He snagged one and held tight. The gnarled root tore into his hand as it pulled through his fingers. It didn’t stop them, but it slowed their descent enough for him to grasp another, thicker root. As they jerked to a sudden halt, a pained groan escaped him on an exhale. His hand was shredded, moisture quickly gathered beneath his grip, seeping through his fingers and trickling down his wrist. They had slipped a few inches before his hand caught against a knot of twisted root. A gasp caught in Olivia’s throat as they jerked to another stop. At the rate his hand was bleeding, coating the root and making it slick, this was no permanent solution to their predicament.
Olivia’s arms were wrapped around his neck, her face buried into the side of it as she cowered against his throat, tensing for their inevitable death. Her hold on him was so constricting, he couldn’t see what lie beneath them, though he knew what awaited them at the bottom of this crevasse. They slipped again and Olivia cringed, a frightened squeak tearing from her as she squeezed him tighter. Fuck!
“Olivia,” he rasped, her strangled hold cutting off his air. “Olivia look down.”
She shook her head against his throat, her rapid breaths blasting against his overheated flesh. Holy hell, it was hot down here. He glanced up to see how far they’d fallen—twelve, maybe fifteen feet—too damn far to climb out.
“Olivia, I can’t see below us. I need you to look down and tell me if you see a ledge or something we can drop down to.”
She hesitated a moment and said into his neck, “I’m afraid to move! What if we slip again?”
“We can’t stay like this. Listen, I won’t drop you. I promise. Just look down. What’s beneath us?”
Slowly, she lifted her head and peered over his shoulder. He gritted his teeth against the pain tearing into his hand at even the slightest shifting of her weight.
“There’s a ledge!” she cried.
“Where?”
“Right below us.”
“How far down?”
“Maybe eight feet?”
“How far out does it extend?” he asked, trying to mentally visualize his target.
“About five feet.”
Okay, he should be able to hit that. Not that he’d have much of a choice because at that moment, his grip on the rootlet loose and they were falling again. He hit the ledge feet-first, but it was a bad landing and they fell back. He hit the rock—hard—knocking the air from his lungs. Olivia landed on top of him, and what breath he had left rushed out, leaving him lying there a moment, gasping like a guppy.
“Haden?” She propped herself up, and he opened his eyes to find her hovering over him, wide-eyed with terror, her face scant inches from his. “Are you all right?”
“I’m just great,” he groaned, rolling to the side and out from under her. Holy shit, the temperature, must have shot up twenty degrees from this short distance. It was hot as hell—literally. But at least they were alive—for now—and all they had to do was wait for Liam to fight off three malevolent demons and rescue them before they burned to a crisp.
Already, perspiration dotted Olivia’s brow and upper lip. Fine strands of her midnight hair slung to her temples and neck. “It’s really hot down here,” she said, shoving her hair from her face. “Really hot.”
Yes, it was. “Come sit closer to the wall,” he said, scooting back himself. “It’ll help block some of the heat.”
Olivia crawled over to him, and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, snuggling her against the side of his chest. She rested her head against the crook of his arm and closed her eyes. Perhaps she was praying—he sure as hell was. It’d take nothing short of a miracle for them to make it out of here alive.
“Do you think he knows we’re down here?” It was so hot, Olivia was starting to feel lightheaded. Her clothes stuck to her sweat-dampened skin, but she vowed she wouldn’t complain. Haden knew how hot it was, he didn’t need her to remind him of that fact.
“He’ll come. You just need to have faith in him.”
She did have faith; it was just hard to hang onto it when she was cooking down here. “Thank you…”
“For what?” he asked gruffly.
“For saving my life—again.”
“I haven’t saved your life, Olivia. In case you haven’t noticed, we’re trapped down here. But if you want to know the truth, I’m the one who should be thanking you.”
Perhaps the fact that he was opening up to her should have been a red flag that he didn’t truly believe they were getting out of here alive. But at the moment, she was just surprised to hear him saying “thank you.”
“Why would you thank me? It’s my fault you’re trapped down here.”
“You can’t blame yourself for this, Olivia. I certainly don’t. But that wasn’t what I was referring to. I want to thank you for refusing to give up on me. You saw goodness where there was none. You believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. You taught me to love again, and because of that love, I humbled myself before a God I erroneously believed had forsaken me.”
She turned to look at him, tears filling her eyes, and she threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tight. That was the most beautiful thing Haden had ever said to her. “Thank you for telling me that. I needed to hear it. I’ve been carrying a lot of guilt over hurting you. I know it hasn’t been easy for you to see me with Liam.”
He exhaled a sigh. “No, it hasn’t been easy. And as much as I fought it—hated to admit it—I know you two were meant to be. He’s given up everything for you, like I gave up everything for Anya. That kind of love only comes along once in a lifetime.”
She let go and kissed his cheek. “I do love you, Haden. You will always hold a piece of my heart. I hope you know that.”
“As you will always have a piece of mine.”
As he spoke, the ground began to shake again, and the rock beneath them cracked, slowly splitting away from the wall. As it shifted, Haden cursed and leapt to his feet, pulling her up with him. Oh God, help them! This wasn’t happening! She was truly going to die down here. Olivia didn’t realize she’d said as much until Haden said, “You’re not going to die, Olivia.”
Haden’s pale green gaze was searching overhead; his determined scowl all but defied her to prove him wrong. “Up there,” he said, pointing to a narrow lip four feet up. It was no wider than twelve inches, and not even close to being able to support both of them. “I’m going to lift you up to that ledge overhead. Just hang on to the crevasses in the rock face until Liam comes.”
He didn’t wait for her consent before grasping her waist and hoisting her into the air. “But what about you?” she protested as she climbed up the rock, struggling to get her footing.
“I’m going to be fine, Olivia.”
She didn’t see how he could sound so confident when the ledge they were standing on was breaking away. With a final boost, she got a solid foothold and Haden’s hands left her waist as she searched for a place to anchor her fingers into the rock. “I’ve got it,” she called down to him, finding a secure grip. When he didn’t answer, Olivia glanced down and a blood-curdling scream tore from her throat.
Both the ledge and Haden were gone.
Chapter Forty-Two
“Noooo!”
The horrified scream echoed up from the ground like a phoenix rising from the ashes. The sound was so devastating, so broken, the blood in Liam’s veins turned to ice, the air in his lungs crystallizing with fear. At his feet lay two dead soldiers and the third was well on his way to joining his brothers when Olivia’s cry shattered his heart. What in the hell was she still doing here?
Haden should have been through those gates long before now. From the moment they’d left him, he’d been in the fight of his life—his attention solely focused on keeping his head attached to his shoulders. A feat he’d thought a time or two that possibly was not going to happen.
Blocking the demon’s arching strike, Liam chanced a glance behind him. Where in the hell were they? But then his eyes locked on the st
eam rising from the severed ground, and a knot of cold hard terror fisted in his gut. Oh, fuck no! They’d fallen in the crevasse! The urge to call to her burned like a hot coal in his throat, but the last thing he needed to do was draw more attention to either one of them.
As the demon spun around to strike again, Liam double-fisted his broadsword and swung it in a high arch over his head, bringing it down to deliver a deathblow. But the demon blocked his attack with an upper-cut, the shrill clatter of gnashing steel ringing out into the night. Haden was right. This bastard knew how to fight.
Despite their near equally matched skill, Liam had the advantage of leonine grace, and attacked with lethal precision, landing a slicing blow to the demon’s arm, causing his opponent’s sword to drop. He wasted no time in finishing this fight. Following his downward momentum, he spun around and swung up, driving the point of his sword deep into the demon’s chest. With a savage twist, he wrenched his blade free and sheathed his weapon as he raced toward the fractured earth, praying all the while that he wasn’t too late.
Olivia couldn’t catch her breath. Racked with sobs, the sea of grief kept crashing into her with relentless ferocity, threatening to pull her under with each dizzying wave. She didn’t know how much longer she could stand here clinging to this wall, waiting for help that may never come. For all she knew, Liam was dead, too. Were it not so, he most certainly would have come for her by now. How long had she been down here? It felt like an eternity.
Haden was gone. Another life lost because of her. When would it ever end? The pain in her chest was so excruciating, she considered just letting go. Surely, nothing could hurt as much as this did right now. It would be over quickly enough. Though not exactly a pleasant way to die, she could imagine worse ways to go, she supposed.
The only thing that kept her clinging to this damn rock was the little life inside her, that and the sparse ray of hope that at any moment Liam would appear over that ledge and save her. No matter how tempting, she couldn’t allow herself to succumb to hopelessness, letting despair claim not only her life, but her innocent child’s. Sometimes hanging on was harder than letting go. But if she gave up now, Haden’s sacrifice would have been for naught, and she wasn’t sure if she could spend eternity with that guilt any more than she could live with the heartbreaking knowledge that he’d given his life for hers.
Had Haden wanted to, he could have taken this spot on the ledge for himself. And the more she thought on it, as she stood there clinging to the lip of rock, she realized there were enough ridges and divots in the rock that he probably could have climbed out of here—were he not weighed down by her—but not once had he suggested leaving her behind.
At that thought, a fresh spring of tears flooded her eyes and another sob wracked her body. She couldn’t even call for help anymore. There was no air left in her sulfur-seared lungs to spare. Panic and grief had sent her heart racing, consuming her oxygen supply at an alarming rate. Dizziness swept over her, spotting her vision. Her pulse hammered in her ears, tunneling her hearing.
Oh God, please let Liam be alive…
Closing her eyes, she rested her cheek against the abrading rock and chanted the prayer over and over in her mind. It was the only way she could cling to her sanity and block out the devastating grief of losing Haden, and the all-consuming guilt of knowing he’d forfeited his life for hers.
“Olivia!”
Her heart stuttered. For a moment, she didn’t recognize the voice’s broken rasp. Before she could open her eyes, a pair of strong hands circled her waist and plucked her off the ledge. For a moment, her dulled mind failed to comprehend what was happening and a startled cry tore from her throat.
Hesitantly, she turned her head, afraid to hope this wasn’t just a dream. Bittersweet joy wrung a strangled cry from her parched throat. Oh, thank God! He’s alive! When her gaze locked on his amber stare, Olivia gasped. Never in her life had she seen such a blend of relief and terror banking in those otherworldly eyes. Not like this…
“Shh… It’s all right. I’ve got you,” he crooned.
At the sound of Liam’s husky voice whispered against her ear, her tumultuous, out-of-control world suddenly ground to a halt, anchoring her back to reality, and she realized that instead of falling, she was actually rising—rising out of this pit of Hell. His gaze held hers only a moment before darting past her, looking…searching the molten pit below.
“He’s gone,” her raspy voice hitched, answering the question she knew Liam was hesitating to ask. “The ledge we were on was breaking. The other one wasn’t big enough for the both of us.”
Liam muttered a curse, sounding genuinely upset to learn of Haden’s death. It didn’t make sense, but somehow knowing he shared in her grief brought a small measure of comfort.
“I’m sorry, Olivia.”
That was all and the last he’d ever say on the subject. But in truth, that was all she really needed to hear. It would take time and a lot of grieving over the following months to come to terms with what happened here in Sheol. No doubt some days would prove easier than others, but Olivia knew she would not be the only one to grieve this loss.
As he took her out of the bailey, Olivia was stunned to see the carnage and destruction wrought by Liam’s army. Except for a few flagging skirmishes, most of the fighting had come to a swift and brutal end. The legion of black-winged warriors waded through the dead, driving the tips of their swords into the hearts of the wounded. The ground quickly became a swirling mass of black mist, damning any unfortunate survivors to the eternal Abyss.
He didn’t set her down until they reached the Dark Court’s gates. When she spotted Jesse, Liam’s warhorse, and Kyro waiting near a small outcropping of trees, relief swept through her. A flash of movement caught her eye and she turned to see Niall striding toward them. Lord, she never would have thought she’d be happy to see that surly angel again, but damn if he wasn’t a sight for sore eyes.
Touched to see the look of genuine concern on his darkly handsome face, the gravity of the danger, the loss and sacrifice that had been made here to save her, humbled Olivia to the point of tears. At her first strangled hiccup, Liam swept her into his arms and she threw hers around his neck, bursting into another round of gut-wrenching sobs—sobs of grief for the loss of Haden, sobs of joy that Liam was live, and sobs of relief that this nightmare was finally over.
Epilogue
The trickling sound of water teased Haden from unconsciousness—a thread he was unwilling to grasp, much preferring the numbing peace of oblivion to the pain and suffering he knew awaited him upon opening his eyes.
“Why doesn’t he wake up, Mama?”
A cool, damp cloth brushed gently over his forehead, then down his cheek and neck. “He will, Son. Just give him time.”
The ethereal voice brushed over Haden as lovingly as the cloth’s caress. The familiarity of the beautiful sound stirred memories he’d secreted away in the most private recesses of his heart—painful memories...
Haden tensed, waiting for the familiar sharp stab of guilt to pierce his heart—the pain that always preceded the unbidden thoughts of her. When it didn’t come, he relaxed, letting his body enjoy this brief oasis before he opened his eyes to the hellfire he’d closed them to.
“I don’t know,” the child said, sounding skeptical. “I think he might really be dead.”
She laughed, a beautiful, motherly melody that tugged him one more step closer to the consciousness he desperately wanted to avoid. “We’re all dead, sweetheart. It’s through Christ that we now live.”
“I don’t know… I think He might have broken this one.”
“We’re all broken…”
The child exhaled an impatient sigh at his mother’s words of wisdom, and Haden chuckled somewhere inside his head, but the throaty laughter couldn’t quite seem to find its way out. Clearly, the woman’s wise counsel fell on deaf ears—rebellious little squirt, this one.
“Well, I just wish he’d hurry and wake up already
.”
“Why don’t you go outside and practice your swordplay a while? Then you can show Balen what a great warrior you’re becoming.”
Balen? What was Balen doing in Hell? And for that matter, what were this woman and her son doing here?
“Balen said if I keep practicing, someday I could be a great warrior like Liam the Lionhearted.”
Seriously? Even in Hell he couldn’t seem to escape that bastard. Something, or someone, bumped into his hip and the retreating patter of footsteps followed.
“Aiden, no running in the house,” the woman called out with motherly mock sternness.
Aiden?
Hearing the boy’s name was like an invisible hand had reached into his chest and ripped him back into full consciousness. That was the name Anya had wanted to call their son. He’d wanted another…but to tell the truth, over the years he’d forgotten what that even was. In his heart, the child had died Aiden, and every time he’d heard the name spoken since, it felt as if a steel vice had been placed around his chest. He scowled at the remembered pain—not quite able to force his eyes open yet—and then at its absence. What in the hell was wrong with him?
“Shh…” the voice that sounded very much like his dead wife crooned. “Why so serious?” she teased, leaning over him as she ran the cool cloth over his drawn brows, smoothing out his frown. “Don’t tell me you’re going to be sore I didn’t name our son Ezra. It was a fine name, I agree. But considering I bore the pain of labor—.”
Haden forced his lids open and locked eyes with the woman hovering over him. They both gasped. She looked exactly how he remembered seeing her for the very first time, but instead of being seated beside the well, she was at his bedside. The curls of her midnight tresses spilled onto the sheet covering his chest. Tears filled her mocha colored eyes as her lips tugged into the most beautiful smile he’d ever seen. Slowly her hand lifted to cover her mouth, as if she couldn’t quite believe what she saw—and that made two of them. Lord, how had he ever thought, for even a moment, he was in Hell?
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