The Keepers of Hell Box Set

by Danielle James

  “Good morning, Liam,” she said softly.

  The corner of his mouth turned up in a half smile, and that was when Lacy noticed that his lips were full and looked like they would be very soft. She briefly wondered what it would feel like to have those lips touching her skin, and then she wondered why in the world she was thinking about that? She pushed the thought away and knelt down next to the cage.

  “Here,” Lacy said softly while pushing a stack of six books through the bars of Liam’s cage. “It’s all I could get my hands on here in this world, but I’ve heard great things about them. They’re paranormal romance, but at least it’s something.”

  Liam took the stack of books and settled into his cage. “The Forbidden Love Series,” he read off the front cover of one of the books.

  “The Forbidden Love Series,” Antonio repeated, his head whipping around to look at him. “That sounds vaguely familiar…” Antonio’s eyebrows scrunched up over his eyes for a moment before they went back to their normal position. “Can’t place it,” he said with a shrug. “Oh, well.” He then turned to get back to the business at hand.

  “Thank you,” Liam told Lacy. And he meant it. She had shown him the first slice of kindness since he died and had been banished to Greed. He looked at her closely, noticing how her skin seemed to shimmer in the low light, just like her wings. Man, those wings were really something, he decided. They appeared to be delicate and soft. Liam knew they were anything but delicate. He had been sitting and watching long enough to know that angels’ wings were powerful, and could even be used as weapons.

  Her long blonde hair cascaded over her shoulders and Liam had to fight the urge to reach out and rub the silky strands between his fingers. He wanted to touch her. But wanting things he shouldn’t have is what landed him in hell in the first place. He forced his hands under his legs and just stared at the beauty in front of him. There was something about her… something that made him feel things. He knew she felt pity for him, he could feel it. He didn’t want her pity though. He wanted… hell, he didn’t know what he wanted, but it sure as hell wasn’t pity.

  “Don’t pity me,” he said softly. “I deserve to be here.”

  Lacy shook her head. “I don’t believe that,” she said. “Not anymore, you don’t.”

  Liam shook his head. He wasn’t going to argue with the pretty angel. She was different, that one. He had been watching the goings on in Ash’s office and never interacted. There was something about this angel though. When she was near, he forgot himself. “You’re too kind,” he told her. “I think you must be special. I can feel it. When you’re near, I forget myself and for some reason, just seeing you smile fills me with hope.”

  Lacy smiled and it lit up Liam’s dark existence. She was dangerous. “Hope is a good thing,” she told him. “Hope is an emotion that’s strong enough to save the world.”

  “Yeah, but it can also be the most crushing of emotions when it doesn’t pan out.”

  Lacy chewed on her bottom lip. She knew just by the look in his eye that someone had hurt him. He was a kindred spirit with hers. He was wary of his feelings, as was she. But still, she had to reach out to him. “Someone hurt me too,” she said.

  Liam’s heart filled with anger. Not at Lacy, but at the idiot soul who would dare hurt her. If he had been her husband, he would have lived his life differently. He would have lived each day with her as if it were his last. He would have lived just to see her smile. The poor sap that did her wrong didn’t deserve her. But then, neither did Liam.

  Liam opened his mouth to speak, but he was cut off by Ash’s booming voice. “Get Shelly in here,” he barked. “I want her to look at these pics and see if she recognizes this guy. I think we have our human. Or at least, one of them.”

  Antonio sprang up from his perch and disappeared. In a second, he was back and he brought Jake and Shelly with him. “There,” he pointed to the computer screen. “Do you recognize this shit head?”

  Shelly leaned over Ash’s shoulder to look at the screen. She squinted and turned her head, then righted it again. “No,” she admitted. “I feel like there is something, but I can’t say what. Maybe it is one of them. I don’t know. I’m sorry.”

  “Damn that fucking spell!” Ash growled.

  “Don’t I know it,” Shelly sighed. “I wish I knew what happened.”

  Lacy decided that was a good time to join the conversation. “I know I’m new here,” she said, “but I have a thought.”

  “We are all ears, Boo,” Antonio smiled at her.

  Lacy rolled her eyes at the endearment. “Why don’t you take her to a therapist? One that can do some hypnosis mumbo jumbo on her?” She could tell that the others were debating on whether or not to laugh at her suggestion, so she quickly continued. “People do it all the time. When something traumatic happens, they go get hypnotized. It’s called something like, Repressed Memory Syndrome.”

  “But this was a spell,” Ash reminded her. “I suppose we could call Laura and see if she can remove it.”

  Lacy’s heart jumped in her chest and immediately she knew that was a bad idea. “I don’t know why, but I feel like that is a bad idea,” she voiced her concern. “I admit that I don’t know much about witches and spells, but I feel like we should be very careful about who we trust.”

  “Maybe she’s right,” Shelly said thoughtfully. “I think we need to be sure we can trust the people we involve.”

  “I have always been able to trust Laura,” Ash reminded them.

  “But she was way off when we were looking for Shelly,” Jake reminded him. He shook his head. “I think it’s a bad idea.”

  Antonio started grinning. “What?” Ash demanded.

  “I think I have a guy,” he said with a toothy grin.

  “Why am I not surprised,” Ash rumbled. “You just happen to have a witch that specializes in spell removal handy?”

  “Something like that,” Antonio said. “Let me see if I can get her here.” And with that, Antonio disappeared again.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Antonio returned several hours later, alone. “Ok, she says that she can prepare a spell for us, but we are gonna have to perform it on our own,” he said. “She won’t come down here. Says she loves me, but no way is she coming to Hell. Unless you want to take Shelly topside to see her?”

  “Shelly isn’t leaving here,” Ash told him. “We can’t watch her properly out there.”

  “You saying that Jake and I can’t keep one little demon out of trouble?” Antonio asked. Shelly stuck her tongue out at him.

  “I’m sorry, the answer is no,” Ash said.

  Antonio sighed. “Then I guess we’re on our own. She will let me know when the spell is ready.”

  Ash sighed and nodded his head. He knew there was no way he could risk taking Shelly out of Hell right then. There was too much at stake. There was no way of knowing what the humans would do with her blood. What Ash didn’t say was that he had not completely dismissed the prospect of killing the demon to protect everyone and everything that he had worked for and grown to love. He would try every option, but if the shit got out of hand, he would kill the demon before she had a chance to hurt anyone. Everyone knew it, but no one was going to say it.

  “Lacy needs to get her training done,” Ash told them. “Get on into the training pit. Let’s get this over with.”

  Liam watched as the people that he had grown to care about left the room. He wanted to go with, to watch Lacy train with them. He wanted to go and protect her, which was odd because he had never felt protective of any female in his life. He knew Lacy was some kind of powerful, but still. He knew in his heart that he would fight to protect her, no matter whom or what it was from, even if it was from the most powerful angel he could imagine. Even if it was Ash she needed protected from.

  ***

  Antonio picked up his sword and held it out at arm’s length. It was enormous and had to weigh at least a hundred pounds, but he held it firmly, as if it were nothing.
His face split into a feral grin before he came at her. Lacy acted on instinct, raising her own, smaller sword to block his attack.

  “Good,” Antonio said, coming at her again, this time from the side. He swung his sword repeatedly, forcing Lacy to retreat back further and further. “Take the offensive,” he told her, swinging again. Lacy was surprised that her sword held up under the onslaught of Antonio’s attacks. His was much bigger than hers was, yet hers was standing up to him.

  “I can’t attack you if you don’t leave an opening!” she huffed. “You’re killing me here!”

  Antonio smiled at her and retreated a moment. “Here, I’ll give you a free shot. Come at me.”

  Lacy lunged forward, bringing her sword over her head and then slicing downward. Antonio blocked it with ease.

  “Never go for the obvious attack,” he told her, circling her. “If I see it coming, then I am going to stop it. You are gonna have to fight demons who want you dead. I know you got better than that.”

  Lacy growled under her breath and came at him again. She swung her sword low and Antonio jumped to avoid losing his legs. “Better,” he said. “Again.”

  Over and over again, Lacy attacked Antonio. She lost count of how many times she struck and he blocked. Her arm was burning from the effort and her breath was coming in short pants, but she wasn’t about to give up. “This would be so much easier if I was mean or menacing in some way,” she said.

  Antonio let his sword down and looked at the new angel. She was right. She was too pretty. Too innocent looking. She looked like the stereotypical angel, and he knew that she didn’t have a mean bone in her body. “You’re right,” he said. “You need to find your anger. I am not afraid of you, and that makes you weaker than me, even though you are just as powerful as I am. You have to harness it.”

  “Could you just be afraid of me for a minute?” she grumbled. She pressed her lips together and drew in a deep breath. She conjured her most evil glare and turned it on him. “Be afraid,” she growled, “be very afraid!”, and then she struck.

  Antonio watched Lacy try to look mean, but it just wasn’t working. She looked like the epitome of good and kind, anything but mean and scary. He almost laughed when she said to be very afraid, but he contained it. Barely. And then she came at him with her sword raised high. He didn’t know if it was the look of sheer willpower on her face or what, but something inside him told him that she was dangerous. She meant to take his head. He liked his head. He quickly drew his sword and parried her attacks, but she was coming at him faster than he thought possible.

  His heart jumped into his throat when she nearly sliced his neck in two. Antonio found himself backing away from the little lady. This little ball of dynamite was hell bent on killing him. He didn’t just think it; he believed it. And he believed she would kill him if he didn’t move his ass.

  “Aaaaaaaagh!” Lacy screamed into the caverns, and her roar vibrated within Antonio’s chest. What the hell? He backed up faster until he finally gave up and started outright running. He said she needed to be scary and she had done it, in spades. He didn’t know how he pissed her off so badly. All he knew was that he had to get away from her. Now.

  “Why you running Antonio?” Jake hollered from the sidelines. “You running from a girl!”

  “Fuck off,” Antonio shouted back. “You want in on this?”

  “No, I’m good,” Jake laughed. “This is way more entertaining.”

  Antonio started to shout a snide comment, but he lost his footing and stumbled backward until he hit the wall. Lacy was still coming after him. He threw his hands up in an attempt to shield his face and he heard the clang of her blade hitting the stone wall beside him. Antonio opened his eyes and saw that Lacy was standing in front of him with her sword against the wall just next to his head. She looked pissed.

  “You are not funny,” she growled at him.

  “I’m not trying to be!” he wailed. “What is your problem?”

  Jake and Ash were laughing too. “This is not funny!” she barked in their direction.

  Immediately, the two angels sobered. It was no longer funny.

  “You think by acting like a coward you can make me feel better?” she huffed, dropping her sword to the floor. “No. I don’t want to be babied.” She turned to stalk away but Ash stopped her.

  “What did you do just now?” he asked her.

  “What?” she balked. “I just played make believe with this asshat. That’s what.”

  “I wasn’t playing,” Antonio said. “You scared the crap out of me.”

  “And as soon as you demanded that this wasn’t funny,” Jake added, “I stopped laughing.”

  “I think you may have found your power,” Ash said. “Makes sense. I felt all kinds of empathy for the man in my office.”

  “Liam,” Lacy told him.

  “Yes,” Ash agreed, “Liam. You were trying to convince me to feel some for him and it was working. Did you want Antonio to piss his pants?”

  “I did not piss my pants,” Antonio grumbled.

  “I wanted him to be scared of me,” Lacy admitted, “that way I could get a hit in once in a while.”

  “Well, it seems to have worked,” Jake said. “But let me give you some advice. Don’t use that shit on Ash.” He visibly shuddered. “Don’t piss him off.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Ash said, winking at Lacy. “I am always very reasonable.”

  “Yeah,” Jake said, “Until someone accidentally puts out your fire.”

  “What fire?” Lacy asked.

  It was then that Ash decided to show her.

  He stood in front of her with his feet shoulder width apart, head down, and his hand on the sword at his hip. Lacy watched the fall of his dark hair as it concealed his eyes. Just standing like that, he was menacing, but when he raised his head… Lacy didn’t have time to want him to be afraid of her. His eyes glowed red like a demon in the night. His black wings arched behind his back and made him look bigger than he already was. As if that weren’t enough, black fire broke out all over his skin. It danced along his pores and rippled with each slight movement of his body, as if it had a life of its own and was just waiting to leap off his skin and onto his target, which she realized at that moment, was her.

  Lacy’s feet made their own decision to begin moving away from Ash. Two steps, then three, making distance from the angel who didn’t look very angelic at that moment. Deep down in her soul, she knew Ash wouldn’t hurt her. Well, not much anyway, but her brain just wasn’t in the mood to listen.

  The sound of his steel blade being pulled from its sheath echoed through the cavern, and Lacy’s heart jumped out of her chest and into her throat. She stumbled back further, nearly tripping over something. She didn’t see what it was because she couldn’t take her eyes off Ash. She couldn’t have even if she wanted to.

  “You need to prove to these guys that I didn’t make a mistake with you,” Ash told her. “Defend yourself.” His voice was strange. It was as if two people were talking at the same time. It made a shiver run up her spine. Lacy backed into the wall and then she had nowhere to go. “Defend yourself,” he repeated, just as he brought that huge sword around and pulled it down through the air, right for her head.

  Lacy’s arm whipped up on its own and the clash of metal against metal jolted her out of whatever trance she had been in. She was not defenseless, she reminded herself. She parried each of Ash’s attacks, gaining precious distance from the wall. She swung her blade at him, but he laughed. “Come on,” he taunted her, “you can do better.”

  Lacy moved faster than she ever dreamed possible. She was going to get a nick on the leader of Hell if it killed her. Repeatedly she struck out at him, but he was always one step ahead of her. It was as if he knew what move she would make before she made it.

  Then Lacy had an idea. She swung her sword toward Ash’s head, and when he raised his arm to block her, she kicked out with her leg, pulling on her martial arts trai
ning. Her foot connected with his stomach and she was rewarded with a grunt of pain from him. He smiled and she dropped her sword.

  Ash nodded and tossed his aside as well. He prowled around her like a cat on the hunt, but Lacy was no longer afraid of his theatrics. She was certain that his fire was dangerous, but she was just as certain that he would not turn it on her.

  Lacy watched every move he made, also aware of the crowd that had gathered to watch. She didn’t have time to decide who was in attendance, but it didn’t matter. She knew the second Ash decided to attack. His eyes shifted ever so slightly and then he moved. Lacy spread her wings and leapt into the air, narrowly missing his attack, but gaining an approving nod from her new boss.

  Then, Ash used his mind to pull her out of the air. “Hey!” she protested. “You don’t fight fair.”

  “And neither will those who seek to fight us,” he reminded her just before pulling his hand back. He was going to hit her. She knew it. Images of her husband and his special brand of discipline raced through her brain. No. She was not a victim. Never again. Something inside her snapped, and before Ash could follow through her fist was flying through the air. It connected with his jaw and his head snapped back.

  Lacy didn’t stop there. While he was busy being proud of her, Lacy kicked out with her foot and brought it around in a half circle, connecting with Ash’s feet. She knocked his feet out from under him and then shot her arm out to clothesline him in the chest.

  Ash hit the ground hard and Lacy jumped on top of him. She was attacking him in a fury of flying fists, and even slammed her head against his. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she was aware that given her size, there was no way she should have been able to take down the leader of Hell and that Ash was not fighting back, but she didn’t care. No one was going to beat up on her again. No one. She was through being the victim. She was through feeling helpless. She had pulled the plug on that part of her life long ago. She no longer saw Ash’s face in front of her, but that of her husband. She knew it was wrong, but she hated him. She hated him for the way he treated her and she hated him for everything he had robbed her of in life. She hated that his repeated beatings had rendered her sterile. She hated everything that man stood for and she was glad she killed him. She would do it again. She would show him how he hurt her.