“How are the cocktails?” Taylor extended the handle of one of the black suitcases beside her. “Because I don’t know about you two, but I need a bloody stiff drink.”
Erin smiled shakily and Amelia smiled too.
“I think we have time for a few before you send us to sleep.” Amelia turned with Erin, leading her along the jetty. When she broke away from her to take one of the suitcases for Taylor, Erin looked back over her shoulder, watching the speedboat disappearing into the distance.
Taylor would keep them asleep until Veiron and the others returned.
She would be with him again before she knew it.
She hoped.
CHAPTER 22
Erin wasn’t sure how Taylor’s power worked but it was certainly an interesting one. Erin sat next to Amelia on a white painted metal railing that separated a boardwalk from a pristine white beach. Hot summer sun washed over her, easing away her tension, and the sea stretched endlessly into the distance where it eventually met the sky and the line between them blurred.
This wasn’t the island. This was some other place. Amelia had explained that it was her inner world and she had once brought Marcus here, when she had been going through everything with him and the game between Heaven and Hell.
It was beautiful.
Tall palms towered above the boardwalk and strings of lights curved between them. It would look even more beautiful at night, with the lights on and the full moon illuminating the world.
They had been sitting here on the chipped railing for over an hour, talking to each other and catching up. Amelia hadn’t berated her once about what she had said to Veiron at the dock and Erin was thankful for it. She didn’t want to argue with her sister, not when she needed her company to keep her mind off where Veiron had gone.
He wouldn’t even be there yet. The plane had left the main airport in the afternoon, bound for Chennai in eastern India. There was a gate a few miles from there that would take them down into Hell close to something called the bottomless pit.
Marcus had explained that the bottomless pit was where the Devil was supposed to reside, trapped by an angel named Apollyon each time he lost their scheduled battles. Erin had countered that the Devil didn’t seem particularly trapped to her. He had roamed around quite freely. Marcus hadn’t had an explanation for that one, but Veiron had said it was probably because Apollyon was due to fight him again so the effect of the angel’s victory and the Devil’s consequent containment was wearing off, allowing the Devil to move around in a larger area of Hell surrounding the bottomless pit.
It was reassuring to know that there was a limit to where the Devil could go right now. Apparently, Earth was off-limits.
Amelia had flinched whenever anyone had mentioned Apollyon’s name. Erin hadn’t had a chance to ask her why.
Until now.
She grasped the pole on either side of her thighs and looked over at her sister. The gentle breeze blowing in from the ocean caused Amelia’s cream summer dress to flutter and dance around her legs. Erin had discovered shortly after their arrival in her inner world that Amelia ruled here, and that included her clothing. She was wearing a summer dress too. At least her sister had done the decent thing and given her a black one with deep purple flowers all over it.
“So... um... what’s the deal with you and this Apollyon bloke?” Erin watched her sister flinch again.
Her grey eyes slid across to meet Erin’s. “He sort of killed me.”
“Holy shit... really?” Erin almost fell off the railing. “You died?”
“And awoke as a wholly different person, but I’m back now, just a little improved,” Amelia said and then frowned. “It wasn’t Apollyon’s fault though. He didn’t want to kill me. Heaven made him do it, and since then he’s been bent on revenge.”
“Man, I can relate to that. Heaven really did a number on you and Marcus, didn’t they?”
Amelia nodded. “More than a number. They don’t care who they hurt in order to get what they want... you do understand that, don’t you? If Heaven can control its angels and force them to do things against their will, then Hell can do the same.”
Erin frowned. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that Veiron might be in love with you, but that might not stop him from trying to hurt you. If the Devil wants you that badly, he will make Veiron obey any and all commands sent to him.”
Erin swallowed, trying to wet her suddenly dry throat. Was that even possible? If the Devil could do such a thing, surely he would have done so already, rather than sending his men to retrieve her from Veiron.
Unless he had a reason for wanting her to remain with Veiron.
She looked at Amelia again. Or was it her sister that he wanted her close to so he could track them and find her?
But he hadn’t sent his angels after her again and he must have felt Veiron’s location on Earth when Veiron’s eyes, claws and teeth had changed while they had been making love in the hot tub.
What if the Devil had used the pool in Hell that Veiron wanted to visit and had seen the future in it, and knew that he didn’t need to do anything in order to get Veiron down there and out of the way? What if he had seen something else in it?
Like her and Amelia alone and vulnerable.
Suddenly, Erin wanted to wake up. Taylor could use enchantments or whatever to protect their location, just as she had done on her home with Einar. Erin didn’t want to be stuck here sleeping, unable to wake, not knowing whether or not someone had already come and captured them.
Her skin prickled and tingled, and her chest tightened, turning her breathing laboured.
“What’s wrong?” Amelia laid her hand on Erin’s back between her shoulder blades, over her dragon tattoo.
“What if the Devil sends his men for us while we’re asleep?”
Amelia smiled reassuringly. “Taylor is setting up protection spells around the villa. We’ll be safe.”
That was a relief but her panic didn’t subside.
The tingling in her fingers turned to heat and she flexed them, trying to calm down. It wasn’t her power manifesting. It was just a panic attack because she was thinking it was. It was psychosomatic. She swallowed and kept flexing her fingers. Her eyes widened. The world around them began to fall apart. Piece by piece, it crumbled and changed. The white sand turned black and formed into sharp jagged rocks. Steam rose from the sea as it began to glow red and turned into a rolling river of lava. The endless blue sky darkened to black and the trees behind them caught fire.
No.
Erin’s hands blazed red, ribbons like smoke swirling outwards from her palms.
“What’s happening?” Amelia said, voice high with panic. “Erin, why are we in Hell?”
“Vision.” Erin forced the word out and shook her hands, trying to stop them from bursting into flames. She didn’t want that to happen again. She didn’t want this power, whatever it was.
A scream shattered her already fragile nerves, pained and garbled.
Erin’s head shot up and her eyes widened. The scenery had changed again, the river of lava now further in the distance and leaving a wide expanse of black ahead of her. Spires of rock rose around her, forming a semi-circle, and her heart stopped.
Not this.
Not again.
She shook her head. “No... no... no!”
She dropped down and the railing disappeared, sending Amelia crashing onto the black basalt. Amelia gasped as the black fortress rose out of the ground, rocks tumbling down it as it reached towards the obsidian vault above, each spire taller and more jagged than the last.
“What the hell?” Amelia pushed onto her feet. “What’s happening, Erin?”
“Not this... please, not this.”
Veiron, Marcus and Einar appeared in the middle of the courtyard, fighting for their lives against Hell’s angels. Amelia went to run forwards, silver wings erupting from her back and eyes brightening, but Erin caught her hand.
“It’s no use,
” she said and shook her head when her sister looked at her, fear written in every line of her face. “Nothing we do will stop it.”
“We have to try.” Amelia broke free of her grip, took a step forwards and then stopped.
A terrifying roar broke the noise of battle and a black voice boomed out of the distance.
Dark red smoke curled in front of the fortress and then parted to reveal the same handsome dark-haired man she’d had the displeasure of meeting during her captivity.
His eyes burned red as they shifted to Erin.
“Is that another demonic angel?” Amelia asked quietly, as though afraid the man would hear and turn his attention on her.
He smiled at Erin and adjusted the cuffs of his blood red shirt beneath his elegant black suit jacket.
“No... he’s something far worse,” Erin replied and Amelia stepped back in line with her.
He disappeared in a flash and reappeared in the midst of the fray, taking on two of them at a time. They didn’t stand a chance. Erin closed her eyes, not wanting to see what happened next because she knew it would end like her previous vision.
“We have to help,” Amelia said and then a gust of wind blew against Erin.
“Amelia, no!” Erin shouted but she was too late. Her sister shot into the battle, barrelling through the Hell’s angels and knocking them out of the way with her silver wings.
The Devil caught her by the throat and tossed her aside, sending her careening into the spires of black surrounding the courtyard. He turned his attention on Marcus and Einar next, easily defeating them and leaving his men to deal with them. Erin shook her head when he grabbed Veiron by one of his dragon-like wings, causing him to cry out, spun and sent him slamming into the ground.
Erin moved, rushing forwards, her hands blazing. She wouldn’t let the Devil hurt him.
Not again.
The Devil stepped on Veiron’s prone form and extended his hand to her.
“I am waiting,” he said with a smile curving his sensual lips. “Do not disappoint me, Erin.”
Erin growled with effort and threw her hands forwards, unleashing a huge glowing orange fireball at him. The world disintegrated in a blast of white-hot light.
Erin shot up in bed, breathing hard and drenched in cold sweat. Amelia sat beside her, her wide eyes fixed on the far wall of the bedroom and her silver half-feather half-demonic wings out.
“What the hell just happened?” Taylor’s voice pulled Erin out of her stupor and she jerked to face her. Taylor looked as shocked as Erin felt.
“We need to go,” Amelia whispered, her breathing laboured and fast, eyes still enormous and glowing silver. “We need to go.”
Erin nodded. “We do... we will.”
“Go where?” Taylor said and Erin wasn’t sure how to break it to her.
“I had a vision,” she said and that seemed to be all the information Taylor needed.
“Screw this. We’re going down there and we’re not going alone. We need help and we need it fast, before the boys end up too deep in Hell and we can’t find them.” Taylor pulled a phone out of her pocket and the screen lit her face as she dialled.
She pressed it to her ear and then took a deep breath when someone at the other end answered.
“Apollyon, we need your help.”
CHAPTER 23
Erin paced the moonlit shore, finding it impossible to keep still. Taylor sat on the edge of the wooden deck of the villa. Amelia sat on the steps that led onto the beach and had told her several times to conserve her energy and that Apollyon would reach them soon. The two of them were wearing black jeans and t-shirts and it was hard to make them out in the low light from the moon. Erin wore similar gear, perfect for sneaking through such a dark grim environment as Hell.
She turned and paced back again, ignoring her sister’s irritated expression. She couldn’t help it. It had been hours since Taylor had called the angel and asked for his assistance. She had expected him to reach them quickly, but it seemed even angels had their limits. Apollyon had left Paris almost immediately, after ensuring that his wife, Serenity, was safe and sound with another angel named Lukas and his girlfriend, Annelie, but it had still taken him hours to cross the world to them. It was gone midnight now.
Veiron, Marcus and Einar would already be in Hell.
Amelia had expressed her concern that Serenity wasn’t accompanying her angel. In fact, she had mentioned it several times, so often that Erin had finally succumbed to her curiosity about the woman. It turned out that she was a witch and Apollyon’s current master. Erin had recently found an ability to deal with almost anything but the knowledge that there were witches in the world had still astounded her. Amelia had mentioned that she had once shared her surprise, but Serenity was a full-blooded witch. Her reason for not coming with Apollyon had surprised Erin even more.
Serenity and the other woman, Annelie, were undergoing some sort of trial that, if they passed it, would grant them immortality.
Erin liked the sound of that.
They were doing it so they could spend forever with their angels and that was something Erin wanted for her and Veiron too. Lukas had remained with the two women to help them through the trials and take care of them. They were highly dangerous and the success rate for those who entered into them was small, but Apollyon believe that with the assistance and guidance of an angel, they would both make it through.
If Erin took the trials so she could become immortal, would Veiron help her through them? Was his help as good as an angel of Heaven’s?
“Here he comes,” Taylor said and slipped down onto the sand.
Erin immediately spun on her heel and scoured the distance, looking for a sign of the angel.
She spotted him a good distance out over the ocean and heading directly for them. It was hard to see him. She had expected him to look like the one she had met on the rooftop in London but he was nothing like that. As he came closer, she could make out his dark hair and huge black wings, and the obsidian armour that barely left anything to the imagination.
The closer he came to her, the harder Erin’s heart beat against her chest.
It couldn’t be.
He righted himself as he reached the shoreline and glided down to land just a few metres in front of her. His keen gaze shifted from Taylor, to Amelia and finally to her, and Erin couldn’t breathe.
She caught a flashback of Hell, of a man with huge black wings, obsidian armour edged with gold covering his shins and hips, and wild black hair.
“Good to see you again,” Taylor said and added, “I wish it was under better circumstances. We all know you hate going down there.”
Apollyon growled low and fierce, “The Devil needs to learn when to stay down.”
“Really?” Erin piped in, her voice a high squeak, and trembled when he looked at her again. “You looked pretty pally with him in Hell... you were doing his work, right? Luring me into leaving with you for some reason so he could convince me to help him or something... just stay the fuck away from me. Got it?”
“Erin, what’s wrong?” Amelia wrapped an arm protectively around her shoulders and turned on Apollyon. “What were you doing down there? Did you try to hurt my sister?”
Apollyon’s eyes widened and he held his hands up at his sides. “I have never met this woman and I have not been in Hell since I was there with Marcus over a year ago now.”
“I swear, if you go near my sister, I’ll kill you myself.” Amelia pushed Erin behind her and unleashed her wings, shielding her with them.
Erin looked over Amelia’s shoulder at Apollyon. He frowned, eyes dark and full of violence, and something else. He stepped back and furled his black wings. His hand came to rest on one of the golden swords hanging from his waist and he drew a slow deep breath, as though preparing himself for a fight.
“I have never set eyes on this woman you call your sister. Never.” He backed off another step and Erin caught the look in his eyes.
He wasn’t intending
to attack. He was defending himself, and distancing himself too. She stared at him, gaze tracking over the armour that covered his lower legs, his hips, and his chest and forearms. It was the same as he had worn in Hell, only newer and well maintained.
He looked a little different now too.
While his physical features were the same, his hair was long and tied back in a ponytail at the nape of his neck, and his eyes were dark, faintly glowing blue in the low light from the moon.
It wasn’t the same man, but the look in his eyes and his reaction said that he knew the man she had accused him of being. Time to test that theory.
“I saw someone just like you down there... but he had shorter hair and eyes like a hawk. He flew up to my cell and offered to help me escape.” Erin stepped out from behind Amelia and his dark eyes followed her, his wary look not shifting.
His hand moved away from the hilt of one of his swords and he closed his eyes.
“What you saw was a copy of me,” he said, deep voice low and brimming with resignation edged with something dark. He opened his eyes and fixed them on her again.
“A copy?” That was a creepy thought. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have a clone of her running around.
He nodded and heaved a sigh. “When the Devil defeated me the first time, he did not put me to my death immediately. He… tortured me… until I lost my mind and then he drew all that was dark out of me and used it to create the angel you saw. In effect, he is my doppelganger, and he is not a man to take lightly. He is dangerous and cruel, and would not think twice about using you for his own gain.”
“Einar never mentioned you had a twin,” Taylor said and Apollyon’s gaze snapped to her, brightening at the same time, a warning not to call this man his twin as though they were siblings. A strange sensation washed over Erin, pressing down on her and making her tremble, and her stomach twisted. Whoever Apollyon was, he was extremely powerful and it probably wasn’t wise to piss him off.
Her Demonic Angel (Her Angel Romance Series Book 5) Page 24
