms with her situation. Nothing was going the way she’d expected. She was still breathing, for one thing. She might as well start with that. “Why am I here? I thought you wanted me dead. Everyone seems to.”
“I never wanted you dead, Leta. To be candid, I didn’t know anything about you until a little while ago. You’re not supposed to exist. Angels and their fallen brethren are supposed to be off-limits to each other. God’s rule, not mine. I may have mentioned He’s big on rules. Lots of Thou Shalt Nots in God’s playbook. That’s the reason I’m down here.”
“I thought you were thrown out for rebelling?”
He shrugged and flicked out the fingers of one hand in a dismissive gesture. “That’s what they call it when you don’t obey all the laws of Heaven. They have laws for everything up there, controls in place for every thought and deed. Humans get to have free will, but angels are expected to blindly obey. Those of us who question that are cast out and stripped of our wings. I was the first to get the boot, but believe me, I’m far from the last.”
And that brought up another question. “I’m not an angel. I’m just a half breed. So why did you say that I had wings? I can assure you, I don’t have any feathers. Never have. Only angels have those, right?”
“You’re wrong about that, Little Bird.” He tsked softly and shook his head. “Your mother did not do you any favors when she kept you hidden from me. I could have taught you so much.” He waved her off before she could protest. “I know she did what she thought was best, but she clearly didn’t understand what you really are. You have so much untapped potential.”
“How could she not know what I am? I was her daughter.”
“As a father of more than a dozen children, let me assure you, being a parent does not mean we’re all knowing, not even about our own offspring.” Luc gave her a benevolent smile and sipped his wine. “Trust me on that one.”
“So she didn’t know what I am, but you do. Great. Care to enlighten me, Grandfather? Then maybe you can tell me about my father. She wouldn’t even tell me his name.”
“Not even his name? Well, I can tell you that, and more besides. But today, I’d like to focus on you and your gifts.”
“Fine.
Focus. What the hell am I?” Leta had wanted to know the answer to that question her entire life. If he wasn’t going to talk about who she was, then she’d settle for knowing what she was.
“Such fire. You’re definitely your father’s child.” He set down his goblet and steepled his fingers beneath his chin. “You, Leta Fury, are the one thing Heaven fears. The angels claim dominion over two elements: air and water. The fallen lost control over those elements when they fell, but over time we learned to control the others: fire, and earth. But you... you were born with the ability to command all four elements. Also, you are half angel, which means you do indeed have wings, even if they haven’t manifested yet. You see, child, you never fell from grace. You were never bound by the rules of Heaven to begin with, so Heaven cannot take your wings.”
“Heaven doesn’t fear me, they hunt me,” Leta said with a shake of her head. “As for my abilities, they’re not all that impressive. I can’t control fire very well, and I certainly can’t manipulate any of the other elements. I can heal a little if I focus hard enough. I’ve teleported too, but only when it’s a life and death fight, and I’m losing. It’s instinct, nothing more. Using any of my powers always gives me a wicked headache, too.”
“Heaven is terrified of you. That is why they hunt you, Leta. As for your powers, you’d have better luck controlling them if you accepted your fallen half. You’re a child of two worlds, but you were raised only knowing one.”
“Angels weren’t the only ones hunting me. I’ve killed my share of fallen, too. It’s hard to accept either side of my nature when they both keep trying to kill me.”
“Any fallen who tried to hurt you was not doing it with my permission. As I said, I only recently learned of your existence. You’ve done a remarkable job of staying hidden given how little training your mother was able to give you before she died.”
“I thought all fallen answered to you?” she asked, trying to work her way through this strange conversation.