by Brenda Trim
“Is your life always this exciting?” she asked as they began walking toward the massive, slate gate.
He glanced down at her, wondering what her hair looked like when it was fully grown in. He could see blonde stubble forming on the top of her head. He imagined it long so he could fist it while he took her. Chastising himself for getting distracted, he refocused on the matter at hand.
Watching the Furies closely, he responded to his mate, “There is always an archdemon and their skirm to fight, but we usually have some down time. Lately, it seems as if the war has escalated and we haven’t had a moment to pause for months. The stakes are definitely higher with the addition of the Fated Mates. We’ve always had to protect the Triskele Amulet, but now it’s personal.”
They were about ten feet from the wall when a loud screech rent the air. He ducked instinctively and shoved Illianna’s head down, as well. Turning his head, he watched as the Furies spread their black wings and took to the air. They each held a sword and he adjusted the grip on his.
“Get back to the tree,” he ordered Illianna.
She shook her head. “No way am I leaving your side. With my luck one of those things will pick me up and fly away with me.”
“Fuck,” Rhys cursed. She had a good point. “Stay close then.”
The largest of the four targeted Rhys while the others targeted Dante and Kellen. Illianna darted away just as he saw claws extending in his direction. He was already on the way to the ground when she’d taken off and he couldn’t stop her. He landed on his stomach, his sword clattering away when he lost his grip.
Cursing, his heart kicked into a gallop as he watched Illianna run toward Dante and swing her sword at one of the two Furies attacking him. She continued to surprise him as she dodged and ducked and avoided the reaching claws while managing to injure the creature.
He didn’t have time to contemplate more as a large Fury landed next to his sword and picked it up with one clawed hand. Up close, he noticed the Fury’s skin wasn’t pure black, but more of a charcoal grey. Its eyes were yellow and reminded him of whatever cast the lighting in the circles. One thing was certain, the creature was a helluva lot bigger, easily standing over seven feet tall.
“You cannot pass through the gate to Dys. You don’t have the key,” one of the creatures announced, dark spittle flying as it spoke. It was startling to hear words leave its mouth. The grotesque features made you assume it wasn’t sentient.
Key? Immediately, Rhys thought of Elsie’s gift and instinct told him that he did indeed have the key to the gate. How he was going to make it work, he had no idea. “That’s where you’re wrong, Batgirl. My Queen sent me prepared,” Rhys countered.
The creature screeched, causing pain to explode through Rhys’ head. He clamped his hands over his ears and out of the corner of his eye saw the others do the same. When the noise stopped, Rhys’ ears were ringing, his hands came away bloody, and, he couldn’t hear shit.
Taking advantage of the moment, he pulled one of his sgian dubhs from the holster at his back and threw it at the Fury. The blade sailed through the air and plunged into the throat of the large beast. It opened its mouth and black blood trickled down its chin. Rhys’ sword clattered from its hands and he called it to his palm while he moved toward the creature. It was reaching for the blade in its throat and Rhys had to act before it regained its equilibrium.
Sailing across the sand, Rhys caught his sword. The pommel clanged into his palm and he swung out, cutting half of a wing from the livid Fury. Blade still lodged in its throat, it was now distracted by its missing wing. Black blood flew everywhere as it beat its wings.
Rhys realized his eardrums were healing when he heard Illianna cry out and didn’t waste time slicing the head from the Fury and race to her side. A Fury had her pinned to the dirt, hissing in her face. He hated seeing the fear in her eyes as she avoided its snapping fangs. Furious, he kicked the beast off his mate.
This one was smaller than the last and he had the satisfaction of watching it sail into a tree. Black bark exploded and the top half of the tree fell to the ground. Branches stuck out of the wings as the beast climbed to its feet.
“That’s a good look for you,” Rhys taunted. “I hear bark is the new black. You should keep it.”
The Fury screeched, but not as loud as the last one. “Go help, Dante,” Rhys told Illianna. The Cambion Lord wasn’t faring so well at the moment and Kellen was busy dodging his own opponent. If the males had been at full strength these Furies wouldn’t have been as much of a problem, but they had both gone into this battle injured, and in Dante’s case, severely injured.
Illianna hesitated and looked at him, concern clear in her eyes. Unable to help himself, he leaned down and kissed her hard on the mouth. An immediate shot of energy surged through him, healing his eardrums. He swatted her ass and pushed her into action then turned back to the Fury that was pulling sticks from its wings.
“Ah, ah, ah. I went to a lot of trouble to give you that makeover,” Rhys quipped as he used his telekinesis to move a large branch, making sure the creature was directly in the path of its trajectory. The stump burst through its abdomen, causing it to fall to the ground.
Closing the distance in preternatural speed, Rhys was next to the beast, sword poised at its neck. He lifted his arm and had a moment’s pause. No wonder his mate saw him as a demon. If he wasn’t seducing her, he was killing things. Not exactly the way to court an angel, but there was nothing he could do. He was a Dark Warrior and this would always be a part of his life. He hoped that she could see past that to what he held in his heart for her.
The blade came down and he ended the Fury before turning. Illianna had managed to distract the Fury facing Dante and was now dancing around trying to avoid capture. She didn’t cower like a damsel in distress, but she wasn’t fighting to kill, either. Her approach was all about keeping the focus off Dante and staying alive. It was obvious his angel wasn’t going to kill the demon. Good thing he was okay with doing the dirty work.
“I got this, Angel,” he informed her placing himself in the demon’s path. He heard her rush to Dante’s side and assist him while Rhys focused on the last remaining Fury. Kellen had managed to take his out a few seconds earlier.
“You may kill me, but you will never get through the gate. You don’t have the knowledge,” the beast taunted with a sneer. Its fangs were stained with black blood and its breath smelled like ass.
Rhys was tired of the Underworld and wanted to go home. Hell was dark, smelled like shit and didn’t have the ingredients for making his hey juice. He could make some real progress with Illianna if he got some of that into her. It always loosened the females and made them more amenable to his charm.
“We will see about that. When you are reborn, you might wanna see a dentist, cause damn, you got ass-breath. Sayonara mother fucker,” Rhys goaded. He ended the creature quickly, turning away before the headless corpse fell to the sand.
He rushed to Dante and Illianna, pulling Dante’s arm over his shoulder so he could take most of his weight. “How you doing, Boss?” Rhys asked the Cambion Lord.
Dante grunted and shuffled to the gate with their help. “I’ve been better. There had better be a female in the next circle or I’m in trouble. You will need to get your mate away from me if we don’t find one. I don’t want my demon to take her,” Dante breathed out raggedly.
Rhys had never seen the male in worse shape. His clothes were torn and tattered, he was bleeding from too many injuries to count and his dirty blonde hair was a matted mess.
“Don’t worry, we will get you taken care of. Besides, one thing you can always count on in hell is depravity, and that usually involves females and sex,” Rhys muttered, hoping to keep Dante distracted from his pain.
Dante grunted in response, his steps faltering as Rhys was forced to take more of the male’s weight. They stopped in front of the stone gate that stood several stories high and took in the simple looking lock. It didn’t seem i
mpossible to open, Rhys mused. It looked like one swift kick would break the metal. Then again, Rhys knew how deceiving Hell was. It was no doubt a trap, Rhys concluded, if the bones scattered around were any indication.
Kellen took Dante’s weight and Rhys retrieved the key Elsie had given him. He inserted the key into the lock, but nothing happened. He removed it and tried again. He even tried chanting open in every language he knew. Still, nothing happened.
Sighing heavily, he ran his hand through hair that had come loose from its tie. The key stuck in tangles of blood, sweat and dirt, pulling several strands free as he tugged it from his hair. “Maybe I should have tortured that last one for the answer,” he observed.
“Torture is never the answer,” Illianna murmured. “He would only have lied to you and you would’ve loathed what you were doing. It would have gotten us nowhere.”
He knew she was referring as much to the acts she had been forced to perform as what his reaction would have been. “Thank you for the reminder,” he whispered and placed a kiss to her forehead.
Shrugging, he handed her the key. “You give it a try. Maybe your angel blood will do the trick,” he suggested.
“Blood?” she whispered, looking down at the key then him. Inserting the key once again, a loud groan echoed before the gate opened. “How did you do that? It wouldn’t budge for me.”
She looked up at him and shrugged. “You mentioned blood and that made me wonder if that was the key. Everything in the Underworld seems to come down to blood.”
“You’re brilliant,” he told her, making a blush stain her cheeks.
They were hurrying inside as soon as there was enough room for them to pass through. As had happened each time they crossed into a new circle, flames covered their bodies for a brief moment and their souls fought to remain anchored in place. The sensation hadn’t gotten any more pleasant, but knowing what to expect made crossing more tolerable. Rhys had taken Illianna’s place at Dante’s side and was glad he was supporting the male as he struggled through the veil.
Before they knew it the flames were gone and they were left standing inside a building of some kind. The door clanged shut behind them, trapping them inside. The room didn’t immediately plunge into complete darkness as Rhys expected. The light was faint, but there. It was almost like the flickering of a candle, Rhys thought. Different from what had illuminated the Underworld thus far. And, it was warmer than the previous circles.
“Where are we?” he asked, looking around, noticing several coffins.
“We are in Belial’s realm. He is said to whisper to souls in an attempt to get them to perform acts of rebellion. This is the circle of the unfaithful. He will try to pit us against one another and try to get us to give up on our mission,” Dante answered, panting hard. The male looked like he was ready to pass out. If that happened his inner beast would take over and Rhys would be forced to kill the male because there was no way he would allow him to touch Illianna.
Rhys wiped the sweat form his brow. It was suddenly stifling and hot, making it harder to breathe. “We will have to be on guard for him then. He must not know we are here or he would be taunting us already. How can we pass the test here and move on before we make it to his radar?” he wondered, looking around the room.
Glancing over his shoulder, he noticed the door had completely disappeared and there were no other exits. There were small stained glass windows along the top half of the walls. They might be able to reach them and crawl out. He narrowed his eyes as he watched the pulsing light grow outside the windows. With a start he realized why it was so hot, as well as, where the light came from. They were standing in a burning mausoleum. “Fuck,” he cursed, couldn’t they catch a break?
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“So how do we get out of this mausoleum before it burns us alive?” Rhys asked, wondering how long the flames would remain outside the building. He didn’t believe for one minute that they would be safe within the walls. Hell was one entrapment after another, all designed around tormenting souls repeatedly for eternity.
“First we avoid Belial’s whispers. After that, if the Mystik Grimoire is correct, we need to come to terms with whatever our inner demon is denying,” Dante gritted out, pausing to catch his breath. “Obviously, it will be something that you don’t want to accept, but you have no choice. The alternative appears to be burning alive. And, you will suffer that fate for eternity. Once your soul is trapped here, there is no escape.”
“So do we all get down in our Lotus position and hum?” Rhys quipped. Dante and Kellen glared at him while Illianna laughed.
“I don’t know what a Lotus position is, but sounds good to me,” she chuckled. Rhys couldn’t stop the answering smile that spread across his face. His mate got him. And damn, that was a nice change.
“Please tell me we don’t have two of them?” Dante groaned as he looked at Illianna then Rhys.
Rhys chuckled and glanced at the Cambion Lord. “The Goddess did good, didn’t she?” he asked with pride.
Dante rolled his eyes at Rhys while Kellen looked torn between amusement and confusion. “Is he really like this all the time?” Kellen questioned, rubbing his bald scalp.
Dante grunted and grimaced as he tried to shift his position. “Usually he’s much worse because he’s flirting with the females, as well,” Dante shared, his blue eyes dull from pain and fatigue.
Beside him, Rhys felt Illianna stiffen. He reached for her hand, but she took a step away from him and put her hands in her pockets. “That’s all in the past, Luscious. I’m a cambion, that’s what we do. And, don’t worry, I may flirt because that’s who I am, but there will never be another female for me. You are it,” Rhys assured his mate, wanting to reach out and take her into his arms.
She shifted her gaze away from Rhys and looked to Dante and Kellen. “You mentioned we need to come to terms with something. I don’t have an inner demon,” she said, changing the subject. “And, I don’t hear any voices whispering to me, either.”
“Everyone has inner demons, Illianna. Don’t kid yourself that angels are exceptions to the rule. Otherwise, you wouldn’t still be standing in this room with us,” Dante pointed out with a rueful smile.
Rhys couldn’t stop himself from going to her side when she paled, eyes widening. She had truly never considered that she had issues lurking beneath the surface. He’d have thought her time in Hell would have ripped that particular blinder away.
“I don’t hear Belial, either, which is good,” Dante continued, haltingly. The male was declining rapidly. They needed to get out of there or Illianna wouldn’t be safe. If Dante’s inner beast got loose, it would do whatever was necessary to get to Illianna. “Each of us needs to look inward. Poke at the raw spots and go to the dark place you usually avoid.”
Silence descended over the room and all Rhys could think about was what Illianna was thinking. What was her dark place? Rhys chastised himself for not concentrating on his own issues, but it was impossible to ignore his mate. His own shit didn’t matter to him, he knew he was fucked up and had let that go a long time ago. He didn’t dwell on his past and made sure to keep his inner beast fed so he didn’t become that person again.
Suddenly, a bright light flashed and Dante disappeared. Kellen fell forward, not expecting the weight of the other male to be lifted from his shoulder. “Lucky dog,” Kellen muttered. “I hope he finds a female before we get there. I’d hate to have to beat our Lord into submission. Not that I wouldn’t enjoy that immensely…” the male trailed off, lost in thought.
“Don’t worry, buddy. You couldn’t beat him on your best day. You don’t know him like I do. Dante is one mean motherfucker. There’s a reason he’s the Cambion Lord,” Rhys interjected.
Kellen shook his head and muttered, “I meant no disrespect. I’ve seen enough here in Hell to tell me the rumors about him are true. I was talking about myself, not my chances of being successful. Fuck, most of the time I fail miserably and am left with the bruises to prove i
t.”
“Sounds like you’re a glutton for punishment, Kellen. You don’t have to punish yourself for things that weren’t your fault,” Illianna added, placing a hand on the male’s arm. Rhys got his first glimpse of Illianna connecting with another and realized what she had to offer the world. He had no doubt it was a better place with her in it to bring joy and happiness to others.
Kellen looked into Illianna’s eyes for several silent seconds and whatever passed between them brought him to terms with his dark place because the male disappeared in a flash.
“Okay, Angel. Work your magic on me and get us out of here,” Rhys said, caressing her cheek.
“I don’t have magic and I didn’t do anything to Kellen. He obviously confronted whatever was haunting him and won. The question you should ask yourself, Rhys, is… what’s your greatest fear?”
He reared back. He hadn’t been thinking in terms of fear and didn’t want to. The flames licked at the inside of the walls and flared. “Right now my greatest fear is never having you again. Those flames are inside now,” he pointed out.
She glanced around and he saw the moment realization sank in and panic hit. “Kiss me, Angel,” he murmured, pulling her into his embrace as a way to distract her from their situation. He had no way of vanquishing the flames, but couldn’t stand to see her so afraid.
She looked up at him and for a split second he saw the true depth of her desperation. Without waiting for permission, he lowered his lips to hers, gazing into silver eyes glowing like the moon at midnight on a still lake. His lips sizzled when they met hers as their desire flared. He claimed her mouth in a passionate exchange, losing himself in the moment.
The female in his arms was his everything, and the thought wasn’t as frightening as he thought it might be. She moaned into his mouth, setting his entire body aflame, maddening him. It made him think of her moaning around his cock. He swore to himself that one day he would feel her hot mouth sucking and swallowing everything he had to offer. The thought of it had his blood racing hotly to his groin and filling his shaft, making it ache. His body was on fire, desire burning a scorching path to his soul.