Damned and Desirable (Eternally Yours Book 2)

by Tara West

  “I hope not.” He cast his gaze to the stone ceiling. “Lord have mercy on the living if the Day of Judgment arrives. Scorpius will not hesitate to strike down those left behind.”

  Scorpius? Screw that demon. I was more concerned about the most evil of all. “What about….” I paused to catch my breath, as my chest began to heave and sweat dripped down my brow. I spoke on a rush of air. “Satan?”

  “Satan?” Callulm waved away my suggestion with a dismissive flick of the wrist. “He’s been banished to the thirteenth dimension. I don’t think even the apocalypse could free him.”

  I exhaled a breath of relief. “That’s good to know.”

  “On level one, Scorpius is the closest thing to Satan.” He rolled his eyes as he motioned toward the bars of our cage. “And he does a pretty good job at it.”

  “What exactly does a Gatekeeper do again?” I vaguely remembered Callum telling me he held the key to my escape, which kind of sucked, because I had the feeling Scorpius wasn’t releasing that key anytime soon.

  “He holds the key to the elevator. We can’t pass the guard without his permission. Once our three hours are up, he resets the elevator, and it will find us no matter where we are.

  If Scorpius has to come after us, there will be Hell to pay.”

  Damn. Scorpius didn’t just hold the key to the underworld; he had Hell by the balls. “Do you earn credits for your hauntings?”

  He arched a brow, a ring of smoke escaping from his mouth. “What are those?”

  “In Purgatory credits are a point system so you can move up levels.”

  “There is no point system here. In Hell, you either keep your head or you don’t.” He threw up his hands, waving to our dank dungeon. “You either die another death, or you survive another day in this hellish nightmare.”

  Double damn. Hell was looking more dismal by the hour. And why exactly did Callum think Aedan could pull off a rescue? Judging by the way things were going for us, Aedan would probably find himself some demon’s bitch or else a pile of soot shortly after setting foot in Hell. This was exactly why Aedan said he couldn’t save me if I ever landed in the basement. He was being realistic while Callum was just blowing smoke. There was no way Aedan was coming for me.

  I dropped my head into my hands, doing my best to hold back tears, and though I didn’t know if it would do any good, I prayed. I begged God to take pity on his wayward, fallen angel. I promised I’d live a good afterlife from now on. No more ghosting for me, either. I’d take whatever crappy job I could find in Purgatory, so I could go back to my friends and family. I missed my grandma and uncle, I missed my dog, and I really missed Aedan. I wondered how he’d manage without me. Would he go up to Heaven and try to reconcile with Mar? And who would look after Jack? Would Boner keep him, or would Jack finally reincarnate as a human, forgetting all about his best friend?

  “Looks like you’ve gotten yourself into a pickle, niece.”

  I gasped as I looked up at the woman standing above me. Again, I was stunned by how much she looked like me, minus the frizzy hair, wings, and jaundice. How had she gotten in and had she come to help me? She was an angel after all. Maybe God had finally taken pity on me. “Aunt Mar?”

  “No, not Aunt Mar.” Callum groaned as heavy creases marred his damp brow. “Your nettle.”

  My nettle! As if my afterlife couldn’t get any worse. “I thought my nettle was Travis.”

  He held up two fingers as color finally returned to his cheeks. “I have two nettles. Most demons do.”

  I spun around and looked up at her as she smoothed a hand through her perfectly flawless hair. “Shit.”

  “Looks like I’m not going to get a word in edgewise,” she said, rolling her eyes.

  My wings buzzed with agitation as I slowly stood, balling my hands into fists. “There’s nothing you have to say worth hearing.”

  “Of course not,” she said with a perky voice as she smiled much too sweetly. “Well, how’s your foray into damnation going?”

  I looked down at Callum, unable to restrain the whine in my voice. “Callum, please?”

  He nodded and held up a hand. “Help me up.”

  I grunted, flapping my wings as I struggled to help Callum to his feet. He was by no means a small demon.

  “Is he your lover now that Aedan has spurned you?”

  Keep your cool, Ash. She wants to piss you off.

  “Aedan didn’t spurn me.” My tone was devoid of emotion, though my skull was a boiling steam cooker ready to explode.

  “Stay back.” Callum pushed me behind him.

  “Calling you another woman’s name in bed?” Her laughter was a high-pitched siren rattling my eardrums. “What is that if not spurning? We all know the only reason he’s with you is because you look like m—”

  Her scream was short-lived as Callum unleashed his fire. In a matter of seconds, my nettle was a pile of dust on the floor.

  I pressed a hand against Callum’s back. “Thank you.”

  His muscles stiffened beneath my touch.

  “So is it your goal to sleep with all my women?”

  My limbs froze at the familiar sound of my boyfriend’s booming voice. “Aedan!” I stepped from behind Callum and held out my arms.

  But Aedan refused to look at me, his heated gaze centered on Callum.

  “No,” Callum growled as he pushed me back, “not Aedan.”

  “I can hardly look at you much less call you my broth—”

  My breath hitched when I saw Callum’s back expand with air. “No!” I screamed as I tried to push past him. Then I shielded my eyes as Callum’s blinding white fire lit up the room.

  I fell to my knees when I saw Aedan’s ashes scatter to the ground. Sobs wracked me as I covered my face with my hands.

  “Ash.” Callum knelt beside me, his strong hand on my back. “That wasn’t Aedan. I promise.”

  Somehow, in the recesses of my mind, I’d suspected Aedan had been Callum’s nettle, but I wanted so badly to believe he’d come for me. “I hate Hell,” I said through a sob as I rested my cheek against Callum. “I hate it so much!”

  Callum clutched my shoulder with one hand, cupping my chin in the other. “Look at me.”

  I looked up at him through watery eyes. The pain in his drawn features was enough to make me cry harder. This was no easy life for him, either, and he’d had to endure it for over a hundred years.

  He flashed a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Aedan will come for you. I know it. You must stay strong for him.”

  I nodded, forcing my tears to subside. No, I didn’t believe my boyfriend was coming, but I’d been through tough times before, and I knew I could get through this. Besides, if Callum could endure Hell for over a hundred years, I could, too, until I figured a way out of here.

  I ran my tongue over my parched mouth. Crying had made me even thirstier. “What is Scorpius going to do with us?” I asked, though I was afraid to know the answer.

  I’d once thought Callum was the most menacing demon I’d ever seen, but watching him now, he seemed to shrink before my eyes. His broad, scaly chest deflated when he looked at me, hopelessness reflected in the creases of his mouth and weary eyes. “Torture us, no doubt.”

  Damn. I’d had a suspicion my imprisonment involved pain, and not the nails-on-a-chalkboard, listening-to-smooth-Jazz kind of torture, but the sadistic kind that was like twenty blind dates and a lifetime of period cramps all rolled into one.

  Callum reached for me, dwarfing my hands in his own as he clasped tight. “No matter how bad it gets, I want you to promise me one thing.”

  “What?” I asked on a breathy whisper as I searched his gaze for any sign of hope.

  “Do not let Scorpius make you his blood slave.”

  I vehemently shook my head. “I won’t.” No way did I want to be any demon’s slave, especially as I was the type of girl who did whatever she wanted when she pleased, consequences be damned. I didn’t quite think my strong-willed personality
made me the ideal candidate for slavery.

  “You say that now, Ash. You have no idea the torture he has in store for us. No idea.” He squeezed my hands tighter, his skin warming them to the point of discomfort. “Do not relent, no matter how bad the pain. If you sign his contract, you’ll belong to him forever, and neither Aedan nor I will be able to save you.”

  Well, that sucked.

  “Okay,” I answered hesitantly as I averted my gaze. I wondered just what this Scorpius had in store for me and how much I’d be able to endure. I really didn’t like being tortured, the main reason I avoided flu shots, the gym, and massage parlors. If it wasn’t for the fact that I’d always feared getting cervical cancer more than the doctor, I would have avoided the GYN’s sacrificial stirrups and tongs of torture, too.

  He squeezed my hands so tight, I thought my knuckles would break.

  “Ow!” I cried, struggling to break free. Case in point. I didn’t like torture. Not one bit.

  “Look at me, Ash.” His booming command ended on an ominous growl. The panic reflecting in his gaze made the blood solidify in my veins. “I want you to swear on your soul you will not become his blood slave.”

  Despite my parched throat, I swallowed hard. “I swear.”

  He released me, falling back against the wall as a shudder wracked him. The pinkish hue had drained from his face. I knew it wouldn’t be long before he succumbed to the poison again. I only hoped I could figure a way out of here, and find another antidote before then.

  “Do you know Shadow’s story?” he asked on an exhale.

  I shook my head, barely aware of the tears that streamed down my face. But I did wonder how a demon had been able to deceive the elevators and travel undetected to the thirteenth level of Purgatory.

  “Fifty years ago he was a ghoster like you. He was captured by a demon and brought to Hell. Scorpius tortured him for weeks until he signed the blood oath. Then he sent him back to Purgatory.” He stopped to wipe sweat from his brow, his breathing coming in gasps. “I assume the other ghosters thought he’d escaped Hell. All this time he’d been living up above but following Scorpius’s orders.” He paused again, this time centering his sharp gaze on me. “I think Shadow has been waiting for you.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know. What are your powers?”

  I paused. Even though I’d used my new electric powers only briefly in Hell, they felt different somehow, but I wasn’t quite sure why. When Scorpius invaded Callum’s chamber, I’d felt the energy in the balls of my hands, but it felt more powerful than before. I still wasn’t sure what that was all about. “I can summon wind on Earth, and you saw those sparks I made,” I answered hesitantly.

  A look of shock crossed his features. “That’s it?”

  I balled my hands into fists, barely channeling my energy, and then I jumped when I felt the spark. Then I remembered Shadow’s warning to Delta House that I was too powerful for their team. Did he know something I didn’t? Perhaps I had only scratched the surface of my abilities? Had he seen something the day I’d projected my aura from the thirteenth level of Purgatory all the way down to Earth?

  The thought of my increasing abilities thrilled and frightened me at the same time. Wrapping my wings around me, I formed a cocoon as I leaned into him. “I don’t know, Callum,” I whispered. “I think my powers are growing stronger.”

  Callum released a string of obscenities that would have made a sailor blush before breathing out a steaming gush of air. “Scorpius plans to use you. I don’t know what for, but it can’t be good.”

  Hell’s First Dimension

  September 24, 1900

  Katherine O’Connor

  I traveled through the Valley of Fire with my three unsuspecting companions. This part of the journey was the most hazardous. The ground was crusted and cracked and made black with soot. The heat from it burned holes through my flimsy soles, blistering my feet. All around were bubbling pools of lava. One misstep and a demon would be boiled alive, dying a second death and cast down to the next dimension, which I’d been told was more dismal than this one. Even more treacherous were the geysers of fire that would manifest without warning, shooting twenty feet into the air and burning any unfortunate demon in its path.

  And these foolish Nephilim followed me though this wasteland without question. We were far enough away from their pyramid fortress now, that their cries for help would go unanswered. They had been so gullible, so eager to believe my lies, so very much like my husband. I found it fascinating how these giants shared a common weakness with mortal men, a yearning for beautiful women. Just as my husband had learned before them, that yearning would be their undoing.

  Too bad, for I did like the Nephilim, grotesque though they were. They’d been kinder to me than any of the other monsters I’d encountered in Hell. I could have stayed there forever, dwelling among gentle giants, drinking their holy water and eating their nirvana. I could have lived with them and been safe among their numbers despite my hellish fate.

  I would have stayed, if the pull of my blood bond hadn’t forced me to leave. But the invisible tether which bound me to that monster boiled my insides and bubbled my flesh at the slightest thought of betraying him. So I had to deceive those who had been kind to me and taken me into their fold. I had to sink so low as to steal three among their numbers, falsifying promises of eternal salvation.

  Though I was not the Nephilim’s fallen angel, the one prophesied to deliver them from their oppressors, they believed me to be an angel sent from God to make peace. I thought of bringing more giants. Perhaps ten or twenty, but I knew my master’s demons would not be able to restrain them all. He had expected thousands to blindly follow me. Had they fallen for his plan, I could have led them back to Earth, where they had been cast out by humans centuries ago. Master would be most disappointed with me. I shuddered to think of my punishment.

  Aedan would have been disappointed in me, too, had he seen what I’d become. But my husband was not with me now. He had failed to save me from death, leaving me to fend for myself in this cursed afterlife. My blood ran hot, and the serpent curled down my neck hissed when I thought of the fool I’d married. I should have wed his twin, who had been far more competent. Callum had been wild in bed and unrestrained in life, just as I had. He would have kept me safe.

  When the demons surrounded us, the giants let out mournful wails and stomped their feet, shaking the ground with thunderous booms. I cried out as the tremors knocked me back, and I nearly tumbled into a pool of lava. A whip caught me, stinging my wrist like fire as it yanked me into the arms of a demon. I could barely make out his grotesque features beneath a wide-brimmed hat before he flipped me around, pressing my backside into his groin. He was my master’s favorite blood slave, a hooved creature with hollow, dark eyes and a smile that made my skin crawl. He had been an outlaw back on Earth, and he was an outlaw still, serving a master whose rule of law was chaos.

  The demon pressed me closer into him, his gloved hand cupping my breast as he thrust his hips against me. I knew he wanted to use me. I’d seen it in his wicked smile the first day we’d met. I only hoped our master was not inclined to share.

  My master stood on the outskirts of the attack, observing from the top of a boulder with an animalistic gleam in his eyes, his ebony skin shining like onyx beneath the unnatural glow of the crimson fires. All six of his hands were clenched at his sides, his massive scorpion tail stretching far above his head, poised for attack should the giants escape. That silver key of his glistened against his dark skin like a shining star amid a lonely night sky, beckoning me to snatch it away and escape to freedom. But I knew I didn’t have the courage or the will to try it. My first and only attempt at escape had resulted in cruel and painful torture.

  The outlaw’s hand roved down my waist, pressing hard into my pelvis while he panted in my ear. I struggled to break free but I was trapped by the whip which dug into my wrist, as he forced me to watch the brutality. I gasped as three more
booms rent the air. My master’s demons had restrained the three giants, slicing open the tendons in their wings and legs with poisoned blades, bringing them to their knees.

  “Angel,” they cried as they held out their hands to me, their broken wings falling limply at their sides.

  Sadly, I felt not the slightest inclination toward pity, for my heart had turned to dust the night I was cast down to my fate.

  My master turned to me, beckoning me toward him with a crook of his tail.

  The outlaw pushed me forward with a hard shove. My hood fell down as I spun out of his grip, exposing not only my halo of blonde hair but the serpent that was connected to the base of my skull. My pet rattled and hissed as she slithered up my neck and coiled into a ball at the top of my head. She had not been pleased with her entrapment, and the noise from the attack had set her on edge.

  I reached up and stroked her smooth, scaly skin. “Be calm, my baby.” I did not want her angering my master.

  I heard the giant called Garf cry out “Devil woo-man!” before the noose around his long neck was tightened and the demons threw a large sack over his head.

  “What have you brought me?” My master asked as he jumped down from his perch and circled the giants at a respectable distance.

  “Three Nephilim, Master.” My limbs shook as I bowed my head low.

  “Three?” There was no mistaking the venom in his tone. “I needed an army of Nephilim to start an apocalypse, not a mere three giants.”

  “Forgive me, Master,” I begged, the sharp blade of fear slicing through my voice as I took a step away from him. “They knew I was not their savior, for their prophecy foretold of another, a fallen angel with golden wings and wild hair.”

  He yanked me into his arms, crushing me with six bruising hands. The tip of his poisonous tail bobbed above us as he cupped my chin, forcing me to meet his demonic gaze. “I knew you would fail me. I shall take pleasure in meting out your punishment.”