No, she wouldn’t be voicing that to him just yet. Lacy got the feeling that this man was skittish at best. Hell, she wasn’t ready to jump into a relationship with a man who had been in Hell for who knows how long. Thanks to her husband, she had enough interaction with the male gender to last her a lifetime.
But her lifetime was over, wasn’t it. This was a completely new life that she embarked on when she agreed to work with Ash. She left her old life behind and found herself here, with a new life, a new family, and a new purpose.
Was Liam part of that new purpose? She had felt drawn to him from the first time she saw him. But seriously, how could she know that he wouldn’t be just like her husband had been? He had been kind and loving at first. Why should she believe Liam would be any different?
She had no reason to believe it, but she knew. She knew he would never leave her unprotected, and she knew he would never deliberately hurt her. Ever since she got her wings, Lacy had been able to feel things. She could feel the emotions coming from Liam, even if he couldn’t, or wouldn’t, acknowledge them. She looked up at his face when they arrived at the hospital and smiled. He was wearing a look of determination that was nearly comical. His brows were drawn tight over his eyes and his lips were pressed together in a hard line. In his day, he must have been a force to be reckoned with. She knew that he had been a leader of sorts, and it showed in the way he held his body. He was confident. But he had been greedy in life. Lacy didn’t need to know the details because they didn’t matter. He had earned his way out of Greed and that, to her, was a redeeming quality that she wouldn’t brush aside.
Of course, she could feel how terrified he was of going back.
She tried to use her gift. She wasn’t really sure how, but she tried to push calm into the huge man who stood beside her. He must have felt something, because he turned his head to look at her with one brow raised higher than the other.
“Are you doing that?” he asked her.
Lacy shrugged her shoulders and put on her best innocent face.
Liam shook his head. “Don’t. I’ve heard about how you can affect the way people feel. Don’t do that to me.”
Lacy hung her head. “I was just trying to help.”
Liam placed his hands on both of her shoulders. “I know you were. That’s what you do. You help people. That’s why Ash sent you here. It’s a noble purpose and I am proud to stand by your side. But I would like to feel my own emotions, if you don’t mind. I suppose I’m old school that way.” His eyes were sincere and Lacy had to control the shudder his touch induced in her. He was just so… cute. No, he was handsome in the way a Norse god was handsome. He was adorable in the way he laughed, and when he looked at her like this, he was damned sexy.
Lacy nodded. “Never?” she asked with a loaded smile. She hadn’t tried what she had been thinking but…
“Stop it,” he warned her. “You got a job to do so let’s stop wasting time and do it.”
Lacy slumped in defeat. But she was determined. She may have lost the fight, but she would win the war with this one. She didn’t know why, but she knew this man was destined to be hers. She had never taken anything in her entire life, but she was going to take him. He was hers, he just didn’t know it yet. Or maybe he did but he wasn’t ready to admit it. It didn’t matter, because in the end, she would make him believe it.
“Are you listening to me?” Liam’s voice brought Lacy out of her own head.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I was somewhere else for a second there.”
He smiled at her, “I can see that. I was saying that perhaps you shouldn’t walk in there looking like that,” he told her.
“Like what?” she asked. Then she looked down at her body. She was wearing the corset and leathers that had been given to her with her wings. Not really hospital appropriate.
“While I rather like the look,” Liam continued, “I don’t think the family of that wolf is going to be ready to listen to someone who looks like they’re ready to fight. Maybe change into something less intimidating?”
Lacy’s face broke out in a huge smile. “You think I’m intimidating?”
Liam shook his head. “Not to me – but to them – yes.”
“Where should I get clothes? Should I borrow some scrubs or something?”
“I thought I heard the guys saying that an angel always has what they need. Can’t you just conjure something different like they do?”
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I’ve never tried.” Lacy concentrated on changing her clothes.
“That’s better,” he said.
Lacy looked down at herself again and saw that she was wearing white slacks and a lab coat instead of her fighting outfit. “That was easy,” she admitted.
“Let’s do this,” Liam said, taking her hand. They walked into the hospital hand in hand, like any normal couple would have. Liam didn’t examine how natural it felt to walk by her side. It was a luxury he couldn’t afford.
When they approached the room where the injured wolf lay, Liam let her go. “I’ll just wait out here,” he said, taking a seat in a chair by the wall.
Lacy nodded and proceeded to knock lightly on the door. When a soft voice said to come in, Lacy pushed the door open and went inside. Her stomach was a tight bundle of nerves. She had no idea how she was going to do this. All at once, she doubted her decision to barge in without a plan.
As she rounded the privacy curtain, Lacy was faced with Lucas’s family. “Hello,” she said quietly. “I’m Lacy, a patient advocate.” Not a lie. She couldn’t lie to these people. She could feel their grief and she could feel Lucas’s frustration and pain. That gave her the courage to keep talking.
“What’s a patient advocate?” an older woman asked. Probably his mother.
Lacy came into the room further and stood beside the bed. “A patient advocate is someone who acts for the patient when they cannot. I do whatever is in the best interest of the patient and see that the patient’s wishes are followed. To the letter.”
“Lucas can’t say what he wants,” a younger woman said. She looked enough like the older woman that Lacy decided she must be the sister.
“That’s also what I do. I make sure that you, as his family, know what’s going on and what all your options are as far as his care.” Lacy leaned close to Lucas. “Hello, Lucas. It’s Lacy. I’m back and I am here to help you,” she said softly.
She could tell by the approving faces of this man’s family that they appreciated how she talked directly to Lucas. If she was going to help him, she had to earn the family’s trust. “What can you tell me about Lucas?” she asked.
“It’s all in his file,” the mother told her.
“I’ve read his medical file,” Lacy said. “What I want to know isn’t in that file. I want to know things about Lucas that only his family could tell me.”
“Well,” the mother said, “Lucas is a sweet boy. He never really got into any trouble as a kid, but as a teenager…”
Lacy listened as the wolf’s mother told her all about the man in the bed. Her eyes misted over as the woman recalled the tiniest details of the wolf’s personality. She could clearly understand the family’s need to keep Lucas alive, but her boss just as badly needed him to let go of life.
“And you know us weres can regenerate limbs sometimes,” the mother said.
Lacy had to say something. “I have heard of weres sometimes re-growing a finger over the course of years with regular shifting,” she told her. “But Lucas is missing half of his body. He can’t shift. Can you imagine how long it would take to regenerate half his body?”
The mother shook her head. She wasn’t going to hear it. “I have faith that soon Lucas will be strong enough to call on his wolf.”
“How long has he been this way?” Lacy asked her.
“It’s only been a month,” the mother replied.
“And in that months’ time, has he shown any real improvement?”
The mother dropped her
head. “No.”
“I want to make sure that you understand what Lucas is going through right now,” Lacy told her. “He is in pain. Lots of pain. He feels those limbs they were unable to save. He feels the pain as if they were still there. All four of them. He can’t talk. He can’t eat. He can’t communicate with us in any way except the expression on his face.” Lacy talked a few more minutes before she felt Liam’s impatience through the door.
“Listen,” she told Lucas’s family, “I have other patients to see today, but I want you to consider this. Would Lucas want to be kept alive this way? For this long? For as long as it might take for his limbs to start to regenerate? Would he want to be in pain every day for the rest of his life? Would he want to live knowing he may never be able to shift again?”
The family didn’t respond to her questions, but Lacy didn’t think they would. She had to be frank with them, but she hated that it caused them pain. “Just think about those things before making any decisions about his care.”
She said her goodbyes to the family with a promise to check back with them soon. She found Liam waiting for her in the hall, exactly where she left him. “Ready?” she asked, extending her hand to him.
Liam took her hand and stood. Together they walked out of the hospital, and once they were clear of any people, Lacy took them back to Hell.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Jason was jacking off while watching porn on his computer when the candles on the table lit of their own accord. One by one, each candle’s wick erupted in a tiny flame that called to his attention. The spell! It had worked. Immediately he yanked his hand out of his jeans and called for Laura. “The candles lit!” he yelled. “It’s time!”
Caleb came running and Laura glided into the room and saw the lit candles. A mischievous grin spread across her face and she ran to her bag. She rummaged through it until she found what she was looking for. She held up three amulets suspended on black cord. “Here,” she said, shoving one at each of the human men. “Put these on and keep them on. No matter what.”
“What is it?” Caleb asked her.
“They’re amulets to transport us to Hell. I’ve added a cloaking spell to them so that we can get in and out undetected.” Laura reached in her bag again and pulled out three blades. “Take one of these,” she said. “You’re going to need them.”
“You didn’t say anything about stabbing anyone,” Caleb remarked as he palmed the blade.
“Did you think we were going to get into the prisons of Hell without having to kill a demon or twelve?” she snarked. “Please. Get real. Man up or get out. If you can’t stand the idea of killing demons, then I don’t need your help.”
Caleb swallowed hard and shut his mouth quickly. This was one of those times where he seriously had to contemplate his association with these people. Before Laura, he and Jason had a kind of understanding with Lucifer. It was easy. They brought him people and he gave them whatever they wanted in return. But Laura? She was different. At least they had known that as evil as he was, Lucifer would hold up his end of the bargain. Caleb wasn’t so sure about Laura. He had a feeling that he and Jason were disposable to her, a means to an end, and when it was over, she would dispose of them.
Jason didn’t seem to feel that way, though. He followed Laura blindly and Caleb had to wonder if the man had a crush on the witch. He would follow her anywhere, including the depths of Hell.
Laura began to say the incantation that activated the amulets. Caleb and Jason did as she did and held the amulets in the palms of their hands. The world they lived in disappeared and in the space of a heartbeat, they were in one of the many caverns of Hell.
“Where are we?” Jason asked.
“Keep your voice down,” Laura snapped. “I used a few drops of the demon’s blood to anchor the spell. We should be very close to the prison.”
“How are we going to get there without being seen?” Caleb asked her. “I can hear demons. They’re everywhere.”
“That’s why I spelled the amulets to keep us hidden,” she hissed. “They can’t see us, so we are safe unless you want to keep running your mouth.”
Caleb shut up again. He followed Laura as she walked at a brisk pace through the caves. He could hear the whisper of thousands of feet shuffling through the darkness and shadows. Minions. He knew it. He knew they existed and if they saw the three humans making their way to the prison sanction, they would eat the flesh of Caleb and his partners for breakfast. He suppressed a shudder.
“Here,” Laura whispered.
She had come to a stop in front of a heavy door. The electrical panel on the side was blinking, signifying that the system was unarmed. She pulled her blade out in front of her and the others did the same.
Laura pushed the enormous door open.
“What the hell?” the demon guard on the other side shouted as the doors seemed to open on their own. Laura was quick to shove her blade deep into his ribs. The demon gurgled and then slumped to the floor before he had a chance to alert anyone of their presence.
Laura held up her hand then pointed in the direction they needed to go. Jason and Caleb nodded and followed her silently.
They walked past cell after cell. Each was different in its own way. Some had bars and others looked to be enclosed in solid silver. Laura walked past all of them, determined in her mission.
Finally, she stopped in front of one. It was a cell, but it had a heavy silver door with only the smallest window to see inside. She rose up on her toes to see the demon inside.
Balthazar was sitting in the corner with his head down. His horns were long and black, curving around the back of his head. He was as big as a truck. He was shackled to the wall at the wrists, ankles, and waist by heavy silver chains. Silver was the only substance known to hold a demon. Made with an allergy of sorts to them, they inhibited the demon’s powers and strength.
“This is it,” Laura whispered to her human cohorts. “Be ready. Once we start we have to move quickly.”
Then she turned her attention to the demon in the cell. “Balthazar,” she said softly but loud enough for him to hear.
The massive demon raised his head and looked for the voice he had heard. “More visitors?” he asked. “Already?”
“I have come to make a deal with you,” Laura said. “You help me and I will give you your freedom.”
The demon threw his head back and laughed. “I must be going crazy,” he said. “Who would dare break me out? Not my lovely daughter. She’s too busy being up the mighty Ash’s ass. No demon would go against him.”
“I’m not a demon,” she told him. “And we don’t have time to explain. I need your specific abilities, if you are interested. You agree to help me and I can set you free from this prison. I need an answer now.”
The demon seemed to think about the proposal. “I will do it,” he finally said. “You get me out of here and out of Hell, and I will help you.”
Laura was quite pleased with herself when she heard his answer. “Be still and trust me,” she said. Then she whispered an unlock spell at the door. The thing clicked and whined, but finally opened.
As she expected, demon guards came running. “Kill them,” she commanded Caleb and Jason as she ran into the cell. “I am going to unlock your restraints,” she told Balthazar.
She used her magic to unlock the shackles around his ankles first, then his wrists, and finally, the one around his waist. Balthazar stood to his full height and roared a laugh.
Caleb had just sliced the throat of one guard and Jason was fighting another. It was nearly impossible for the demons to kill what they could not see. Balthazar didn’t want to miss out, so he grabbed one and snapped its neck with a satisfied laugh.
“Let’s go,” Laura shouted, taking the hulking demon by the hand and chanting the spell that would take them out of Hell and back to Earth.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Lacy and Liam arrived just outside of Ash’s office. With a smile, Lacy knocked lightly on the door. It o
pened for her and they went inside.
“Oh, hey. You’re back,” Jake said with a grin. “We were just getting ready to do some mojo on Shelly’s head.”
Lacy noticed that Shelly was sitting in Ash’s chair in the middle of the room and everyone was gathered around her. “Got that spell?” she asked Antonio as they entered and walked over to the rest of the group.
“Yeah, it’s pretty straight forward,” Antonio replied.
“How was your trip?” Ash asked her.
Lacy nodded. “I agree with you,” she told Ash. “Lucas is in pain. His body is still alive, but in the barest form of the word. He is far from living and I don’t see how it could get better. I talked to his family.”
“And?”
“And it’s going to take some time. I’ll visit with them again. I planted the seeds and now it’s time to wait for them to grow.” Lacy stared up into the face of her new boss. “And I may have visited a park and played on the swings for a minute.”
Antonio laughed. “The best things happen in parks,” he told her with a knowing look.
“Ok, can we please get this show on the road?” Shelly asked from her position in the chair. “I want to know what happened to me just as badly as you guys do.”
Ash nodded and Antonio unfolded a piece of paper from his pants pocket. He said the words that were in a language that Lacy thought was probably Latin, but she couldn’t be sure.
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