As Wicked As They Come

by Emma Dean

  His voice rose as those infernal words made her panic, as her blood started to glow a bright red. Shouts rose around them from the students and staff—then suddenly…

  Nothingness.

  32

  The heat and the sand underneath her hands was familiar. Ryan released her and she fell into a heap in the desert.

  How had he used her blood to bring them to hell? How did Ryan know the infernal language when so few could even form the words with their mouth without going insane from trying?

  What the actual fuck was going on?

  Goblins chittered in the distance and Mika looked up to see Ryan with his hands in his pockets again, eyeing the terrain.

  “What is wrong with you?” she demanded. “What did you do?”

  “The veil between worlds is thinnest on Samhain, you’re a smart witch. I’m sure you know that.”

  “But why?” Mika got to her feet, the sand scorching her soles. She ripped off some fabric from her skirt and glared at Ryan, trying to figure out what the fuck she was supposed to do now.

  But out of all the places in the universe this psycho could kidnap her to, hell was probably the safest. She had family here after all.

  “You’re related to Lucifer somehow,” Ryan told her. “I needed something to open a door into hell and you were the only way.”

  Mika tied up the cut on her wrist, and then wrapped her burning feet. “So, now what genius?”

  “You’re going to take me to Lucifer.”

  She laughed then, harder than she probably should have given the situation. “Why in the ever-loving fuck would you want to see him?”

  Lightning fast, Ryan reached out and gripped her throat hard enough her vocal cords ground together. “A demon stole my girlfriend. He’s going to give her back.”

  Despite the pressure on her throat, Mika laughed again.

  The sound of goblins grew closer, and Ryan whipped her around, arm around her throat as he pressed her body into his. Mika let him think he was in control as he used her as a shield. She watched the goblins get closer and closer.

  Unlike him, she knew they wouldn’t hurt her.

  “Take me to the City of Dis,” he demanded, squeezing her throat tighter.

  “I don’t know where it is,” she choked out. “I’ve only been here once before and it looked a lot like this. Then I left.”

  “I don’t believe you,” Ryan hissed as the goblins started pushing against themselves to see who would get the first bite out of his flesh.

  Okay, that was enough.

  Ryan was abnormally strong, stronger than any witch should be. Stronger than a hunter even. Where he got his strength, she didn’t want to know, but it also didn’t matter. Mika was no longer weak.

  She gripped his wrist and squeezed, forcing it back away from her throat. His sharp cry of pain and surprise was satisfying. Mika didn’t let go as she twisted, forcing him to his knees.

  “These goblins will eat what doesn’t belong in hell,” she calmly explained to him. “They won’t attack me, but I’m sure you’d be a delicious snack.”

  “I just want Ashley,” Ryan cried out. “I’m sorry it had to go down this way, but she is the love of my life. There is nothing I wouldn’t do to get her back. I’ve spent the last few years dealing with demons, with shady witches, anyone who could help me. I’m so close, just take me there.”

  He screamed when she broke his wrist.

  Sweat beaded on his forehead and his eyes were haunted as he looked up at her. “What would you do if something stole Ethan from you?”

  Mika contemplated the smarmy asshole before her, wondering what kind of person could love him.

  “Mika?” an unfamiliar voice asked.

  She looked up to see some kind of huntress staring at her, a black hood over her head and a scythe twice her size in her hand. The female held it like it weighed nothing, but Mika knew from experience that hell-forged iron was extremely heavy.

  “Do I know you?” Mika asked. She didn’t loosen her grip on Ryan as she put the asshole between her and what had to be a reaper. She didn’t think Lucifer would let anyone hurt her, but it was smarter to be safe than sorry.

  “I’m Khalida,” the female said, sweeping her scythe in an elegant arc to push some of the goblins back. “This witch isn’t supposed to be here.”

  Mika smirked down at Ryan. “He wants to see Lucifer. Says the prince has something of his.”

  The reaper glanced down at the witch in Mika’s grip, the odd angle of his arm, and the pain in his eyes. Then her eyes inspected Mika, the gown and the wound on her wrist that was still bleeding. Bastard had cut deep.

  “I’m supposed to make sure you get home safely if I find you here,” Khalida admitted. “But I’m also supposed to kill or capture trespassers.”

  “I think Lucifer should see this one,” Mika murmured, releasing Ryan. She wiped her hand on her dress to get the feel of him off her skin and took a step back. “There are some questions I think he’ll have for Ryan.”

  Khalida pressed her lips together in disapproval but nodded. “The prince won’t be pleased, but I believe you are right.” Without warning she reached for Ryan and disappeared. Then a second later she came back and took Mika’s hand.

  Before she could blink, she was no longer in the desert of hell, but a glimmering black palace.

  Khalida stuck to Mika’s side and she realized they weren’t just in the palace, but in what looked to be a throne room.

  Blue fire flickered in massive gold bowls that lined the room, leading to the throne on a golden dais. On that dais sat a throne that seemed to be carved from the same obsidian as the floor. Skulls and thorns and black roses were carved into that rock and adorned the place of power.

  A familiar face sat on that gorgeous, dark throne, one elbow propped on the arm of the chair, chin resting in his hand as he surveyed them.

  Lucifer didn’t look like the sort of prince who would rule hell. Not with his tattoos covering his arms and hands and even some on his throat. His blonde hair was swept to the side in a trendy style that really suited his square face with his strong jawline.

  The clothes he wore were also casual and modern. He wore jeans tight enough there was little left to the imagination. It showed off the muscles in his legs and how trim yet built he was. The shirt he wore was a white button down, identical to the one Ethan had worn at the rally.

  The sight of it made her blush. Had Ethan really borrowed clothes from the prince of hell?

  “Why is it that I can never have any peace anymore?” Lucifer mused, staring down at her. “Jess’s family has been a constant pain in my ass, but don’t tell her that.”

  Mika coughed to hide her laugh. “I’m sorry, but this one kidnapped me, and used my blood to open a door to hell. It’s closed from what I can tell.”

  “My prince!” Someone burst into the throne room in a cloud of ash and embers. He took human form as he knelt before Lucifer.

  “Dagon?” Mika had forgotten the hellhound could teleport.

  “My prince, he used her blood in front of everyone at the university to open this door. He speaks the infernal language. They’ve already called the Council for investigation,” Dagon reported. “I came as quickly as I could.”

  Lucifer sighed. “See what I mean? Dagon, your presence here isn’t required.”

  “It is my duty to watch over her.”

  Lucifer gave Mika a look. “You’ve infatuated him. You’re just like your mother. Anything else of mine you’d like to have?”

  Mika glanced at Khalida who was carefully staring at the floor, waiting for her orders.

  “The Morrigan?” Mika asked, just to make sure they were all on the same page.

  “Yes,” Lucifer snapped. “She’s been living here since you freed her. Generally annoying the shit out of me for no reason, taking whatever it is she wants because ‘we share dominion over the dead, Lucy dear, I’m here to help until I get back on my feet.’”

  Khalida c
hoked on a laugh.

  Oh my god. The prince of hell did not just imitate the Morrigan.

  Mika cleared her throat, stepping on the back of Ryan’s neck as he tried to crawl forward. “She sounds nothing like that.”

  Lucifer sighed again. “So, what did you bring me little sister?”

  Her heart jolted at the way Lucifer saw her.

  Sister, not cousin.

  No doubt because of the Morrigan. The prince of hell had decided sister, not niece though. Which meant Mika had her own relationship with him, tied by the blood that made them all what they were. The Morrigan was also a sister of sorts to him…

  Sister to the prince of hell.

  It was Mika’s turn to sigh. She didn’t need any more damn titles. “This witch tried to get me to bring him to the City of Dis, to you. He insists his girlfriend, Ashley, is here.”

  “Prince,” Ryan choked out. “Ashley was taken by a demon. I’m here to bargain for her life.”

  Lucifer stared at Ryan with an unreadable look. Then…

  “Khalida, bring me Ashley.”

  The reaper disappeared and Dagon didn’t move from his kneeling position before the throne.

  Mika was impressed Lucifer knew who Ryan was talking about without asking for her full name or anything, but he was the prince of hell. Maybe he really did know every soul.

  Lucifer stared at Mika then and her heart flipped a little. What bullshit was going to happen now?

  “The first witch queen in centuries,” Lucifer murmured. “The Morrigan told me about the gifts she gave you.”

  Ryan glared up at Mika in shock and jealousy. She removed her foot from the back of his neck. If the asshole did anything stupid Dagon would have him ripped to shreds before anyone could blink.

  “Cassandra remembers,” she told him.

  “That’s what happens when my dumbass sister meddles in mortal affairs the instant she gets back,” Lucifer snorted.

  He was so normal despite the power she could feel radiating off of him, off of this place.

  Ryan got to his knees, cradling his broken wrist as he looked between Mika and Lucifer. “I am here to bargain,” he reminded the prince of hell. “For free passage out of hell for Ashley and I.”

  Lucifer got up from his throne and casually walked down the steps. Mika felt a shiver run down her spine. She may not be afraid of the prince of hell anymore, but she had a very healthy respect for the power he held – what exactly it was that he was capable of.

  “What do you have to bargain with?” Lucifer asked, stopping only a few feet away from Ryan. “What makes you think I’ll grant that bargain unless it includes your soul?”

  Mika stepped away from Ryan, moving closer to Dagon. The hellhound finally rose, putting his body between hers and Lucifer’s.

  “She was stolen,” Ryan insisted. “Summoning that demon wasn’t her idea. It was mine. Please, even if it means I have to stay here so she can go free, I’m willing to take that bargain.”

  For a second, Mika felt bad for him. He truly loved this girl, even if he was an idiot. Mika knew if any one of hers had been taken, she would do whatever it took to get them back. But that didn’t make him less of an asshole.

  Lucifer waved his hand as Khalida reappeared, a glowing female before them.

  She looked just like Morgana, only clearer thanks to being in the hell realm.

  Ashley was dead.

  Ryan’s pained howl made her chest hurt, and Mika grabbed Dagon’s arm, wishing things could have been different for him. She remembered Claire telling her how broken he’d been after his girlfriend disappeared, how obsessed he became with finding her.

  And after all that, she was dead.

  “Sometimes, when demons are summoned improperly, they are able to capture the summoner and take them back to hell. Sometimes they are furious at being pulled away from their home and whatever it was they were doing at the time, and they slaughter whoever is closest to them. Ashley was taken to hell, but she didn’t survive when she arrived. The demon abandoned her to the goblins,” Lucifer explained, not unkindly.

  Mika winced and pressed into Dagon’s side, Ryan’s sobs growing louder.

  “I can bring her back from the dead.” Lucifer crossed his arms over his chest and glared down at Ryan. “What were you willing to bargain with?”

  The wracking sobs stopped, and Mika held her breath as she waited to hear what Ryan thought was so valuable he could get his girlfriend out of hell with it.

  Pop.

  Suddenly Eisheth was there with a furious Corbin and Lucien. They rushed for Mika, only a flicker of surprise to see the hellhound there.

  Lucifer glanced over his shoulder at them, but only sighed.

  Eisheth held up his hands. “I’m just the delivery boy. Don’t get your panties in a twist, dear.” Then the demon disappeared again, glancing at Mika one last time before he popped out of existence.

  “Are you okay?” Lucien demanded as he inspected her from head to toe. “Did he hurt you?” He hugged her tightly, heart pounding. Mika squeezed him back, mindful of the cut.

  She rubbed her arm. “Yeah, but I’m okay. Can’t say the same for him though.”

  Corbin gave the hellhound a grateful look and yanked Mika to his side with her good arm. “This is why I think having as many eyes on you as possible is a good thing,” Corbin muttered under his breath, kissing the top of her head. “If Lucifer doesn’t kill him, I will do it myself.”

  Mika had no doubt the raven would.

  “Are you quite done?” Lucifer demanded. “I’m trying to do business here.”

  The ghost of Ashley strained against Khalida as she tried to get to Ryan. “Don’t make a bargain with him,” she warned. “Just let me go, it’s not worth it.”

  “You should listen to her,” Lucifer told him, raising one eyebrow at the witch.

  Ryan glanced at Ashley only once, and then he turned back to Lucifer. “I’ve been working with Cassandra Jadis and Claire these past few years, ever since I started my research on anything and everything that had to do with hell. I know how the Head Witch acquired the power she has. I know her plans.”

  Absolute silence, only the crackle of the blue flames could be heard.

  “This information for her life,” Ryan insisted.

  Lucifer considered Ryan. “Dagon, get the Morrigan, will you?”

  The hellhound gave Mika an apologetic look before disappearing.

  Mika held onto Lucien and Corbin’s hands as she waited to see what would happen, waited to see why the Morrigan would need to be present just because of a self-important prick desperate to right the wrong he’d made years ago.

  Then the Morrigan and Dagon reappeared a second later, and she gave Mika a secret smile, as if this was all fun and games. “What can I help with sweet Lucifer?”

  Oh my god, she did talk like that to him.

  Lucien’s huff of laughter almost made her lose it. Mika had to press her face into Corbin’s back as she watched Lucifer eye the Morrigan like he was annoyed he needed her there at all.

  “This one has a deal he wants to make. Information on Cassandra Jadis for the girl’s freedom.”

  The Morrigan grinned and Mika felt her stomach drop. Something was off with the way he’d worded that.

  “Make the deal,” the Morrigan purred. “I cannot wait to hear what he has to say.”

  Lucifer held out his hand to Ryan. “Her freedom for your information.”

  Ashley started protesting, but Khalida pounded her scythe once on the obsidian floor and the sound of Ashley’s voice disappeared.

  That couldn’t be good.

  Carefully he got to his feet and shook the devil’s hand. “Deal.”

  Lucifer crossed his arms over his chest and gave the witch a bored look. “So, spill.”

  Cradling his broken wrist to his chest, Ryan glanced at Ashley with a softness in his eyes Mika had never seen before. “Cassandra was training Claire Marshall to be the next Head Witch, but every ti
me I saw them together, they weren’t just training, but making plans. They made sure certain witches gained power, gained seats on the Council, and maneuvered others for marriages they thought would benefit them. One of those times Claire helped me summon a demon to gain the power and strength I now wield, but it was before this I first heard Cassandra confess there was a secret to her own power that was much better than summoning demons.”

  Mika held her breath, hating how much Claire had been involved with all this.

  Lucifer glared at Ryan. “Go on.”

  Ryan looked at Ashley again, and licked his lips nervously. “I overheard Cassandra tell Claire that a god had gifted her a spell a few hundred years ago to slow her aging and keep her beautiful, that she had more power than any witch in a millennium thanks to him. And all he asked of her was that she vote as he instructed while on the Council, allow members of the Hellfire Society into positions of power and maneuver them into the clans he wanted them in.”

  Mika exchanged a look with Lucien and Corbin. This was very, very bad.

  If Cassandra had the help of a god, how was Mika supposed to get the Council to agree to the justice Mika would demand? How, when all of them were mostly in her pocket thanks to the centuries of maneuvering.

  Cassandra may only be Head Witch in name, but she ruled with absolute power over the Council and the witches.

  Lucifer considered Ryan’s words. “It’s not enough.” The prince of hell turned his back on Ryan and casually started walking back to his throne with his hands clasped behind his back.

  “That’s not all!” Ryan called out; desperation clear in his voice as he glanced at Ashley again. “She confided in me recently…after there was a ripple of power in the world. Her god came to her.”

  Lucifer stopped and turned back. “I need to know who this god is, what he told her, what his plan was, and hers. Then our deal will be done.”

  “I don’t know who the god is, only that he created the Hellfire Society,” Ryan confessed, begging and pleading with Lucifer to value his words. “He told her the Morrigan had been freed, that blood witches were back on the playing field, and she promised me Ashley if I helped her hunt them down. She remembers…remembers the Marshall clan was one of the original blood witches, as well as a few others. But she wanted to convert Mika by Samhain so she could use her to find the others, and then slaughter every last one of them by Yule.” Ryan looked at Mika then and shrugged as if to apologize. “Including Mika. She will do anything to keep a witch queen from rising.”