by Lizzy Ford
“Keep quiet, demon. I’m going to take a nap,” she ordered.
“If you go again, bring me a snack. I’m starving,” the demon added. “I’d settle for a child or really short person. I don’t need a full meal.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
He muttered under his breath.
Past-Death focused hard on imagining herself in the hallway once more. If she was able to leave the cell, she could find something equally as important: the soul she’d left Gabriel when she turned over the Underworld to him.
His soul. Stuck somewhere in the palace, because he hadn’t known how important it was.
She started to doze and let herself fall into sleep, the thought of the demon in her cell disappearing.
Chapter Three
The human-turned-demon, Deidre, awoke groggily. Her fangs had dug into her lower lip while she slept, and she tasted blood. The light, metallic scent made her stomach roar in a way that left her a little ill at the reminder of her newfound status as a demon bride. Pushing herself up from the cold, uneven stone floor, she struggled to see far into the cell in the dim light streaming in from the single window overhead.
Harmony and her cronies had knocked them out upon entering Death’s underworld. She assumed they were in a prison somewhere. It was impossible to see how wide the room was through the darkness, but it was shallow, with the back wall about ten feet from a door that looked like wood and shone like polished stone.
Petrified wood. It was beautiful, or would be, if she were anywhere other than a dungeon. She shifted to lean against the back wall of the cell. Her head was pounding and her stomach cramping. With a small groan, she wrapped her arms around her belly and leaned over.
“Cramps are the first sign.”
It took her a moment to process the male’s voice.
Deidre straightened and squinted into the dark side of the cell. She heard chains rattle a moment before a lanky figure emerged far enough for her to see him. Tall and blond, the steely-eyed demon had fangs little longer than hers.
“Of what?” she asked.
“One of two things. You’re either starving or spinning into bloodlust madness.” He squatted, his distance from her enforced by the chains at his wrists and ankles. “My guess is starvation. You’re a … new demon.”
“How do you know that?”
His gaze swept over her. “Let’s just say I know who you were.” He motioned to the side of the cell opposite him.
She looked, noticing the jeans-clad legs for the first time.
“We can eat her,” he offered, licking his lips.
“No,” she replied with a glare.
“Shame. I think a former deity would taste good. Like chicken. Or cake.”
“If you’d ever eaten either of those, you’d know they’re too different to be compared.”
He shrugged.
“Who are you?”
“Jared. Humble servant of your mate.” The demon shifted to sit on his knees and haunches. “Hungry humble servant of your mate. I was supposed to be keeping an eye on a certain death dealer and ended up getting caught.”
The cramps subsided. Deidre released her breath then crawled on her hands and knees to the unconscious woman whose looks were identical to hers. With hands that shook, Deidre checked the pulse of the woman who put her smack dab in the middle of Hell.
“She’s okay,” she murmured and pushed blonde hair out of the sleeping woman’s face.
“Mostly bruises.”
Deidre felt for the trickle of magic belonging to her mate that was always present. For the first time since entering Hell, it was gone. Any connection to Darkyn was severed.
“I felt the door to Hell open,” Jared said. “Someone came through.”
Darkyn. Her breath caught. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah. Probably not the boss,” Jared added glumly. “Death would never let him into his realm.”
Not even to save me? She didn’t want to know that answer. Gabriel was devoted to his duty, and she didn’t think she was ready to know just how far from helping her that put him. Deidre shivered in the chilly air.
“I’m hungry, too. No one will know if we eat her,” Jared tried again. “She’ll be a delicious chicken cupcake.”
“Chicken and cupcakes do not go together!” she snapped.
“What do we care? We drink blood.”
“We’re not going to eat her!”
“You’re blood bound. If you’re not out of here in a day or two, you’ll be dead. Just a sip.”
“That’s Gabriel’s mate!”
“She doesn’t have to know if we have a little snack while she’s out.”
Darkyn won’t leave me. Gabriel won’t leave us. Deidre wrapped her arms around her knees and buried her face into the crook of one arm. There was no denying her hunger. The Dark One had turned her into a demon, though she retained the heart and mind of a human. Sucking blood from someone who was not her mate was completely out of the question.
“Don’t count on it, demon,” came the voice of Gabriel’s mate. Past-Death moved away from the wall. She held her head.
“You okay?” Deidre asked.
Past-Death nodded then grimaced.
“Do you know where we are?”
The woman across from her lowered her hands and gazed around with pale blue eyes. “Dungeon under my palace. At least we’re where we need to be.”
Deidre raised an eyebrow. “You want to be here?”
“We have to find something before the death dealers do.”
“We aren’t in any position to escape, cupcake,” Jared observed. “You weren’t able to leave. It didn’t work this time.”
“No, it didn’t.” Past-Death sounded frustrated. “I think you’re too hungry to see straight.”
“You can fix that.”
Deidre listened, not certain she wanted to know what they were talking about.
Past-Death glared at him before turning her attention to Deidre. “I do agree with him. You need blood. Darkyn wiped most of my memories before turning me loose in the human world, but I do know that a blood-bound demon won’t last long without her mate.”
“What about him?” Deidre asked automatically in concern. “Will he be okay?”
Past-Death eyed her. “Do you really care?”
Deidre rested her chin on her arms. When she arrived to Hell, she would’ve given anything to escape Darkyn. But he’d changed that over the course of a week, shown her that even the devil had the smallest capacity to care. He terrified her – and was the first Immortal or deity in the sick world she’d entered that showed her how to survive.
How can I love the devil? She caught herself thinking the question once more. It was baffling – but she couldn’t deny what she felt every time she saw him or how much she ached for him. She’d fallen as much for him as for the sake of humanity. She had what no one else did – the ability to influence the devil into giving some kind of mercy, however small.
She was also the one person in the universe that he couldn’t kill.
She breathed in the scent on her skin. She still smelled of him from their last round of lovemaking, and the memory of how he tasted made her stomach cramp up again.
“Owww,” she mumbled, gripping it.
“You need blood,” Past-Death advised.
Deidre shook her head. “I’m not a monster.”
“Not a monster, but you are a demon,” Jared pointed out. “If not the blood of a former deity, how about a demon’s?”
“You’re volunteering?”
“Let’s just say, when your mate finds out about this, he’ll be less likely to kill me for fucking up and ending up in prison.”
“No. I just … ugh! I can’t do it!” Deidre said. “I’ll be fine. He’ll find us or Gabriel will and then we’ll go home.”
Past-Death and the demon exchanged a look.
“Actually-” Jared started.
“Yes!” Past-Death all but yelled above hi
m. “You’re right, Deidre. They’ll find us.”
The way she said it made Deidre wish she had her magic, so she could tell if the former goddess was lying or not. Darkyn had assessed her greatness weakness to be that she was too trusting of others who lied and manipulated her. He gave her the ability to know when someone was trying as a defense mechanism.
That, too, was gone. She never thought she’d miss demon magic or blood.
Nibbling on her lip, she got as comfortable as possible with her back to one wall. Her gaze strayed to the demon, who was restlessly jiggling his chains. She’d seen the damage a creature like him could inflict and how even teenage demons like Darkyn’s daughter were addicted to blood.
As far as she’d come with Darkyn, as much as she wanted to be with him, it scared her to think of a lifetime surrounded by demons.
“So … do you have to eat people?” she asked Jared.
“No. They taste the best, though, and Dark One doesn’t give a shit who we eat.”
Ugh. There were moments when she wasn’t able to reconcile her lover with the devil. “What about kids? How are demon babies raised? On blood?”
“Kids?” Past-Death echoed. “You want to have kids with him?”
“I want to spend my life with him.”
“So you think you can do the whole house, kids, college shit with the devil?”
I don’t know. Deidre craved him, but she also feared what it meant to be a demon. She hadn’t thought twice about having children. The idea was unusually … natural. As if it was supposed to be this way with her mate. But demon children and raising them on blood? I can’t do that!
“Half-breeds can eat humans or human food,” Jared supplied.
“I can barely think about tomorrow let alone what happens if things work out,” Past-Death admitted.
Deidre wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her chin on her knees. She’d been thinking a lot about what life with the devil really meant since realizing she no longer had the urge to leave her mate.
“Maybe that’s best,” she murmured. “I mean, we don’t know if I’ll ever see him again. Thinking that far ahead … confuses me.”
“Let’s focus on getting out of here,” past-Death rose and crossed to the door. “We have to find it.” She pulled at the door then pushed before squatting to study the hinges.
“Find what?” Deidre asked, watching.
“Something that belongs to Gabriel. We have to get it before … they … do.” Past-Death grunted as she pulled at a hinge.
“What could be … oh.” Deidre recalled the last conversation she’d had with Gabriel. His soul was here somewhere, and if the traitors found it …
She didn’t know what happened but assumed it was really bad.
“I know where it is,” past-Death said. She straightened. “Dammit! They must’ve fixed the cell doors. I hadn’t used this damn dungeon in forever, except for …” She cocked her head to the side, pensive.
“Except for what?” Jared asked warily. “What kind of beast would someone like you keep down here? The legendary underworld ogres?”
“They wouldn’t fit in a dungeon.”
“We’ve heard all kinds of rumors about the creatures of the underworld. Your trees are possessed, and most the animals are poisonous to demons.” The demon sounded uneasy.
“Can’t be worse than the monsters in Hell. Anyway, I can’t remember. You can thank your master for that one, demon. But I kept something really bad down here.” Past-Death blew out a frustrated breath. “Deidre, if either of us gets out of here, you need to go to the top floor, center wing. In my bedroom is a jewelry box. It’s there.”
Deidre glanced at the demon. He was listening too closely. “Umm should you say that in front of him?”
“It has a protective spell on it. Only a deity or his mate can see the box,” Past-Death explained.
“Sweet, succulent human cupcake,” Jared purred. His gaze was on past-Death, the light in his eyes inhuman.
“Wait a minute!” Deidre exclaimed, hopping to her feet. “I know you, don’t I?”
Jared shrugged.
“You were in my apartment. With the demon pretending to be my ex …” she trailed off, recalling the night that changed her life. She’d been nearly eaten alive that night, only to be saved by Gabriel when she tried to jump off the building and landed in the Caribbean Sanctuary belonging to the Immortals. “That was one of the worst nights of my life.” She blinked away tears. Even if she’d begun to tentatively accept her place in the mess past-Death created, she still hurt when she recalled how rocky her journey had been.
What was worse: where that journey ended. In a dungeon.
“Just doing my job,” Jared said. “C’mere, cupcake. I’ll make everything all right.”
Past-Death rolled her eyes. “Can this get any worse? Stuck in a cell with a hungry demon.”
“At least he’s chained up,” Deidre said, recovering. “They don’t want us dead, or he wouldn’t be.”
“There are worse fates than death.”
“No shit. I think I’ve seen that first hand!”
To her surprise, past-Death laughed.
The sound of the lock’s bolt being drawn back made her scramble away from the door and join past-Death in the back of the cell. Deidre took her hand uncertainly, fearful of what was going to come through the door.
It swung open to reveal five forms, all of them she assessed to be death dealers.
“You. Come with me.” The one in front ordered, pointing at her.
Deidre’s breath caught. She glanced at past-Death and was more unsettled to see the fearful expression on the face of the woman who used to rule over the death dealers. Her heart pounding, she stepped forward to obey. The long, Grecian style dress she wore in Hell swished silently around her legs. It was held in place by a collar, the black material light as air and softer than silk. It brushed the tops of her feet.
She crossed her arms as she moved, glancing at the two in the cell behind her as she reached the door. Past-Death appeared scared, and the demon was frowning fiercely.
Both seemed to be aware of some danger Deidre couldn’t even imagine. She was too new to the world of Immortals and deities to know what to expect or even why they wanted her, if not to manipulate Darkyn.
Can’t be worse than Hell.
A death dealer snatched her arm and hauled her into the hallway. The door closed, and she looked at the fireless torches lining the hallway.
“Sexy,” one of the death dealers purred.
New fear flooded her at the whisper. Darkyn had not only turned her into a demon, but into a sex-demon, one who didn’t now how to control her power over men. Even Rhyn had warned her about being careful outside of Hell, where her influence was no longer dampened by the magic of Hell.
It’s present here, like it was in the human world. Dread sank into her stomach. One of the two death dealers who cornered her in her apartment had been affected while the other was not. She didn’t want to think about how much more danger she was in here, if half the death dealers weren’t able to control their reactions to her. Dammit, Darkyn! Why did you do this to me?
She kept her eyes down and her senses as alert as possible.
One of them was bleeding. She smelled the blood, and it sent a tremor through her, along with another pang in her stomach.
“Come on,” the death dealer holding her arm growled when she slowed.
Deidre gritted her teeth. Her mouth was watering. She could almost taste the blood in the air.
I’m not a monster. She was bloodmated to one demon only, and only his blood would satisfy her.
They led her into a room at the end of the hallway, at the base of the stairs. It wasn’t a cell, but maybe a break room for guards. There was a petrified wood table in the middle, a few books, a vase of grey flowers. It was better lit by a combination of torches and windows. The guard released her. She rubbed her stomach and looked around.
“What am I doin
g here?” she asked. She half expected to see Harmony waiting for her.
“Stay here. Harmony wants a word.” The door behind her closed.
Deidre faced it. She sat on the edge of the table. There was nothing she could eat or use for a weapon. She pulled her pink dyed hair over one shoulder, running her fingers through it nervously as she waited and poking her lower lip with her fangs.
Not two minutes passed before the door opened.
Deidre put the table between her and the entrance.
The moment Harmony set foot in the room, she felt a surge of both fear and anger rip through her. The beautiful redhead was flanked by two massive death dealers. She was armed, her green eyes piercing and her lean body that of a warrior.
“Darkyn’s mate,” Harmony said, studying her. “Never thought he’d want someone like you. Cowardly, mousy. Can’t even fight.”
I’m not a coward. Deidre was quiet, not wanting to provoke the death dealer.
“I need a blood sample,” Harmony said. She motioned to the men beside her and withdrew a small vial from her pocket.
Deidre backed away from the large men but had nowhere to go. One grabbed her and wrapped his beefy arms around her, while the second positioned her arm and drew a knife. He cut across the vein in the underside elbow.
Expecting them to hack her to pieces, Deidre flinched and watched the thick rivulet of her blood start down her arm. “Why?” she asked, confused.
“There are certain defenses in the underworld that only the invasion of demons can trigger.” Harmony sat on the table and positioned the vial to collect her blood. “You being here isn’t enough, so we’re going to provoke them.”
“And then what?”
“Don’t worry, demoness. I’ll keep you around as a bargaining tool. A little bit of pay back for that fucker of a mate of yours,” Harmony responded.
“Darkyn will find a way to come for you, and Gabriel will never let you keep the underworld.”
Harmony met her gaze, stiffening. “I’ll just have to make sure they’re both dead-dead before this is over.”
Deidre debated responding then decided she didn’t have much to lose. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. You can’t take down Gabriel and Darkyn.”