“You arrogant sons of bitches. You can try,” Ash ground out through his teeth. He almost wished he had fangs so that he could literally bite their heads off.
“You have no business leading Hell. You can’t. You have too much love for those humans,” Adule said. “Love makes you weak.”
Ash heard the words. Yes, he did love his sister. He did love Elizabeth. But did that make him weak. No, he didn’t think so. Elizabeth’s love made him strong, powerful, and right at that moment, dangerous. “You think I’m weak?” he grinned. “Let’s see for ourselves. This ends now.”
Adule flicked his hand as if to move Ash with his power, but nothing happened. “Your power has no effect on me,” Ash said with a sadistic grin and then pulled his sword from his hip. He swung it low and caught Adule by surprise. The blade sliced easily into the skin of his thighs.
When the demon yelped in pain, Marcus tried to join in. Ash sent him flying with only a look. The massive demon crashed into the wall and tiny rocks broke loose and fell to the ground. Ash toyed with them. He dropped his sword and used his mind to pick the demons up and toss them around like rag dolls. He didn’t need a weapon. He hadn’t realized the enormity of the power he had been given before, but now, he could feel it pulsing inside his body. It was like a separate entity…. a living, breathing thing that was feeding off his rage and becoming more and more powerful.
“You stay,” he commanded Marcus with a wave of his hand. The demon was trapped against the wall, unable to move, by the power of Ash’s command. Then he lifted Adule off the ground with his mind. “You first,” he growled. He wanted to make sure that each demon got appropriate attention from him. Ash pulled his fist back and let it fly. It smashed into the demon’s face with a crunch. Blood spurted from its mouth, but Ash felt no relief. Only anger. He grabbed the demon by the shoulders and slammed him into the wall. “She is mine,” he growled. “Mine.” Then he threw his head forward, connecting with the demon’s forehead. The head-butt was so hard that it rattled Ash’s teeth, but he welcomed the pain. It was a distraction from the pain he felt in his heart.
Over and over again, he pummeled the demon with his fists, until the fight left Adule. Then it was Marcus’s turn. “You violated her,” Ash accused the demon. His stomach turned just thinking of what this sick fuck had done to his woman. No matter how long he lived, no amount of therapy, no amount of divine intervention would be able to erase those images of her from his mind.
“All’s fair,” the demon replied. Ash knew the idiot had to know his death was coming, yet he kept running his mouth. Ash proceeded to shut him up with a fist to the teeth. He reared back and punched the demon again with his bare hand. He could hit so much harder than a human could, and he used it to his advantage. He relished the sickening crunch of the demon’s bones breaking under his blows. They ended up on the floor with Ash sitting on his chest. “You hurt her,” he growled. “Never again,” he vowed. He doled out one punch after another until his hands were coated in sticky demon blood. Marcus was lying in a pile on the floor of the cavern, barely hanging on to his life.
Then, it was time to get serious. Ash pointed at both demons and their bodies rose off the ground. He walked forward, willing the demons to float in the air in front of him until they came into the main cavern where Ash had first accepted his new position.
“Get in here, now!” he bellowed.
Very quickly, all of Hell’s leaders and minions filed into the cavern.
“These demons felt that I was not worthy to lead,” Ash announced. “They felt that I was soft and cared too much for humans.” He made the two demons come closer to him. “They thought they could touch what was mine!” he growled. “Know this, every one of you. I promised to be a fair and just leader. There are rules that will be followed. No innocent shall ever be harmed–ever. And no one, and I mean no one, will ever touch what is mine!” He tossed the demons against the wall again just for good measure. The flames on his skin were growing in intensity.
He let the demons drop to the ground in a heap. “And know this,” Ash continued, “the breaking of these rules will be punished. And the penalty will be death.” He trained his eyes on the demons who had kidnapped and hurt his sister. The ones who raped and beat his mate. He pointed his finger at them with and the black fire leaped from Ash’s body to theirs. They screamed out in pain, but Ash ignored their pleas for mercy. “I will not allow any demon, leader or otherwise, to break these few simple rules.” He glared at the flaming demons. He narrowed his eyes and forced his power from his eyes to the demons. Lightning flashed throughout the cavern and the demons who watched all ducked for cover. The air filled with dark clouds and the lightning crashed repeatedly.
“You will never hurt my mate again,” he growled at them. “Do you know where demons go when they die? You’re about to find out.” Then, with only the power of his will, the two demons exploded into a million pieces. The sound was deafening, and there were pieces of demon goo everywhere.
Ash turned to face the rest of Hell. “Anyone else think I am not qualified to lead?” he snarled at the small crowd. Every one of the demons present dropped to their knees and bowed their heads. Ash hadn’t wanted anyone to bow to him, but in this case, he made an exception. The unanimous show of loyalty was enough. “That’s what I thought,” Ash grumbled, and flashed himself away.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Elizabeth was stuck in some weird ass dream. No, not a dream….a nightmare. She was swimming in a sea of black, with no beginning and no end in sight. There was nothing and no one. She tried to scream out, but she didn’t make a sound. She felt as though she weighed a ton and yet nothing at all at the same time.
She could feel pain though, and boy did it ever hurt. She felt like her veins were filled with liquid fire, burning her from the inside out. Her muscles took turns contracting and releasing, one at a time, until she felt as if she was running a marathon while never moving from one solitary spot. She hurt, she was alone, and she was frightened.
At least, she thought she was alone. Somewhere, far in the distance, she heard Ash’s voice.
“How long will she be out?” she heard him ask. She didn’t hear whom he was talking to and she didn’t care. He was there with her. She felt his hand wrap around hers and for a moment, the pain subsided. She could do this, she thought. As long as he was with her, she could conquer this dream and come back to him.
She forced her feet to move. First one, then the other. It was like trying to run through knee-deep mud, though. She willed herself to move toward his voice. “Come back to me,” he told her. It sounded as if he were right there, she only had to go a little further and she could make it to him. She had to make it to him. Elizabeth didn’t know how she knew, but she had to endure the pain and get back to Ash where she belonged.
***
“Where did you take her?” Ash asked.
“I told you,” Antonio answered, “I know a guy.”
“That really doesn’t help,” Ash replied. “How do you know this is going to work?”
Antonio looked toward the Heavens for a moment, as if he were searching for answers. “I don’t,” he finally admitted. “She could still die. At least this way, she has a chance. She’ll still be your woman if she comes out of this, but she will be different.”
“I don’t care as long as she comes back,” Ash told him.
Antonio had taken Elizabeth to see his family, where they had done all they could to heal her. Then, Antonio brought her back to Ash’s quarters in Hell. It was the only place he could think of where Ash could be with his mate and still do his job. After everything that had happened, Ash didn’t need to be leaving Hell for much of anything.
For two days, Ash kept vigil at her side. For two days, he prayed. For two days, he talked to her and begged her to find her way back to him.
And then it happened.
She opened her eyes.
“Ash?” she croaked.
Ash yanked his head u
p and moved right into her line of sight. Her eyes were still brown, but different. Instead of a warm hot chocolate color, they were almost iridescent. He thought they were beautiful. Just like her. “You came back,” he sighed with relief.
Elizabeth searched his face and then smiled. Her smile was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, more so now that she was sporting a pretty pair of shiny white fangs where her incisors used to be. “What are you smiling about?” she asked.
“You,” he told her. “I’m smiling because of you.”
Elizabeth reached up to hug him and suddenly they were both on the floor, she on top of him. “Oomph,” he grunted as he took the brunt of their landing.
Elizabeth scampered off him and had a serious what the fuck look on her face. Ash grinned at her. He knew he was grinning like an idiot, but he didn’t care. His mate was magnificent. “What the hell?” she asked.
“I think this is where I need to speak up,” Antonio said. Elizabeth turned to look at the man. No, not a man. Angel. He was sporting huge white wings. Then she looked at Ash. Huge black wings. This was about a twelve on her weird shit-o-meter. “You were hurt,” Antonio explained. Elizabeth nodded. “I did what I had to do to save you.”
She remembered being attacked and she remembered Ash coming to her rescue. A shiver ran up her spine as she remembered what happened to her. She had vague images of being somewhere… but she couldn’t decide where. “What did you do?” she asked. “Am I dead? Is that why you have wings? Are we all dead? Am I an angel too?”
Ash chuckled. “You’re an angel in my book,” he said.
Antonio snickered. “No, we are not dead. No you are not an angel.” He told her the short story about how he became an angel and how Ash ended up where he was. Then he told her that in order to save her, he took her to his vampire family who changed her.
“I’m a vampire,” she said slowly. “And you are both angels.”
“Yes,” Ash and Antonio answered at the same time. Elizabeth felt her teeth with her tongue and found two super sharp fangs in her mouth.
“So now I have to drink blood?” she squealed.
“It’s not as bad as you think,” Antonio said, showing her his fangs. “You do need to stay out of the sun and pork chops and chips are off the menu, but you will be stronger, faster, and more in tune with your surroundings than ever before. You will not get sick and you will heal if something happens to you.”
“Blood,” Elizabeth repeated. She sat back on the bed to gather her thoughts. It wasn’t as if blood made her squeamish; she had dealt with it every day of her adult life. However, she never once considered drinking it. She had even met a vampire before, and although he didn’t frighten her, it never crossed her mind that she could be like him.
“And, it’s a sure fire way to make sure you live a long life with your mate,” Antonio said. “How else would you two make it work? Humans aren’t allowed down here.”
“Down here?” Elizabeth squeaked. “As in Hell down here?” Ash nodded. “You took me to Hell?” Demon attack. Vampire. Angels. Hell. What was next?
“Just my part of it,” he answered.
His part, she thought. The love of my life has his own little part of Hell. It wasn’t like when people said it’s a little slice of heaven. No, this was hell. Who wanted their own little slice of Hell? Now that she remembered that she loved him and all they went through together, she couldn’t believe she had ever forgotten him in the first place. “Why didn’t I remember you before?” Elizabeth asked.
Ash knew he was going to have to come clean about that eventually, but had hoped she wouldn’t ask. “That was my fault,” he told her. “I asked God to make us forget each other so you would be safe.”
Elizabeth stood and put her hands on her hips. “Yeah, and how did that work out for ya?” she asked in a sarcastic tone. She hated to admit that his answer annoyed her quite a bit. She pursed her lips together and breathed deep to calm herself. She would not freak out. Not now.
Ash smiled at her. “Not very well, I’m afraid. Can you ever forgive me?”
Elizabeth started pacing. Sorting through this information overload. She had saved his life, and then he saved her. He had asked to forget her. Forget her! Which ended up with her being attacked by demons, only she didn’t know why, because she couldn’t remember that she was in love with Ash and he with her. She had been beaten. Tortured. Then, because of all that, she apparently gave consent to be changed into a vampire!
She had known they lived out in the open, but there really weren’t many who didn’t mind if the world knew what they were. It wouldn’t have been her first choice. “Why didn’t you take me to a hospital?” she demanded. “They could have given me blood. They could have operated.”
Antonio raised his hand. “There wasn’t time, Doc. You were dying faster than I could fly. You wouldn’t even stay conscious for more than a minute at a time.”
“And just where the hell were you when I was changing into an immortal?” she demanded of Ash.
He looked her right in the eyes. “I was finding and killing the ones who hurt you,” he said.
Elizabeth pursed her lips and nodded slightly. “Well, that’s acceptable,” she said after considering it. He was the leader of Hell after all. He should bring down hellfire and damnation on those who commit wrongs.
Ash laughed. “I should hope so,” he told her. “I will never let anything happen to you again.”
Elizabeth didn’t know about all that, but she had no doubt that he would never ask to forget her again. “I can forgive you, but only because I love you. You did it because you love me. But that was damned stupid and you better not do it again!”
Ash stood and took her into his arms. “I won’t,” he promised her. “I will never let you out of my sight again.”
“So, am I really going to live forever?” she asked against his shoulder.
“For a very long time,” he breathed.
“I am pretty sure I was dreaming about a giant smurf with fangs,” Elizabeth said more to herself than anyone else.
Antonio snorted.
“What?” she asked him.
“Nothing.” He turned away to hide his grin. His brother the smurf! Classic!
Ash held Elizabeth closer to him and breathed in the scent of her hair. He had come too close to losing her. He had thought keeping her away would be safer for her, but now he knew that she needed him. He needed her. He was stronger with her and because of her. She was his other half, the part that had been missing for so long.
“And this is where I bid you goodbye,” Antonio said, shaking out his wings.
“Wait,” Elizabeth said. “I don’t know how to use these,” she pointed at her teeth.
Antonio grinned at her. “Your body knows what to do and Ash isn’t gonna break. I have faith in you.”
“Hey,” Ash said to Antonio. “I, uh, I… Well, I’m pretty glad I didn’t kill you after all,” he finally stammered out.
“Yeah, I kinda like you too,” Antonio said with a grin. Then, he disappeared, leaving the couple alone in Ash’s bedroom.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Ash pulled Elizabeth tighter into the circle of his arms. “I have been so lost without you,” he admitted.
“Never again,” she pledged. Ash nodded and lowered his head. He kissed her lips gently, exploring them with a tenderness he had no idea he possessed. He kissed her with promise. He put the emotions and things he couldn’t put into words into the kiss. He would never leave her, would love her always, and he would protect her. He told her with his lips how he felt for her deep down in his soul.
She opened for him and he slid his tongue inside. He tasted her like a fine wine, savoring every nuance of her flavor. He had saved her, but she had saved him too. They were two parts of one whole and he knew that things were never going to be the same. They were going to be better. She had walked into his life and literally saved it, but it was so much more than that. She was more than his savior;
she was his personal salvation. She was the reason he had been born. The reason he lived. The reason he breathed. And she would remain the reason for everything he did for the rest of his now very long life.
He finally released her mouth, but kept his lips on her skin. Elizabeth let her head fall back as Ash peppered her jaw and neck with soft kisses. He licked and nipped at her skin and too soon, the sweet, gentle pace was becoming more urgent.
Her nails dug into his back as he sucked at her collarbone, and Ash growled his approval. He explored every inch of her exposed skin, recommitting it to his memory. Her hands dug under his shirt, and when her skin touched the skin of his back, little jolts of electricity sparked over his skin. He broke from her only long enough to rip his shirt over his head.
Her hands went immediately to the small scar that traveled down the center of his chest. She traced it with her fingertip, and then leaned in to kiss it softly. She kissed his chest and made her way up to his neck. She darted her tongue out and licked up the side of his throat. Ash could only hold her head to him, unwilling to stop her exploration.
She pushed her head back against his hand and Ash looked down into her face. Her eyes were damn near glowing and her mouth was open as if she were in pain. Her fangs were longer now, fully extended, if he were to guess. “I…” she started, “I think…”
“Do it,” Ash told her. She needed to feed. That’s what vampires did, right?
“I don’t want to hurt you,” she said painfully.
“You’re in pain,” he told her. “Do it. Take from me what you need.”
“What if….” but Ash cut her off.
“No what ifs. I will be the one you feed from now and always. Do it.”
Elizabeth was terrified. She had no idea what she was doing, but the pain was excruciating. Her teeth ached and her stomach felt like it had collapsed on itself. Ash pulled her head gently to his throat. Her lips touched his skin and she could hear the pounding of his heart. It called to her, begged her to take from him. She opened her mouth wide and aimed for his carotid. Her teeth slipped into his skin like a knife through butter, and warm, delicious liquid filled her mouth. Ash’s body jerked slightly but then he remained still.
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