I ran my fingers lightly over her taut, puffy skin. “I can’t leave without you—”
“But you have to, Rhyan. You can’t even imagine the things they will do to you if they find out where you came from. And it sounds like Murry may already know. He will—”
I all but jumped out of my skin at the thought of Murry doing anything to her, then realized the demon was at her door; he probably already had. “Did he do this to you?” I growled. It would have pleased me to rip that demon apart with my bare hands, but I was lacking in my abilities, and I couldn’t even protect myself from him, much less Abbi. I needed power. I had to get back to Malcolm.
She let her head fall, then shook it slightly. “No, and it’s none of your concern who did. Let it go.” She looked up at me with finality in her gaze.
She wasn’t going to budge on this, and there was honestly nothing I could do about it. I made a promise to myself to find out who’d hurt her when I was able to take care of business.
“Get out of here, Rhyan.”
“No, Abbi, you don’t understand. I physically can’t leave without you. I got into some…trouble.” The door rattled on its hinges again, and I could tell it wouldn’t be long before Murry blessed us with his appearance. “Some friends are trying to help us, but they can only do so much,” I said, and then wondered if Josselyn was still on board with the ‘Rescue Rhyan Mission’. I didn’t want to lose her as a friend.
Her eyes grew wide in surprise, then blinked a few times in disbelief. “You are not suggesting I go with you. I can’t go to Heaven, Rhyan. Some sins just aren’t forgiven. I can’t very well expect God to forgive me for doing something I cannot even forgive myself for.”
Hot tears stung my eyes. I hadn’t come this far for her to just say no. There had to be a way around this or Malcolm wouldn’t have gotten himself in so deep. That also made me wonder if there was something special in it for the angel. We weren’t exactly the best of friends. “You have to forgive yourself, Abbi—”
“Why?” she tested, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. “You can’t even forgive me, so why should I?” she said, and I averted my eyes from hers. I wanted to forgive her, but I wasn’t sure that it was possible. “I deserve my fate. I was too weak. I loved you too much, and our child not enough. I saw no other way. I couldn’t go on and raise our child by myself, seeing you in his or her eyes every day. I would’ve gone mad. There was only darkness. I knew Hell couldn’t be any worse than the one I was already living in without you. I made my decision and there was no turning back. There is still no turning back. This is my destiny, Rhyan.”
Her response hit me like a ton of bricks. Had I not said the same thing to Josselyn when referring to Kendra?
The loud bang sounded again, this time knocking one of the metal hinges to the floor.
I knew if Murry got in and killed me that Malcolm would pull me to him. That’s what I wanted, so I could hopefully grab some firepower, but I knew the bruises on Abbi’s body were probably only mild compared to how they would look the next time I saw her. She was right, they would torture me when they found out why I was here, but I could only imagine the things they would do to her when they found out who I was. “Can you hide us until I can protect you?”
She dropped her gaze again, and I caught her chin with the palms of my hands, giving her no choice but to look at me. I searched her eyes and wondered how it was even possible that the guardians could have blocked the memories of her from my mind. “I won’t leave you, Abbi. I will find a way out of here and you will be going with me. Find a place to hide us until I can—”
A blast of power hit the door and it fell to the stone floor. Abbi jumped in front of me in a protective stance. Oh, hell no! I grunted, then grabbed her arm, jerking her behind me. If Murry wanted her, he was going to have to go through me first. I assumed that wouldn’t take long, but I had to at least try to defend my wife.
Murry stepped into the room, his hands casually hanging empty at his side. He was grinning like a Cheshire cat that had just sent Alice in the wrong direction to find the white rabbit. “Wow,” he said, and raised his brow, his eyes glistening with controlled anger or happiness; I couldn’t tell which, but neither was going to be good for me, I feared. “Isn’t this an unexpected surprise? And won’t Lucifer be happy to know his whore is harboring an angel in her chambers?”
My nostrils flared as I stiffened. Abbi touched my arm and I relaxed a little. I knew better than to move. I was sure he thought I still had my powers and that was what was keeping him at bay. I knew he wasn’t stupid enough to take on both of us if he thought I could still take him on by myself.
“Get us out of here,” I whispered to Abbi.
“There is nowhere in Hell Lucifer can’t find me.”
“You are the grim-freaking-reaper. Take us out of Hell!” I growled.
I watched as Murry’s brow furrowed in confusion. He was only seconds away from figuring out I wasn’t at all what I used to be.
“I can’t,” she whimpered, “Lucifer has my soul and can pull me to him wherever I go. I’m not safe anywhere.”
I sucked air in through my nose, then found her hand with mine and squeezed gently. “Would I be guessing right by assuming Lucifer was the one who gave you those bruises?”
“Am I missing something?” Murry inquired.
“It’s not like you’ve been around for the last three centuries to take care of my sexual needs,” she whispered so only I could hear.
I turned sharply to look at her. “Like that was my fault?”
She sighed. “He doesn’t exactly give me a choice.”
I looked back to Murry just in time to see his brow pop up.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but I sense a little familiarity between the two of you.”
Whatever had happened between Abbi and Murry was in the past. I knew she hadn’t even remembered me until a few moments ago, so being jealous of anyone she’d been sexually active with in the past three hundred years would just be stupid on my part. As much as I hated to admit that, I still wanted to kill him for touching her. “She’s my wife.” I put heavy emphasis on the last word. I didn’t want it going unnoticed. And I didn’t need for him to assume that he could drop in for a night cap with her anytime soon, or at all.
Murry stared at me. I could tell he was trying to hide the shock, but there was still a lot seeping through in his trembling hand and nervous eyes. Good, I had him off balance.
“Abigail, is he speaking the truth? I cannot wrap my mind around how this can be true.”
“No, it isn’t true. This male fell into my syde unannounced several hours ago. He has been ranting about being my husband since we first met and Lucifer has demanded I figure out who he is and why he’s here because of his smell.”
My heart was rapidly beating in my chest as she walked out from behind me to face my immortal enemy. I knew she was only trying to throw Murry off with her words to give us more time, but if she wasn’t telling the truth I couldn’t tell the difference.
My hopes plummeted as her cold eyes looked up to meet my pleading stare. She was serious. Or was she?
“I was in the process of changing my interrogation strategy when you so rudely interrupted. Now I will have to resort to torturing him again.” She shrugged. “That’s fun, too, so I don’t mind. It will just take longer than what I had originally planned. He’s a tough one.”
Murry cleared his throat. “Well, mayhap the angel stumbled, unknowingly, into Hell after going crazy when the love of his life chose another. Kendra was quite the catch. Rhyan’s hook just wasn’t big enough, I’m afraid.”
I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing he was getting under my skin like an itch that can’t be scratched. Containing my temper around Murry had always been difficult.
“Stay away from my charge, Murry. Oh, wait, that’s right, you don’t really have a choice, do you?”
I could feel the intensity in Abbi’s stare boring a hole th
rough the side of my head, and I could tell she wanted to know more about this ‘love of my life’, since I was obviously not denying the accusation. But I also knew she would not do it in the presence of Murry. Doing that would only make the plan she was acting out backfire.
The earlier debate I’d had with myself of whether she was confident or stupid was confirmed, and I was actually happy that I had been wrong. That happens occasionally. I can admit it.
An evil sneer spread across Murry’s face. “I’m guardian over a syde as of a little while ago, angel. I can visit Kendra, Adam and baby Ben anytime I please, now.”
My heart jumped up in my throat. This couldn’t be happening. He could get to Kendra, and I couldn’t protect her. This couldn’t be happening, I repeated in my mind again. I knew he could see the fear in my eyes, and he possibly even knew that I couldn’t leave Hell now, but there wasn’t any way I could hide it. I had to figure something out. I had to let Josselyn know.
“Knock me out,” I whispered to Abbi.
She shot me a questioning glance.
I didn’t look at her. “Just do it. I can’t let him get to her.”
I could see out of my peripheral that her body had stiffened and sensed that she didn’t approve of me protecting another female. To be honest, I wasn’t sure how I would feel if the roles were reversed. Actually, I knew I wouldn’t like it. At all.
I was hoping I could make her understand later, but how exactly did you make your spouse understand that you loved another and would go through Hell to save them?
You didn’t.
And I could tell she wasn’t going to knock me back to Heaven so I could get Kendra help. So there was only one thing left for me to do.
I charged Murry.
Chapter 16
Malcolm
Malcolm rushed to grab Josselyn’s arm, then spun her to face him. “He will be ready for us to pull him here any second, Josselyn. I thought this was what you wanted, to help him get back to Heaven!” Malcolm shouted, then quickly forced himself to calm down.
He took slow, measured breaths in and out, his chest puffing up, then deflating, as he strategized a plan in his scattered thoughts. He lowered his head, tired but not defeated. This couldn’t end here, he thought. She was just angry and behaving like an immature baby about the situation, because she wasn’t getting her way.
“He made his choice—” Josselyn snapped, but Malcolm was quick on the draw.
“No, you did,” he snapped, his voice daring her to deny any accusations. “You wanted to help him for the wrong reasons, and now that it’s not going your way you want to bail on him. I…” He turned from her and kicked a rock across the length of the west courtyard. Even with his enhanced eyesight he didn’t see it land in the snowy mountains off in the distance.
Getting angry wouldn’t help the situation, but he was losing patience with her. He needed all the help he could get and letting anybody else in on what they were doing was a big no-go. Anyone else would turn them in for fear of being caught and banished just for knowing about it. No, it had to be Josselyn, he reasoned. Their energy combined was enough to pull Rhyan to them, but not his alone. He couldn’t do that and keep the head guardians from knowing what they were up to.
Josselyn turned from him and lifted her hand to caress a perfect golden rosebud. It seemed to respond to her touch, but she wasn’t paying it any mind. Her thoughts were elsewhere. “Why is this so important to you all of a sudden, Malcolm? Of course I want Rhyan to come back to Heaven, and yes, I thought for just a moment that I could change fate, that I could at least give him reason to be happy again—”
“He will be happy again, but only if he has our support and doesn’t give up.”
She glanced up, examining his body language, taking in and noticing every detail about the male before her. He was quite handsome, she thought. His sand colored hair was naturally tousled. Not just any guy would have been able to pull off the style, but she had no doubt that Malcolm could even make the mullet look good.
The tone of his skin was almost the exact same shade as his hair, which only made his piercing blue-green eyes seem to glow. He always wore a smile on his face, no matter his mood. If he was happy, angry, sad or up to no good, you would never know until he opened his mouth. His body was toned, perfect even, and she didn’t know why it had taken her so long to notice.
She was noticing now.
He had looked away from her, absently toying with the hem of his shirt. What was he hiding, she wondered?
“You never answered my question.” She waited a moment, but when he still avoided her inquiring stare, and the silence continued, she grew irritated and asked again. “Why is this so important? What is in this for you, Malcolm?” she asked. It wasn’t as if she had ever asked for his assistance, so she was a bit confused by why he was so eager to help her.
He couldn’t lie to her, but he could skirt around the truth. Looking her in the eye wasn’t going to be possible, though. She would see that he was hiding something and just keep asking questions until he either answered her or got angry and walked away.
He looked up and was just about to speak when something caught his attention. A big something. It was breathing heavy and stumbling right toward them, and from the look on the guy’s face it wasn’t going to be pretty once he reached his destination.
“Rhyan,” Malcolm whispered, dazed and very confused by what he was seeing.
“Huh?” Josselyn said, then followed his gaze. Her hand flew up to cover her mouth, but not before the gasp escaped her lips. “Oh, no!”
They hadn’t been concentrating on pulling him to Heaven. It was impossible for him to do it on his own; he had no abilities. They ran to meet him. It was obvious that he was injured and would pass out any second.
Josselyn reached him first and flung herself into his arms, molding her body to his as much as she could so his horrible injuries could heal faster. “It’s okay, Rhyan. Just hang on to me.
Rhyan
Each agonizing breath I drew in hurt a little less than the last. If Josselyn was still upset with me, at least she wasn’t denying me aid in healing.
I wrapped my arms around her and wished I could give her what she desired. She deserved to be happy. “Thank you,” I whispered by her ear. I felt her head nod and could tell by the trembling of her body that she was sobbing silently.
“Did we miss the memo?” Malcolm asked, confusion painted across his face.
I took in a deep breath and was surprised and happy to find the four broken ribs had already healed, as had the one that had punctured my left lung. Everything was in full working order again, and except for a few minor scratches and bruises, I was nearly healed.
I cleared my throat and set Josselyn back on her feet. I looked away so she could dry her cheeks without my stare causing her embarrassment. My eyes locked with Malcolm’s and my anger flared. “What memo would that be?”
“The memo that said you are allowed to enter back into Heaven. We didn’t pull you to us this time. I was waiting to be alerted of you falling unconscious but,” his eyes fell on Josselyn and when I looked at her she looked away from both of us, “I got distracted and I guess I missed it.”
“I don’t know, maybe my wife sent me here before Murry had a chance to take another of my lives. There is no telling what he is doing to my body right now.”
Slight surprise flickered in Malcolm’s eyes. “He isn’t hurting your body or you would be able to feel it. You enter into Heaven through a portal, but you never really leave Hell. It’s sort of like a mirror. It appears that there are two of you, but there is actually only one body and one mind. When you fall unconscious I can reach through and pull your spirit to us, but your body is actually still there. The one you are in now is only a replica, a hologram, a clone of sorts. It disappears from here when you are there, because your mind can’t be in two places at the same time, so when you wake up down there,” he pointed down with his finger, “there is nothing I can do to
keep your spirit here. The good news is you can carry objects with you so we will hopefully be able to provide you with some firepower.”
I think I blinked a few times. The guy was seriously smarter than anyone gave him credit for, and it gave me a headache to listen to him explain anything. It was just way too much thinking. “Yeah…you lost me right before the portal part.”
Malcolm smiled. “You don’t have to understand for it to work. So, you bumped into Murry, eh?” He glanced away and I could tell something wasn’t right, but maybe I would have time to address that issue later; I’d almost forgotten the reason I’d attacked Murry.
I turned to Josselyn, panic for Kendra rising in me once again. “You have to talk to the head guardians, Jossel. Murry has been promoted and he is able to return to Earth in human form. He is a prince now and he will go for Kendra. You have to help her. You have to find a way to protect her.” I cupped her face in my hands and searched her eyes as I pleaded with my own. “Please. He will kill her, then he will have control over Adam again.”
My sanity threatened to leave me in that moment of silence. She stared back at me, fear in her eyes. She looked like she wanted to break and run, run from me, run away from everything, but she didn’t. Josselyn took in a deep breath and then nodded.
I grabbed her in a tight hug. “Oh, thank God. I know you will find a way and I know you will do your best to protect her.”
I squeezed my eyes tightly shut and the image of Abbi’s bruised and broken body was the only thing I could see. I had to get back. I had to trust Josselyn to protect Kendra, because I couldn’t do it anymore. I realized Murry might actually win against Josselyn, but it wouldn’t be because she would not try. I could only pray for the best outcome and hope good would prevail over evil again.
Above all else, I had to protect my wife and bring her back to Heaven with me.
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