“So good to finally meet you.”
The door slammed shut and Reese spun around. Without thinking, she grabbed her bow and nocked an arrow to it, pointing it at air. He laughed and she spun around again. Where was he? Where was his voice coming from? She looked up, trying to see his silhouette in the rafters but… nothing.
“Behind you.”
Reese spun again, her back away from the door, only to find Lucas Burr in a suit more expensive than one of Jack’s. It molded to his body perfectly, his blond hair coiffed back. His cufflinks glittered in the electric light, and Reese knew they were real gold. He was literally dressed in the millions. His shoes were shined–possibly they were new, bought just for this evening–not a hair out of place. He had to look perfect for the kidnapping, apparently.
“The infamous Seer.”
Reese kept her arrow pointed at him, even as he continued to walk towards her. He didn’t make any sudden movements, wasn’t being aggressive towards her. In fact, he looked calm. Smug. As though everything was going exactly the way he had planned. He didn’t look like he had a care in the world, not even with Reese’s arrow in his face.
For a second, her grey eyes flickered over to Andie, but she was still in the same position she had been in before.
“Your mother was one of my best employees,” he continued, and she felt her grip on the bow tighten while her grip on the arrow loosened, as though she was ready to shoot it and mar his perfect, beautiful face ugly. “You look just like her.”
“Why do you have Andie?” Reese asked through gritted teeth. She wanted to ignore him because she knew he was just trying to goad her, trying to get to her, to get under her skin. Trying to make her squirm.
“Because she is the key to getting exactly what I want.” He smiled then, and she nearly flinched. He looked like a beast, like an animal.
“And what do you want?” Maybe if she could keep him talking, Jack would get here. Maybe this was the perfect way for her to buy the time she desperately needed. Andie didn’t look like she could waste much time anyways.
“Souls, of course.” He answered as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. “You are a bright, young woman, Miss Lespoir. You know who I am. You know how this world works. I’ve been in Onyx for a few years now, trying to accumulate more souls to join me in my paradise.”
“Hell is not a paradise.”
“How do you know?” he asked. “You’ve never been there. All you know is hearsay.”
Reese gave him a flat look. “Why her?” she asked, her brow knitted together. “Why Andie and not someone else?”
Lucas’s face contorted into something distasteful. “Don’t play dumb, girl,” he said. “You know why. She has Black Wing wrapped around her finger. If I can kill Black Wing, send him back to that place, I can cause Onyx to erupt in total and complete panic. Their precious symbol of hope, ripped from them the same way God rips souls from bodies and then judges their merit. If the city succumbs to chaos, they won’t seek God. They’ll seek me.”
“You hate humanity,” Reese pointed out. “Why would you want them to turn to you in their time of need?”
“So I can crush them. I’m here, collecting souls, from city to city. I want to crush their hope even further until there is none left and they are like me, shunned from God and Heaven and humanity. I want them to feel empty and alone and lost. I want them to hate their families and friends, their homes. I want them to hate themselves. I want them to hate God.”
“Like you.”
The answer was simple. How could she not have seen it before?
“What do you mean?”
“You live a miserable existence and you want everyone to feel the hate and the jealousy you feel. You want everyone to be miserable, just like you. And some people are that way. But you’re not satisfied with them. You want to turn people miserable. Because they, at least, have a chance to redeem themselves.”
“Are you attempting to psychoanalyze me?” He laughed. “Don’t hurt yourself, sweetheart. I am what I am, and no one can change me. I don’t want to change.”
“God still loves you, you know.” Reese had no idea how she knew certain things, didn’t know if what she was saying was actually true. She almost felt as though someone was speaking through her while she was still able to maintain control of her body. “You’re still His.” She tightened her fingers on the string of her bow. “But I’m not here to preach to you or try and save you. I’m here to get Andie back.”
He started laughing again. “You amuse me, Miss Lespoir,” he told her. “I genuinely like you. You would have been a good match for my son. But I can’t let you rescue Miss Shepherd. If Black Wing can fall, anybody can. And when they do, which they will, that’s my cue to strike.”
“You’ll at least let me try?” Reese asked, pouting her lips.
He smiled darkly. “I’ll relish in it,” he promised.
She immediately released the arrow and it went straight for his heart. Lucas easily stepped out of the way. She fired again. And again. And again. He was too fast. Reese was out of arrows and she needed to think fast. She didn’t want to turn her back to him, didn’t trust him to fight fair, but she needed to move around and collect her fallen arrows. Her eyes looked left, right, down, up, and then –
The sprinkler system.
She could hit the pipe with the arrow, causing water to shoot out. All she needed to do was distract him long enough to grab more arrows. She needed to pierce his heart. Just because he was immortal didn’t mean he wouldn’t feel it. The reminder of what pain felt like would send him back to Hell for the next century, trapped in his own tortuous paradise. At least, that was what Henry had told her.
At that moment, she shot the overhead pipe and prayed for something, anything. When water burst out, just like in the movies, she thanked God. Lucas shouted when he got drenched, giving her just enough time to dash past him…
…and slip on the slick concrete, falling forward and landing flat on her face. She couldn’t help a grunt of pain as she forced herself to roll on her back in order to keep her eyes on Lucas. She couldn’t let him out of her sight. She realized, then, she had lost her bow in the fall.
“I really am sorry about this, Miss Lespoir,” Lucas said, kicking the bow off to the side. “To be honest, I thought you’d make this a little more challenging for me. Ah well. It’s all the same in the end, isn’t it?” Once he was directly in front of Reese, he knelt down. “I’m going to have to kill you because of what you represent. I think I’ll do it by one of your own arrows too. Poetic justice and all that. I promise I’ll make it quick, so you do know I’m merciful.”
Before he could do more, an arrow was suddenly jammed through his chest, the tip a few inches from Reese’s face. In an instant, he burst into ash before he disappeared into nothingness.
And then Andie all but toppled over, practically in Reese’s lap.
“Is he dead?” she asked, breathless.
“For now,” Reese answered. She smiled a tired smile and got to her feet before helping Andie do the same. “Come on, closet bamf. Let’s get you home.”
36
It was almost like a dream… They were set free, and because Keirah turned, just to look, just to make sure, it turned into a nightmare.
They were trapped, and she’d be sent away.
But she always has something up her sleeve…
The minute Keirah and Noir returned to their bedroom, Noir gripped Keirah’s shoulder and thrust her around. Before she could blink, he snapped her head back with the back of his hand. She nearly toppled down from the force. She caressed the stinging injury with the pads of her fingertips but she did not cry or tear up. She knew she would be left with a red mark so defined each of his knuckles would have its own groove. It would only emphasize the J on her opposite cheek.
“What the, um, hell, princess, was that?” he said, his voice maintained but tense, similar to a lion ready to pounce. He fixed his gold eyes in he
rs, his scar twitching involuntarily. She realized then that that was his tell; the chink in his armor. Originally, she thought he did it with purpose, to inspire fear in his victims lucky enough–or unlucky, depending on perspective–to get close enough to his face to really see his scar. But that wasn’t the case. It was something that happened when he felt he was losing control. He couldn’t help it.
It made him seem more human.
“That was our freedom.” He smacked his lips so the sound echoed off the concrete walls. The dark shadows made his eyes look like liquid. “And you, well, you threw it all away so you could look at uh this.” He gestured at his face, which only seemed to make him more upset. The anger, so clear on his face, was unlike him. Though he looked nothing short of terrifying, he also looked… vulnerable.
“You’re beautiful.”
He acted fast, and Keirah didn’t even think before she realized the pain in her face had doubled. He uttered one word.
“Don’t.”
Keirah didn’t listen.
“No.” She stepped towards him, hoping he could see the truth in her words on her face. “It’s the truth, Noir.” She paused. “Jace.”
He flinched at the sound of his name on her lips and she dared to take a step forward. “I lo–”
He cut her off by leaping in her direction. He knocked her down as his long fingers coiled around her neck. He had choked her so many times, they fit into their proper place like a lover had her side of the bed. The back of her head smacked the floor and for a split second, she saw stars, but she didn’t particularly care. The pain faded to numbness. Her one goal was to get through to him, to make him believe her words.
“Don’t uh say things you don’t really mean,” he told her in a dark voice, his fingers tightening their grip.
“I do,” she choked out. Blackness began to replace the stars and her head started to tingle. Her eyes watered and though she wanted nothing more than to keep her eyes open, she couldn’t. She might die here by his hands. Her soul would be trapped here forever. There was no way she’d be allowed to go to Heaven, not after what she had done. It’s all right. As long as I’m trapped with him. Her only regret was how things ended with Andie.
And then she could breathe again, and she sucked in air like an addict sucked alcohol.
“What?” he hissed, his eyes still doubtful, still filled with so much hate.
It took Keirah a moment to realize what he was asking her.
“I love you,” she managed to get out. She was breathless and her throat burned, but he could not deny the sincerity in her tone. “I love you for exactly who you are. Jace, Noir, it doesn’t matter because I love you. This isn’t a phase. This isn’t Stockholm Syndrome. This is love. At least, this is the way I interpret love.” She wished it didn’t hurt to speak. “I don’t know if it’s wrong or right–” She cut herself off. “Actually, no, scratch that. I do know it’s wrong on so many levels. But I don’t care.” She shrugged. “I want to be with you. For as long as you’ll have me.”
Noir let out what sounded like a strangled sob before biting the inside of his cheek so hard, Keirah was certain it would bleed. “Then why…” He let his voice trail off. It was as though he was afraid to speak, afraid to voice his concern. It was like he believed she already rejected him. She had never seen him this way before. She wasn’t sure how she felt about it.
“I faltered. I didn’t know if you would follow. And if we were stuck here, at least we were stuck here together.”
Noir’s jaw popped and he loomed over her. This was the Noir she knew. This was the Noir she fell in love with. “You ignorant fool,” he hissed. “I would have followed, well, I would have followed you any uh where. I just don’t want to be herrre.” His voice was crisp and articulate. She shivered when he stepped closer to her. “You got us into this mess, dollface. I, uh, I expect you to get. Us. Out.”
“I will,” she assured him before sucking on the inside of her cheek. She just needed to put her plan in motion.
Two days went by, and Keirah’s mind ached from all the thinking without the solutions. Noir didn’t nag her, something she was grateful for. Instead, he would pace up and down the room like a proud lion confined to a cage. He could escape any earthly imprisonment, but not Purgatory. He was wilting here, she could tell. The way his shoulders curved forward, the disappearance of the maniacal glint in his eyes. The way they had sex was more about release than inflicting either pleasure or pain.
She had to get them out of here.
On the third day, the couple got an unexpected visitor. Seph stood there in a pale pink dress that went to the floor, exposing her shoulders and emphasizing her waist. She still wore her glasses, her blonde hair still pulled up in its usual ponytail. For whatever reason, she couldn’t bring herself to look at Keirah, and for some inexplicable reason, that bugged Keirah. Really bugged her. It wasn’t like their current predicament was Seph’s fault. Keirah turned around. Keirah was the one who looked back. Seph lived here. It wasn’t as though she was going anywhere anytime soon. She was in love with Hades, after all. And whether he wanted to admit it or not, he was in love with her too. Hades was lucky she was willing to put up with being stationary, too. Seph couldn’t leave, was unable to see the world. In a way, he took her for granted, knowing she would always be around.
Her thoughts drifted off, and without realizing it, her lips curved up into a grin. She had come up with a plan.
When they reached the Throne Room, they found Hades sitting erect, looking down at them with his cold, midnight blue eyes.
“You’re here,” he began as they entered, not bothering to wait for them to get into position, “because you need to learn the ways of Purgatory. You’ll be here for an indeterminate amount of time, and it’s important you understand what we expect from you, and also, what you can expect here.” He paused as he watched Seph step off to the side, ensuring Keirah and Noir had an unimpeded view of Hades. Keirah kept the goddess in her peripheral, her arms hanging loosely by her sides. “You will not be leaving anytime soon. You will follow our rules. You will follow our customs. If not, you will be punished in a way that would hurt you the most.”
“And that would be?” Noir asked, skeptical.
“Separation. I decided you may remain here, Miss Shepherd, because your presence will insure Noir’s cooperation.”
The word was simple, yet caused Keirah’s heart to constrict. She reacted before she thought. No one would separate them. Not again. Not ever. She immediately grabbed Seph so the goddess’s back was against her chest, and pressed a knife–one of Noir’s actually, that Keirah kept on her person at all times–against her throat. Immediately, Hades’s hand shot up and his guards froze.
“She is immortal,” he pointed out to Keirah. His voice was steady, like a stream, but there was a slight tremor, a ripple, that permeated his tone. And those midnight blue eyes, once so guarded, gave him away.
“She can still die.” Her voice, unlike his, was calm. She felt Noir still behind her, could feel his gold eyes on her frame and it gave her even more confidence.
“She’d just get sent back here.”
Did he really think she was a fool?
“Her soul would, certainly,” Keirah allowed. “But she wouldn’t be the same. You couldn’t touch her again. Ever.”
His eyes narrowed and his lips twitched as though he was snarling. “We had a deal.” It was getting more and more difficult for him to maintain his composure. “It’s not my fault, and it’s certainly not Seph’s fault, that you couldn’t keep your end of it. You knew what you were getting into. Now, you must suffer the consequences.”
Keirah shrugged. “Maybe that’s how things are supposed to work,” she said, “but I don’t play that way.”
“Where did ah where did this Keirah come from?” Noir said from behind her. He smacked his lips and a pleasurable shiver slid down her spine. “Maybe I should, uh, well, disappear more often.”
Keirah felt her heart r
ace and her blood burn with adrenaline. No wonder crime was so prevalent: being bad felt so good. She could feel Seph’s pulse thrum under her skin; in this instant, Keirah was God. She had Seph’s life in her hands.
“You will let us go,” she stated, keeping her eyes locked with Hades.
“I will not–”
Keirah dug the knife into Seph’s throat so she drew blood. The goddess gasped. She wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice Seph if she had to.
“You will.” The two simply stared at each other. The moment was tight, claustrophobic even. Keirah wasn’t worried. She knew he would give in.
Then –
His lip twitched.
And that was how she knew she had him.
“Get. Out.”
Her smirk broke out into a full-fledged smile. She had done it. They were free.
Finally.
37
Andie woke up in the hospital twenty-four hours later with a searing headache and a sore body. She winced, having trouble keeping her eyes open due to the fact that the light was definitely not helping her headache. She pursed her dry lips together, suddenly craving water more than anything else. She must not have heard the murmurs surrounding her bedside because it wasn’t until she caught sight of Melinda’s dark curls did she realize that she wasn’t alone. Of course, such a realization startled the her causing her body to tense, which didn’t do anything to assist the ache that consumed her everywhere.
“Hey,” a familiar voice said from her bedside. Andie turned and her whole face brightened when she came in contact with her mother. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m okay,” Andie croaked, her throat incredibly dry. Her words caused her guests–Melinda and Carey–all to roll their eyes. Leave it to Andie to say she was okay when it was so clear that she was not. The young woman furrowed her brow as gently as she could, trying to take in her surroundings, but not able to do so fully. “What happened?”
Sacrifice: Book 3 of The Dark Paradise Trilogy Page 26