“I need you to contact Antonio,” Ash told her. “I don’t know what to do about this,” he said, pointed at the man in the cage.
“Can do,” she said. “It’s nice to see you again, Jake.” She zipped out of the room as fast as she entered it.
“Wow,” Jake breathed.
In an instant, Ash was out of his chair and had Jake’s body slammed against the wall. His arm was over Jake’s throat, cutting off his air supply. “Never look at her,” Ash growled. Jake’s eyes widened in fright. The leader of Hell had him pinned and the man’s eyes were glowing red. “She is mine,” he bellowed. His voice was deep and had an echo to it, almost as if two people were talking at the same time. Hadn’t Ash been adamant that he wasn’t a demon? Jake was having a pretty hard time believing that statement at that moment. The man looked like evil incarnate.
Jake forced air into his lungs and grunted out, “Sorry, didn’t mean it.”
Ash let go and Jake’s body dropped to the floor in a heap. He gulped in air and rubbed his neck. “I wasn’t saying anything bad about her,” he managed to say. “She is pretty, but not my type, man.”
The low growl emanating from Ash was not a promising sign.
“I was only remarking on how weird this shit is,” Jake continued. “I knew I saw you before but didn’t know where. Now I do. I saw her too.”
Ash forced himself to calm down. “There are some very important rules here,” he said through gritted teeth. “Elizabeth is mine. No one touches her. Ever.”
Jake nodded. “Acceptable,” he said.
“No innocents are harmed. Ever,” Ash continued. Jake nodded. “And don’t fuck with me.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Jake said.
“Ok,” Ash said, getting back into his chair and suddenly acting as if he hadn’t almost tore Jake a new one. “Where were we?”
Dear God, what had he gotten himself into?
CHAPTER TWO
It seemed like an eternity waiting while Ash put information into the computer. Finally, finally, he pushed himself away from it and locked eyes with Jake. This time, instead of blazing red, they were a kind blue. Jake felt some molecule of relief. “Now we take the tour and then go to your funeral,” Ash announced.
His funeral… the words banged around in Jake’s head. He knew he was dead, but the word funeral made it real. Concrete. Did he want to go to his own funeral? Yeah, he did, he realized. He wondered who would be there. Would there be crying or would the world laugh and drink and be merry about his passing? Or maybe no one would show up at all.
“It’s important that you do this,” Ash was saying. “You need to say your goodbyes just as much as those who are still living need to let you go.”
Jake shook his head. “I doubt anyone is grieving too hard over me,” he said under his breath.
“Why is that?” Ash asked him.
Jake sighed. “You probably already know that I am no angel,” he started.
“I do know this,” Ash replied.
“I did a lot of wrong in my life. I cheated. I gambled. I fought.” Jake hung his head.
“I think you should tell me about your life,” Ash said, leaning back in his seat. “We have some time before we have to go.” He didn’t tell Jake that he already knew everything. He wanted to hear it from the source. Plus, he wanted to see how honest this man would be with him. If he were going to be one of the Guards, he didn’t need any skeletons in the closet. “I want nothing less than the truth,” Ash told him.
Jake breathed in deep and let it out slowly. He nodded his head and started talking. “I was born into a wonderful family. My parents were great. I was an only child, so I suppose I was a little spoiled. I did everything a good son was supposed to do. I went to school, got good grades, and then when my father passed away when I was twenty, I took care of my mom until she could do it herself. Dad was a firefighter, and for as long as I can remember, that was what I wanted to do too.
About a year after Dad passed, I met Rheanne. She was everything I ever wanted in a woman. She was beautiful, curvy, smart, and sweet. And what was even better? She put up with me. That was until the day I gambled away our savings.
You see, I started gambling when I turned eighteen. It started small, with scratch off lottery tickets and pick threes. Then, I graduated to casinos. I always made sure the bills were paid, though, so she let it slide for a long time. When I lost more than I could afford, I started taking out loans. I knew I had a problem, but I thought I could handle it. When I would win, I won big. But when I lost, I lost even bigger.
She decided it was time to move on the day that a giant bookie named Tiny came to our home. He offered to remove my kneecaps if I didn’t pay him. That was when Rheanne had enough. She packed her things and left.
After a couple of weeks, she said she would only come back if I sought help. I wanted to, I really did, but I thought if I could just get one more big score, I could pay off all the debt I owed and we could go back to having a happy life again.
Well, that didn’t happen. I lost our house, our car, and everything we had both worked so hard for. It was after the foreclosure that Rheanne filed for divorce.
I suppose it was just as well. I didn’t even fight her for it. Since then, I have been fighting fires and fighting in the ring. I fight to make money and then I spend the money on gambling.
I hurt her and I hurt my mother. Now, I will never get the chance to tell them how sorry I truly am. That’s my life in a nutshell. Anything else you want to know?”
Ash sat back in his chair and let Jake talk it out. Greed, pride, either of those could be his sin. But he wasn’t all bad. How many lives had the man saved? Ash didn’t know, and he was willing to bet that Jake didn’t either. “I think that about covers it,” he finally said.
“Now can you tell me more about this job?” Jake asked.
“It’s simple really. You give your soul over to God. He makes you a warrior angel. You fight by my side and help keep the peace. Not much to it.” Ash leaned forward in his chair. “Unless you have changed your mind?”
Jake shook his head. “I know I am going to hell for what I have done,” he said, “I would rather be an employee than a resident.”
“All right then,” Ash said, standing. “Let’s get this tour underway and then we can start your training.”
Jake stood as well. “Why me?” he asked. “Of all the people in the world, why did you choose me?”
Ash shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t really have an answer for that,” he said. “I saw you save a man’s life and there was just something about you that called to me.”
“But I am damaged goods,” Jake reminded him.
Ash looked him in the eyes for a moment before saying, “We all are.”
CHAPTER THREE
Jason stared at his laptop in disbelief. “Can you believe this shit!” he shouted.
“What?” Caleb asked, shining his blade.
“This!” Jason said, pointing at his email.
Caleb walked over and looked over his friend’s shoulder to read the offending email. “Huh,” he said. “New management. Get a life.”
“Yeah,” Jason muttered. “This new guy in Hell thinks he is the boss of all? Who the fuck does he think he is? We devoted our lives to Lucifer and now this new fucker thinks he can just toss us aside? Like trash? I don’t fucking think so.” Jason and Caleb had spent years recruiting souls for Lucifer. They were saddened by his loss, but the fact that someone new had taken over and did not appreciate their efforts was maddening.
“What are we gonna do?” Caleb asked him.
“Well first, I’m gonna email him back and tell him what a douche he is. Then, we’re going to consult the Grimoire. He thinks he is so big and bad, I think we better knock him down a peg or two.” Jason slammed his fist on the top of the table. “I think it’s time we used the spell to open the gateway.”
Caleb raised a brow. “We don’t have the power for that,” he said.
>
“We will,” Jason told him. “First, we get our hands on a demon. Call Laura. We need that witch to help us out with a spell or two.”
Caleb did as he was told. He pulled out his phone and unlocked the screen before finding the witch in his list of contacts. He wasn’t sure about his friend’s notion of opening the gateway, but it would sure as shit be fun to fuck with this new leader, ungrateful bastard that he was.
An hour later, there was a knock at the door. Caleb opened it to find Laura standing on the other side. Her dark brown hair was tied back in a severe knot behind her neck and her slight frame was tilting to the side under the weight of her backpack. “Come in,” he said, opening the door wide for her.
“What’s going on?” she asked as she dropped her pack to the floor.
Jason and Caleb filled her in on the new situation in Hell and what they meant to do.
“You want to open the portal between Hell and Earth?” she asked. “Do you actually understand what that would mean? Demons and humans alike will be able to cross over and back again, unhindered. Souls banished to hell would be able to leave at will and come here to cause trouble again. Demons who are locked away would roam free. Is that what you really want?”
“It is,” Jason answered her. “With the help of Balthazar we can open it and close it again whenever we want.”
Laura rolled her eyes. “You know he’s in lock up.”
Jason smiled. “I know. I intend to break him out.”
“So you believe that by breaking him out he is going to be willing to help you? What makes you think he won’t just kill you on the spot?” Laura shook her head. “I don’t think you have thought this through. We need the blood of a demon to summon him, not to mention a pretty damned powerful unlock spell. Oh, and did I mention that the demon blood must be given freely?” Laura picked up her pack and unzipped it. “Where are you planning to find a demon willing to give you their blood? It’s like having their proper name. It’s a way to destroy them and control them.”
“I was thinking we would offer the demon of Greed a deal he won’t be able to refuse,” Jason grinned. “When we’re successful, he can be our second in command. Greed won’t deny us. It’s not in the demon’s nature.”
“Have you met this demon?” Laura asked.
“No,” Jason answered, “but I did my research.”
“You mean you Googled it,” Laura sighed. “Ok, where do we start?”
“We start by summoning the demon,” Jason told her. “And then we use its blood to break out Balthazar.”
“And how do you know Balthazar will help?” Laura asked him.
“Because he seeks vengeance too,” Jason said with a smile that said he was just too proud of himself. As much as she felt these men were unprepared, she knew time was of the essence and she started gathering her supplies.
CHAPTER FOUR
Jake was given the tour, starting at the top and working his way down. Ash stayed right beside him, as did a weird little man that looked like he was about a hundred and twelve years old. Ash called him Mali and seemed to like him well enough.
First stop was Sloth. Jake met a demon named Rogue, and although he had never met a demon up close and personal before, this one was nothing like he would have expected. First of all, he was nice. Second of all, he laughed. A lot. Not a crazy laugh, but a rich, deep, rolling laugh that was contagious. Jake also met Tinker Bell, the huge T-Rex that ate the souls in Sloth on a daily basis.
They visited Lust, Gluttony, Envy, and Pride. Jake met each of the leaders there and was surprised at how easily he accepted this new world. Maybe it was because his brain was on short circuit. Ever since he landed on his ass in the caverns, he had been running on autopilot.
By the time they reached the Playground, Jake’s head was threatening to burst. How could a dead guy get a headache? It shouldn’t have been possible, but there it was, thumping away at his brain like a dance beat in a night club.
They skipped Murder, Wrath, and Greed on their tour. Ash explained that he had toasted the leaders of Murder and Wrath for harming his mate. Jake nodded his agreement with that. For the time being, those sanctions were in a state of suspended animation, until he found someone new to lead them.
The leader of Greed just wasn’t available at the time, so they skipped it and saved it for later.
“I guess that’s about it,” Ash said. “We can visit Greed when we get back from your funeral, which we need to be leaving for if we’re gonna make it.”
“How?” Jake asked. “It can’t be yet. I’ve only been dead a few hours.”
Ash nodded his head and sighed. “I know. Takes some getting used to. Time passes differently here than it does on Earth. There, it has been three days.”
“Shit,” Jake muttered.
“Exactly,” Ash agreed. “Ready?”
“I guess,” Jake said. Ash took him by the arm and Jake felt himself split into a million molecules. It didn’t hurt, but it was a freaky as hell feeling. Jake started to panic. His heart leapt up into his throat and beat furiously against his brain. Except he wasn’t sure he even had a heart or brain. His body had gone from solid to something more like fog and trying to wrap his brain around that feeling was impossible. He felt the floor slip out from underneath him and then it was back again in the blink of an eye. It all happened so fast. One minute he was fog-stuff, the next, he felt whole again. He realized that his eyes were closed and opened them. His surroundings were completely different. He was in a church now. There were flowers lining the four walls and a casket at the back of the room. His casket, he realized. It was closed.
As well it should be, he thought. He was crushed to death in a flaming building after all. There probably wasn’t a whole lot of remains left to say goodbye to. He looked to Ash, who nodded, and then Jake took a step into the room.
His mother was there, sitting in the front row of chairs and sniffling softly. He walked over to her and saw that her eyes were rimmed with red and her nose was swollen from blowing it repeatedly. His heart broke a little for her. She had been his rock for so many years. She gave him life and he had wasted the perfect gift that she had given him. He wanted to touch her, to tell her that he was all right, but as he raised his hand to do just that, he stopped. What if he touched her and she did feel it? He didn’t know what kind of hocus pocus he had going right at the moment and he certainly didn’t want to scare her. He didn’t want to add years of nightmares to her already existing grief.
His ex-wife was there as well. Although she wasn't actively crying, he could see by the red rim around her eyes that she had been. He felt the guilt build in his chest like a heavy brick. He had wronged her, so badly. He wanted to shake himself for what he did to her. She had been happy in the beginning, but he ruined it. He ruined everything. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered in her direction. She sighed but gave no indication that she could hear him.
“Surreal, isn’t it?” Ash asked him.
“They can’t see us,” Jake mumbled.
“No,” Ash told him. “It’s better for everyone if they don’t. As far as they are concerned, you are at rest in Heaven, and that is the way it stays. You can never contact them again. You must let them grieve and move on with their lives. After a time, you can check in on them once in a while, but it is better for everyone if you stay dead.”
Jake nodded. He liked the idea of his mother believing he was in Heaven. He wasn’t exactly in hell, but it was just really all about semantics at this point. His mother didn’t need to know on any level that Hell was a real place and run like a God forsaken business. There were many things he now knew that he didn’t want his mother to know. Demons. Angels. He walked around while the pastor did his service and Jake made sure to say a small goodbye to all of his buddies from the fire station. He knelt down by his mother and told her how sorry he was and not to worry, that he was safe now. He watched as her eyes lifted toward the ceiling and a small, sad smile curved at her lips. She may not have been
able to hear him, but she felt him. Jake knew it and it gave him some measure of comfort. She had always been able to feel him. She had always known when he needed her, even now in his death.
He looked back at his ex-wife. She was crying softly and that ball of guilt returned in Jake’s stomach. He had done this to her. He could have been better to her. He could have taken care of her. If he had only been the husband he had promised to be when she married him, maybe she wouldn’t be hurting now. He knew that she loved him. He knew that he would always love her on some level. It just hadn’t been enough, had it? All the love she had to give him wasn’t enough to stop his selfishness and his greed. He hoped that she would one day forgive him and move on to someone who could make her happy.
When all his goodbyes were said and the funeral was coming to a close, he turned to Ash, who had been standing quietly in the back of the room. “Let’s go,” he said, feeling better and worse at the same time. Ash nodded and took them both back to Hell.
CHAPTER FIVE
“That was really something,” Jake muttered.
“I know right?” Ash agreed. “Now to get you dressed.”
Jake looked down at his clothes. He was still wearing the suit that he died in. “I guess I could do with getting out of this monkey suit,” he agreed.
“I've got something in mind that is much better,” Ash told him. “More functional to your job.”
“As long as I don’t have to wear horns,” Jake said, then he smiled. He imagined himself as a huge demon with horns like the guy in the movie HellBoy. “Maybe horns wouldn’t be so bad,” he said. “And a cat. I’ll have to get a cat.”
Ash caught the reference and smiled. “No cats.”
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