Hell Freezes Over (Hellscourge Book 6)

by Diem, J. C.

  “I have not informed Sophia or Leo of this yet,” he said. “They assumed that I sensed you were in danger and that I went to your aid.”

  “It might be best if we continue to let them think that for now.” How could I possibly explain what I’d done when I was clueless about it myself?

  “We should return to the store before they begin to worry.” He stood up with the natural grace that all angels possessed and placed me on my feet. Tucking my arm through his, he zapped us both back to our lair.

  Sam was gone from the table and Leo and Sophia were talking quietly. They looked relieved when they realized we were back. “Did you encounter any demon souls?” Leo asked.

  “Yep,” I replied and took my seat again. “There were thirty-six, just like we figured. They didn’t give me any hints about where the next portal is,” I added before they could ask.

  “You have only just returned from your last adventure. You will discover it when it is time,” Sophia said confidently.

  I nodded in agreement then turned to Leo. “Do you have my cell phone?”

  His expression turned sly as he fished it out of a back pocket of his jeans. “It was fun pretending to be you,” he said as he handed it over. “Your beau can be very romantic at times.”

  I wrinkled my nose at the thought of what would happen if Zach ever found out he’d been flirting with a guy. I doubted that he’d take it very well. “Do I even want to know what you two were texting each other?” I’d need to read the messages so I’d know what the pair had discussed during my absence.

  A glance at Nathan told me it would probably be best if I waited until I was alone first. Leaning back in his chair, he crossed his arms over his chest. His mood had instantly soured at the mention of my boyfriend. Sophia shook her head at my complicated love life, but she didn’t say anything.

  “He misses you and he wants to know when you will be back,” Leo told me. He might be older than dirt, but his vessel was a fourteen-year-old boy with short, curly blond hair and blue eyes.

  “What did you tell him?”

  “That your illness was back and that you had to travel interstate for treatment.”

  It was a good excuse and it wasn’t even that far from the truth. I’d travelled to hell rather than interstate, but I was definitely searching for a cure. “Where did I supposedly travel to?”

  “Boston.”

  “I’ve never been there. How am I going to lie my way out of that?” I was panicking at the thought of being questioned about the trip that I hadn’t really taken. Zach had moved around a lot, thanks to his father’s job as a banker. Mr. Orion kept getting poached for his skills and he’d worked in many cities over the years.

  “Use my computer,” Sophia suggested. “I am certain you can find information on Boston on the internet.”

  It wouldn’t be as good as visiting the city in person, but it was better than trying to lie my way through answering any questions that Zach might have. “Thanks for the update on Zach, but that wasn’t the reason why I asked for my phone,” I said to Leo. Nathan’s brows rose in disbelief and I looked at him. “You said Detective Reynolds gave you his card. I should call him and find out what he wants.”

  Reaching into his pocket, Nathan leaned across the table and handed me the card. Our fingers touched and our gazes locked. Leo cleared his throat pointedly, reminding us that we weren’t alone. I felt too ill to be able to flush, otherwise my face would have flamed bright red at being caught staring like a lovesick teen.

  ₪₪₪

  Chapter Three

  It probably wasn’t a good idea to use my cell phone or Sophia’s landline to call Detective Reynolds. I’d have to take the risk because I wasn’t up to searching the streets for a pay phone. I dialed his number and only had to wait for it to ring twice before he answered.

  “Reynolds,” he said crisply and with a hint of impatience in his tone.

  “I hear you’re looking for me,” I replied.

  It took him a couple of seconds to figure out who he was talking to. “It’s been a while, Alice. I was wondering if you wanted to catch up for coffee sometime soon.” His partner, Gomez, had to be nearby if he felt the need to use a fake name. Demons had exceptional hearing, so I’d have to be careful about what I said.

  “Sure. I’m free today. Tell me when and where and I’ll be there.”

  “There’s a diner on Eighth Avenue near that church where I saw you a while ago. Can you meet me there at twelve-thirty?”

  He meant the church where I’d been shot. I doubted I’d ever forget the place. “I’ll be there,” I replied and we both hung up.

  “Leo and I will accompany you to this meeting,” Nathan said in a tone that brooked no argument.

  “Okay,” I replied. Everyone looked at me in astonishment and I scowled. “What?”

  “You are not going to protest at both of us coming along to protect you?” Leo asked.

  “I like my independence, but I’m not an idiot. I barely have the strength to sit in this chair. There’s no way I’d be able to make a run for it if someone tries to capture or kill me.”

  That stark truth was painful for Nathan to hear. “Would it help if I healed you?” he offered.

  “You can’t fix this,” I reminded him. “Giving me some of your grace would just give me a temporary boost that will fade away fast. You’d be draining your energy for nothing.”

  “Is there nothing that we can do?” Sophia asked.

  There was one thing that could help me, but I knew they wouldn’t like my answer. Sam appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. His hearing was still good enough to have heard us from upstairs. He wanted to feed his addiction to TV, but he also wanted to be there for me. He took the seat next to me and slid his hand into mine. Leo was full of trepidation as he waited for me to respond. Taking a deep mental breath, I took the plunge. “I need to be zapped with holy fire.”

  Nathan’s reaction was swift and absolute. “That is not going to happen.”

  “Believe me, I don’t want you to,” I told him. “It hurts like hell, but it also pushes back the toxin.”

  I looked at Leo for his reaction and his face had turned white. “I cannot deliberately cause you pain,” he said. He sounded sick at the mere thought of it.

  My guardian’s expression was just as ill and I slumped in my chair. “You’re right. I can’t ask you guys to torture me. It isn’t fair to put either of you through that.”

  “I am sure that Hag would be delighted to comply with this particular request,” Sam said sourly.

  “It would be a mistake to allow her, or her lackeys, to come into contact with you,” Sophia advised me.

  Her warning was unnecessary. I had no intention of getting within touching distance of Hagith again. I shuddered and Sam tightened his hold on my hand. “She’s the last person I’d ever ask for help,” I said.

  “You have only been back for a short time,” Leo said. “Perhaps your health will begin to improve after a few days.”

  He looked so hopeful that I didn’t have the heart to tell him the truth. I wasn’t going to get better. No amount of rest would fix this. The Wraith Warrior’s poison was working its way deeper inside me. It would eventually invade me completely. Once that happened, it would rot me to the core.

  “Maybe,” I said then turned to Sam. “I think I’ll watch TV with you while I wait until it’s time for my meeting with the detective.”

  I had to lean on him more than I liked as we made our way back upstairs. I sat in the armchair that I usually used when I was reading, but I didn’t have the energy to hold onto my ereader. Instead, I watched him search for something interesting to watch. He was soon lost in one of his favorite programs, but I watched the screen without really seeing it.

  Leo came to fetch me when it was time for our meeting with Reynolds. He appeared in the doorway and watched me worriedly when I stood up and almost staggered. Sam picked up the remote control and set the program to record. “I will come w
ith you,” he decided.

  “Wow, are you sure you can tear yourself away from the couch again so soon?” I joked.

  He huffed out a sigh then picked up his cap from the seat. “I am willing to sacrifice some of my TV watching time if it is for a good cause.”

  Leo smirked then switched his attention from Sam, to me then to himself. “Are you aware that we are all wearing the same thing?”

  I realized we were all wearing black t-shirts and jeans. “I’ll change my shirt so we don’t look like triplets.”

  “We could hardly be mistaken for siblings,” Leo said. “You and I have similar colored hair, but Sam looks nothing like either of us.”

  Sam’s shoulders dropped and he looked down at the floor. “That is true. You two are beautiful and I am just a monster.”

  Full of remorse for inadvertently hurting him, Leo left my side and walked over to Sam. He took him by the shoulders and gave him a slight shake. “You do not look like a monster. I simply meant that your coloring is different from ours.”

  “That does not change the fact that I am hideous,” was Sam’s forlorn answer.

  I shared a look with Leo and we reached a decision together. “I think it’s time you took a look in the mirror,” I said. We didn’t give him a chance to argue. We took hold of his arms and escorted him down the hall and into the bathroom.

  Filled with reluctance, Sam couldn’t bring himself to lift his gaze to look in the mirror. “You are not ugly,” Leo told him firmly. “You are almost back to being a human again. Soon, it will be impossible to tell that you were ever an imp at all.”

  That gave Sam the courage he needed. Glancing up, instead of blanching at his reflection, he was transfixed and his eyes went wide with wonder. His forehead used to be far too heavy, which had made his eyes seemed squished and squinty. His forehead was still a little large and his eyes were still a bit strange, but he didn’t look that out of the ordinary anymore. His hair had lengthened and it was now short and curly like Leo’s, but black rather than blond. His skin held only a tinge of gray and was more brown than anything now. “Is that really me?” he asked.

  “It’s really you,” I confirmed. Tears tried to fill my eyes and I had to will them away. I didn’t have time to blubber in happiness for him. We had a meeting to get to.

  The two boys walked on either side of me as we headed for my bedroom. They were ready to catch me if I grew too tired to walk.

  “The spells that you created have been effective at keeping our base safe from intruders,” Leo told me.

  “Have they tried to get in since you made the truce with them?” I asked.

  He nodded and smiled grimly. “A few times, but they try to be stealthy about it. Every now and then, I bust them and send them scurrying away.”

  That made me smirk just as he’d intended. “Sy really came through for us,” I said with genuine fondness for the hellscribe’s abilities to create runes.

  “I would never have believed that we would ever come to rely on a demon for help.”

  “I’m pretty sure the only reason he’s helping us is so he can get the chance to see if his runes work,” I said wryly. Sy’s boss, Dantanian, kept a tight leash on all of the scribes. He didn’t allow them to practice their runes without supervision. He was the Head Scribe and his base was in the Scriptorium in the first realm of hell. I had a feeling I’d eventually be visiting him in his lair. First, I had to survive long enough to make it to the innermost realm of the underworld.

  Stepping into my bedroom, I shut the door and changed my shirt to a dark blue one. I also grabbed a cap to use as a disguise. When we trooped downstairs to join Nathan and Sophia in the front room, I was surprised to see the clairvoyant was carrying her purse. “Are you coming with us?” I asked. It looked like the whole gang was going to the diner.

  “Yes. I would like to meet the man whom Fate has set in our path. I have a feeling that he will be important to our cause.”

  “How can a mere human be important?” Sam asked.

  “I have no idea,” she replied with a shrug. “We will discover the answer to that only when we are meant to.” With that, we gathered into a circle and Nathan zapped us to a different location.

  ₪₪₪

  Chapter Four

  I leaned on Nathan for a few seconds while I recovered from being teleported. When my vision cleared, I saw we were standing across the street from the church where I’d almost fallen to my death.

  Nathan glanced at the building and flicked a look at me. He’d only just managed to catch me before I’d hit the ground. His wings had manifested and he’d carried us both high into the air. My guardian had healed my wounds and then we’d faced another danger. Lust had taken over and I’d convinced him to join with me in a way that was forbidden. Only the intervention of my feathered nemesis had saved us from breaking the rules.

  Speaking of the undead raven, I wondered how long it would take before it tracked me down this time. It always seemed to find me when I was on patrol or on a date with Zach. I hadn’t called my boyfriend yet. I wasn’t ready to see him when I was still looking so awful. While he’d pretended to be me, Leo had warned him that my illness was getting worse. Zach didn’t know how bad I really was yet.

  Leo interrupted my thoughts by pointing down the avenue. “I see a diner three blocks away,” he said. I squinted, but my eyesight wasn’t good enough to be able to make it out.

  Nathan teleported us closer rather than making me walk all the way there. We didn’t need to worry about anyone seeing us appear out of thin air. His celestial magic made us blend in as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

  I searched the area carefully, but I only saw a lone pack of six demons half a block away. They were patrolling their turf, making sure no one was intruding on their territory. They didn’t have any rune stones, like the angels now had, that would enable them to see the blue auras that angels possessed. We just looked like a normal group of humans to them.

  “It appears to be safe,” Nathan said. “We should enter the diner before any of our enemies spot us.”

  Sadly, his kin were now classed as our foes. Hag and Orifice had tried to control me once too often. They hadn’t taken very good care of me when they’d locked me in a cell beneath the ground. They’d fed me cold toast and water for every meal. Hag had blasted me with holy fire as punishment for not bowing to her authority. I suffered from claustrophobia, so being trapped in a small dark cell had been its own form of torture. But making me use a bucket as a toilet had been the last straw. Some things were beyond my ability to forgive and that was at the top of the list.

  Nathan pulled the door open for me and I was the first to step inside. The diner was small, cozy and clean. Red leather booths that could seat six people lined the walls to the left and right of the door. A gleaming stainless steel counter sat across from us. A large window to the kitchen was behind the counter. Half a dozen staff members were rushing around preparing or delivering lunch for the rapidly growing crowd.

  Detective Reynolds had beaten us here. He sat in a booth at the far end of the room to our right. Spying me, he went still when he saw that I wasn’t alone. Assessing my friends for a few moments, he gestured for us to join him.

  His table was wedged in the corner away from the window to give us maximum privacy. I pulled my cap down low to hide my face as I made my way over to him. I slid into the seat across from him so my back was to the rest of the diners. Sam and Nathan joined me and Sophia sat next to Reynolds. Leo perched on the edge of the seat next to Sophia

  Examining my best friend, the detective’s eyebrows rose. “Is that you, Sam?” he said uncertainly. At Sam’s nod, his bafflement rose. “You look different. More normal somehow.”

  “Do I?” Sam asked with almost pathetic hope. He’d seen the evidence for himself, but he couldn’t quite believe that he really was changing.

  “Yeah. I barely recognized you.” The detective nodded at Nathan in greeting then turned to view So
phia and Leo. He held out his hand to the clairvoyant. “I’m Detective Reynolds. You are?”

  Sophia took his hand and her back stiffened. Her eyes went distant as she was sucked into a vision. Her face drained of color and I saw a brief flash of horror at whatever she was witnessing. Then the moment passed and she forced a smile. “I am Sophia.”

  Extricating her hand from his, she leaned back. Leo reached past her to offer his hand. “I am Leo.”

  Angling himself so he could keep us all in sight, Reynolds took in our motley group. “Do you mind if I ask what you all are?”

  Sam held up his hand, volunteering to go first. “As you know, I am an imp, but it appears that I am changing back into a human now.”

  Reynolds already knew what Nathan was, but he answered anyway. “I am an angel and I was tasked with being Violet’s guardian.”

  Leo went next. “I am an angel as well, but I am just a simple soldier in God’s army. I have not been tasked with anything of importance.”

  “That is not true,” Sophia told him. “You were chosen to be a part of Violet’s team. You are just as important as any of us.”

  Reynolds studied her for longer than he did the rest of us. “Who are you, exactly?”

  “I am a former angel. I was stripped of my grace and I am now trapped inside this vessel.” She touched her chest briefly. She’d told me that her vessel was in her forties, was plain, tall and slim and had long graying brown hair. To me, she had white hair and was stunning. Even former angels looked inhumanly beautiful to me. Maybe because they still retained residual traces of their holy grace.

  “Does that mean you are a human now?” the detective asked.

  “No. I can eat and drink, but I do not really need to. I do not sleep, I will not age and I appear to be nearly immortal.”

  “But, you can die?” he persisted.

  She inclined her head. “Certain wounds will result in my death.”