Hell Bound (Seventh Level Book 2)

by Charity Parkerson

  Chapter Eight

  There were times when Mark could only stare at Wade in amazement. The changes he underwent from the moment of Morgan’s arrival were tremendous. The once quiet home was now filled with laughter. In the past, Mark had many times found Wade sitting in a darkened living room at night, doing nothing more than staring into space. With the arrival of Morgan, Mark was more likely to find the pair of them talking non-stop well into the night after Cole was tucked into bed. The dark, brooding and withdrawn Wade he’d come to know was replaced with a laughing, bright version who was almost unrecognizable. He worked as hard as ever but did so Morgan at his side.

  No one batted an eye when the pair announced their upcoming nuptials, and it seemed to Mark as if everyone who’d ever known the couple had expected it would one day happen. To that end, in short order, a backyard wedding was in the works with everyone more than happy to do their part to get the deed done quickly.

  Even though the couple kept the event intimate it still stretched Mark’s security duties to the limit. Between the arrival of Pamela and crazy paparazzi attempting to snag any picture they could, Mark had become so paranoid he was ready to crawl out of his skin. Kathy came for an extended stay in order to help with wedding plans and keep an eye on Cole while the pair was off on their honeymoon. Her presence eased Mark’s burden a bit, but he still found himself doing several daily checks of the windows and doors.

  Since Cole had learned how to turn a lock, Mark was kept on his toes. Even though Mark, Wade and Morgan tried keeping up with the energetic two year old, it was impossible to keep track of his every movement, and several times Mark found every lock in the house unlatched. There were also too many places for Cole to hide, and the boy loved crawling behind furniture while the adults ran around looking for him. Wade’s house was massive making Cole’s games heart pounding.

  When Kathy announced her need to run a few errands, Mark hadn’t hesitated before offering to keep Cole. Two hours in, Mark had already lost him. With Morgan’s things still half-unpacked, there were plenty of places for an inventive two year old to hide. Mark was on the verge of calling the police when he finally heard giggling coming from a large cardboard box in the master bedroom.

  Deciding to surprise Cole, Mark tiptoed closer and carefully lifted the lid, but instead of finding Cole, all he saw was shoes. He lowered the lid and looked behind the carton, but the two year old was nowhere in sight.

  Mark scratched his chin. “I’m must losing my mind. The kid has to be in this room.” He slid the door open to one of the room’s walk-in closets and went inside to look around. The closet belonged to Morgan, and it was still half-empty, making it easy to see Cole wasn’t there.

  Just as Mark was leaving the closet he heard another giggle, but this time it sounded as if it was coming from the hallway. He headed out of the bedroom to see what Cole was getting into. For some reason the hairs on the back of his neck and arms stood up as he moved out from the room. Something wasn’t right but he couldn’t decide what felt different about the house. Since Wade and Morgan had gotten married, the house held a happy, contented feeling to it, but with them gone and Cole playing his usual game of hide-and-seek, the place seemed almost sinister.

  The spooky sensation caused Mark’s feet to move a bit faster as he headed upstairs. He called out Cole’s name as he went. The sound of Cole giggling led him on and on making him believe the little boy was just in the next room. After searching all of the second floor, he hurried downstairs. At the bottom step, his froze in his tracks as he spotted the doors leading into the back yard standing wide open. Wade had installed slide bolts at the top of those doors to keep Cole from opening them and accessing the pool without an adult present. Mark knew for a fact the doors had been bolted earlier. As Mark ran across the room, he prayed Cole hadn’t gone out back by himself and fallen into the pool.

  Mark was halfway across the lawn when he spied Cole, and almost tripped as he saw who was with him. Cole was standing at the edge of the swimming pool laughing. His sweet nature so trusting of everyone, and there by his side was Pamela sitting with her legs dangling in the water. She turned and smiled at Mark. She looked every bit as evil in the bright daylight as she had the night she crawled across Kylie’s bedroom ceiling. Mark ran faster when he saw Pamela place her hand in the center of Cole’s back. She kept her gaze locked on Mark as she pushed Cole into the pool.

  Mark’s feet barely touched the ground as he raced to save Cole. With one last malevolent grin, Pamela disappeared. Ignoring her parlor trick, Mark dove for the pool, but no matter which direction he searched, Cole wasn’t anywhere on the bottom. No longer able to hold his breath, Mark surfaced to take in another lung full of oxygen. As he moved to duck under the water once more, he caught sight of Cole splashing in the shallow end of the pool as if they were out for an afternoon of fun.

  The relief at seeing Cole alive and well was so tremendous, Mark almost lost his lunch right there in the middle of the pool. He managed to avoid it, but he couldn’t stop the tears from flowing without realizing it. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d cried. Even when his mom left when he was still a child, without as much as saying goodbye or if she would ever come back, he had been able to hide how much her neglect hurt, but being so close to losing Cole was too much. Once he held Cole in his arms, and he knew the little boy was okay, Mark gave into more tears. A person could only withstand so much loss in one lifetime.

  Cole thought they were playing a game and tried jumping out of his arms back into the water. “Whoa, buddy. Let’s get you back inside.”

  Cole giggled. “Cocoa Pops!”

  His demand was enough to short circuit every wire inside Mark’s brain, but fortunately before smoke could start pouring out of his ears a voice spoke behind him. “I think he’s telling you he wants some cereal for lunch.”

  “Cereal! Cole wants cereal!”

  Mark struggled to keep the wet boy in his arms as he turned to see who had managed to sneak up behind him. Justice stood at the edge of the pool staring down at them as if amused by it all.

  “A little help would be nice,” Mark growled as aggravation crawled over his skin.

  Justice reached out and plucked Cole out of Mark’s arms. With both of his hands free, Mark climbed out of the pool. Water dripped from his clothes spreading out into a dark circle around his body onto the dry concrete. He pulled his shoes off and emptied the water back into the pool. “How nice of you to finally show up,” Mark bit out as he tossed his shoes aside and took Cole out of Justice’s arms.

  Instead of seeming put off by Mark’s harsh tone, Justice shook his head sadly. “It seems we’ve been going about this the wrong way. It was our hope my presence alone would be enough of a deterrence to keep Pamela from any sort of direct attack while Liam searched for the proof needed to end this. Now I wonder if it should be the other way around.”

  Being wet while still in his clothes did nothing for Mark’s humor or patience with drivel. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “What the hell,” Cole repeated, and Mark groaned loudly at his slip.

  Justice laughed without a hint of shame. “Maybe you’d better feed the boy before you teach him anything more colorful.”

  * * * * *

  Countless flickering lights danced across the water on the horizon before flowing inland over the white sand. Morgan kept her gaze locked on the gorgeous scenery as Wade wrapped her in his arms. “It’s beautiful here.”

  In order to appease her, Wade tossed a quick glance toward the water, before returning to watch her. Her reaction to their surroundings was more interesting to him than the scenery itself. He’d not given her time to check out the private beach when they’d arrived, but now he was soaking up the sight of her standing in the sunlight.

  “There isn’t another soul for miles.” Morgan chuckled, as if she knew exactly what he meant by his comment. Twisting in his embrace, Morgan flattened her chest against his.

  “S
o, you mean if I were to do this,” she said, pulling her arms from the straps of her sundress, and pushing it down her hips leaving her body bare. “No one would see me?”

  “Not a soul.” Even as his dick hardened, he made an attempt to control his hunger. After spending hours locked in her embrace, he would not have thought he could be turned on as quickly as he had, but the proof was beating against the inside of his jeans. He could tell by the teasing glint in her eye, she was intent on playing with him, and he wanted her to have her way. Morgan tapped her chin playfully. “Well, this isn’t fair at all.” Snagging the hem of his shirt, she tugged it over his head. “Much better,” she sighed, as she ran her fingertips down his abs before burying them inside the waistband of his jeans. She kept her eyes downcast, as she concentrated on her task, and he memorized the site of her nude body.

  “Really,” she fussed. “I’m not sure why you bothered putting all these clothes back on.”

  Even as she popped the button on his jeans and slid down the zipper, he refused to do anything more than watch her in silence. His erection sprang free and she bit into her bottom lip. His cock jumped in response as the picture of her pink lips opening over the head of him crowded his brain. She squeezed his ass as she pushed his jeans down his hips, and when she fell to her knees to pull them off his feet. Dropping his chin to his chest, he devoured the sight of her kneeling before him. When she wrapped her fingers around his shaft, he brushed her blonde hair aside so he wouldn’t miss a second of her taking him into her mouth. When her tongue circled the head of his cock, he was forced to lock his knees against the pleasure. Morgan didn’t toy with him. She simply sucked him deeply into her mouth, swallowing him, and squeezing her throat closed around him as she hollowed out her cheeks. In that moment, he knew only pure ecstasy. Burying his fingers in her hair, he held tight as she traced his lines, and shaped him with her tongue. On the verge of orgasm, he attempted to pull away since he wasn’t ready for this to end, but Morgan was having none of it. She dug her fingernails into the back of his thighs, and held him in place even as she increased her pace. A hum sounded from the back of her throat as if she were enjoying his taste. The vibration ran through him and his balls drew up tight.

  He gasped for air as the head of his cock tingled and a shot of hot semen hit the roof of Morgan’s mouth. Her throat gripped and pulled at his shaft as she swallowed every drop before licking him clean. With a tight hold on her hair, he tried to keep his knees from giving out. Only when Wade was positive he wasn’t going to hit the ground did he force Morgan to her feet in order to wrap his arms around her. Hugging her tightly to his chest, Wade buried his face against her hair. His chest constricted as the memory of her staring into his eyes while repeating her vows filled his mind. The full-impact of the past few weeks slammed into Wade. Morgan was his.

  “Forever isn’t long enough,” he whispered.

  * * * * *

  Mark slipped the clean shirt on just as the air filled with screaming. With a dry pair of shoes and socks still on the bed, he dashed out of his bedroom and ran as fast as he could down the curved staircase. The sight meeting him at the bottom stopped him in his tracks.

  “What the he—”Mark caught himself. “What is going on down here?”

  Justice was sitting on the sofa smiling while Kathy was on the other side of the room with both arms wrapped around Cole. As soon as Kathy saw Mark, she pointed at Justice and screeched, “This man is trying to steal Cole!” The child in question struggled until he twisted out of her arms and ran over to join Justice.

  She chased after Cole, grabbing him just before he could climb onto the couch. “Cole, stay with me. You don’t know where this man has been.”

  Justice laughed and turned toward Mark. “I like her.”

  Kathy struggled to keep Cole from escaping again. She leveled a cold stare on Mark. “You know this guy?”

  Mark ran his hands through his wet hair. As soon as his heart stopped trying to climb out of his throat, he walked over to stand next to Justice. “Justice, this is Kathy Sullivan.” He turned toward Kathy. “Kathy, this is Justice. He’s in charge of ground’s security.”

  “Ground’s security,” she repeated as if she’d never considered such a thing. Seeming to switch tactics, she raised her eyebrows. “That’s it, only Justice? The man doesn’t have a last name?”

  The sofa creaked as Justice lifted his massive weigh off it. He walked over to her and offered his hand. Instead of taking it she took a step backwards and clutched Cole even tighter against her chest.

  Justice crossed his arms. His smile never slipped. “My name is Justice. Where I am from, last names are irrelevant.”

  While Kathy was busy trying to make sense out of Justice’s explanation, Cole slipped out of her arms again. He tried climbing Justice’s leg, so the muscle-bound man picked him up.

  Stepping into the conversation before Kathy decided to call 9-1-1, Mark took the spot between her and Justice. “Wade has a crazy stalker and I’m afraid she might decide to do something horrible to attract his attraction, something like kidnapping Cole.” He nodded at Justice. “Justice is just pulling your leg. Of course, he has a last name. It’s Smith.”

  The bald giant quirked an eyebrow, and Mark tried silently conveying he should go with the flow. Not missing a beat Justice smiled and nodded.

  “Mr. Smith?” She rolled her eyes and took Cole out of his arms. “Okay. Whatever. If you don’t want me to know your last name, that’s fine.”

  As if sensing it was all the explanation she was going to get, she turned to Mark. “Did you feed Cole his lunch?”

  Knowing he was in big trouble even before he answered, Mark looked at his bare feet. “He wanted cereal.”

  Somehow, Kathy’s eyebrows rose even higher and her lips thinned out so much they all but disappeared. “I’m never leaving Cole alone with you again. You had one thing to do while I went home to pick up more clothes, and you couldn’t even do it right.”

  Justice patted Cole’s head. “Don’t leave again without taking me or Mark with you and don’t take Cole out of this house without me. In fact, the more he stays in his room the safer it will be for the both of you.”

  If they had been in a children’s cartoon, smoke would have been pouring out of Kathy’s ears. Her voice notched up at least three octaves. “Oh yeah and who are you to be giving me orders? I’m here as a favor to my best friend, Morgan. I’ve never taken orders from any man, and I’m not taking them from an oversize Mr. Clean.”

  She jutted out her chin and dared for Justice or Mark to contradict her. When neither of them said anything, she turned on her heel and headed toward the stairway. She spoke again when she reached the first step. “I’m taking Cole to his room.” She turned and glared at them. “And not because you told me too, Mr. Smith. It’s his naptime and he’s not used to all the commotion.” She made a point of looking directly at Mark. “I’ll talk to you again later about why it’s important for a growing boy to eat a nutritious meal and not junk food.” She stomped all the way up the staircase. It might have made more of an impression if Cole hadn’t been trying to climb over her shoulder the entire time. The struggle took away some of the dignity from her grand exit.

  As soon as she was completely out of sight, Mark turned to Justice. “Let’s go outside. We need to talk.” He didn’t wait for a response before heading out toward the backyard.

  Neither of them spoke again until they were outside. Mark made certain the patio door was closed. “Okay. Who are you anyway? Every time there is trouble, there you are. You go from working the door of the Collector’s Club, to security for a man stalked by a demon. There’s something I’m not seeing here.”

  Instead of appearing ruffled by Mark’s indignation, Justice merely folded his arms across his chest and drew in a deep breath. “I am the keeper of the doorway between heaven and hell. It’s my job to ensure justice is served.”

  Mark might have brushed off Justice’s explanation, but his years
on the police force had taught him a lot about people. His gut said Justice was telling the truth. Of course, it didn’t hurt he had seen too much shit already. “Okay. Let’s say I believe you. Why are you here, or better yet, why haven’t you stopped Pamela from tormenting Wade?”

  “It is not in my nature to interfere in deals already made and I’m not here for Wade.”

  Confusion crowded Mark’s brain. “Morgan?”

  “Cole.”

  Justice’s one word answer sent a chill down Mark’s spine. “But he’s just a baby. What possible gain is there in such a thing?”

  “Wade signed away his first born child’s soul for fame and fortune.”

  Mark rocked backwards as if Justice had struck him in the face. “The man I know would never have done what you’re accusing him of.” He scrubbed his palms across his face trying to sort out his thoughts. “Wade loves Cole.”

  Justice didn’t say anything, but his expression clearly said he wasn’t used to anyone questioning his integrity. After a moment, he finally said, “If it’s any consolation, Pamela tricked Wade into signing his name. He has no clue the contract is real.” For a fleeting moment, a muscle ticked in Justice’s jaw as if he was biting back his words.

  Mark gritted his teeth before asking, “What is it you’re not saying?”

  Justice took a deep breath. “We have the chance to save two people’s souls. You do understand Pamela is only an illusion, don’t you? She existed at one time, before the demon Septem absorbed her wicked soul into his own. He uses her likeness to walk among men. His own appearance is too hideous and hers is attractive enough that Septem can seduce almost anyone he chooses.”

  It took Mark a few seconds to take in the overload of information. “You said we could save two souls. Who else is at risk, and what can I possibly do to stop such a powerful entity?”

  Justice glanced away uncomfortably, as if not wanting to answer, and when he met Mark’s gaze once more, his eyes burned with an emotion Mark was hard-pressed to explain. It was anger, passion, and possibly a bit of desperation all mixed together. “Please understand, I’m not supposed to interfere. There is one reason why I am here. Just one. Kylie asked this of me and even then neither of us realized—” He broke off, shaking his head, finally adding, “Her friendship is precious to me, and so it is vital you do not fail.”