The Keepers of Hell Box Set

by Danielle James

  President Obama was in his chair at the head of the table. On either side of him were two Secret Service Agents. They hung back a bit, but still they were watchful of everything going on. The man, Derrick something, was paying rapt attention to the policies that were on the table that evening. The woman, Kaia, a red-headed, sprite of a woman, had her eyes on Simon. There was a sadness in her eyes that no matter how bad ass she was, it would never leave her. It was the kind of sadness that stained the soul for all eternity. Simon wondered what had happened to this woman to make her so sad down to her bones. And then he realized, she was watching him. It wasn't the normal way a woman watches a man. No, she was suspicious of him. Simon sniffed the air covertly to verify what he already knew. She was human. There was no way she could have any idea what he was about to do. It didn't matter.

  Simon closed his eyes and said a quick prayer for forgiveness before using his vampire speed to unholster his gun. He raised it at arm's length. He didn't hesitate and he didn't falter. He pulled the trigger.

  No sooner than he had raised his arm, Kaia was moving. She threw herself in front of the man she had vowed to protect, just as Simon knew she would. The bullet ripped through her shoulder, splashing red on her clothes and filling the air with the aroma of fresh blood. The bullet missed its mark, though, and the President was unharmed.

  Simon felt the corner of his mouth twitch with satisfaction that even though he had done what he was supposed to do to fulfill the deal with Balthazar, the action did not have the desired effect. A strange sense of calm overtook his body as the other Agent placed the barrel of his nine millimeter against Simon's temple. Just as Simon did, the man wasted no time and pulled the trigger.

  "What the hell is going on?" Elizabeth breathed in horror.

  "Balthazar," Ash told her. "But his plan failed. Simon didn't kill the President and Kaia has done exactly what she was supposed to do. On that, the demon has failed." The mirror went dark again and Ash pulled his mate into his arms. "I need to go help them," he said.

  "I know," she answered. "Come back to me soon." She kissed him and before she could let him go, Ash flashed away from her.

  ***

  Ryver kept herself in mist form while she watched the scenes in the mirror alongside the others. They didn't know she was there and she preferred it that way. Ash was a good leader, she decided. He was fair and just, but quick to act and precise in his plan. He was everything her father was not and that was how she knew that he was going to handle everything and it would all work out in the end. Of course, knowing this did nothing to counter the guilt she felt for not lending her help. It didn't matter. They didn't need her. No one did. Ryver left as silently as she had come, back to her castle where she was certain she would find the wolf already waiting for her.

  Chapter sixteen

  Ryver was right. The wolf was in her home. She could feel his presence even stronger than she had before. There was no use in fighting him, though. She knew he would take her back to Hell whether she wanted to go or not. Ryver was confident that her wolf would find a way. How long could she keep running from him? It wouldn't be much longer, and Ryver was tired. She was tired in her body and she was tired in her mind. Instead of trying to find a way around it, Ryver just jumped right in with both feet. She shoved the doors open on her balcony and entered her home.

  "Honey, I'm home," she called out.

  Lucas appeared in front of her as if by magic, but he didn’t look happy to see her. In fact, he looked pissed as he stalked toward her. Ryver couldn't help the shiver of excitement that ran down her spine and turned on the heat in her belly. He was magnificent. His icy blue eyes were focused on her, and her alone, while his body moved forward. He was crouched slightly, as if he were ready to pounce if the need arose.

  Lucas was tired of playing her games. His woman was going back to Hell with him and this time, he was going to make damned sure she stayed there. Where she belonged. With him. He had scented her as soon as she arrived on her balcony, but he waited for her inside. Lucas wanted her to see him coming.

  Stalking her like prey, Lucas moved for her. He closed the distance between them and when he scented her arousal, his wolf howled in victory. Not only was she coming home with him, but he was going to make her his. Tonight. Now.

  Lucas didn’t say anything and he didn't ask permission when he wrapped his arms and his wings around her harshly and flashed them back to Hell. They landed in his sleeping quarters again and he dropped her unceremoniously on the bed.

  "I'm not going to tie you up this time," he growled at her, pacing at the foot of the bed. "I'm not asking, or begging. This time you're gonna stay because you want to."

  "What makes you think–," Ryver started, but Lucas interrupted her.

  "Stop talking," he demanded before climbing onto the bed, leaning over her and pressing her into the mattress with the weight of his body. She did as he told her and Lucas' wolf growled his approval. Lucas knew he was coming on a bit strong, but he could do nothing to stop himself. Any human woman would have been afraid of him, but not his woman. She was turned on. Lucas could smell it filling the air and driving his wolf to insanity.

  Maybe if he hadn't tasted her skin. Maybe if he hadn't touched her. But he had, and he did. Lucas looked down into the bluest eyes he had ever seen and all he saw was encouragement. She wanted this as badly as he did. "Why did you run?" he growled at her.

  Lucas expected her to come back with any sort of snarky comment, a smart ass remark that would merit some irritation or even punishment if he was lucky, but that wasn't what he got from Ryver. Instead of answering him, she grabbed the back of his head and yanked him down to her, shoving her tongue into his mouth.

  Lucas loved it when a woman took charge almost as much as he loved being in charge. Her mouth tasted sweet and with the way her tongue was bossing his around, he was going to be drunk off her in a matter of minutes.

  He wedged his knee between hers and hiked it up, forcing Ryver to spread her legs and accommodate him in the cradle of her thighs. His weight was supported on his elbows on either side of her head, so Lucas shifted to move one hand down her side and then down her leg. He rounded the back of her knee and pulled her leg up, wrapping it around his waist. The action brought Lucas' cock in direct contact with her core, separated only by a couple of layers of clothing.

  Her moan of approval went straight to his cock.

  Lucas lifted the hem of her shirt and slipped his hand under the thin fabric. His fingers drifted over her stomach and then her ribs, before finding their target. Ryver wasn’t wearing a bra and she didn’t need to. Her breasts were perfect, filling his hand exactly the way he wanted them to. She arched her back under him, begging for more of his touch. Lucas found her pebbled nipple and rolled it between his thumb and finger. He dropped his head to kiss her neck and she moved to allow him better access.

  He couldn’t stop himself from rocking his hips against her heated core. He had to be inside her, and soon. Lucas shoved himself up to his knees and looked down on his treasure. This was his mate. Perfect in every way and made especially for him. He growled as the need to see her became too much. Lucas grabbed her shirt and ripped the material down the middle, exposing her perfect skin. He didn’t stop there, though. He ripped her pants from her body as well and then his own cargos followed. When their clothing was nothing but a memory, Lucas fell back to his mate.

  “I can’t wait,” he warned her. “It has to be now.”

  “Yes,” she purred in his ear and then she bit his lobe gently.

  Lucas wiggled his hips until the tip of his erection was directly in line with her slippery folds. “I will try to–” he started.

  “Don’t,” Ryver told him. “Don’t be gentle. I want you. All of you. Now.” She dug her nails into the flesh of his back and that was Lucas’ undoing. He thrust his hips forward, entering her completely.

  “Oh, yes,” Ryver cried out.

  “Fuck,” Lucas growled. He was buried to th
e hilt in the softest heat he had ever imagined. He dared not move for fear that he would come immediately, but Ryver had other ideas. She hooked her legs around his waist and rocked her hips, forcing him to move inside her.

  “Oh, baby. Fuck me, this is good,” he growled as he took the hint and started to move. Lucas tried to go slow, really he did, but it was pointless. In a matter of minutes, he was throwing himself into her body and Ryver loved it. She had one orgasm after another and, finally, he could hold on no longer.

  Lucas shoved himself as far inside her as he would go, shouting his release. He filled her with his come, and kept going. There was nothing in Heaven or on Earth that could have made him stop. He pushed into Ryver’s body over and over again, shouting her name as he came again and again.

  Chapter seventeen

  "That was amazing," Lucas said on a contented sigh.

  "Yeah, you weren't too bad yourself," Ryver told him with a smile. They had made love for hours in every position imaginable. Ryver had always heard that wolves were exceptional in bed, but she had never tried it for herself before. There was a distinct feeling inside her, though, that knew it wouldn’t have been like that with just any wolf.

  "It could always be like this," he told her, turning to his side in order to lay face to face. "I want you here with me. Forever. Just say you'll stay." He drew soft circles on the exposed skin of her belly while he talked. "There was something I wanted to tell you."

  Ryver turned her head to look at her wolf. "What is it?" she asked him. "I need a minute if you wanna go again."

  Lucas chuckled. "No, that's not it. I mean, I could go again, and I'm up for it, but that isn't what I wanted to tell you."

  Ryver turned and propped her head up on her hand. "Well? Spill."

  Lucas took a deep breath. This was it. He knew better than to think she would deny him; mates never did, but there was a first time for everything. All the ways he dreamed of telling her, and he just blurted it out. "You're my mate," he said.

  Ryver smiled at him. "I know."

  Relief crashed over his body and soul as a genuine smile spread across his face. "Do you, now?"

  She nodded and cupped his face. "I have been around a very long time," she explained. "I have seen many find their mates. It is obvious with you. You're protective, overbearing, and I can see the look in your eyes."

  Lucas scrunched his brow together. "What look?"

  "The over-the-moon happy look," she told him. “Even in the face of everything you and your new family are going through, you are happier than you have ever been in your life. I’m not sure that I am worth it, though.”

  Lucas pushed up from the bed and turned his body. He crossed his legs and sat there, staring at her. “How in the world could you think that?” he finally asked her.

  “There is something you don’t understand about me,” she said, looking anywhere but his eyes. Those beautiful eyes, she couldn’t bear the disappointment she knew she would see there. “I’m not as great as everyone seems to think.”

  Lucas rolled his eyes so hard he was certain they would get stuck looking at the back of his own head. “Not possible.”

  Ryver sat up and placed her hands in her lap, wringing her fingers around themselves. “You know I am the child of the devil.”

  “So? I am the child of two wolves that can’t agree on anything. Mom likes country music and Dad likes rock and roll. They couldn’t be two different people, and I am nothing like they are. I don’t see what your father has to do with anything.”

  She pulled a deep, steadying breath into her lungs. She didn’t want to tell him what she had been keeping hidden for so long, but if he was truly to be mated to her, he deserved to know. “I have a darkness inside me,” Ryver started. “I can feel it. I keep it pushed down so that it can never escape. It comes from my dad. I only let the light I received from my mother through.”

  Lucas shook his head. “So?”

  “So,” Ryver continued, “If I can’t keep that darkness, that evil that lives inside of me, under control, I could become just like him. I hated him. He hated me too. I was never good enough, or I guess I should say that I was never evil enough, to suit that son of a bitch. I refused to kill or maim. I wouldn’t do his bidding either, and because of my mother’s blood, he couldn’t make me. That is how I ended up banished. I don’t want to ever risk bringing that evil to the surface. That is why I cannot help you close that portal. It would take all of my power, power that I can’t– No, I won’t, let out.”

  Lucas couldn’t stand the self-loathing he heard in his mate’s beautiful voice. How could she actually believe that she could ever be evil? She was everything that was right in the world. “I don’t believe that,” he told her. Lifting her chin and forcing her to look at him, he continued, “You are so much stronger than you give yourself credit for. You have controlled this darkness inside you for so long, you have made it your bitch. You can control it. There isn’t an evil bone in your body, and no amount of blood can change that. Evil isn’t born, it’s made. Your father was made an angel. He chose to become the monster he was. Just like you have chosen the angel you have become.”

  Ryver’s eyes misted over with unshed tears. She fought to keep them back, but still one spilled over. How could this man have so much faith in her? How could he stand to be with her, knowing what she was? "I'm sorry," she breathed.

  "Shh," Lucas breathed into her neck as he pulled her closer. "If you can't do it, then we will figure out another way."

  Ryver nodded and allowed Lucas to hold her tight, but deep down, she knew there was no other way.

  Chapter eighteen

  “As far as I know, everything is under control for now,” Ash told Elizabeth as he pulled her onto his lap at his desk. “Lacy has the Russian President at ease for now and Antonio managed to contain the virus in LA, but just barely. Jake is still cleaning up the mess from the quake, but all in all, I think it’s been a pretty good day.”

  “What about the vamp who tried to assassinate Obama?” she asked him, pushing a stray hair out of his face gently with her hand.

  Ash shook his head. “I don’t think the vamp ever intended to kill him. I don’t know how Balthazar is responsible for that, but something tells me that the vampire knew he would be unsuccessful and would die. He seemed at peace with it. Besides, that situation worked itself out. We can’t afford to worry over things we can’t do anything about.”

  Elizabeth nodded. “And what about Lucas?”

  Ash pressed his lips together tight for a moment before answering his mate. “I think he is adjusting well. Now if we could just get that woman to cooperate.”

  A chuckle rose from Elizabeth’s throat. “How many cooperative women do we have down here now?”

  “None,” Ash replied honestly. He shook his head. “I swear this is some kind of test of my patience.”

  “It may just be,” Elizabeth said. She didn’t get to finish her thought because Ash’s phone rang. He lifted it to his ear and listened for a moment before slamming it down on his desk.

  “There’s been a breach,” Ash snarled as he called his Guard to his office. He waited impatiently for everyone to arrive. “Our little band aid fix on the portal has sprung a leak. The warriors are working double time to contain it, but we have to move before anything else gets out,” he said once everyone was present.

  “Got twelve angels circling it and frying anything that gets out,” Antonio chimed in. “But we’re gonna have to seal it again.”

  “What are we waiting for?” Jake added.

  “Ready when you are,” Lacy said. She sent a wave of confidence to her comrades.

  “Lead the way,” Lucas nodded. “Are you coming?” he asked Ryver.

  A huge ball of lead formed in her stomach immediately. She didn’t want anything to do with that portal, but how could she let her mate go without her? She couldn’t. Ryver nodded. “But only to make sure you stay safe.”

  ***

  Ryver had seen
the portal in her mind, but that didn’t do it justice. It was huge! A column of light rose from the ground skyward, black wisps of demons escaping from it every few seconds. There were several warrior angels nearby, each one quick to use his sword to dispatch any demons who got out.

  “Same as before?” Jake asked and Ash nodded. Fire lit in the palms of both men's hands, Jake’s orange and Ash’s black, before leaping off them and onto the ground. The fire trailed across the otherwise pristine meadow to the column, climbing up it and racing toward the sky. The fire circled and enveloped the portal. Lacy joined in, not with fire, but with fear. Even Ryver felt it. The petite angel was using her gift to make any demons afraid to leave the portal. Ryver had to give her props. That was a formidable power to have.

  Lucas wasn’t sure what to do. He had known about the portal, but to see it up close and personal left him absolutely gobsmacked. It was beautiful and horrifying at the same time. He didn’t even know what to do to help. He had known that Jake had the ability to use fire, and that Lacy could influence or even control emotion, but what did he have?

  “You have your wolf,” Ryver told him, as if she could read his mind. “Call him.”

  Lucas wasn’t sure how it would help, but he did as his woman said. He called his wolf forth and immediately felt the familiar popping and stretching of his bones. The animal took control and the first demon he saw, Lucas had his teeth in it. He shredded escaping demons as fast as he could, moving without a thought from one to the next. It was complete chaos and Lucas found himself praying for a solution to the problem.

  Ryver watched as her wolf jumped into the fray without a thought of his own safety. He’s going to get himself killed, she thought to herself. The thought was more painful than she cared to admit. She didn’t want him killed, or hell, even injured. There had to be a way to protect him, and Ryver knew what she had to do. Very quietly, she added her own power to the mix that was surrounding the portal. The flames solidified and encased the opening to Hell once again, but this time, with her magic involved, it appeared to be crystallized. The hemorrhage of demons stopped instantly and the smoke from the fires dissipated.