Chapter Ten
Lucas had flashed himself immediately to Ash. He had thought, just maybe, that Ryver had done the same. He found his new boss in the caverns, holding a meeting. What he did not find, was Ryver. He didn’t want to interrupt the meeting, so he flashed himself to Ash’s office where he saw her. She was doing exactly as she said she would do. Wait. Lucas didn’t want to jinx it, so he left again without alerting her to his presence.
He went back to the caverns and stood on the sidelines while Ash spoke. He knew better than to interrupt his superior, so he stood at attention like the good soldier he was. It was damned hard though to not bounce on the balls of his feet like an excited child.
"You have all been chosen based on your skills and your loyalty," Ash was saying to the small group of demons gathered in the cavern. "My Guards will each pick four of you to join them. The assignment is to divide and conquer. We must find and bring back all of the escaped demons. You are to deal with them in any way necessary."
"Sir," one of the demons said. "Must we return the traitors alive?"
Ash stared down the demon, debating the answer he would give. "No," he finally answered. "But I do want each and every one of them accounted for. Destroy them if necessary, but bring back the ones you can. I will deal with their punishment when they arrive.” He paused for a moment and then continued, “Know this. Any of you who try to deflect or escape will be dealt with harshly and swiftly."
Whispers and murmurs spread through the small gathering. Each of them knew what kind of power Ash was capable of and none of them wanted to be on the receiving end of his anger. They had all witnessed it, live and in living terror, when Ash’s mate had been taken and hurt. No one dared face off with him. At least, not any of the ones who stayed behind when Balthazar opened the portal. No, they had a better sense of self-preservation than that.
Ash began pointing at demons. “Maury, Soddemn, Callus, Fragerous, you will all go with Jake. Payne, Richmous, Ferrel, Tom, all of you are with Lacy. The rest of you will go with Antonio and I. Lacy will take the north, Jake will take the East. We will cover the rest. I don’t care what is going on, you will all check in at regular intervals. I have set up the prison sanction to accept any demons you return with. Bring them in one at a time. If you need help, call for it. Any questions?”
Everyone nodded and paired up with their respective guard. Then Ash turned to Lucas. “Did you find her?” he asked.
“Yes, sir,” Lucas answered. He resisted the urge to salute. Some habits die hard. “She’s waiting in your office. She’s a spunky one, that one,” he said. “We better hurry before she jumps ship again.”
Ash felt the corners of his mouth twitch. He would not smile. Not in front of all these demons. “You are afraid she might run again?” he asked Lucas.
Lucas let out a sigh. “It wasn’t easy getting her here in the first place. She’s got a strong head and is stubborn as a mule.”
Ash nodded and his black as night wings twitched behind him. “Let’s go then,” Ash agreed. “There are things I want to know about this woman.”
“You and me both,” Lucas agreed as he turned to follow his new CO.
Chapter eleven
Ryver knew exactly where she needed to go and flashed herself directly into Ash’s office. The new leader, of course, was not there. She took a moment to look around the room. It was all too familiar to her, yet was so different as well. Her father had been very much into the gloom and doom look, whereas this new guy was not. There were no skulls on the desk, but instead, a photograph in a frame of a blonde woman and a man. She wondered briefly who could be so important to Ash that they would deserve the only photo spot on his desk.
There was no one being tortured and no sex slaves standing by. There was, however, two cages in the office. In one cage, there was a woman, a small cot, and nothing else save for the tray of food she had been given. In the other cage was another woman. This one had a complete bedroom in her cage and curtains for privacy. Ryver knew who she was by the intense color of her red and blonde hair. “Shelly,” she said. “What are you doing in there?”
The demon shrugged and then gave Ryver a genuine smile. “Long time no see,” she said sweetly. “I’m in here for my own protection.” She gave Ryver a quick rundown of the situation that landed her in the cage in the first place.
“Wow, that stinks,” Ryver commented. They made small talk for a few minutes and then Ryver planted herself in Ash’s chair. The chair her father used to sit in. How many times had she sat in this very chair in her past? Too many. Ryver had hated it. Her father's evil permeated everything he had touched and his chair was no different. He used to make her sit in it while he lectured her about all the things she wasn't doing right, as if he thought the evil would sink into her skin through osmosis. If she were truthful with herself, Ryver had feared that very thing. She dreaded the time in the chair, but now, as she sat comfortably in the oversized chair, all Ryver felt was the impression of love. The man who sat there now in her father's place had a lot of love in his soul. Although she couldn’t honestly say that she had loved her father, he had been all she knew. He was the only caregiver Ryver ever had. A part of her felt his loss, but at the same time she was relieved. That, of course, had her wondering just what was wrong with her. What kind of person was relieved when their father died? Her attention was drawn by the women in the cages and Ryver welcomed the distraction.
Shelly watched intently as Laura carefully picked up her chicken salad sandwich. The witch inspected it carefully before raising it to her mouth.
“You sure you wanna eat that?” Shelly asked with a skeptical look on her face.
Laura stopped, her mouth open and poised to take a bite. She slowly pulled the sandwich back from her face and looked at Shelly. “Why wouldn’t I?” she asked.
Shelly shrugged. “I didn’t know you liked bugs,” she said calmly.
Laura looked back at her sandwich and where she had seen chopped chicken, grapes, apples and mayo a moment before, now the space between the two slices of bread was overflowing with assorted insects. Flies, maggots, roaches, and spiders were spilling out of her sandwich like the plague of locusts.
“Gross!” Laura shouted, dropping the sandwich back to the plate. She scooted back to the furthest corner of her cage, desperately trying to control the dry heaves.
“Oh,” Shelly said. “You don’t want it then?”
Laura glared at her.
“Okay then, you won’t mind if I enjoy it?” Shelly reached through the bars and pulled the plate over to her side. She picked up the sandwich and looked it over. “I love chicken salad,” she said as she took a large bite. “Mmmm,” Shelly moaned. She saw the horrified look on Laura’s face and barely contained her own laughter. “What?”
“That’s disgusting,” Laura grumbled.
“Nonsense,” Shelly waved her off. “It’s just chicken.” She held the sandwich out so that Laura could see that there was nothing wrong with the food.
Laura shook her head in disbelief. “You’re a sadistic bitch,” she mumbled.
“What did you expect?” Shelly asked around a mouthful of Laura’s lunch. “I’m a demon.”
Ryver covered the chuckle that rose up with a cough. Yeah, she was messed up. “Do you know when Ash might be back?” she asked Shelly.
“Nope,” she answered around her food. “They were rounding up the posse to go and fetch some demons that escaped."
Ryver began inspecting everything on the desk in front of her. There wasn’t much; just a laptop, a phone, the photo, and a couple of folders. Nothing to write home about. What was with this guy? And why was he keeping the demon of Greed locked up? Why didn’t he just use his power to protect her? “Why is he keeping you locked up like an animal? Why doesn’t this new guy, Ash, use his power to protect you?” she asked out loud.
“Not sure,” Shelly replied. “I don’t think he can, or if he can he doesn’t realize it. Either way, this bitch beside me
can’t hurt me or use me to hurt anyone else.”
“What if I could help?” Ryver asked. “I don’t have all of my power, but I think I can manage a simple cloaking spell. Wanna give it a try?”
“I don’t know,” Shelly told her. “I think it might piss Ash off. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about being out of here and back in my realm and back with my mate, but … he’s scary when he’s mad.”
Ryver shrugged. “I am not afraid.”
“Well, give it a go if you think it will work.”
Ryver stood and walked over to the cage that held Shelly. She waved her hand and the door opened easily. “Come out,” she said and Shelly obeyed. Ryver placed her hand on Shelly’s shoulder and let her power, although muted, wash over them both.
“Wow,” Shelly breathed. “I can feel it around me.”
Ryver cocked her head to the side and smiled. “Glad I could help.”
“You know, they’re gonna want to test this,” Shelly said.
“So be it,” Ryver agreed. “I would expect nothing less.” She looked around the room one more time. “Time is up. I promised one day and that has expired now.”
“Did you tell Lucas you meant an Earth day?” Shelly asked.
“No,” Ryver admitted. “But what fun is it if I tell him everything?”
Shelly grinned at the woman in front of her. “I always did like you.”
“Be well,” Ryver said before flashing herself away and back to her castle knowing full well that Lucas would definitely follow.
Chapter Twelve
Lucas stood there with his mouth open for longer than he cared to admit. He was in Ash's office, Shelly was out of her cage, and of course, Ryver was gone. Why couldn’t that woman just stay put? Someone elbowed him in the ribs and Lucas snapped back to attention.
"Did you hear me?" Ash was asking him. "Where is she?"
Lucas took a deep breath and shook his head. "I don’t know. She was here. I saw her."
"Oh, she left," Shelly said with a grin.
"Not that I am not happy to see you out, love, but why are you out?" Jake said as he took his mate into his arms.
She kissed him lightly on the nose before answering him. "Ryver let me out. She said she protected me with her magic and now no one can get to me."
"Is that even possible?" Ash demanded. "Who does she think she is, undoing my magic?"
"It's okay," Elizabeth said, taking her mate by the arm and leading him to his chair. "I don’t know much of anything about her, but I am sure that Shelly wouldn’t have come out of the cage if that weren't the case."
"It is the case," Shelly assured them. "When Ryver was here, before she was banished, she was pretty powerful. I can feel her magic surrounding me like a chastity belt for the whole body. Nothing magical is getting in here."
Ash's head snapped in her direction. "You knew her, too, and didn’t say anything?" he barked at Shelly. "Why are all of my people keeping shit from me?"
The demon shrugged. "You didn’t ask me."
Ash rolled his eyes then he stood up. "From now on, no one keeps anything from me. I don’t care if you think it may not be important, I probably will. Any questions?"
He should have known better. Right then, Antonio decided to finally do as he was told. "Well, this morning I woke up sweating. Had coffee and then had a nice poop. Do you need to know what color it was? Oh and I made a quick trip to see my mate. And while I was there – "
"Stop!" Ash bellowed. "You know full well what I mean."
"Oh, sorry," Antonio grinned at him.
"Do you even have a serious bone in your body?" Ash grumbled as he sat back in his chair.
“Let me check,” Antonio said with all seriousness. He rolled his eyes toward the ceiling as if taking a mental inventory. “Mmmm, nope. Sorry.”
Ash scrubbed his hand over his face. “Lucas,” he barked.
“Yes, sir,” Lucas said, standing a little bit taller. “I swear she was here.”
“I know that,” Ash grumbled. “You know what to do.”
Lucas nodded. Just as he was preparing to flash away, Ash stopped him. “And this time, find some way to keep her ass here. Keep your hands on her. Restrain her if you have to.”
Yeah, he was going to keep his hands on her. He knew exactly what he was going to do when he found her again. Lucas flashed himself away from Ash’s office and back to the castle where he could feel his mate.
In the blink of an eye, Lucas was standing in front of the huge stone structure. She was in there. He could feel her. But it wasn’t just her presence he could feel. Lucas could feel his mate’s warring emotions. This was new to him. It was normal for mated wolves to be very in tune with each other’s thoughts and feelings, but he had not marked her yet. But hey, what did he know? He was an angel now and all that mattered was that Ryver was upset about something. He wanted to crush whatever it was that was making her anything less than blissful, but at the same time, Lucas knew that he and Hell were a huge part of her troubles. He didn’t know that because of some kind of intuition, but because one would have to be a complete idiot not to realize it.
The urge to go to her was undeniable. Lucas flashed himself into her home and immediately sat by her side. “You left again,” he said softly.
“I said one day,” she replied without looking at him.
“Something is wrong,” Lucas said, pointing out the obvious.
“Nothing for you to worry over,” she answered.
“Is it this whole mess with Hell?” Lucas asked her. “Because once we figure out how to put all the demons back it won’t be so bad. But we need your help.”
“Is that all you think is wrong?” Ryver barked out a short, humorless laugh. “You got way more problems than that, wolf man.”
Lucas took her hand and held it in his own. “Then tell me,” he urged her. “Tell me what is going on. I just woke up one day, dead as can be, and then I was given wings and told to find you. I don’t know what I am doing here. All I know is that Ash thinks you’re important and I agree with him. We need you. I need you. Why won’t you help us?”
Ryver pulled her hand back and used it to push her hair off her shoulder. She let out a long breath and then turned her eyes to Lucas. “I don’t belong there anymore,” she said. “When I left, I lost most of my power. Even if I wanted to help you, I couldn’t. Ash can do it. He can close the portal.”
“I think if he could he would have done it already,” Lucas said. “He doesn’t seem the type to wait around. In fact, I fear my job will be forfeit if you don’t come and talk with him. I just want you to be happy. You were happy when you were talking to Shelly. I saw it. I want to see it again.”
“That was different,” she grumbled.
“I don’t think it is.” Lucas reminded her, “You freed Shelly and protected her with your magic.”
“So?” she asked.
“So,” Lucas continued, “You over rode Ash’s power. No one else can do that.”
“I wouldn’t have been able to if he had doubled back his protection spell. It was like hacking a computer. All I had to do was find the back door in and then it was easy. I’m surprised no one had tried it yet. Especially that witch beside her.”
“I’m pretty sure Ash bound her powers,” Lucas told her. “And I think you have more power than you want to admit. I can feel it rolling off of you, among other things.”
Ryver’s head snapped up and she stared at him. “What other things?”
Lucas leaned back on the plush seat and linked his fingers behind his head. “Well,” he said with a smile, “I can feel that you are afraid. Of what, I can’t say. You’re sad too. Heartbroken for some reason. And then there is the lust.”
“What lust?” she asked with annoyance in her voice. “I don’t feel any lust.”
Lucas made a show of smelling the air, breathing her scent deep into his lungs. “You forget, sweetheart, I’m a wolf. I have an excellent sense of smell and you smell like lust.”
>
Ryver rolled her eyes at him. Who did this wolf think he was? So what if she found him attractive? That didn’t mean she was lusting after him! She eyed his wide chest, noticing how the soft material of his t-shirt stretched over the muscles. Oh, who was she kidding? She was lusting after this man like a horny teenager. “I did meet a nice looking man today at the market,” she said. The growl that came from him was as inhuman as anything she had ever heard. He leaned forward and narrowed his eyes at her, daring her to say more. It was intimidating. Scary, even, but it was also the hottest fucking thing she had witnessed in more years than she could remember. “Calm down, wolf man,” she grinned. “I was just teasing you.”
“You’re coming back with me,” he growled at her. “You are talking to Ash and getting this whole damned thing over with. I’m done playing your games.”
Ryver got prepared to snort in defiance at him, but he had her in his arms and was flashing back to Hell before she ever got the chance.
Chapter Thirteen
They landed in Hell, right in front of Lucas’ sleeping quarters. Without letting go of her, he kicked the door open and carried her inside. He kicked the door closed again and went to the corner of the room where a stool magically appeared. He had been thinking he needed one and there it was. He sat her down on it and backed up. She was not getting away this time. Lucas was tired of her games and he wasn’t going to play anymore. It was time to get serious. Ash’s words bounced around in his head and Lucas knew he was going to keep her there by any means necessary. She was going to be pissed, but she would get over it. He hoped.
That woman was going to be the second death of him! He stalked in front of her, back and forth, like the predator he was. She was doing her best to look uninterested, but he knew better. He might be an angel now, but he still had all of his wolf senses. In fact, his wolf was still with him. He could feel the beast inside of him, pacing and growling at him to just take his mate.
Lucas didn’t dare take his eyes off her. She had already split twice and he was not about to let it happen a third time. She sat on the cushioned stool, her long legs crossed and her hair draped over her shoulder. Her posture said relaxed, but her eyes tracked his every move, daring him to come closer. Wanting him to come closer.
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