Her Black Soul (The Dark Amulet Series Book 3)

by A. J. Norris

  “There’s no reason she can’t volunteer,” Suzie insisted. “I’m just saying.”

  Abaddon’s jaw clenched. The muscles undulated beneath the skin. He groaned.

  A female with a tail left the group around the Ruler. “Yeah, I agree.”

  “On your knees,” another one said to Evita.

  The Ruler stomped his foot. “I said leave her alone!” he snapped. Everyone near the Ruler took one large collective step back. Abaddon glared at her. “I will not make you do something against your will, but I warned you not to rile up the others. You were a mistake, I should’ve never—”

  “I-I didn’t do anything,” Evita pleaded.

  “That’s the problem,” Suzie interjected with a sneer.

  Abaddon pointed at Suzie. “Shut. Your. Mouth.” He whistled with two fingers in his mouth. Every single female in the room covered their ears, desperate to block the shrill noise. The door flung open and Berus, the bull-headed demon, barged into the chamber. “Get her out of here!” Abaddon barked at the demon.

  He snorted once and charged her.

  “No!” Evita scrambled, crawling toward the corner as if he couldn’t reach her there. There was no place to hide. He caught her ankle and dragged her over the ground. Her fingers scratched at the surface, bending her nails back. She cried; Suzie laughed.

  Berus gripped her waist with his clawed hands, digging into her softer flesh. He lifted her and placed her back to his front and wrapped his arms around her torso. Evita didn’t bother resisting; he was like a smooth red stone, his hold unyielding.

  “Chain her in the Void…and put some clothes on her,” Abaddon shuddered.

  No. Evita froze when she heard the word ‘Void’. This section of Netherworld housed the most heinous Damned souls. Even the Demon Ruler himself avoided it for the most part. She went limp and wept. Abaddon stood aside as they brushed past him, veering away from them both. Or was that only Evita?

  The demon wound his way through a maze of dim passageways, lit by torches mounted high on the walls. What little light there was didn’t travel all the way to the ground. Berus breathed down the back of her neck. Her head bobbed from his jarring movements. Evita hadn’t personally been to the Void, but knew the rumors about the place weren’t just rumors.

  The demon ducked into another tunnel that was at least familiar. At one end of the passage, light flickered in an almost inviting fashion, and on the other end it dead-ended into her new home.

  The room of doom.

  When they reached the entrance to the Void, she closed her eyes when an awful stench wafted over from the enormous pit in the floor. Screams rose out of the deep chasm. Berus tossed her down. Evita bit her tongue. She skittered toward the shadows along a wall. Tears streaked her cheeks. The demon clicked and grunted at some ram-headed demons and they rushed by, clacking their cloven-hooves on the hard-packed clay floor. Berus squatted in front of her and snorted in her face, warning her not to move.

  The rams returned with a tattered dress she’d once worn. One of them deposited it at her feet. Berus made a motion with a hand, indicating she get dressed.

  The demons fastened a chain to a ring attached to the wall then shackled her wrists to pieces forking off the long chain at the end. A large metal ball that one of the rams rolled over was also hooked on the chain midway between the wall and her hands. She stood gaping at the massive restraints. It seemed like a lot of iron for one female. What the Netherworld? What did they think she was capable of, chained to a wall?

  CHAPTER THREE

  Virgil

  Virgil couldn’t move. The Supreme Demon Ruler of Netherworld gripped him from behind. He struggled, but Abaddon’s oversized arms imprisoned Virgil’s at his sides. The Demon laughed next to his ear, expelling hot ashtray breath, making him cringe.

  “Do you mind? Your halitosis is terrible. They make mouthwash for that sort of thing.”

  Virgil glowered at Suzie who giggled. “Did you hear that Aba?”

  “Yes, I heard. He won’t be cracking jokes when I’m through with him,” the ebony-skinned monster said.

  In front of Virgil, the warped edges of a portal formed. When Aba stepped closer to the gateway, the angel raised his feet and placed them on either side of the opening, stopping them from entering the other realm. The Demon snorted and pressed onward. Virgil’s weaker legs didn’t stand a chance of keeping him on Earth’s side of the portal. The pain became unbearable and he dropped his feet. He didn’t see the sense in further weakening himself with broken legs.

  He peered inside the other dimension and saw only darkness. A pealing screech escaped the blackness beyond. Cries of agony resounded all around them as Aba entered Netherworld with him. Torches lit the narrow path in front of them. Steaming liquid rock bubbled in pools on each side of the terra cotta ground, and sooty residue streaked the walls. Suzie walked a few paces ahead of them, glancing over her shoulder every couple of yards. She kicked black dust into the air around her high heels. Flesh-colored wings sprouted out of her exposed upper back, a whitish jelly-like substance oozing down the back of her strapless dress. Oddly, she seemed unfazed by what Virgil imagined was a painful experience. He thought that maybe she enjoyed it. Unlike Amalya, who had also been poisoned by Abaddon and had grown wings, this former human didn’t have any feathers. Hooked claws adorned the top crests of the naked wings.

  “What are you gonna do with him?” she asked Aba.

  “About the only thing I can do. What I have to do.”

  “Goat-legs and horns? Memory wipe? Aw, I think you can do better than that.”

  Aba stopped and Virgil welcomed the temporary relief from his jolting gait. “No. Clip his wings and toss him into the pit.”

  Suzie whistled. “Ouch. The Void. And here I was thinking you’d grown soft.”

  “I’ve never grown soft where it counts.”

  Virgil rolled his eyes. He wouldn’t take that bet.

  The beast’s cloven-hooves stomped harder with each step, rattling Virgil’s teeth. He clenched his jaw, hoping to alleviate the need for a dentist if ever he escaped Netherworld. The only thing that kept him from despair was knowing his fallen mate was somewhere within this wretched place. He finally had a chance to save her. Had he not been a man-whore, as Amalya called him, this opportunity would never have become available. Virgil refused to think Abaddon had another motive behind capturing him other than simply wanting more angels to make into goat-demons. Where had Aba tucked his mate? Had she become one of his rumored harem?

  Oh dear Deus.

  He hoped not, but he wouldn’t leave Netherworld without her, regardless of what Abaddon may have turned her into.

  They entered a large cavern. The foulest stench Virgil had ever had the displeasure of smelling assaulted his olfactory receptors. His stomach churned and his gag reflexes got excited. There wasn’t much that caused him to puke. The back of his throat burned with bile and Jack Daniels. He projectile vomited onto Suzie.

  She yelped as his liquid diet splashed all over her and dripped down her legs. “Are you fucking kidding me!”

  If Virgil hadn’t felt so miserable, he would have laughed out loud. Aba threw him to the ground so quickly that he didn’t realize it until he had a mouthful of soot and sulfur-tasting dust. He spat again and again, yet the flavor lingered.

  “Quit spitting, you moron,” Aba said.

  Metal links coiled around his wrists and ankles. He looked around. There wasn’t much to see from his current vantage point, flat on his stomach. The chains that held his limbs and stretched them out were anchored to the floor and had appeared out of nowhere. However, he knew the Demon could will things to appear. Torches burned high on one wall and in the center of the cavern-like room, there was a large hole in the floor. He couldn’t tell what was in it but he saw scratch marks etched the inside. His heart sank when he realized the hole was the pit Aba mentioned before.

  Aba overextended one of Virgil’s wings. A goat-legged demon clip-clopped f
orward, a machete in its grip. The blade swished through the air and an explosion of cut white feathers scattered. The same thing was done to his other wing. Waves of tears poured from his eyes, slipping over the bridge of his nose and onto the dirty floor. His wings had been clipped.

  The heavy chains released. Aba lifted him up over his head and chucked him across the cavern. He skidded over the floor, desperately digging his fingers into the hard-packed ground, praying for a bump to slow his momentum. He continued to slide toward the pit. His legs, then body tipped over the side. By some miracle, he caught the edge with his fingertips. As he adjusted his hold, Aba ground his hoof into his fingers. Below, something grabbed his pant legs. The fabric split at the seams and the jeans slid off his hips. Whatever had him let go then voices below shouted curses. Something else, he didn’t want to think about, attached itself to his legs. The added weight and Aba’s hooves smashing his fingers brought Virgil crashing down onto a massive pile of…oh Deus.

  He squeezed his eyes shut. Virgil landed on a heap of bodies. Damned souls caked in feces and putrid slop. The filth coated his remaining feathers. He looked up at the pit’s mouth. Aba was no longer standing at the top. The heap heaved and Virgil bumped down the huge mound. He grabbed a miscellaneous body part amid the swarming mass, preventing himself from falling further. Craning his neck, he peered below him. He wondered how many bodies comprised the pile. There looked like hundreds, no strike that, thousands of humans. Each one had most likely committed unspeakable horrors against humanity.

  Virgil refocused on the people closest to him. An up-swell started and the souls climbed and stepped on each other vying for the top spot. One man managed to reach the crest of the pile. The human jumped and missed the edge of the hole. Another wave pushed him higher. But not high enough. The soul fell onto the pile and the whole thing collapsed. Virgil leaped over the falling bodies, used someone’s—or many someone’s—heads as stepping stones. When the pile settled for a moment he checked his position. He had managed to stay at almost the same level. After a while of watching, he identified a pattern among the futile attempts at reaching the top. An unattainable goal. The upheavals cycled; every ten tries a rest period of sixty seconds occurred.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Evita

  Not many angels entered Netherworld, and none were ever cast into the Void. Evita watched from the shadows while goat-demons hacked off most of an angel’s feathers. He didn’t cry out but his tears flowed. She didn’t understand why the feathers had been cut in the first place, usually Abaddon ordered the wings removed entirely. Over the years she’d witnessed small changes in the Demon Ruler. A subtle softening.

  Abaddon flung the angel across the cavern. The winged one skipped over the floor and caught his hands on the edge of the pit.

  Suzie, her former harem sister, stalked up to her and blocked her view. “What are you looking at?” she asked, crossing her arms.

  Evita wanted to punch the bitch but pretended to ignore her. The shackles fastened to her wrists and ankles were chained to a large iron ball that was then attached to the wall with another thick, heavy chain. The weight severely reduced her mobility and ability to throw a good punch. “Who is that?”

  Suzie sighed heavily. “Some angel. I’m not sure why he’s here, to tell you the truth.” She inspected the blood-red nails on her right hand.

  “That’s—”

  “Odd? I know, and why throw him in the pit and not make him a slave or something useful?”

  “Why would he do that?”

  “How should I know? Maybe he wanted to prove a point. Make an example of him.”

  “How so?”

  “Isn’t it obvious?”

  Suzie moved closer so her breasts touched Evita’s. Evita forced herself not to back away because she knew the gesture was done in an attempt to intimidate her. Suzie looked down her nose and snorted. Voices inside the pit roared.

  “Ick!” she said. “I’m outta here. You coming? Oh, no, that’s right, you can’t.” Suzie grinned. “Tootles.”

  What a bitch.

  Evita missed some of the females from the harem but not seeing Suzie every day was worth her imprisonment in the Void chamber. When Suzie finally left her alone, Aba had disappeared too.

  The noise coming from the hole in the floor grew louder at regular intervals. Evita had never gotten close enough to the pit or ever attempted to see the inside. As far as she knew, the souls stayed there forever. Only once had she witnessed Aba pluck their twisted bodies out, searching for one. Animal-headed demons led by Berus the Bull chucked them back inside after Aba found the soul.

  Evita sat on the iron ball and rolled it back and forth with her legs. She pictured the angel lying on the dirty floor. His handsome face. His white feathers. His trimmed beard. Closing her eyes, she buried her face in her hands. She hadn’t seen the color of his eyes. She’d hoped that he would have looked at her. For some reason this seemed all important. Angels fascinated her, and something about this one especially piqued her interest. She couldn’t explain why.

  The collective voices of the pit rose to its highest level. This signified a sixty second quieter time. Evita hopped up and dragged the big ball closer to the pit. She inched toward the edge and peered over the side. She gasped.

  The giant hole was filled with human bodies covered in their own crap. She was familiar with the smell, but the stench overpowered her. Evita’s eyes watered and she covered her nose and mouth. The angel was perched near the top of the massive mound, every bit of him smeared with waste. He turned his head and looked up, yet she couldn’t tell what color his eyes were in the dimness. She sank to her knees for a closer look, her hair dangling over the pit.

  “Watch out!” the angel shouted.

  ***

  Virgil

  “No!” Virgil sprung into the air and tackled the Damned soul reaching for his mate. No one touched Evie. Ever. He punched the bastard in the back of the neck and shoulders then drop-kicked him down the pile like he was nothing more than a ragdoll. Anger rippled through his body. Light shot out of his mouth and his eyes glowed. He flared his wings, tilted his head back, and roared.

  Although Virgil expected an attack from the others, none came. He whipped around, ready to defend himself, but was met with silence. With their hands shielding them, the closest souls cowered. Opening his mind to their memories, a part of him that he’d shut off in Netherworld, he saw himself through their eyes. They were afraid because they thought he was a demon, his shit-slicked wings unrecognizable as anything angelic. He let his light fade.

  Glancing up, he prayed he hadn’t frightened his Evie away. She clearly didn’t remember him. He couldn’t see her, although sensed her presence nearby.

  “Female,” he called, instead of using her name. If she didn’t know him, he worried that would further intimidate her. “I know you’re still there.”

  She inhaled sharply. Metal links clinked together and the sound of something heavy rolled across the ground above him as she retreated away from the pit. Virgil had known she’d been in the cavern when his wings were being clipped. He’d been unable to focus on who the female was though. One glance at her firetruck-red hair above him and his heart knew. Her golden wings had been transformed into black horns growing an inch back from her forehead. He had to see her again, even if for the last time.

  Desperation fueling him, he shouted, “Evita!”

  The chains dropped and he wondered if she’d been lugging them behind her. “Evie!”

  “How do you know my name?”

  She had whispered, but with his keen senses he heard her.

  Virgil squeezed his eyes shut.

  Because I’m your mate.

  “Come to the edge so I can see you,” he pleaded.

  “W-Why?”

  I want to look at you.

  “Please…I need your h-help.” His voice wavered on the last word. He fought back tears. “I know a way out.”

  Chains rattled and she ap
peared at the edge of the hole. A glimmer of hope rose inside his chest.

  “I can’t help you.”

  Virgil shallowed hard. “Yes, you can. Please, I can free you from those chains. If you help me we—”

  “You can’t. They’re unbreakable.” Tears streaked down her cheeks. Virgil wanted to mop them up. He put a dirty hand over his mouth, closed his eyes, and breathed deeply. She was right. He couldn’t break Aba’s chains but they would melt in the lava.

  “Metal melts.”

  She looked away then returned her eyes to his face. “Tell me how you know my name.”

  “Do you know how you got here?”

  “No.” She placed two fingers on her lips. “I mean, yes, I…I died.”

  “You fell.”

  Her brow furrowed. “I don’t what you mean.” She glanced over her shoulder. “I gotta go.”

  “Evie, wait!”

  His mate disappeared from his sight. A cacophony of clacking hooves rushed into the cavern.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Abaddon

  Aba lay on the marble floor in his bedchamber clothed only in pair of black leather pants. The Demon Ruler had shrunken down to his six-foot-six angel-like size and appearance. In all accounts, he looked like he did before he fell, apart from a set of horns and absent wings. He stared at the ceiling. A new dripstone had formed directly above him, a small pimple in the terra cotta colored stone. Water hung from the stalactite.

  “Drip. I dare you,” he snarled.

  “Who are you talking to?”

  Aba directed his eyes toward Suzie standing in the lee of the doorway. He flinched when the droplet hit his cheek. He angrily swiped at his face with his fingers and motioned toward the ceiling. “This fucking drip—never mind,” he said and slashed the air with a hand.

  Suzie crinkled her forehead. “Okaaay. I’m not gonna touch that one.”