Jake couldn’t help but laugh. That was his woman. Her fiery red hair was sticking to her face as they rode the rented camels to their destination. “Not much longer,” he told her.
“I don’t know why we didn’t just flash there,” she grumbled.
“Because we had to rent these beautiful beasts from that woman at the bazaar,” Jake told her.
“We didn’t have to. She asked, and you’re a weenie.”
“Well, maybe, but I have never ridden a camel before,” Jake told her. “It felt nice to help someone out. Admit it.”
“Sure,” Shelly agreed. “And now we are saddled with two stinky, rude camels that don’t go very fast and would just as soon spit on you.”
Jake smiled. He loved that woman. Sure, she was a demon, but that didn’t make her evil. Under her prickly exterior, she was the kindest, most loving person he had ever known. She had saved his ass that was for sure. Jake belonged in Hell, in Shelly’s realm of Greed, to be exact. But she made him see the error of his ways and inadvertently taught him to care about someone else more than anything. Her. She had been his true redemption and he was going to make sure he spent every single day making sure she knew how much he loved her. But first, someone had to put Pandora back in the box.
“The woman said there was a dig site out here, not too far. I am willing to bet that is where we’re gonna find something.”
“What do you think we’re gonna find?” she asked him. “Sand? Because there is plenty of that around.”
“I’m not sure,” he admitted. “I can feel it, though. There is something important out here, and I am not leaving until I find it.”
“I know, I’m being an ass. But damn, did you have to volunteer us for the freaking desert?”
“Ah baby, you know you love me,” Jake teased.
Shelly grunted at him. Of course she loved him. That didn’t mean she wasn’t going to find several ways to inflict delicious torture on him when they returned to Hell. He could have volunteered to check out Washington, but no. That just wasn’t his style, apparently.
“There!” Jake yelled out cheerfully. “That’s the dig site!”
They trotted along on their camels, kicking their heels into the beasts’ sides. They stopped mere feet from the abandoned site. Tools and supplies littered the ground as if whoever had been there left in a hurry. The sand was disturbed, as if a good strong wind had come along and blew everything out of its place.
“What the hell?” Shelly asked, sliding off her camel. “What were they searching for?”
“My guess?” Jake said, “A horseman. From the looks of things, I think they found it.”
The two walked around the site, kicking sand and tools out of the way. “Gross,” Shelly commented as she passed the remains of a human skeleton. Its head was several feet from its body, and there was no way to tell who it may have been. The desert wild life had since picked over the carcass leaving it bare.
“Sorry buddy,” Jake said to the corpse, using his foot to move the surrounding sand around. The sun glinted off of something shiny, catching his eye. “What is that?” he asked, moving toward it. Jake bent down and picked up a small box with carvings on all sides. He looked back at Shelly and grinned. “I found it.”
“What is it?” she asked, looking closely at it. “There is a warning on the lid.”
“Yeah,” Jake agreed. “I don’t know exactly what it is, but I have a good idea. Let’s get it back to Ash.”
“Thank god,” Shelly sighed, “I’m melting.”
“What about the camels?” Jake asked. “Should we ride them back?”
“You should flash them back,” she told him, unwilling to make that ride again. Her thighs were still burning.
Jake took each of the animals’ reigns and flashed them back to the village he rented them from and then returned to Shelly. “Ready?” he asked.
“Been ready since we got here,” she told him. Jake wrapped his arms around her and kissed her lips before taking them both back to Hell.
Chapter Six
"Hello, beautiful," Antonio grinned at Macy in their home in the Heavens. "You look stunning as always." He grabbed her up around the waist and crushed her smaller body to his, spinning her around.
"How's things going in Hell?" Macy asked him after he set her back on her feet.
Antonio shook his head. "I'm not going to lie to you, it's bad. I don’t have a clue what our next move should be. Ash is bordering on a meltdown, the angels are all confused, the horsemen are out …"
"You know you are free from your obligation to them," Macy told her mate. "You have been since Ash remembered Elizabeth." Even as she said the words, she knew that it wouldn’t matter. Antonio had been charged with the task of helping Ash get started, but that was where the job ended. Once he and Elizabeth were reunited, Ash had all the information he needed to find and train his Guard. But that was not who Antonio was. He would stay on and help for as long as he was needed, whether they asked for his help or not. It was just who he was and one of the many things she loved about the silly vampire.
"You know I can't leave them, not yet," Antonio told her, confirming her thoughts immediately. He nuzzled her neck momentarily and then looked into her very blue eyes. "Wanna help an old vamp out?"
"You know I will," Macy told him. "What can I do?"
"I need to figure out what Balthazar's next move is. I got Ash's head back in the game and he is pissed, like royally so, but still, he needs all hands on deck so we can get ahead of this motherfucker."
Macy broke free of Antonio's arms and sat at her desk, opening her computer. "Well, if it's the horsemen he is after, then that is what he is doing. How many are out? Two?"
"Three," Antonio corrected her.
"Damn."
"Right?"
"Ok then, the last horsemen is Death. He is going to bring about death and destruction of all types. People will turn on each other, everything War and Famine are doing will be amplified. The loss of human life will be exponential." She typed as she talked, her fingers moving over the keyboard with lightning speed and precision. "The lore states that the horsemen were contained and scattered to the four corners of the earth, but as we know, the earth is round. Therefore, how can something round have corners?"
"I think that was meant figuratively," Antonio said, standing behind her and placing his hands on her shoulders.
"What if it wasn't?" Macy asked him, moving aside so that he could see the screen. "What if it was very literal?"
Antonio studied the picture on her screen. It was a map of the earth with all of the latitude and longitude lines drawn in. "I'm not sure I follow," he admitted.
"Look," Macy said, "He was in the Amazon, right?"
"Yes," he said.
"Right about here?" She pointed at the screen.
"I think so," Antonio mused, the clues beginning to click into place.
"That is zero latitude and zero longitude. And here," she pointed to another spot in Africa, "one-eighty latitude and zero longitude."
"You, my love, are a genius." He grinned, kissing her soundly on the cheek.
"I am willing to bet that the third horseman came from either the North or South Pole," Macy told him.
Antonio looked at his mate in awe. She was definitely the most incredible creature he had ever met. So what if he had to die to meet her? He would die a thousand deaths just to be near her. She was the one soul that pulled him up from the ashes of his ruined life and gave him something to strive for. Someone to make proud. She was his perfect other half, his everything.
"Hey," she said, elbowing him in the ribs. "What are you waiting for? Go on. Get this bastard and then come back to me so we can enjoy our afterlife."
"Yes ma'am," he said, giving her a mock salute before flashing away.
***
Kaia stared at the television screen in disbelief. "I can't believe he fucking won," she muttered for the tenth time.
"Pestilence has to be behind this
," Jensen agreed. "There just isn’t any other explanation."
"But how?" Kaia asked, still staring at the TV.
"I don't know. Come on, let's get to the White House. Maybe there are more clues there."
"Hold up," Antonio said, appearing out of thin air.
"Holy shit, man, you can't just show up like that in public!" Jensen told him, holding his chest and willing his heart to slow down. "You nearly scared me to death."
"First of all, you're already dead," Antonio told him with a smile, "I hate to be bearer of bad news, but that ship sailed already. Second of all, I don't think we are gonna find the answers we are looking for in Washington. And lastly, no one can see me but you, so you look ridiculous speaking to no one."
"What you got?" Jensen asked him shaking his head, but looking at Kaia instead of Antonio.
"Come on, we'll talk on the way," Antonio said, spreading his wings and getting ready to take flight.
"Hold on there, vamp boy," Kaia told him. "I gotta get away from people so I can use mine."
Antonio let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine. But hurry up."
They walked around the building to the empty alley in the back where Kaia willed herself and Jensen invisible, and then opened her crimson wings wide. "Ready for a flight?" She asked Jensen.
"With you?" He grinned. "Always."
Kaia wrapped her arms around her husband and pushed down with her wings, lifting them both into the air where Antonio was already waiting. "So where we going?" she asked.
"Follow me," he told her and took off to the north.
They flew with incredible speed, heading due north. Jensen enjoyed the ride, feeling the wind on his face. It was like nothing he had ever experienced before, flying with his wife. She had been one tough cookie in life, but now, as an angel, she was amazing. Her wings were the most beautiful thing ever created, right next to their daughter, whom they visited every day. Her newfound ability to protect those in need was just icing on the cake. Not only was she smart, caring and beautiful, but powerful as well. He found that it was one hell of a turn on.
As they flew, Jensen thought of all the ways his life had changed in the past few months. His life, he laughed inwardly, had ended. He had found himself in Hell and being in charge of a realm that housed murderers. The question as to whether or not a soul lived on separate from the body had been answered. He missed his daughter, though. Calli was an amazing child, and even though she could not see her parents, they could see her. One day, they would all be together, but not this day. Not now. Not until Balthazar was put back where he belongs and things were restored to the way they were supposed to be.
Kaia knew that Jensen was deep in thought as she carried him effortlessly through the sky. The air had begun to turn colder the further north they went. She enjoyed the warmth of her husband's body next to hers as she followed Antonio's lead without question. In her short time in Hell, Kaia had learned that Antonio might have been a goof, but he was damned smart and a respectable fighter. He was a collection of contradictions, and it wasn't a bad thing. She had already begun to think of him as a friend.
After the plane crash, Kaia didn’t think she would ever be with her family again. Going to hell had never crossed her mind, but that was exactly what happened. She was dead inside before she took her own life, but it was her life in Hell, her reunion with Jensen, that had been her resurrection. She felt more alive now than ever. It was a decision she would not regret, no matter what happened next.
When they flew over Lake Eerie, Kaia finally spoke up. "So where are we going?" she shouted over the wind.
Antonio slowed his pace a bit and looked over his shoulder at her. "I was talking to Macy and she had an idea that makes a lot of sense." He explained the theory his mate presented. "So we know at least two places he has been, I am thinking we're gonna find some evidence that he has been at one of the poles. I don’t know exactly why I picked north first, but I figure we should check it out."
"Do the others know about this?" Kaia asked him.
"Not yet. I don't want to go back with theories. I want to go back with some answers."
"Good idea," Kaia agreed. "Let's get there then. Time is wasting." Twelve hours was not a lot of time to research, and she hoped that Antonio and his mate were right.
They landed on the shore of Greenland, on the northernmost shore, well within the Arctic Circle. "Well, this is nice," Jensen commented, looking at the miles of ice and snow surrounding them. "If I were alive, I would be pissed about being so cold right now."
"What exactly are we looking for?" Kaia asked, her eyes scanning the Arctic Ocean. "There aren't a lot of locals around to ask."
Antonio scratched his head. "I'm not sure. There isn't a land mass on the North Pole, contrary to what Santa would like humans to believe. I think we might be looking for a ship or something."
"Wait," Jensen said, coming closer to the edge of the glacier they were standing on, "Santa? Is he a real spirit?"
"Demigod, actually," Antonio said with a grin. "He doesn’t deliver gifts on a sleigh nor is he fat either. But he is very real, and he is responsible for the humans feeling the need to give around the holidays. Got a pretty sweet gig if you ask me."
Kaia laughed as Jensen shook his head. They shouldn't be surprised that Santa was real, just like every other mythological creature was real. "I don’t suppose he would be in the mood to help us?" Kaia asked.
"Doubt it," Antonio answered seriously. "He isn't very nice, actually. I think he spends entirely too much time alone, but that's his choice."
"Well, why don't we fly again?" Jensen asked. "Get out there and see if anything pops out at us?"
"Good thinking," Antonio agreed. The three took to the air once again, this time on the lookout for any and everything.
It wasn’t long before Jensen spotted something. "There!" he shouted, pointing to the left. "It looks like a boat wreck."
Boating accidents were not uncommon, but in these waters, any boats were suspicious to them. The water was much too cold and full of icebergs to navigate safely, and any captain worth his weight would not dare travel in this area. As they moved closer to the wreckage, Kaia’s stomach turned. The boat was not a fishing boat, but something smaller, like a personal yacht. Something that definitely had no business in the arctic waters. It had run into a glacier, at full speed from the looks of it, and run up onto it. The entire back half of the craft was missing, likely at the bottom of the ocean. Even from the air, she could see at least one human body on the broken deck.
They flew down and Kaia set Jensen on his feet on the ice rather than the boat. “Stay here,” she warned him. “I don’t want to swim after you if things go bad.”
Jensen nodded and watched from the relative safety of the ice. To his left, on a floating iceberg, he could see a couple of seals basking in the sunlight. They didn’t seem to mind the cold and carried on as if the world was not ending. He was slightly jealous of their ignorance.
“This is bad,” Antonio said, studying the body. “This didn’t happen in the accident. This was something else.”
Kaia looked down at the body. She had seen many things in her life, but nothing like this. The human male looked as if he had been drained—sucked dry by a giant Hoover. His skin was leathery and loose on his bones and, from the looks of him, there wasn’t an ounce of flesh left underneath it. In his right hand was a golden box. It was only about six inches wide, but it was flashy to say the least. Intricate designs were carved into it, giving it an old, almost ethereal feel.
“I wonder what that is,” she mused aloud, stooping down to have a better look.
“I think that may be what we’re looking for,” Antonio said. “I’m rusty on my ancient languages, but I’m pretty sure that is a warning etched into the lid.”
Kaia reached down and took the box from the corpse. It took some pulling to get it free from the frozen death grip, but she did it. Antonio was right. There was something on the lid. She did not have any i
dea what it said, but if Antonio thought it was a warning, it probably was. “Didn’t we read that the horsemen were confined to their own prisons and scattered, right?”
“Yep.” Antonio took the box from her. “I am willing to bet that this is exactly what one of them was confined to.”
“Well, maybe if we open it, the horseman will be drawn back to it.” Kaia reached over and tried to open the lid. It was stuck proper and wasn’t going anywhere. “Damn it,” she cursed.
“And we are out of time,” Antonio agreed. “Let’s get this back to Ash. He may know something about it.”
Chapter Seven
Laura couldn’t believe the story that Jamie had told her. She had sat and listened to him, mesmerized by his deep voice. She loved the sound and cadence of his voice, but she hated what he was saying. How could she have done those terrible things? How could anyone believe that? She wouldn’t hurt a fly.
“So you see, darlin', you’re not really on their Christmas card list,” Jamie said, finishing his story. Laura could hear the pain in his voice, and even though she didn’t completely believe it, she knew that he did.
“I don’t remember any of that,” she told him.
He leaned back against the cell wall and stretched his long legs out in front of him. Laura was helpless but to look at him. Hell, he took up most of the free space. She could see that his legs were long and muscular even through the black military pants he wore. His stomach was tight and flat, and his chest was broad and firm. Laura couldn’t help but wonder if he had the man V she had read about in so many romance novels. Real men didn’t look like that, or at least, not any that she had ever seen. And his face! He was a vampire, but had the face of an angel. Wait, he was an angel. Those black wings were something to behold. Laura examined them from her spot on the floor. They were black, but around the edges of each feather was a lining. The color was almost silver and wouldn’t be noticed if one didn’t look closely.
“Would you like to touch it?” Jamie asked.
All the blood in her body relocated to her face. Dear god she had been openly ogling him! “Uh, sorry,” she muttered, scooting back from him even further. Damn it was hot in there.
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