by Janelle Peel
“That is all I know,” he mumbled.
The stone floor dug in to his knees as he waited for another blow. While he agreed to divulge information, he’d tried his best to keep his family safe.
The Ruler of Hell had not taken kindly to his embellishments, nor his falsehoods. It appeared the King of Lies and Deceit was gifted with the power of knowing truth from fiction.
Lucian’s deep chuckle reverberated from the walls as his footsteps tapped further away, “You wish to know the cure now, I suppose.”
“Yes,” he answered without raising his eyes. Not that he could. Both were swollen shut. Without his Wolf, his healing was painstakingly slow.
“The cure can only be given by me, Mel,” he drawled. “You see, only my blood can counteract the poison. I assure you, I will not be giving a single drop to save those you care for.”
He froze in shock as the sound of sliding stone met his ears.
A soft scuff whispered past him.
Lillin’s voice rang out, “Father.”
“Daughter, come,” the King cajoled. “It is a very momentous occasion. The final piece has slid into place and the Sundering is near.”
Confusion colored her reply, “I don’t understand. How?”
He chortled, “This one has given me very valuable information. Add in your Brother…” he paused. Disapproval lit his tone, “Have you not met your Brother? Perhaps the woman he brought will jog your memory? What was it Rimmon said? Ah, yes. She smells like him, your pet. A female Wolf.” Distastefully, he added, “You reek of them, Lillin.”
Inhaling, dread slithered down his spine. Lillin’s scent filtered through the blood pouring from his nose; tempered with the wild crisp notes of fresh spring water.
Goddess, it was Bex!
“Yes, Father,” she murmured. “I stumbled upon them and have left them in my room.”
A loud clap rent the air, “Very well. Tell me, Daughter. What is his name? Does he go by Mammon? Satan, perhaps? His Mother promised to consider them before she slipped away.”
“My-” she stumbled. “Brother… goes by the name of Kai. His companion is Bex.”
Fuck! What was she doing here? How could Sora have let her come?
“Kai,” he rumbled in agitation. “This will need to change. A small matter, but one that will be remedied if he is to lead.”
Lillin sucked in a gasp, “Lead?”
A horrible shrieking sounded, followed by the unmistakable clip of hooves upon a hard surface, “Are you questioning your place, Lillin?”
Her answer was filled with pain, “N-n- nooo, Father. Never.”
“Never,” he snarled. “Correct. I grow bored of this game, Lillin. Now that my Son has returned, you are of little use to me,” he paused. “Perhaps once more I shall feast upon your flesh. An appetizer, if you will. Your pet,” he whispered with disdain, “can bear witness. His PackMate, what did you call her? Bex?”
A strangled gasp was his only response.
“Yes,” he cackled sadistically. “She will be next. I’ll forgo the collar, though. I do love a challenge.”
Fury poured through his veins as a viscous growl spilled from his lips.
Pack, his Wolf growled possessively. Mine!
Bracing for the impending agony as the shift began, Mel smiled. At least he would go out with a bang.
Bex
“We need to follow her, Kai.”
He shook his head, “Not until you’re feeling better. I need you at full strength.”
I laughed mockingly, “Do you see a Wendy’s around here? I sure as fuck don’t. The only thing that can help me is food and water.” Sobering, I added, “What did she do to me, anyway?”
His lips thinned, “Whatever happened, it began when you touched her. If I had to guess, I’d say she stole a portion of your energy.”
Stubbornly, I jerked my chin, “That’s impossible.”
Releasing my hand, he paced the small chamber, “Is it? What do you even know of Demons?”
Frustrated, I sighed, “Absolutely nothing.” Rolling to my side, the same sweet scent puffed up from the mattress. Closing my eyes, I recalled how it increased when I began to feel... Yeah, not going there. Lifting a brow, I glanced at Kai, “Why do you smell similar?”
His broad shoulders stiffened, “I don’t know.”
Bullshit. I pressed, “If you’re the Fire anchor, that means you were bred.”
He snapped, “I’m not a dog, Bex.”
“Whatever.” Standing, I stepped into his path, “Who is your Father? Or, more specifically, what was he? A Demon?”
The edge of his iris pulsed with a scarlet ring. Fisting his hands, he whispered, “I don’t know.”
The foul tang of his untruth settled on my tongue. What was he hiding? Tipping my chin up, I gave him the stank eye, “You do know Shifters can smell a lie, right?”
Confusion flitted across his face before it settled into an emotionless mask, “I do now.”
Asshole. Adding his crap to another box of shit I needed to find out, I turned to the door, “Let’s go.”
Heat curled against my back as he shifted. Using his claws, he slid the stone panel open, “After you.”
His tail touched my wrist as I strode into the hall. Jerking away, I barked, “No. You’re not fucking binding me again.” Taking in short puffs of air, I tracked Lillin’s smoky fragrance around the corner without waiting for him.
“Let me at leasssst lead,” he hissed into my ear.
I started at his nearness. Covering it with a growl, I grunted, “Fine.”
As he bypassed me, I took in the graceful lines of his wings. They’d seemed creepy at first, but now they were growing on me. I’d even come to appreciate the sickled tips. Without them, that creature’s thing would have touched me.
I shuddered at the thought. Disgusting.
One large ear swiveled backward, “You all right?”
“Yup, fucking peachy,” I grouched.
Deciding to busy myself with perusing the walls, I thanked the All Mother for the meager amount of light. Their rocky surfaces quickly became boring, though. What was Kai, and what would he do when he found out I was partially responsible for his mother’s death? Granted, Nat nor I knew the repercussions of our actions would be so far reaching. Ignorance however, was not a good defense.
A scuffle drew me from my thoughts as a seven legged, overgrown insect scurried past my thigh. Black tar speckled the floor in its wake as it continued on without a backward glance.
Pitching my voice low, I muttered, “What the fuck was that?”
Kai hissed, “I believe it wasss a lessssser. That’ss what Lillin called me.”
Rolling the foreign word on my tongue, I wondered what it meant. Was their power less, somehow? Their size? Or was it a strange sort of hierarchy?
“We’re closssse.”
Peeking around his shoulder, I took in a scene of total carnage.
Three shriveled carcasses lay curled in discarded lumps on the rough ground. An oil sheen radiated from each corpse as it ate away at the rock.
Was it acid?
“Don’t touch it,” Kai murmured, giving it a wide birth.
I snorted, “No shit.” Of course I wouldn’t touch it.
The corridor opened to a set of large doors. Golden rings adorned each one as they towered to a dizzying height. Assuming this was our destination, I took a deep breath and instantly regretted it. The stench of unwashed bodies littered the air in waves. Add in desiccation, and the unmistakable tang of brimstone…
Ick. I had to press my wrist to my mouth to stop the bile rising in my throat. Oddly, the sulfur was similar to Kai’s, but not nearly as pleasant.
“Ah, there you are,” a voice whispered from beyond the torchlight.
Kai pressed against my side with a growl, “Who’sss there?”
A hooded figure moved forward as if floating. Squinting my eyes, I failed to pierce the pitch black of his hood no matter how hard I tried. W
ell over six foot nine, he seemed small next to the massive entry behind him.
Bowing once, he answered, “Rimmon. Apologies for the delay in welcoming you home, Prince. Appearances must be kept.”
Kai’s tail twitched in irritation, “You are missstaken, Demon.”
Appearances? Prince? What was going on? The figure shrugged. It was odd to see such a human gesture on something who was anything but.
Rimmon turned. Lifting his arm, he made a sweeping gesture behind him, “Your Father is there with Lillin and his prisoner, but I urge you to reconsider your plan. The Sundering is near.”
“Ssssundering?” Kai questioned, snapping out an arm to halt my steps to the door.
“Yes. I lead 666 of his legions, and each horde totals well over a million. If you take this path, life as you know it will cease to exist. The war between Heaven and Hell will begin anew. I have toiled here, in this pit you call Hell for countless centuries. I have served my God, and still serve him to this day. The atrocities I’ve committed…” his shoulders trembled, “would sicken my brethren.”
“Your God?” I bit out, tired of the charade and eager to get on with Mel’s rescue. There was no God, only the All Mother.
His answer was filled with longing that I felt deep inside my soul.
“Yes.” Grabbing the cord below his cowl, he dropped the robe. Yellow light spilled through the cavern as he flared his glossy wings. Gold near the base, the plumes turned ebony for the last two feet of their lengths. Bright blue eyes shone from a face that had been sculpted into statues since the dawn of time. Tapering against his chiseled cheekbones in a messy riot of curls, his hair matched his feathers. Scars crisscrossed in white lines across the wide expanse of his muscular torso. A tattered sheet draped across his hips to conceal his masculinity. Bare, his feet hovered several inches above the ground. Lowering the delicate avian appendages, his lips formed a grin that didn’t meet his haunted orbs, “I am Michael, Archangel of Heaven, and Protector of mankind.”
My mouth formed an O of surprise. An Angel. In Hell. No fucking way!
Kai’s response dripped with skepticism, “I don’t know what that is, nor do I care. This one,” he jerked his chin toward me, “came to find her Uncle. I will help her.”
Michael’s brow lowered, “If you do, all is lost.”
His words echoed through every fiber of my being. My home, my family, my life, all flashed before my eyes.
“How?” I whispered.
Bending, he gathered the material at his feet. Tucking his glowing wings tightly against his back, he pulled on the robe. When the hood once again covered his face, he answered, “As Prince, he will force you to lead in my stead. Lillin is not strong enough to hold his hordes on her own. You will invade Earth. My brethren will fight, as they always have. This is a battle I fear we will lose.” Pausing, he spat, “Lucian has had eons to perfect his Demons. Every creature is filled with death. Nothing will survive.” Silently, he moved closer. “This one,” his dark cowl nodded in my direction, “included.”
Chapter 12
Daisy
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I tried to hold off a sneeze.
Why the fuck did everything have to be so damned complicated? I could speak multiple languages, but this crap was out of my league. Some characters seemed to follow a pattern, while others were no more than a squiggly line. Nothing matched up.
Rubbing away the tingle, my eyes crossed. Wait… What was that?
Nudging the Demonic tome ninety degrees, I squinted hard at the scorched icons.
Holy fucking shit.
We’d been trying to decipher it from left to right, like any other book… and we were dead fucking wrong. Throwing up a prayer, I flipped through the translated text.
Venenum daemonibus inita, verb. Utitur, venenis toxicus, latius contagion eius…
Rereading it again, my tired brain rattled off the English conversion. Demonic poison, verb. Uses; venom, toxic, contagion…
The accompanying symbol looked similar to a sweeping number seven. Kind of like the scythe of a grim reaper. The hair on my arms rose as I read the last few words,
Insanabile… Incurable.
Exitiale… Fatal.
Mortem… Death.
“Cooper,” I whispered, kicking his shin under the table.
He grunted, “Yeah?”
I shook my head, “I think I’ve made a mistake. Could you come take a look at this?”
His chair squealed across the floor as he stood. Grumbling about coffee, he made his way to my side, “Why is the book sideways?”
Tapping the passage, I growled in frustration, “Just read it.”
Sighing heavily, he bent over the book. His lips formed the words without sound. After a moment, his mouth snapped closed with a click. Looping a thick arm around my shoulders, he confirmed my fear, “Jackson is going to die.”
Storming through the Stronghold to my room, anxiety fluttered through my belly. How was I supposed to tell them? Viv was going to lose her Mate.
Oh Goddess, Blaze. Jackson had been with him for more than a millennium…
Hurriedly, I rushed through the door and vomited repeatedly into the toilet. Resting my cheek on the seat, a dry heave wracked my chest. Sputtering mouthfuls of bile, my throat burned at the abuse.
Moving to the sink, I rinsed the sour tang from my tongue. It was time. Hands trembling, I pulled out my phone.
Sora
Sitting on the stone bench inside the courtyard, I watched Justine play with Lila.
Calling to her magic, Justine created a small, silver flamed unicorn. The mane flickered along its graceful neck as it pranced over Lila’s toes.
Giggling, her eyes spun with tiny stars. Waving at the one horned horse, an exact replica leapt from her tiny hand.
Justine beamed, “Very good! Pretty soon, you’re going to surpass my meager magic.”
Lila’s face instantly crumbled.
Realizing her mistake, Justine whisked her from the grass. “Hush now,” she soothed. “I’ll still be able to play. My specialty is with potions. When you’re old enough, I can pass that knowledge on to you.”
Swiping her cheeks, Lila smiled, “Mean it, Auntie Steen?”
I chuckled. No matter how hard we practiced, she almost never said Justine’s whole name.
Tickling her ribs, Justine laughed, “Of course! You’ll be my best student ever.”
My cell rang as they took off across the grass. Plucking it from the shoulder strap of my bra, Daisy’s face lit the display. Hope fluttered through my chest, had they found something? Swiping accept, I brought it to my ear, “Hey.”
Silence.
“Daisy?”
Her exhausted voice carried through the speaker, “Yes. I’m here.”
I sucked in a sharp breath, “What is it?”
She paused, “There… there is no c-cure, Sora.”
My fangs lengthened with a snick as my gut churned, “Are you sure? There has to be something. Maybe you got the translation wro-”
“No. I checked it twice, and so did Cooper. I’m so sorry, Sora.”
Fire broke out along my arms in response to the despair clouding my thoughts. This couldn’t be happening. There had to be a way. “No, I don’t believe it. Look again, find another book!”
“There aren’t any,” she whispered dejectedly.
“You have to be wrong!” I shrieked, disconnecting the call.
Jackson’s face flashed through my mind. His happiness at finding Viv.
Blaze’s beaming approval of their Mating.
Lila’s joy as they all ran through the house during a game of hide and seek.
Sasha’s madness when we lost Jake.
MINE!
A scream of misery began at the back of my throat; sending my magic flaring across the night sky. Dark clouds rolled in rapidly; heavy with unpredicted rain. Thunder boomed as my anguish increased.
“Sora!” Justine shouted, running full bore toward the s
heltered indoor pool with Lila inside her arms.
Over her shoulder, she reached toward me, “Mommy!” Pure white, her power pulsed from her palm in a blinding arc of light. As it touched my chaotic inferno, everything stilled.
Justine turned in confusion to a wide palm frond as it lay suspended midair.
My shock mirrored hers. Pulling my flames back, the silence was all consuming and deafening at once.
Lila’s soft giggle drew my gaze. Liquid mercury shone from her orbs as the small line furrowing her brow smoothed. Grinning, she blinked.
The leaf fluttered to the ground.
A hum picked up as the pool pump buzzed to life.
Choking at the realization of what she’d done, I met Justine’s wide eyes.
Lila had stopped time.
It was close to midnight when I laid her down for bed. Typically, she was asleep by nine, but the evening’s events had nixed that entirely.
Tenderly, I touched the soft curve of her cheek.
Wringing her flannel in a death grip, Justine hovered anxiously in the hall. Her sandy blond hair stuck out in multiple directions from her normally stylish, but always messy bun. Dark circles marked her lower lids, and her rosy lips were chapped as if she’d been chewing on them.
Closing the door, I looped my arm through hers, “We need to talk.”
She nodded woodenly as I pulled her into a slow walk.
After a moment, she whispered, “Was that what I think it was?”
My answer was equally hushed, “I believe so.”
“Wh… what do we do? That much power… it… it’s unheard of, Sora.”
Gritting my teeth, I sighed, “I know.”
Entering the rec room, I gently pushed her to sit on a stool.
Busying myself with the familiar task of pouring, my brain churned with possibilities.
Sliding her shot along the bar, I filled her in on Daisy’s conversation.
Rolling the glass between her palms, she intuited my thoughts, “You think Lila might be able to help Jackson until we can find a cure, don’t you?”
Shame colored my cheeks red, “Yes. I know it’s wrong. We have no idea the repercussions, plus it could have an adverse effect on Lila.”
Grabbing the bottle, she splashed a bit more into our cups, “Both points are valid. She’s a bright little girl, Sora. Her intelligence is off the charts… If you choose not to do it, he dies, and she remembers… It won’t go well.”