The Keepers of Hell Box Set

by Danielle James

  “Me either,” Lacy concurred.

  “Very few demons have the power to do something like open the gate,” Ash explained. When Lacy and Jake only looked at him as if he had two heads, he explained further. “The gateway between Earth and Hell. If it is opened, demons and humans could cross the barrier between the dimensions easily.”

  Understanding lit their faces and after the “oh” expression, their faces mirrored each other in horror. “Do you think they want to open the gate?” Lacy asked.

  Ash raised his brows and tipped his head to the side quickly. “It’s possible.”

  “That would be very bad,” Lacy said more to herself than anyone else.

  “Yeah,” Ash agreed. “You still want the job here?”

  Lacy chewed on her lower lip for a moment. Did she? Yeah, she did. Never mind that her very soul depended on her job here, but there was no way she could walk away knowing what she knew now. “Yeah,” she finally answered him. “Yes I do.”

  ***

  Liam watched the whole ordeal from his cage. He had been sitting there for so long now that he thought that maybe he was becoming something like a piece of furniture to the angels. He had seen many things during his time in Hell, but he never thought he would see the day that Lucifer was gone and an angel of good took over. While he was in Greed, Liam had seen the things that Lucifer was capable of doing to souls just because he could and it amused him. He had seen nothing like that from this new guy. Ash seemed to truly be an angel, through and through. Rumor among the realms was that he was handpicked by God to take over and Hell would still be Hell, just run more diplomatically and fairly.

  Liam hoped that this was true. He observed the angel from his cage and learned that Ash was, in fact, a good person. But he was fierce and he was strong, both in body and in magic. Liam had yet to see him use it for evil though. Ash was the kind of man that other men rallied behind, loaned their support. He was the kind of man that other men fought wars for.

  Liam had once lived. He didn’t have any idea how much time had passed since he was a living human, but he remembered it. He shook his head. He had been a selfish prick who deserved the fate he received. Liam had been a Nobleman in England. He fought many battles for his king and was paid well for his loyalty.

  But that hadn’t been enough, had it? Once Liam had a taste of riches, he wanted more. He began to charge the people who lived and worked on his land outrageous tariffs, and if they couldn’t pay, he replaced them with those who could. Liam didn’t care for their safety or their well-being, only for the gold that lined his pockets.

  It wasn’t until he had spent many years in the realm of Greed that Liam saw the error of his ways. It had been another soul who was desperate to get out. No matter how much riches they gathered, it was never enough to buy his way out. And then one day, something clicked in Liam’s head. He didn’t deserve the riches he had gathered for himself. He had been a wicked man in his life and he didn’t deserve to get out. It was at that time that he pushed all of his gold and silver, every piece of valuable material that Liam had spent forever gathering, into the other man’s pile. “Here, take it,” he told the other soul. “I don’t need it. I deserve to be here.”

  Liam felt his soul get lighter in that moment. It was almost as if a huge weight lifted from his shoulders and he felt as though he could breathe. He hated the man he had been in life. He accepted that his fate was here, in Hell. He truly regretted the things he had done while in his human body, and he regretted the people he hurt in the process. It was then that Liam prayed to God for forgiveness for his sins.

  Liam was shocked when the shackles fell from his ankles and he was permitted to walk freely among the others within Greed. But something had been different. He no longer saw piles and piles of gold and valuables, but huge piles of lonely rocks. He saw the realm for what it was. An illusion. For whatever reason, Liam wondered to the doors that he had never seen before and as soon as he was close enough to touch them, they opened for him.

  That had been when Shelly caught him and dragged him all the way to Ash’s office. Since leaving his realm was unprecedented, Ash confined Liam to the cage until he figured out what to do with him. Liam had accepted this fate as well. The man he watched every day did not have a wicked bone in his body, but he was sharp. Liam decided as he watched the angels howl in laughter and Ash do his best to pretend it wasn’t funny, that he would follow that man anywhere if he would only give him the chance.

  He found that he was particularly taken with the new addition. Lacy, her name was. She was average height, probably a full foot shorter than he was, with long, straight blonde hair and crystal blue eyes. Her body was petite and she had almost fragile features. Liam knew, though, if she was becoming a new Guard, she was anything but fragile. Looks can be deceiving. He could see the strength and wisdom in her lovely eyes. She had the look of someone who had seen it all and lived to tell about it. Or maybe she didn’t exactly live, but she was still functioning. There was something about her that provoked feelings in Liam. He didn’t understand them, nor did he want to. She made him want things that he had no right to want, and wanting them would only lead him right back where he had been. Greed. She was really something, but she was off limits.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Laura had been born a witch. She wasn’t like the ones who had to learn the craft, but she had been born with the connection to magic. It was in her blood. Yes, she had to learn to work spells and she had to learn to harness the power of her magic, but it was a part of her, just like an arm or a leg. She found that as she got older, she had less and less patience with normal humans.

  Like now, when she was trying to bless a blue stone that would move their plans along and the two human males were interfering.

  “Do you want this amulet to work or not?” she barked out.

  “Of course we do,” Jason retorted. “Why wouldn’t we?”

  “Because if you don’t let me concentrate, I won’t get the spell right. Do you want to sneak into Hell or not?”

  “Shut up Jason,” Caleb, the other human, said. “Let her work.”

  “I don’t see how a necklace is going to let us sneak into Hell undetected,” Jason grumbled under his breath. “Why can’t we just summon Balthazar?”

  Laura rolled her eyes. “Because he is locked down tight with silver chains,” she told them. “We can summon him, but it would be a huge waste of demon blood. The silver prevents his escape. We need to free him of that burden first. Besides, once he is free he will owe us for helping him. Then maybe he will be more willing to help us.”

  “Whatever,” Jason shrugged. “You’re the witch.”

  Laura gnashed her teeth together to keep from turning that human into a toad. Or a tree. Or anything that didn’t talk. She would have done it already except for the fact that she needed these humans. They had worked for Lucifer at one time and were knowledgeable to a point. They were useful at best.

  Laura had loved Shax, the demon who enslaved Ash so long ago, the demon that Ash had killed in cold blood. He also killed Laura’s plans to rule Hell by Shax’s side. Well, she wasn’t going down that easily. Ash had no clue that Laura was not on his side. It had been close when they summoned the demon of Greed and took her blood, but Laura made sure that the demon didn’t remember anything important. They had her blood now and could use it to control the demon and to summon other, more powerful demons. Balthazar had the power to open the gateway to Hell. With the gateway open, souls could move freely between Hell and Earth. While Ash and his bandits were trying to clean that mess up, that was when Laura was going to make her move. She would make a move for the throne and with the leader distracted, there would be no one to oppose her. But first, she needed to break Balthazar out of prison.

  First things first. Laid out on the table in front of her, Laura had three amulets identical to the one she had made for Ash before he was the leader of Hell. It allowed him to move between earth and hell seamlessly, and they were
going to need that ability. It allowed them to arrive undetected by hell’s security system.

  Also on the table were a stone bowl, a few herbs, and one vial of the blood they had stolen from the demon of Greed. This was going to be the key to the whole plan. She quickly said the incantation that would give the amulets their power and scooted them to the edge of the table. Then, she poured the herbs into the bowl, crushing them with a wooden spoon. She then added the vial of blood.

  “Demon of Greed,” she chanted, “I call upon thee. Do as I bid but know nothing of your actions. The time will come for you to work, leave an opening for us to exploit.”

  With a satisfied breath, Laura placed the bowl in the center of the table and surrounded it with unlit candles.

  “How do we know if it worked?” Jason asked her.

  Laura smiled. “The candles will light when it is time for us to make our move.”

  ***

  “We gotta meet Ash in the caverns,” Antonio said. “It’s time to get you in uniform.”

  Lacy forced a smile to her lips. She could do this. She followed the angel out of the offices and into what they called the caverns. Now this, she thought, is what Hell should look like. The caverns were exactly what they sounded like. Dark caves that split off in all directions, connected by one very large opening. There were many creatures milling about; mostly demons, others were human souls.

  Horns. Claws. The whole place stank of death and destruction.

  But, upon closer inspection, Lacy could see that everything was not as it appeared. The demons were actually working. Some carried clipboards, while others spoke to the human souls. Those souls, Lacy noticed, were actually forming a haphazard line. They were all mingling up to what looked like another desk. Yes. A desk. Complete with a computer and keyboard. The woman sitting behind the desk was a demon. The only way Lacy could tell was the pair of little horns that poked up through her hair on the top of her head.

  “This is triage,” Antonio told her. “That’s why Jake and Shelly left us. She has her own realm to run and Jake can’t leave her unattended. Ash will explain all that to you later. There was an earthquake in the Middle East and two hundred and sixteen souls are dead. Some of them were coming here. This is one of the changes Ash has put into place. Everyone goes through this; like at a hospital. The demons you see walking the outside of the line, they are there to keep everyone in line. Literally. Once they check in with Anna, the demon behind the desk, they are sent to their appropriate location.”

  Lacy suppressed a shiver. So many people who sinned bad enough to go to Hell. It made her stomach turn. “What happens to them once they go to their place?”

  Antonio looked her right in the eyes. His dark eyes appeared almost black in the low light. “It depends on their sin,” he told her. “Each realm has a specific punishment for its tenants. You’ll see more when Ash gives you the tour.”

  Lacy nodded. She wasn’t sure she wanted to see more. Just knowing that these souls would be tortured was making her sick.

  “See that guy,” Antonio pointed to one of them. Lacy followed his direction with her eyes. “He is a child molester and he will be going to the Playground. I don’t want to spoil all of Ash’s fun, but I want you to understand. He will be in a place where the children of Heaven laugh and play, but if he even looks at them, his consequence will be severe. He deserves his punishment. He is a monster. More so than most of the demons who live here.”

  Lacy thought of her own sin. It seemed so long ago. What would she be facing if she had said no to Ash? “What about murderers?” she asked him quietly.

  Antonio moved to stand in front of her. “Right now, Murder is in suspension because Ash killed its leader. I don’t actually know much about what goes on there. I can tell you this,” he paused to take a long breath. “The line between what is right and what is wrong isn’t always printed in black and white.”

  Lacy opened her mouth to say more, but it was then that Ash walked up to them. The man moved quickly and with purpose. “I’m sorry I’m late,” he told her. “Are you ready?”

  Lacy didn’t really know what was about to happen, so she didn’t know if she was ready or not. “I guess,” she said with false bravado.

  “Come with me; let’s not do this here.” Ash turned and walked away like a man who knew people were going to follow him.

  Lacy spurred her feet into action and had to run to catch up to him. Ash led her down a dark corridor until the cave opened up to a wide cavern. “This will do,” he said. “Usually, we would do this in the triage, but there seems to be a lot going on down there.”

  “I noticed,” Lacy said, plastering a smile on her face. She was convinced that Ash could see that she was terrified, but his expression never changed. It wasn’t grim, exactly, but he didn’t look thrilled either. Lacy wished he would just smile. That would go a long way to ease her fears.

  “Let’s do this,” he said, bowing his head and closing his eyes. What was he doing?

  Antonio elbowed her in the side softly. “We’re praying here,” he whispered.

  Oh! Right, Lacy thought, and quickly bowed her head.

  “Our Father,” Ash said in a loud, confident voice, as if he talked to God all the time, “I present to you, your child, Lacy Boweman. This woman has shown courage in the face of fear; she has shown love and forgiveness to others. She has proven her worth to me and she is deserving of your gifts. Give her the strength and wisdom she will need on this day and each day forward; give her the gift of your love. Amen.”

  Ash raised his head and so did Antonio. Lacy started to, but then she added to the prayer in her head. Please forgive me for my sins, and please don’t let me screw this up.

  Then she raised her head as well. “Is that it?” she asked with a relieved smile. She had been twisting herself in knots and all they were going to do was pray? She felt silly for being so scared. She looked at the angels at her side to see them both smiling. Now Ash smiled. Figures. They both had the look of someone who was getting away with something. A look she had seen a thousand times before with her students. “What are you two up to?” she asked.

  “You’ll see,” Antonio said, grinning wider and showing his fangs. If she hadn’t already determined that he was safe, he would have scared the crap out of her with those deadly teeth.

  Lacy was about to say something about boys being boys, but her thought train was interrupted by a blinding pain in her back. “What the hell?” she yelled, her voice getting higher with each syllable. The pain started out sharp, and then progressed to a burning that scorched down her back and into her legs. She could no longer support her weight and dropped to her knees in pain. She managed to look at Ash through the fall of her hair, as if to ask him why he would do this to her, but he held his hands up.

  “Not me,” he told her. Then he pointed up, as if to say God was doing it. Ash was smiling. He had asked God to bless her with his gifts. Perhaps Lacy wasn’t as deserving as he thought if she was in so much pain. Maybe this was her penance for the life she took. For the lives she had taken.

  Lacy looked to Antonio, who was also smiling. “This is the hard part,” he told her, “but it will be over soon. You bore so much pain in life; surely, this is just a drop in the bucket for you. You can do it.”

  Lacy dropped her head and concentrated on her breathing. She could do this. She could withstand the pain. When Antonio told her it wouldn’t last, she believed him. She had to. It hurt so badly though. She began to deliberately force her breath in and out in a slow, even pattern. Soon, the pain became a part of her. She stopped fighting it and began to embrace it. This was part of her journey, even if she didn’t really understand it. She felt the pain spread through her body in waves and she followed it. In her mind, she wrapped herself around it and embraced it to her soul. It was part of her, breathing when she breathed, pulsing in time with her heartbeat.

  Lacy felt herself lift from the ground and heard a gasp beside her, but she couldn’t look. S
he kept her eyes closed tightly as she willed the pain to obey her. She felt a breeze surround her and fold around her like an invisible hug. At that moment, Lacy felt true, unconditional love. She felt the awe and affection of the two angels at her side. They hadn’t known her long, but she knew they were proud of her. She could feel it.

  Lacy kept her eyes closed until she felt her feet touch the ground. Then, she opened her eyes.

  Ash and Antonio were staring at her with their mouths slightly ajar. “Wow,” Ash said on a breath.

  “I am totally jealous,” Antonio admitted.

  “What?” Lacy asked, thankful that the pain had blessedly stopped.

  “I think she needs a mirror,” Antonio said to Ash and then he looked back at Lacy. “You are stunning.”

  Lacy scrunched her eyebrows up and looked down at herself. She could see the ends of her blonde hair cascading over her shoulders. Her clothes had been replaced with a white corset that was thick and heavy, but not so heavy that it would impair movement. She could feel the steel boning inside it that was no doubt for protection. Her pants were also white, leather, and fit like another skin. She wore low-heeled boots, also white, with steel tips at the toes. It was a kick ass outfit, but otherwise, she looked the same as always.

  “Over your shoulder,” Ash said to her.

  Lacy craned her neck around to see over her shoulder, and that was when she saw what the men saw. Whiter than white wings covered her back. They were shimmering and iridescent, gliding like white silk with each move she made. She thought for them to spread out and they obeyed without delay. They were as wide as she was tall when stretched out, their feathers gliding against each other smoothly and perfectly. They gave the illusion of sparkling like diamonds in the low light. They were, in fact, stunning.

  ***

  Lacy had never considered attending her own funeral. Yes, she had wondered from time to time what it would be like. Who would come? Would there be flowers? She hoped there would be white Lillis. Those were her favorites. But to actually stand in the back of the room, looking at a casket with her face in it, was never on her list of what ifs.