Before she could do anything, the car exploded into a ball of bright fire.
Jackie covered her face and staggered back from the surge of heat. She fell to the pavement, choking on her screams as the car burned.
She dared to look back at the car, wincing at the heat that ripped through the air and shuddered through the trees. They caught fire easily, sending flames high into the dark sky.
The dark outline of the car was wreathed in flame, and she skidded back on the pavement. She shook her head in disbelief. How could this have happened… and what the hell was she supposed to do now?
But as she watched the car burn, she saw another shape appear in the flames. Dark and broad, tall, with a tail that lashed behind it. The shape moved toward her, growing larger before it stepped through the fire and into the unburnt underbrush.
The man was tall, and broad, but there was no tail. And in one hand he clutched the lantern that burned with a green flame.
“Iradon—” she gasped. “What the— How the hell—”
“I told you,” he said simply. “I can’t die.” He tilted his head back toward the fire that raged behind him. “I was born of this. It can’t hurt me.”
He reached out to her, and Jackie reluctantly put her hand in his. His palm burned against hers and she gasped at the heat of it.
Iradon pulled her to her feet and she stumbled against his chest. She pushed away from him and made a face at the burning car.
“I guess we don’t have a ride anymore,” she said.
Iradon shook his head. “Definitely not. But you're still hungry…”
“Yeah.” But Jackie wasn’t ready to forget what had just happened. “Why did you leave me?”
“I had to make sure of something.”
“What?”
“We’re being followed,” he said softly. “And we will have to be on our guard.”
Jackie snorted. “The hellcat?”
“The hellcat.”
“Didn’t you find it?”
“He got away before I could catch a clear scent.”
Jackie groaned and gestured at the burning car. The flames had caught in the branches of more trees and she could hear the wail of sirens approaching. “This… This is too much!” she shouted. “The car is on fire… the STOLEN car is on fire. The FOREST is on fire. What are you going to tell the police when they get here? What about the fire department? Someone will have put out a missing person’s report on me by now… the car will have been reported stolen—”
Iradon nodded, but he seemed not to have heard anything she had said. “We need to go.”
“Fine. Fine, fine fine. I don’t want to answer anyone’s questions. I just want a burger and a shit load of fries and I don’t want to answer ANY more questions!”
Iradon shoved the lantern into her chest and Jackie fumbled with it and made a face at him. “You should have left this in the car.”
Iradon snorted and grabbed her by the elbow. He pointed at a sign that showed the services available off the highway. Food. A hotel.
“Do you want that or not?”
Jackie glared at him. “Yeah.”
“Then come on.”
“I have definitely had worse crappy diner food,” she said around a mouthful of fries.
Iradon sat across the table from her and tapped his fingers upon the table.
“Have you even eaten anything?” she asked. “Ever?”
He shook his head. “No.”
Jackie pointed at the lantern. “Can you get that off the table? It’s weirding me out.”
“Why? No one can see it,” he said.
“But they can see you,” she said. “And you’re just… sitting there like a lump while I eat.”
Iradon made a face and reached across the table to her plate. Jackie let out a little cry of anger and slapped at his fingers. “Get your own!”
“Seriously?”
She shoved another fry in her mouth. “Seriously. I’ve been through WAY too much shit to have you steal my fries, too.”
Iradon grunted and crossed his arms over his broad chest. “I’m not ordering more fries.”
“Good. You’re going to have a hard enough time explaining that we don’t have the money to pay for the ones I’ve already eaten.”
Iradon shook his head and Jackie chewed thoughtfully. “What happened to the cat?”
“Happened to it? The bastard ran off.”
“What does he look like?”
“He looks like a hellcat,” Iradon said irritably.
Jackie threw down her fry and glared at him. “That’s not helpful.”
“Black. He’ll appear as a black cat. His tail is long—longer than any cat you’d recognize. Big ears, too.”
Jackie froze. “I’ve seen that cat.”
Iradon nodded. “I know you have.”
“He’s the one who led me to that stupid lantern.”
“Fucking Admar,” he muttered.
“What?”
“Admar.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“His name. The hellcat. He’s been chasing the lantern for the last three hundred years. And the three hundred years before that.”
“But he’s the one who led me to it… Why does he want it?”
Iradon growled deep in his chest and Jackie flinched just a little. She didn’t know if she’d ever get used to such a noise—even the thought that she could get used to it was ridiculous. Every single thing that had happened since that night was ridiculous, and she still wasn’t entirely sure that she didn’t have a serious head injury—maybe all of this was just some insane vision.
“He wants to see the lantern destroyed. To break the cycle. He wants a new job.”
Jackie laughed. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“He’s tired of being a guardian.”
“Are you a guardian?”
Iradon nodded.
“Do you want a new job?”
He shook his head and chuckled. “It’s gotten worse in the last few cycles, but I don’t need to be reassigned. That goddamn cat has always been trouble, ever since the cursed day he was created.”
“Cats and dogs,” she muttered as she grabbed for her milkshake.
“What?”
“Cats and dogs,” she said with a shrug. “Typical.”
Iradon snorted.
Jackie threw down her fry. “So, what happens now?”
“We find somewhere to lay low for the night. Then we’ll head west again.”
“Always west.”
“For a little while.”
“Are we stealing another car?”
Iradon grunted and shook his head. “Yes.”
Jackie rolled her eyes. “Fantastic. I love this roadtrip shit.”
“Do you have a better idea?”
She shrugged. “Put me on a bus and let me go back to my shitty life?”
“You have a purpose,” Iradon snarled.
“A purpose?” Jackie laughed. “I was chosen by a bargain basement night light to be the bride of a demon—how is that a purpose?”
Iradon’s dark eyes flared with red light as he leaned over the table toward her. “You were CHOSEN by the devil himself,” he hissed. “This ‘bargain basement lantern’ holds the weight of your sins, the currency of them—the devil has bought your debt and will take your soul as his prize.”
“Bullshit,” Jackie whispered.
The diner was suddenly too bright. The waitresses were too cheerful. Their smiles seemed to stretch and leer at her. The seat was too cold. Everything was too cold, but Iradon’s eyes blazed with fire like the car that had burned in the midst of the trees.
“It’s not bullshit,” he snarled. “And you will realize too late that you cannot escape from what lies ahead for you…”
Jackie pushed her plate away and slid out of the booth. Without saying anything she strode quickly out of the diner and pushed open the door that led out to the street.
; The diner stood beside the offramp, but it was late enough that the roads were quiet. Tears burned behind her eyelids and she rubbed them away quickly. She hated crying. Hated it more than anything. But she couldn’t help it. It was all too much.
She stomped toward the street, unsure of what she should do next. She was always brave enough in the moment, but it was the follow-through that always messed her up. She was shit at making plans.
Utter shit.
“There is a motel close by.”
Iradon’s voice echoed behind her, and Jackie turned toward him angrily. “So what?”
The lantern in his hand burned with green fire and she flinched away from it as he approached. “We should take a room.”
“How did you pay for the meal?”
“What does it matter?”
She shook his head and laughed. “I guess it doesn’t.”
Iradon nodded shortly and then tilted his chin toward the neon red glow of a motel sign. “There.”
“Whatever.”
“What?”
Jackie groaned. “Lead on, I guess.”
But as Iradon strode away in the direction of the motel’s burning red light, Jackie wasn’t sure that she was heading toward anything but her own doom. There was nothing that she could do—but she refused to believe that. She was in control of her own destiny, not this hellpup or whatever he was. She made her own choices.
The darkness seemed to close in around her. The diner lights blurred, and she heard sounds that she could not identify… the rush of wind, the crackle of burning logs— But was it wind? Or was it something else?
“Wait for me!” she shouted as she ran after him.
Maybe she would make her own choices in the morning.
Seven
She caught up to Iradon just as one of the motel doors opened with a soft click.
“Aren’t you afraid we’re going to get caught?” she asked nervously. There was no one around, and the motel office was dark.
Iradon shrugged. “Not really.”
“Easy for you to say,” she grumbled. “Not like you’d care if you got arrested or anything. If I got caught it would be a big deal. I’m talking ‘never get a job again’ big deal.
“You won’t get caught.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard that before.”
He stepped into the motel room as though he’d paid for it, but Jackie hesitated in the doorway. “Are you sure about this? I thought you said we were being followed.”
“We are being followed. But you need to sleep, and I need to find us another car.”
“You mean steal us another car?”
He shrugged. “Details.”
Jackie snorted and peered out at the dark parking lot one more time—just to be sure—but everything was eerily quiet. All kinds of weird shit happened after midnight, and it was well after midnight.
Something black slunk against the wheel of a parked car, and Jackie’s breath caught in her throat. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t see that,” she muttered and walked into the room as quickly as she could. She closed the door and locked everything with shaking fingers.
Chain lock.
Deadbolt.
Door lock.
“Do you think that’s going to keep him out?” Iradon chuckled.
“Who?”
“The hellcat that’s following us.”
“Oh… right.” She looked at the door and then back to him. “You mean it won’t keep him out?”
He shook his head. “Nothing is going to stop him from trying to get the lantern.”
“So… you’ll stop him, right?”
“If it comes to that.”
“Great.”
The room was too hot, and Jackie peeled off her sweater and threw it onto a chair. Iradon had placed the lantern on the dresser beside the ancient television. Antiquated technology was a standard feature of roadside motels, and this one had definitely seen better days.
She bent over to look at the lantern, and its dancing green flame. “So… what happens now? This thing is going to tell you where to go?”
“It’s supposed to…” he said cautiously.
“You don’t really know.” She looked at Iradon accusingly, and he shifted on his feet. “You know what? Don’t answer that.” Jackie turned her focus back to the lantern. The green flame undulated gently inside the glass and she pressed her fingertips against it, trading the shape of the flame. There was something inside it, swirling shapes, she looked closer, hypnotized by its movement.
“Careful,” Iradon said sharply. “If you look for too long, I won’t be able to pull you out.”
Jackie blinked and pulled her hand away. “Pull me out of what?”
“The lantern has more power than it should. And it’ll only grow stronger the closer we get to its cradle. If you get trapped inside the flames, I won’t be able to wake you up from its trance… and then you’ll be one of the shapes trapped in the fire.”
“Oh…” The shimmering flame didn’t look so inviting now. Maybe it was because of the trapping aspect. Jackie backed away from the dresser and her legs hit the edge of the bed.
“What do we do now?” she asked.
Iradon pulled back the curtain and peered out into the darkness. “You can sleep.”
Jackie made a face. “I’m not so sure about that. My dreams haven’t been any fun lately.”
Iradon didn’t say anything, and Jackie shifted back on the bed and grabbed for the remote that powered the ancient television. She stabbed at the buttons but the channels were filled with static. “So much for that,” she grumbled.
The bed was uncomfortable, the pillows were flat, and there was no way she was going to get any sleep, especially with Iradon pacing in front of the window.
“Do I have to let you out for a walk or something?” she asked sarcastically.
He didn’t seem bothered by her tone. “No.”
“Then you have to talk to me. I’m not going to be able to sleep again until we’re on the road…”
Iradon’s hands flexed. “What do you want to talk about.”
“I don’t know, anything… Anything but that.” She pointed to the lantern meaningfully. “Where are you from? What do your parents do?”
Iradon’s eyebrow rose and Jackie immediately felt stupid. “Wait, I know. You’re from hell, your parents are demons or something and they torture souls all day… Maybe it’s better if you ignore me.”
Iradon’s chuckle surprised her. “You’re only half right,” he said. He walked over to the bed and sat down beside her. “I am from hell, but one of the smaller circles… I was created, not born. My breed is charged with moving the new intakes to their specific punishments and makes sure they don’t get misplaced.”
“So… you’re a security guard? Or a filing clerk?” She unlaced her boots and threw them into an untidy heap on the floor in front of the TV.
Iradon laughed. “A bit of both.”
“So how did you get stuck following me around?”
Iradon pointed to the lantern. “I was filling in for a friend.”
Jackie sighed heavily. “Me too. I see that turned out really well for both of us.”
“Seems like it.”
“How long have you been… around?”
“Time isn’t measured in hell the same way it is here.”
Jackie chewed on her lip. “Right. So what do you do for fun?”
“Fun?” Iradon looked at her strangely.
“Yeah, do you… I don’t know. Visit the mortal realm sometimes? Play pranks on people? If I could be invisible I would absolutely mess with people.”
Iradon’s chuckle filled her ears. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
“Well, maybe you should…”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Jackie shifted on the bed, very aware of how close Iradon’s thigh was to hers. She could feel the heat radiating off him, and wondered for just a split second how it would feel to have that heat against
her bare skin. Nope. Nope. Not the time. Besides, he had basically kidnapped her and was dragging her to some unknown location to be traded off to the devil… Aside from the fact that it all sounded idiotic, she wasn’t about to get down with a guy like him. He wasn’t even really a guy!
“Do you look like this… in hell?” she blurted out.
Iradon looked down at himself in confusion and then back to her. “No… not exactly.”
“So this is for my benefit?”
“Is it working?”
Jackie blinked at him and felt her cheeks warming with embarrassment. What if he could read her mind? “I mean. You could do worse.”
Iradon shrugged out of his leather jacket and threw it onto a chair. His shirt was tight across his biceps and shoulders and Jackie tried to keep herself from shrinking away from him. She was not supposed to be attracted to him, but it was getting more and more difficult to keep those thoughts at bay.
“What are you thinking?” he asked.
Oh good. No mind reading.
“I was wondering if you had a demon girlfriend. Or if you spent all of your time not messing with mortals and just… being a ‘job guy’.”
He looked mildly insulted. “I am not just a ‘job guy’.”
Jackie shrugged, thankful that he’d focused on a different part of her rambling declaration. “Sure seems like it.”
“How?”
“Well, you’ve been doing the same job for centuries without complaint or looking for a promotion. You file souls into their appropriate hell cabinet, and then you fill in for a shift for a buddy when you probably really didn’t have to—did you give up a weekend or something? Because that would be worse... And now you’re stuck doing a job you didn’t actually sign up for… and you’re actually doing it. That’s the literal definition of a ‘job guy’.”
Iradon glared at her.
“It just sounds a bit… boring.”
“Boring? I’m a fucking demon. What about that is boring?”
“I dunno, you made it sound really boring.”
“You don’t understand.”
“I feel really sorry for your demon girlfriend. I bet you don’t even take her out for demon dates.”
Iradon’s jaw clenched and Jackie tried her best not to laugh. She hadn’t meant to bait him like that, but it was kind of fun.
Wicked Souls: A Limited Edition Reverse Harem Romance Collection Page 131
