by C. M. Owens
“Everything you’ve done had to be done. I believe that,” he says, kissing my ass in that way that usually annoys me, but I appreciate right at this moment.
“And,” he adds, patting my leg that I tug away from his touch, “Lucifer is really good at playing the victim role. He’s been doing it since he was kicked out of heaven. Add that in with his ability to manipulate anything to his benefit, toss in a few masculine tears, and he’s reeling you in. So don’t feel too bad. Even when getting a nosebleed, there’s a fifty-fifty chance it’s all bullshit mixed with just enough truth.”
I blow out a breath, groaning as I scrub a hand over my face.
“I was thinking the same thing,” Kai says as he takes a seat across from me.
The other three take seats on the floor as well, all of us staggered.
Lamar hands me a jar of liquor that reminds me I need to visit a pawn shop…when I’m not so emotionally vulnerable. I take a long sip, tasting popcorn flavor hit my mouth.
I wish I had just known how to do that the first time I had this liquor. Or the second.
“Harold-slash-Heratio pretended not to know who I was,” I say to the guys.
“You’ve been in contact with Heratio since your return?” Lamar asks in surprise.
I decide I really don’t need to tell him what the Devil said. I’m not sure if it’s the truth he was telling me to let me in on a secret, or if it’s a lie he was spewing to appeal to my vengeful nature and manipulate me back into his fold.
I take a longer drink of the popcorn liquor, not enjoying any of the answers before me.
“He took us in and guided us, even though he’s considered neutral. But I know he’s really a balance Elder—at least now. No one has ever said otherwise. And he’s only been around since a century before E,” Jude adds as I take on the impossible task of mentally sorting facts.
Given what Jude is saying, he clearly thinks everything Lucifer says is utter bullshit, not looking for the hints of truth.
“I certainly had no idea he was Harold the Balance Elder I was wrongly accused of attempting to kill. Though now I can see how I looked so guilty, since I really want to kill him at present,” Lamar confesses.
I look back at the guys, seeing them all about as exhausted and overwhelmed as I feel.
“Not now,” I say as I stand. “I’m still healing from my test, and I feel regret over hurting Lucifer’s feelings and making him crazy while I fixed the five of us.”
I pause, glancing at all of them.
“I suppose I wronged you worse than—”
When my nose drips black blood, Kai rolls his eyes, and I swallow the words as the next pulse of pain in my head starts up.
“At this point, it’s safe to assume there’s no way in fucking hell you’d have done any of this if there was any other option,” Kai tells me pointedly.
“Unbelievable,” I mutter. “Saving your lives didn’t earn me trust, but finding out I’m the catalyst to your demise makes things just peachy. You really are psychos.”
They don’t bat an eye.
“Either way, you were going to die, and us along with you,” Gage says with a shrug. “Only makes sense you’d choose the most balanced option.”
Before I can ask what that means, Ezekiel chimes in. “If you’d died facing Jahl, everyone would have died eventually.”
“Dying an unbalanced death gave you the loophole you needed to come back and bring us all with you,” Jude says quietly, eyes fixed to mine. “Stronger and better.”
“Those nightmares used to be memories,” Gage says with a shudder.
“They are certainly stronger,” Lamar affirms with a nod. “We witnessed that much just in the trials. Even without hell’s power bleeding through their veins…it shouldn’t have been so easy for them.”
“Imagine the power boost we’ll get from visiting Hell’s Black Heart,” Kai says over to Gage. “Could be enough to help her end Jahl.”
Lamar looks confused, but I grin over at Kai.
“You’ll wear your skirts, right? It’ll help keep things from getting so serious,” I add with a grin, my eyes dipping to said skirts that they’re still wearing.
“It’s growing on me,” Gage says as Jude stands and goes digging through my drawers.
They can’t materialize clothing the way I can…
“Could they materialize clothing one time?” I ask Lamar.
“They could do a lot of frivolous things they can’t seem to do anymore,” he states like he’s already observed as much.
Jude curses as he closes the drawer.
“Unless you want to wear something purple, you’re not going to find anything in there. All of Paca’s purple wardrobe has been moved here,” Lamar tells them.
Gage curses the very purple closet across from me. “If we keep walking around in these…whatever we’re wearing—”
“Skirts,” I supply. “Fringed skirts is what I’m actually calling them.”
He gives me a look that borders on hostile exasperation, and I grin. They’re now cute when they’re mad. I’m sure that’s exactly the look they’re going for too, being the Four Horsemen and all; cute is a given.
“I don’t even know what you’re thinking, but I can tell by your smile that it’s ridiculous,” Ezekiel says pointedly at me.
I grin bigger. “Yeah, but now I have an excuse.”
His brow furrows as my eye twitches, the subtle hints of the lingering pain still there in my mind as I try to piece together everything from the overwhelming day, week, month…however long it’s been.
“How long have we been down here?” I ask Lamar.
Ezekiel comes to turn my head to face him, crouching in front of me as he inspects my eyes and wipes away some of the evil blood.
It fortunately doesn’t burn him. I don’t think any part of me is capable of harming them.
Well, unless they wake me from one of those terrible nightmares.
“Fifty-two hours is how long you’ve been down here,” Lamar tells me, causing my attention to quickly shift back to him.
“Fucking purple. Just purple. I’m not wearing purple,” I hear Jude griping as another drawer slams shut.
Rolling my eyes, I stand, even as Ezekiel’s lips tighten in silent protest. I’m not sure why he looks worried about me right now. This is the least I’ve hurt in hours.
“How did we even end up in this shit?” Kai asks as he starts trying to figure out how to take his level-up skirt off.
“You’re the Four Horsemen. You were defending the castle. There’s a dress code. Paca’s rules,” Lamar says with a shrug. “I guess you found a missing piece of yourselves during the battle.”
I grin, simply because now I’m utterly fascinated.
Everyone else in the room, sans Lamar, is glaring at me right now.
“So the Spartans?” I ask, feeling a little unexplainably giddy at the fact people are still doing something I put into effect.
“That dress code was certainly implemented by you,” Lamar confirms. “If your siblings had something pretty to look at, it drew them out to watch you fight as you led your armies to face off with whatever new, naïve group of rebels thought they could overthrow the castle. Sometimes you even gave people power boosts just so they’d get greedy and attempt such a thing. You do love your destruction.”
He releases a wistful sigh, as though he’s taking a moment to be nostalgic right now.
I go phantom, fashion some baggy dude clothes on me, and turn whole. I’ve had so many level-ups, but making clothes I can shed without them disintegrating is a cool tool to have in my arsenal.
The sweatpants drop to my ankles, and I kick out of them. Ezekiel swipes them before anyone else can, and I start pulling off my new shirt as he quickly undresses.
“You’re gay, right? Not into girls too?” Gage asks as Lamar glances over my bare body.
Ezekiel snatches me at my waist and drags me against his bare body when Lamar takes too long to answer.
<
br /> I grin, because they’re totally jealous…of a guy in love with my brother.
Doesn’t get much better than this. I will so give them hell. Later. After I finish making new clothes and dealing with the current crisis of a hugely consequential decision.
My nose drips another drop of blood as I go phantom again, fashioning more clothes.
Lamar gives them all a lazy grin. “I’m gay,” he assures them. “Just curious if she gave up anything physical. Clearly not.”
I turn whole again in more clothes, and I act like I’m going to hand the pants to Jude. I pull them back just as he reaches for them and toss them to Gage.
Jude gives me an exhausted look, standing naked in the room. Gage laughs under his breath as he starts removing his skirt.
Lamar doesn’t look. Possibly because he knows I’m very territorial. Possibly because he’s dedicated to Manella and it would be disrespectful.
The latter of the two seems less likely, since it’s still hell. Fear is the only effective motivator for most actions.
The shirt drops to the ground when I go phantom and do it all over again.
I turn whole, standing on top of the shirt, just as Jude goes to pull it out, and he curses as he stumbles forward, his gentle tug not giving him the necessary purchase. I quickly kick it back to Kai behind me, and laugh when Jude stalks off.
“Perfect fit,” Gage says from across from me.
“I spent over five years studying your bodies,” I remind him as I kick the new pants to Kai.
Ezekiel catches the next shirt and makes a gesture like he’s about to toss the shirt to Jude. When Jude puts his hands up to catch, Ezekiel throws it to Gage instead.
I choke back a laugh when Jude just stares in confounding disbelief for a second. Ezekiel and Gage both release a rumble of laughter as Kai snorts.
Jude’s lips twitch, and he quickly scrubs a hand over his face and turns so I don’t see him accidentally smile. He hates it when he finds me amusing. He’s stubborn that way.
I go phantom for the final time and quickly fashion his new attire.
“I was really expecting something ridiculous at this point,” he grumbles when I finally let him have the clothes. Then I quickly change into my own wardrobe.
It’s not an angel.
It’s not a devil.
It’s—
“What are you wearing?” Ezekiel asks on a long breath, even as his own grin grows.
The shirt has a picture of my missing crown on it, with a promise of a reward if found and returned to me in perfect condition.
Have to be careful with the wording in hell. Even if I didn’t just know that, I’d still know it.
Jude is muttering curses as he struggles into the too-tight sweatpants that have a leather lining on the inside.
“Are you fucking kidding me? Why is there wet leather in here?” Jude asks, hopping around on one foot as he tries to work his leg all the way in.
“Because I’m evil,” I remind him, drawing a laughing groan from Gage, who is shaking his head. “Literally,” I add with a dark smile.
“Make me something different, for fuck’s sake,” Jude says when he finally gets one leg all the way in, eyes swinging to mine.
“This is for the beetle.”
He huffs a frustrated sound, but I’m surprised when he actually resumes the task of pulling the pants on. And it is definitely a task.
I finally get bored and look away from the train wreck. He’s really going to hate me once he starts pulling on that super tight shirt.
“Fuck,” I hear him groan from behind me, which just renews my smile as I let my eyes drift over the room, taking in all the things I haven’t yet noticed.
“Oh! Jewelry!” I say on a gasp as I dart to the shiny diamond necklace.
“Someone reel her the fuck in before she cuts her face nuzzling that rock,” Kai says like he’s amused.
But there are so many gems that I can’t look at all of them at once when I pull out a drawer.
I fall back as the lights go out, my brain short-circuiting over all the shiny things.
Chapter 14
“We’ve gone through this fifty times in the past hour. If we have to fight this thing, we need to know what we’re going up against. This thing beat a blessed champion. Rafael is just an archangel and he tossed her around like a rag,” Jude is snapping. “She fucking fainted because she saw a bunch of gems!”
Why’s he gotta bring that shit up?
“My vanity just decided you’re on probation from being my favorite for no less than three days just for that comment,” I state, feeling dizzy.
And no, it’s not because of my short, embarrassing faint.
My nose just keeps dripping blood. I’ve stained the floor, and I’m hiding it.
We really have been at this for hours. Jude has already burst out of that teeny-tiny shirt I fashioned with all his angry Hulk impersonations.
“Take a break,” Lamar says curtly.
“This is our lives we’re discussing,” Jude growls. “Not yours. We’ll take a break when—”
“He’s right,” Ezekiel cuts in, lips thinning when he sees me quickly wipe away the next drop of blood.
“Pay a visit to Hell’s Black Heart. You need the power boost. The more time you spend there, the stronger you’ll grow. It’s how you were strong enough to harness the Horsemen powers, after all. It’s where evil goes to fester,” Lamar continues as he stands. “I’m going to take Paca to her favorite room in hell.”
“It’s not my bedroom?” I ask, perking up at the prospect of something else that’s all mine.
Jude crouches in front of me, where I’m back to sitting beside the bed, and I hear riiiiippp.
He glares at me when I make a strangled sound in my throat and fight really hard not to laugh.
But the other guys aren’t so generous.
“Been waiting on that for a while. It came a little late. I should have made those pants just a little tighter,” I tell him with a slow smile.
He stands while rolling his eyes, and I catch a flash of his ass when he turns around with the new large split right down the center of it.
Lamar pushes a section of the wall, and it begins backing up. Inch by inch, it reveals a large, hidden closet when the door starts moving to the side.
It’s full of men’s clothing.
“That’s been there all along?” I ask incredulously.
“Why are you just now showing us that?” Jude asks, looking even more frustrated than usual.
My nose finally stops bleeding, just because I’m so damn entertained.
“I thought it’d be obvious by now,” Lamar says with a careless shrug. “I’m evil too. Most people in hell’s royal circle are.”
As if he’s just schooled the Four Horsemen, he reaches down his hand for mine, and I take it, grinning like a little kid at Christmas when Jude simply exhales and starts actually counting to ten.
Lamar helps me up, and I strut toward the door.
“Spend time there. Manella will tell you how to find us when you’re done,” he says, not giving them time to argue before dragging me along quicker.
Gage grabs me at the waist, ripping me away from Lamar. I’m positive he’s going to object to me running off with my brother’s boyfriend that we barely know—but that I can surely kill—in case Lamar is secretly plotting against us.
Instead, he kisses me.
Hard.
It surprises me so much that I just lamely stand here for a moment with my eyes wide open. Then I quickly melt against him, kissing him back.
I almost forget that he can’t be my favorite. Then I remember the unresolved issue, but continue to kiss him anyway. He doesn’t have to be my favorite.
His hands tighten on my waist, pulling me closer as he kisses me stupid, and every bit of pain just fades into nothing. I really should have kissed one of them sooner, because nothing else is so good at distracting me.
Someone knocks at the door,
the only thing that has Gage releasing me.
Lamar is quick to answer it.
The sound of shuffling feet precedes three men stepping in and standing off to the side like they’re awaiting orders.
“They’ll take you to the Black Heart,” Lamar says as though he’s somehow magically summoned them. “Sorry. They can wait until you’re finished.”
Gage clears his throat and releases me, walking off while scratching the back of his neck.
Totally weird reaction, but it’s been an intense day. The other three are coming out of the closet…literally. Jude is the only one wearing something different.
“I think we’re ready,” Ezekiel says, glancing over at Gage, who still has his back turned.
“Make sure Chloe knows I’m The Apocalypse so you can be my favorite, because I really want that right now,” I tell him.
I see him smirk from the side, but he doesn’t look over at me.
Weird.
Lamar motions for me to walk out first, meaning that chivalry is still alive even in hell. It makes me feel feminine and dainty, so I happily start out in front of him.
But the three men near the wall immediately drop to their knees and bow before me.
“Royal,” they all say in unison, as though they’re addressing me.
I arch an eyebrow at Lamar. “I’m called Royal?”
“You’re The Apocalypse,” Kai pops off with a smirk. “Did you think they’d call you Princess?”
When worded that way…
“I do have a crown,” I point out a little defensively. Looking around like it’s going to magically appear, I add in a mutter, “Somewhere.”
“Should we tell her?” Kai asks.
“Tell me what?” I chirp, hoping they know where it is. I barely even got to look at the damn thing.
“I think we should,” Gage says, finally facing me again, grinning like Kai.
“I think we should wait,” Jude says with his own smirk.
“Only because she made you look like an idiot,” Ezekiel says while patting Jude’s back. “I vote we tell her.”