Hell to Pay (Blood for Soul Book 1)

by Alvin Atwater

  Amelia nodded her approval. “Keep up the good work, Amanda.”

  Interlude 3

  Seth’s emptiness would never be full again, not since his only meaning in life had died. He’d never forgive those Sunset bastards for torturing her to the very last breath. What’s the point of immortality if a demon’s natural poison pierces through it? This was why he became a hunter. He needed to rise in rank and power. He needed to make it into the elite. If that Venus girl could do it, so could he—Seth would continue to push himself until they accepted him.

  His annoying father constantly blabbed on about finding a new love, even foolishly suggesting a marriage between Seth and the Venus girl, simply because the fallen prince was away. Seth wasn’t as foolish as Yulese. He knew the internal bond didn’t work that way. Heavenly-beings were paired at birth. Those who lost their partners were simply out of luck unless whatever decided this whole bond thing grew a heart and paired the widow again.

  Seth despised the system, but tolerated it. He also didn’t care too much about the rumors of the fallen prince. In a way, he respected him for standing up to the system. At the same time, the moron should’ve taken the throne and simply changed the rules. Why was Seth surrounded by idiots? He tossed a dagger at the target post in front of him, nailing the bulls-eye. That wasn’t enough. He needed to exceed ordinary excellence and limitations. He closed his eyes and focused on the essence around him. Within a second, Seth sent out a telepathic message to a friend of his from the Jupiter clan.

  “Luke, are you busy?”

  Three seconds later, Luke responded in the same telepathic manner. “Nope. I closed the shop early today. I’ve got some wine to sample.”

  “Lila’s going to flip if she catches you.”

  “Seth, what do you call a wife with an opinion?”

  Before Seth could answer, Luke said, “Wrong.”

  Seth chuckled. “Come to the training grounds this afternoon. Got something to discuss—and this telepathy is starting to give me a headache now.”

  Later that day, the duo met at the empty training grounds. It was an open, grassy field with target posts and wooden dummies in various places.

  “Alright, what’s this about?” Luke said after clasping hands with his friend.

  “I need you to help me get a spot in the elite,” Seth said.

  Luke sighed. “You’re still going on about that? Why not just look for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow while you’re at it? At least that’s easier.”

  “Yeah, obviously but I’ve got to keep trying. Now are you going to help me or not?” Seth said. Luke simply glared. “Please. You’re the only one I know who has the wits and patience to put up with my shenanigans. And I’m out of ideas.”

  “Fine, but enough with the flattery,” Luke said. “Save it for my wife when she asks if I’ve tasted any wine.” Luke folded his arms. “There are…a few solutions that come to mind but the most common is to arrest a high-value target. And not just any, but a class one, by yourself.”

  “Yeah if I feel like dying, I’ll go ahead and do that,” Seth retorted sarcastically. “What are the other solutions?”

  “You can’t get out of dealing with class one targets,” Luke said. “Other ways to get an invite include bringing down notorious demon organizations, detain a great spirit, or be the first to kill a trouble-making Fallen. As if the Fallen ever bleep onto the radar.”

  Seth nodded, taking in Luke’s suggestions. Demonic organizations. If he could bring down Sunset, the elite would beg him to join.

  “I know what you’re thinking,” Luke said. “We all miss her, but one thing you need to know is that Sunset is not only class one, but damn near impossible to find. It’s failure after failure with any hunter that encounters them with hopes of finding their hideout. Even if you have misthanger scouts and point-men.”

  Seth sighed, annoyed that Luke killed his mood. Misthangers were an idea though, often hired by his father due to their superb tracking skills. He’d do the same—it was a huge bonus for the hunter who planned to rise to glory.

  “It’s the only way,” Seth said, making up his mind. “No more turning back. I need you to find out where rank six Amelia Venus is working. She’s bound to have clues about Sunset. I also need to apologize to her just in case my idiot father tried to take some kind of initiative. It’s time I avenge my lost love and put an end to an organization that has had too much time in the spotlight.”

  Luke nodded, then ascended. Seth picked up a bow and an arrow from the ground and aimed at a target three hundred yards away. He released the nocked arrow. Heavenly-light glistened around the arrow as it soared. “Bulls-eye.”

  Part III

  Chapter Thirty-eight

  The familiar setting of the dream world dawned upon me. I was in the one place that didn’t bode well with my manliness. Rainbows, smiling sun, ponies, and of course, fairies, plagued the place. Time to get the fuck out of here. Maybe… just maybe, I wouldn’t wake up to a nice burning of nine hundred-plus degree wind. Hopefully Sin and the others weren’t dead and waiting there for me. Goodbye, kiddy dream area—yep, I’m going to forcefully awake from this nightmarish barf fest.

  Anytime now. Annnnyyy time now. Shit. Why wasn’t it working? I focused, drawing from within, then directing the power to my head for a jolt that should’ve woke me up. Only it didn’t. I was suddenly aware of my surroundings again, because every fairy looked at me, smiles on their faces.

  “Move along,” I said. “Nothing to see here.” They started toward me in a nightmarish sprint, racing to see who could snag me first. The snack, out in the open. Suddenly, they stopped, when a familiar fairy appeared beside me, seemingly out of thin air. Long white hair, sparkling green eyes, grey shirt, and skirt combo. Heavenly-light outlined her, enhancing her appearance somehow. She looked about twentyish human years.

  “Go away. He’s my guest,” she told them. They glared, muttering insults, but left us.

  “So, shall I strip now?” I said, when the fairy turned to me. She blinked then burst into laughter.

  “Keep your pants on, stud. Amelia’s a good friend of mine and I’d like to keep it that way,” she said.

  “You’re Amelia’s friend? Then what are you doing here—”

  “I’m Teemie, patrolling dream angel,” she said.

  I nodded. “Disguised as a fairy?”

  “Nope. I’m both fairy and angel but I’m sure you’ve heard of me. Help poor bewitched guys wake up again, that sort of thing.”

  Well, that kind of explained why the fairies were reluctantly obedient. I decided to just play along, regardless of the fairy’s identity.

  “Well, I’m in luck, because I can’t wake up,” I said.

  “Oh that’s easy,” Teemie said. “You’re most likely under a sleeping spell, placed by someone of high power. He or she probably needs you to stay passed out until arriving at their destination.” She started walking, gesturing for me to follow. I did.

  “So I’m probably in Paradise Realm,” I said. Teemie nodded. “Good, better there than Hell.” Just then, she shimmered, her form morphing into a familiar white cat.

  “The hell—don’t tell me you were—”

  “Yep, at the chapel,” she said. The cat turned to look at me. “You know, you’re a big fairy target. If Amelia hadn’t told me to keep an eye on you, stud, you’d probably have had sexual relations with hundreds of fairies, unable to escape this place. And while that may seem fun at first, you will go mad with the desire to get back to the real world. Anger any one of them and they’ll sap you dry of life force.”

  I glared at the feline. She shimmered again, reverting to her normal form. To my surprise, her clothes were perfectly fine. I assumed it was because of the dream world’s logic. Shapeshifting is a rare ability. I’m pretty sure shifters undressed before making the change. At least, that’s what the rumors said. I’d never actually seen a real shifter. I pushed aside the thoughts to focus on the situation at hand. Wa
king the fuck up. Time to get to the point.

  “Will you help me out?” I asked. Teemie looked thoughtful.

  “Well, duh,” she said. “I thought my actions alone would have told you that. Sit down for a while, while I contact Amel—”

  A violent shake abruptly woke me up in time to see a wall growing closer and closer to my face until I slammed into it. The sound of metal bars shutting told me that I was in a holding cell. I shook off the daze and then turned to the bitch, flanked by two angelic guards, on the other side of the bars.

  The smug look on her face should’ve infuriated me. I mean I was beyond pissed, no doubt about that, but I didn’t feel rage. Yep, definitely in Paradise Realm—the natural calming effect that prevented hatred and me from tearing down this place, felt palpable. In the lame man’s terms, my powers were not working. Fuck. Of course, she’d take precautions to make sure I didn’t interrupt the ascension.

  “You’ll be waiting in here for a bit, handsome,” Karma said. I simply stared at her, refusing to allow my rage to show. She winked, then walked off, leaving me to boil in angry thoughts. I looked around at my holding cell. A single bed on the left, a gold chair on the right, a desk with a few books on it in the center.

  “Epex Helios, of the Helios clan.” I spun to see a male angel dressed in a red robe and matching shoes. He unrolled a scroll. “Your list of charges as followed. Treason, attacking Lord Conus using a forbidden mode of power. Prison break. You were sentenced for an original term of two years. Disrespect of Lord Conus increased your sentence over time. Murder, suspected misthanger deaths are upon you. Illegal manifestations, abuse of power in terms of creation. Unauthorized Human World presence. Epex Helios, do you wish to make a statement?”

  “Yeah, I’ve got your statement right here,” I said, flipping him the bird. “Fuck out of here.”

  The angel sighed. “I really didn’t want to believe the charges, but seeing how you changed like this, it makes me wonder.”

  I didn’t say anything, just turned around and listened to the clutter of his boots walking off. His words did grab my attention. When Amelia had appeared, she had said something like that, too. Could there possibly be some controversy over my charges? Hell, there should be. I was punished for powers out of my control. The thought of Conus enraged me. The warmth of heavenly-light turreted around my body.

  I allowed myself to calm down when I heard the door open. Seconds later, Karma stood in front of my bars again. She had changed into a less flashy dress and a single gold necklace. I pushed my anger deep down, while blocking out Paradise Realm’s calming effects. Not every will could do so, but my situation was severe enough to keep my mind on serious alert.

  “So, what do you think of your charges?” she said, with glee in her voice. That chipper tone almost pulled out my newly buried anger. “Spot on, right? Is it not nice to hear how much of a piece of—”

  I finally snapped but spoke with barely contained anger. “Get the fuck out. I don’t care about any self-righteous bullshit any of you want to spit on me. Do you think threatening to send me back to Hell scares me?”

  Karma shrugged. “You seriously need to get laid.”

  I was so taken aback by that comment that I flipped her the finger. She teleported right in front of me, in my face. Yeah, I was no longer safe behind my bars where I could talk shit without repercussion. Karma’s a bitch, isn’t she? I glared into her eyes defiantly. She sighed seconds later, picking up the memo that my gaze wasn’t going to avert.

  “You’re lucky we’re in Paradise Realm,” she said, then lowered her voice. “Like you, I’m also not bound to anyone. I can take you, make you a man, and there wouldn’t be a thing Amelia could do about it.” I didn’t respond. Karma teleported back to the outside of my bar. “A child like you is not ready for someone as advanced as me.” She waited a few seconds to see if I would say anything and when I didn’t, she finally left. Fucking finally. I sat in the chair and relaxed. May as well prepare for some bullshit, unfair trial. I was seconds away from calling it a day and taking a nap when Hialucus, my eldest brother appeared.

  Chapter Thirty-nine

  Unreadable blue eyes, stared back at me. He was almost the same as I remembered him. He still sported long, black hair that simply fell to his back. The sight of the armor he wore didn’t surprise me—his talents begged him to become head of the knights. Think ancient black samurai-style armor, with strange glowing symbols all over it. My brother’s aura felt immense almost like Conus’s presence.

  “You’ve grown well, little brother,” he said, his voice expressing no emotion. “You didn’t give in to the human spells of gluttony, preferring to train. I wish we could speak under better circumstances.” His gaze hardened. “Had I known you escaped Hell, I would’ve gotten to you before Amelia.”

  “Wait, you didn’t know?” I said, overcoming my slight fear of him.

  “The knights are deployed for undetermined amounts of time. In order to keep us focused on the tasks at hand, we do not receive news from the outside during these deployments.” He sighed. “It’s surprising that the girl who claimed to love you brought you here.”

  “It wasn’t Amelia who brought me here,” I said.

  “What? I was told your retrieval was one of the Venus Clan.”

  “No. It was some crazy-strong chick named Karma,” I told him.

  Hialucus’s eyes widened. “Little brother, did you not know that the legendary Karma is Amelia’s eldest sister.”

  Now it was my turn to have wide eyes. When Karma first attacked and spoke to us—that hesitation—Amelia must’ve recognized her sister’s voice. All of the talk of Amelia from Karma was sisterly rivalry. I had been so absorbed in escaping hunters that I missed the resemblance, even when it revealed itself in front of me as the divine state. Both of the states’ attitudes were the same. Irony? Fucking bad luck to get caught by the sister I never knew she had. In fact, the only relative of Amelia’s I had met was her father, also known as Natural Selection. Conus and Ronin were great friends, and ecstatic that the predetermined love force chose to bond Amelia and me. Sometimes I questioned that but in the end, I didn’t care if they had something to do with it or not.

  “You probably don’t know that she’s the daughter of Lilian Venus, also known as Mother Nature.”

  I shook my head. Hialucus glared. “Amelia’s among the six leaders of the heavenly hunters, so I will assume that not only did she immediately find you, but you lived with her up to this point. She probably spoke little of Paradise Realm politics to keep your mind off your pursuers. The leader six may have indefinite permission to travel anywhere, but she still has her family. Her responsibilities as princess of the Venus Clan simply cannot be ignored. Did she not think her family would eventually check up on her? Never mind, don’t answer that. It’s not important right now.” He folded his arms. “I may be your only pleasant visit as I remained neutral as to the feud of your punishment but Father has plans to visit. It would be in your best interest to restrain any ill will.” He turned. “I will be present at your trial. Just know if you want to escape, do it then and surprise them. I will not stop you.” He left, leaving me in awe.

  Dammit, why couldn’t he give me a reason to keep him on my shit list. Why was he still the same cool big brother that I always looked up to—not the dickhead obstacle on my road of escape. My brothers and I were never at odds—Conus wouldn’t have that—but I knew not all of them would approve of my actions. Well, it’s not like I gave a shit anyway.

  “Hey, is there some kind of warden here? I gotta piss,” I shouted. A male angel dressed in a white shirt with black slacks appeared. He spoke in a voice that rich billionaire asshole snobs all seemed to have on TV.

  “If you kindly turn around and look to your left, there is a restroom. I forget that sometimes you have bodily functions.”

  I think he meant that as a joke but I only frowned before turning around to see a door that wasn’t there a moment ago. It wasn’t half
-bad either—a clean place with a shower, a toilet, sink, and mirror. Hell, they even included soap, shower gel, toothpaste, and a toothbrush. I took my sweet ass time cleaning up. A towel, clean jeans, plain white collared shirt, and clean socks were waiting for me when I stepped out of the shower. Must be their way of saying, “enjoy your pleasantries while you can.” With that list of charges, they were either going to sentence me to Hell for at least a decade or toss me in the depths. Hell sucked super supreme ass, but at least I hadn’t been in the depths. To think that nonstop torture could be worse. Fuck. I couldn’t go back, but if I did, at least it wouldn’t be surprising.

  A plate containing various sliced fruit, along with a cup of water waited for me on the desk when I exited the bathroom. The door behind me vanished. Freaking angel show-off. After the lunch that left more to be desired, I lay in the bed. I mean there wasn’t much to do anyway, except wait for the big guy himself stop by to bring down the hammer. Man, did I want a burger. Sure, I couldn’t complain about the fruit—at least they fed me. That didn’t mean I had to like it. Someone pinged my cell bars. I sat up to see Karma, flanked by a female angel.

  “You look pretty comfortable for someone headed to eternal torment,” Karma said, amusement in her voice. The angel beside her sighed. She was a caramel skin with red-brown hair.

  “Let’s just hope Lord Conus will show him mercy,” she said.

  Karma blinked in surprise. I shrugged. Another supporter. Maybe there was hope for me after all.

  “You do know that he committed many forms of treason,” Karma said.

  “Bullshit,” I said, uncaring if my language shrunk the cute angel’s opinion of me. “All incidents were self-defense. And sure, I was on the run for a while, but who wouldn’t after pulling off an impossible escape from Hell.”

  “Self-defense?” the angel said, nodding, her expression seeming to be in relief. “I can see that being the case. You have very limited power, and defended yourself from brutal misthanger assassination attempts.”