“What if I don’t?” Lucas asked him. Why should he work for a demon? And why was the guy being so nonspecific?
“I am not a demon. Angel. Wings. Come on now,” the man said with exasperation. “And if you don’t want to that’s fine. You will go on to your eternity.”
“Which is?” Lucas wondered aloud.
The angel shrugged. “I don’t know that. I don’t want to know. I wouldn’t want to influence your decision in any way. It must be your choice by free will.”
Lucas had a choice on his hands. Did he agree and work for this angel? Did he risk not doing it? “What if I do it and change my mind?” he asked.
“You always were a sharp one,” the angel said with a half smile. “You can go whenever you want. Your eternity will wait for you to get there.”
Lucas didn’t really see where he had a choice in the matter. He knew he would burn for the lives he took if he didn’t agree. The job couldn’t possibly be worse than being trapped in his own body, and he had made it through that. Burning in Hell for all eternity, though, that was probably infinitely worse than the hell he had already endured. He took a deep breath and nodded. “I’ll do it,” he said quietly, hoping he wasn’t making a mistake.
The angel grinned and his eyes softened. “Great.” He held out his hand and Lucas took it. They shook while staring at each other. “My name is Ash. Welcome to Hell.”
Chapter one
Ryver Styx was sitting on the balcony of her castle in the hills of Scotland enjoying the view and sipping her tea when she felt it. Something stirred within her body and she knew that something big had happened. She had felt it months before, but she had ignored it then and she was going to ignore it now. She raised her dainty cup to her lips and sipped the hot Earl Grey slowly and deliberately.
A nagging feeling in her chest made her want to explore the situation further, but she refused. Her father had banished her. This wasn’t her fight anymore. She hated that she was still connected to the place. If only she had been able to cut those ties when she left Hell, she would truly be free.
A sharp stab in her stomach made her wince in pain and all that did was piss her off. She stood from her chair and began to pace the length of her balcony. She had a nagging feeling that not only was Hell calling to her, but that she was needed.
She snorted on that one. They should have thought about that before banishing her to the Earth. She didn’t have a dog in this fight anymore. Whatever they had done or gotten into was their problem, not hers. Ryver had made a pretty good life for herself on Earth, and she had no intention of leaving her cozy castle in the hills.
But she was curious. Whatever had happened was huge. Bigger than anything she had ever felt before. A smile curled at the corners of her mouth. Maybe she would just investigate a little bit, to see what was going on. Hell, she might even sit on the sidelines and laugh.
Ryver closed her eyes and did something she hadn’t done in a century. She concentrated on her old home. Hell had been her home for many years before she had been banished. It was as simple as recalling a memory for her. She looked with her mind’s eye and what she saw yanked the smile right off her face. Her mind filled with fury and she pulled on the power she hadn’t used in a hundred years to flash herself back to Hell. Back home. It was time she had a talk with dear old Dad.
***
“Since we’re already out of the office, how about I give you the tour first?” Ash asked Lucas without turning around for an answer. Lucas shrugged and followed the man with the huge black wings. “I figure with everything going on, we might as well get the preliminaries over with.”
Lucas wondered what the “everything” that was going on meant. The last thing he remembered from his life was being taken off life support. He remembered drinking with his crew and then the next thing he knew he was in the hospital. Several people had told him that he had been the victim of a grenade attack, but he didn’t remember any of it. All he remembered was being in pain in limbs that he no longer had. But, now he had them. How did that work? His wolf was confused as well. He could feel the animal pacing within him, wanting answers that were not coming very fast. So far, he had died, miraculously regrew his limbs, and walked through fire without getting burned.
“I’m not real clear on my role here,” Lucas admitted out loud. He picked up his pace so that he was walking beside the huge man instead of behind him.
Ash turned his head and looked at Lucas. “I need you to be a guard for me,” he said. “Like I said earlier.”
“But what is that, exactly?” Lucas asked him. “Protect and serve? That kind of thing?”
“Yes,” was all the answer he got.
They stopped at a set of metal doors, which Lucas realized belonged to an elevator when it dinged and the doors opened. “Okay then,” he said as he followed the angel inside.
The doors closed silently, leaving Lucas alone in the confined space with Ash. For whatever reason, his wolf had bowed down instantly to this man. Lucas was used to being the Alpha and this was different for him. He had never bowed down to anyone.
“Do I have to bow to you?” he blurted out.
Ash crooked the corner of his mouth up in a half grin. “No, I prefer that you do not,” he said. “I am the boss here. The Alpha, if you will. As long as you do as I say, we’ll get along just fine.”
Lucas nodded. They traveled up several floors in a comfortable silence. The fact that he was comfortable with the angel was odd to Lucas, but he trusted his wolf and his wolf trusted Ash.
The elevator stopped and the doors slid open to the first realm.
The first set of steel doors they came to opened on Ash’s command. Lucas noticed that everything looked like an enormous office building without the great scenery out the windows. Because, why wouldn’t each realm have a waiting room and an electronic panel on the doors?
He watched as Ash tapped on one of those electric panels and a set of doors clicked open.
They stepped inside and Lucas felt as though he had been transported to another dimension. “What is this place?” he asked.
“Welcome to Sloth,” Ash said.
Lucas sniffed the rancid air and gagged. It smelled of body odor and waste. Giant slugs littered the ground as did sparse patches of grass and trees. “Sloth huh?” he mused aloud. It didn’t take long before Lucas noticed that the slugs had human faces. He shuddered and thanked God that he was not a resident in this realm.
“Where the criminally lazy go,” Ash informed him. “Rogue is out right now, but Tinkerbell is still here.”
Lucas started to ask about Tinkerbell, but a viscous roar interrupted him. A huge T-Rex barreled out of the trees and began snatching up the slugs for a snack. What was it he read? T-Rex couldn’t eat what they couldn’t see, and if you didn’t move they couldn’t see you. He planted his feet and slowed his breathing to a near halt as he watched the Rex devour everything in sight.
“Come here girl,” Ash said cheerfully.
The Rex thundered in their direction at the sound of Ash’s voice. Lucas knew it. This angel was nuts and they were getting ready to be dino snacks. Just as the animal got within eating distance, it stopped and lowered its head. Ash reached up and ran his hand over her head.
“Meet Tinkerbell,” Ash said with an affectionate smile.
Lucas let his breath out and tried to pretend that he didn’t just almost lose his dinner. “Tinkerbell,” he choked out.
“Yep,” Ash said with a genuine smile. “She takes care of things around here.”
“She eats slugs,” Lucas said.
“Souls,” Ash corrected him. “She eats the souls who are damned here. But no worries, they come back to be eaten another day.”
Lucas barely suppressed another shudder. “Yay,” he said without enthusiasm. “Can’t wait to see the rest of this place.”
Ash didn’t answer him, but if the smirk on his face was any indication, Lucas thought he was going to like the other realms even less.
They toured Gluttony, Pride, Lust, The Playground, Greed, and finally, Murder. Lucas’ head was swimming with all the information Ash was giving him and he hoped there wasn’t going to be a test on this shit because he wasn’t going to remember it all. All he knew was that he was glad to be an employee and not a tenant here.
As the doors to Murder opened, a very tall, very human man met them at the entrance. He had black hair and brown eyes, broad shoulders, and a trim body. He looked more like a runner than what Lucas would have expected as a Keeper of Murder. “Hey Ash,” he said, offering his hand.
Ash took the man’s hand and shook it. “How’s it going so far?” he asked the man.
“Pretty good. It was hard at first, but then I realized what these people had done in life and now it gets easier every day.” He turned his attention to Lucas. “And who is this? A new Guard?”
“This is Lucas,” Ash told him. Then, to Lucas, he said, “This is Jensen. He’s only been running Murder for a few days now, but he’s getting the hang of it.”
Lucas shook Jensen’s hand. “Nice to meet you. Did you die or were you recruited?”
“Both,” Jensen answered him. “Plane crash. Ash thought there was something in me worth saving, though. What’s your story?”
Lucas smiled. “Grenade.”
Jensen laughed. “That’ll do it. Come on, let me show you around.”
Lucas followed them deeper into the realm. Slimy demons were everywhere. They looked and moved like a three dimensional black oil painting. They were blobs that took shape to do what they needed to do, and Lucas found out all too quick what that was.
Souls were shackled to the floor by heavy chains and the demons killed them, over and over again. Knives, guns, or even bare hands seemed to be acceptable. Lucas forced the bile to stay in his stomach. This was where he belonged, he thought. How many lives had he taken while he had been alive? He was a murderer.
Even Lucas’ wolf knew it. He could feel the animal’s apprehension about being in this place. Lucas had gotten so nervous that he tried to step back in the direction of the door, but realized that he couldn’t move his feet. Jensen and Ash were talking about something and neither of them were looking at Lucas. He looked down and saw that his feet had been chained.
Fuck me, he thought. He tried to pull himself free of the chains, but they were stronger than he was. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of the black blobs coming his way. He yanked harder on his legs, but it was no use. He was stuck.
Instinct kicked in and Lucas called on his wolf. With only a thought, his body changed from a human man to the dark wolf. He tried to run, but the shackles had shrunk with his body and now all of his paws were secured to the floor. The oily demon was coming closer and taking shape. Lucas watched as it grew taller, its eyes glowing yellow like they were made of flames. It began to take the shape of a man, growing arms and legs.
Lucas turned his head to look at Ash, who was still talking to Jensen. Neither man had noticed anything. His wolf snarled at the demon, who was now even closer. It had completely formed into a man wearing fatigues. It was a soldier. As it approached, Lucas realized he recognized the man. It was one that Lucas had shot back in the jungle. This was his sins coming back to haunt him. The demon formed a gun at the end of its hand. It raised the gun, took aim, and shot.
Lucas’s wolf cried out in pain as the bullet ripped through his abdomen. White hot pain lanced through his body as the soldier demon shot again. Lucas looked back and barked for all he was worth. Ash finally looked over at him.
“Fuck!” the angel shouted as his feet took action. “Jensen let him go!”
“I’m not doing this!” Jensen shouted back at him. Both men surrounded Lucas, but they could do nothing to stop the demon from shooting him over and over again.
Finally, Ash stepped between the demon and Lucas’ battered body. “This one is not yours,” he growled at the demon. “Stop this now.”
The demon paused for a moment, but then decided to continue forward.
Lucas couldn’t believe what he saw next. Ash spread his wings and seemed to grow taller than he already was. Black fire erupted all over his skin, and when he spoke, it was as if two people were talking at the same time. “You will not disobey me,” he snarled at the demon. The next thing Lucas knew, the demon was a pile of dust on the floor. The shackles fell away from the wolf’s feet and Lucas lay there, panting for air.
Ash turned to him with glowing red eyes. “You have to shift,” he said. “Do it.”
Lucas didn’t think he had the strength to shift forms. He wanted to, but his body just couldn’t do it.
“I command you to shift,” Ash told him. The wolf recognized his Alpha, but still, his battered body could not do it.
“You have to get him out of here,” Jensen said. “He’s given himself over to the realm. That’s why it tried to take him. Get him out and he will start to heal.”
Ash nodded. The flames on his skin went out and he knelt down beside Lucas. “I’m sorry, brother. I didn’t think this through. I’ll get you out of here now.” He gently pushed his arms under the huge wolf and lifted him effortlessly from the ground. He walked out of Murder as if he weren’t carrying two hundred pounds of dead weight in his arms. Lucas knew his tongue was hanging out of his mouth and that he probably looked like a dog who had been hit by a bus. He remained as still as possible as his new boss carried him to safety. How many times had Lucas done the same thing for one of his soldiers? It was strange being on the other side of this action. The difference was, there were no bombs or missiles behind them. There were no terrorists or tanks. What they were leaving behind was an eternity in Hell. As the doors closed behind them, Ash set Lucas carefully on the ground.
Lucas could feel the weight of Murder lift from his body and he regained some of his control. Without being told to do so, he pulled on his inner magic and shifted his body to human once again. “Thank you,” he said with a heavy sigh.
“No problem,” Ash told him. “Jake had the same problem with Greed. Well, not exactly the same, but you get the idea.”
“Who’s Jake?” Lucas asked, smoothing his shirt down over his middle. He never understood why his clothes shifted with him, but he was glad for it. After that little episode, he didn’t want to be standing there naked.
“Jake is the first guard I picked,” Ash told him. “He’s probably in my office along with everyone else. They have been itching to meet you. We have waited quite some time for you to hurry up and die.”
Lucas nodded. His insides were still shaking after that ordeal in Murder and he welcomed any distraction from it. “You’ll understand if I don’t ever go back in there,” he said. “And I am sorry I had such a strong will to live,” Lucas added sarcastically. It wasn’t in his character to be short with his superiors, but damn if it hadn’t been one hell of a day.
Ash nodded and lifted his lip in a half smile, disregarding the sharp reply. “Yep. Let’s get you in the system to avoid any further complications.”
Chapter two
Lucas followed Ash through a set of heavy wooden doors. The doorway opened up to a large office space that was filled with the sounds of gunfire and shouting. Lucas immediately crouched down, flattened his back against the wall and went on the defensive. He reached for his rifle out of habit, but it was not there. For just a second, Lucas’ chest filled with panic.
“You fucking bitch, take that shit,” a man’s voice growled.
“Stop spawn killing you pansy assed camper!” another man shouted.
“Hi, Lucas,” an angelic voice said. Lucas looked up only to realize that he had crouched very low and was bordering on calling his wolf again. The lovely voice that spoke to him belonged to a petite woman with blonde hair and pale blue eyes. She was dressed in white from her ethereal wings to her white boots with steel tips. But what was more, he recognized her voice. He knew her. A sense of calm overtook his body as the sounds of war and shouting dulled in his ears
. He rose to his full height, which was about a foot taller than the angel in front of him, and breathed a sigh of relief.
“I know you,” he said. “You came to me in the hospital.”
The angel smiled and that action took all his apprehensions away. “I did,” she said. “It is nice to officially meet you. I’m Lacy.” She held her hand out and he took it. It was so small compared to his hands. Her bones were delicate and her skin was smooth against his calloused palm, but he didn’t think for a second that she was weak in any way. He could feel the raw power that was bound inside her, and so could his wolf. The animal grunted in approval as he shook her hand.
“Lucas,” he told her.
“Come, meet everyone else while Ash gets you in the system,” she said, taking his hand and leading him further into the room. Lucas realized as he approached the others that the war noises he had heard were coming from a big screen TV. There were two more angels parked in front of the set with controllers in their hands and Call of Duty raged on the screen. Off to the right were two huge, black steel cages. There was a woman inside each cage. One of them was smaller with dark hair and was packed as tightly in the corner furthest from the other cage as she could go. The other woman had red and blonde hair and appeared to be much taller. She was thinner than the other woman and when she saw Lucas, she smiled at him.
“Hey, Lucas,” she waved from her cage.
Lucas gave her a tentative wave and then looked at Lacy with a questioning look.
“That’s Shelly. She’s the Keeper of Greed. Right now, she’s in that cage for her own protection, as well as everyone else’s. Shelly’s great, though. You’ll learn to love her. I assure you the cage is not a permanent solution.” Lacy pointed at the other cage. “That woman is a traitor and a witch. Don’t trust her. Don’t talk to her. She is actually in some deep shit right now.”
Lucas nodded. He noticed that Shelly’s cage was significantly bigger than the other woman’s. It was even sort of furnished. She had a nice bed and curtains that were tied back in the corners. It looked like they would cover the entire cage when they were down to give her a bit of privacy. But still, it was a cage. What kind of outfit was Ash running where women were kept in cages like animals?
The Keepers of Hell Box Set Page 46