“No!” a woman’s voice roared. “They will go before the Prince, and be judged how he sees fit.”
I saw a woman walking forward, and the crowd parted for her, with room to spare. She was important, and everyone knew it.
All of the muscles in Raphael’s jaw and shoulder clenched, and he looked at the ground. The woman stood tall, and seemed to notice Raphael’s discomfort with her.
She was lovely, with brown skin, and long golden-brown hair. Her ankle length red dress fit her well, and delicate gold chains hung from her neck and wrists.
As she walked up to Raphael, I could see he was trying to steady himself, trying not to flinch or pull back from her.
“Raphael, what have you gotten yourself into since the last time I visited, hmm?” she asked. She paced in slow deliberate circles around him, like a shark deciding if it was going to take a bite.
He caught my gaze, and must have noticed my worried expression; a look of apology filled his eyes, and then he turned his attention back to her. I saw something new come over him. He straightened his back, and instead of flinching, he smiled at her and made eye contact.
“Lamashtu, you know I’m not one to start trouble.” He grinned at her and blinked those lovely eyes.
She stopped pacing in front of him, and cupped his face in the palm of her hand. “I certainly hope you haven’t done something stupid.” She traced her fingertips across his lips. “I would hate to lose my favorite lover.” She winked, and made a kissing sound at him.
Raphael dropped his head, but kept his eyes on hers—perfect bedroom eyes.
Demon or not, I was pissed now.
“You know, it would get me back in your bed faster if you could vouch for me in front of Lucifer. We have spent quite a bit of time together,” he teased.
“I would like to have you back in my bed,” she said, as if she was considering his proposal. Then she turned on her bare feet and slapped him so hard his body swayed and he had to blink multiple times to clear his head. “I vouch for no one in front of our dark prince. You either make it on your own merit, or you don’t. That’s how I’ve survived these thousand years.” She almost left it at that, but then added, “And yes, Raphael, you have a very nice dick, but it can be replaced. Or if he no longer has a use for you, I’ll just take yours as a souvenir before you’re thrown into the pit.” Lamashtu gave us one more smile and stepped back.
I noticed Raphael giving me an unfriendly glare, and that’s when I realized I had been smiling. Oops. I hated knowing they had been lovers, and I hated listening to him bait her, but damn, she had handled herself well. I erased the grin from my face, and pretended instead that I had been horrified by all of it.
Getting back to the situation at hand, Zeke pointed out, “Lucifer is away from us right now. What do we do with them until he gets back?”
“Sounds like I chose the perfect time to check back in,” a new voice said.
Knees dropped and heads bowed in unison as he walked through the crowd. I saw that Raphael’s head was down, so I put mine down as well, even though I really wanted to look up to see if he still looked like Raphael.
“Lamashtu, tell me what’s been going on here,” he ordered.
“My Prince, Zeke and Jake found this woman unconscious by the pit. They decided to enjoy her company and offer her blood as a sacrifice to you. They asked Raphael for help. When they left her alone with him for a short period of time, he released her, and they’ve been in hiding together. However, Raphael claims he only released her because she was sent here by Hades with a message to you,” she finished.
I couldn’t take it. I raised my head to look at Lucifer, hoping he wasn’t still sharing the same skin as my lover. He wasn’t: his hair was lighter now, and his eyes were brown. He looked like any average man walking down the street of any American suburb. Watching these powerful demonic creatures kneel before him was strange. If I hadn’t seen their reaction to him, I wouldn’t have known this was Satan. How did they?
“I see,” he said as he looked at us. Then he snapped his fingers at the female demon. “Prepare my chamber for us. I feel like there is more to this that we’re not being told.” He half smiled at me.
Lamashtu nodded, and hurried off to do as he asked.
I had the feeling his chamber wasn’t being prepared for a sleepover. He knew exactly what was going on here—I wondered why he was pretending he didn’t. He could have us tortured either way, on his word alone.
Raphael told me not to look around as we were led through all of Hell to the home of the devil himself. I heard strange noises, and the movements I caught sight of in my periphery were frightening, to say the least. I was already terrified.
I desperately wanted to be holding Raphael’s hand—after all, these might be our last moments together.
The path we walked on seemed to spiral down, and down, and down into the very center of Hell. A door stood where the path ended, and I could only assume this was our destination.
I had wanted the long death march to end, but now I was wishing the road had been even longer.
As the demon escorting us knocked on the large wooden door, I looked over at Raphael. The door had already started to open when I saw his lips move to soundlessly say, “I love you.”
Before I could respond, we were being ushered inside.
The room was large and dark, and strangely cozier and less creepy than Rasputin’s bedroom back at the mansion. That realization bothered me.
A large high-backed chair sat in the middle of the room, in front of a roaring fireplace made of large stones. Plush rugs lined the floor, and candles burned in sconces on the walls.
I didn’t see any actual doors in the room, but shadowed doorways were tucked away in the corners. I wondered if one led to his bedroom—but does the devil need to sleep?
Lucifer stepped out from one of the dark hallways and smiled, with a look that said he knew that he could do absolutely anything he wanted to us.
“You may go,” he said to the demon with us.
“But, my Prince, I…” The devil held up his hand, stopping him mid-sentence.
“You may go,” he said again, but this time the look in his eyes wasn’t as friendly.
I didn’t think it was a good sign that he didn’t want anyone else with us.
The guard left, and Lucifer paced around the room. Raphael and I said nothing, but stood close enough to touch, side by side.
“So, you rescued your man, I see.” Lucifer laughed. “Well you tried!” he shrugged.
I dropped my head; I was well aware that I had failed us both.
“Excellent effort, though, very impressive, daughter of mine,” he smiled.
“I’m not your daughter.” My tone was thick with the horror of the thought.
“Oh but you are!” he cheered. “Well, not his daughter.” Lucifer pointed to his body, and then snapped his fingers. “My daughter,” he said—and it wasn’t the devil in front of us anymore, but Loki.
I didn’t even reply to such an absurd statement. I just stood there looking at the mischievous god, waiting for him to change back into Lucifer, or to say, “Gotcha!”
Raphael looked puzzled, but less indignant than me. “What do you mean?” he asked.
Loki grinned and walked up to me. “You are my daughter, Hel.”
“How could that possibly be? My mother died before I could even be born, and my father committed suicide on her grave,” I scoffed.
“Everything in your past—everything—was to prepare you to fulfill your destiny,” Loki said. He motioned for all of us to go sit by the fire. “Come on, I will tell you the story.”
Loki undid the ropes on Raphael’s hands, then sat in the lone chair. Raphael and I sat at his feet on the rug, like anxious children.
“When my father found out I was having a child with Angrboda, your mother, he didn’t want you in Asgard. Your mother was the known as the grief bringer, and Odin believed no good could come of you being born in our
land, but said he would allow you to rule in the underworld. You would be the one to determine the destination of the souls that belong to our people. So when it was time for you to be born, we had you in the above world. You had to be born in blood and death—you had to know pain and loss as well as you knew breathing. You had to understand death, and heartbreak, and know the pain of dying in a mortal body. It was the only way.” He paused, and looked at me with eyes that managed to be compassionate, yet cold. “Now, all of this,” he looked around the room, “was not in the plan. When Persephone turned the palace over to you, you were supposed to step into your role as Queen of the Underworld. But Hades hadn’t agreed to the situation, and decided to put his meddling ass in the game. When I heard Lucifer was stepping in, I knew you would need some help from dear old Dad,” he winked.
Too many things were running through my mind, at too fast a speed for any of them to come out of my mouth. I barely noticed Raphael’s hand on my shoulder, trying to comfort me.
Loki watched me closely for a minute or so, and then stood up, nearly jumping out of the chair. “Well, if you don’t have anything to say, we really should be going before they figure out I’m not their 'dark prince,’ shouldn’t we?”
He led the way through one of the doorways, and into another nearly-hidden room, not even as large as a small closet. I saw a ladder leading up beyond the range of any normal person’s vision.
Loki said, “Start climbing,” and was the first one up the ladder.
I followed second, and Raphael was behind me. I had only made it up a few rungs before realizing the ladder was made from human bones. I cringed, and tried not to think too much about it as I wrapped my hand around what I assumed was a femur. I had enough to process at the moment.
The higher we climbed, the more my arms started to shake. I could feel Raphael behind me, and just barely make out Loki in front of me; but it was so dark I couldn’t see anything close around me.
Of course, the thought of falling entered my mind: slipping and tumbling back down all that way—back into the den of the devil—and very likely taking Raphael with me when I fell. I was very careful as I climbed.
“Doing ok, baby?” Raphael asked after a time.
“Yeah,” I said, with more confidence than I felt. “How are you doing?”
“I’m fine,” he said.
“Aren’t the two of you just adorable,” Loki called from above us.
The ladder suddenly shook more violently than it had the whole time the three of us were climbing. We stopped moving and waited. It shook again, and again.
“Well, that isn’t good,” Loki said. “We need to move considerably faster.”
“What is it?” I asked.
“They’re coming after us,” he said.
“Shit,” I swore under my breath. It wasn’t bad enough to be climbing this creepy, unstable ladder, in the dark—now demons were climbing up after us.
We all climbed faster, not sure how quickly the demons could gain on us.
“Not much farther,” Loki said, and I hoped he was right.
I heard a grunt, and a thud, followed by a long scream that ended before it seemed like the sound was finished.
I swallowed hard and fought the urge to stop climbing, knowing we couldn’t spare the time.
“Raphael?” I asked softly.
“I’m OK. One of the bastards grabbed my foot, and I kicked him in the face,” he said, and I heard the uneasiness in his voice.
“One down!” Loki cheered.
I giggled, half in amusement, half in horror.
The darkness became thicker the higher we climbed, and the air was cooler, which made no sense, since we were going up. I could no longer even make out the shadows cast by Loki, and I was afraid of us running into each other as we climbed.
“Stop,” Loki said. “We’re here, I just have to figure out how to open the gate from this side.”
Raphael and I stopped climbing as we listened to him mumbling and struggling in the darkness.
After a few long moments, with the ladder still shaking as the bad guys continued to come after us, Raphael asked, “Is there anything we can do to speed this up?”
“I need someone’s blood,” Loki said, and sighed. “The gate in the tunnels is opened by fire, and this one is opened by blood.”
Raphael immediately volunteered. “Do you have something sharp?”
“I got this,” I said, ripping the bandage off of my wrist with my teeth. The wound had scabbed over, but would bleed easily enough if scratched.
I held my arm up to Loki; I couldn’t scrape off the scab and keep my balance on the ladder. Besides, I was already getting lightheaded knowing I would be bleeding in a moment.
I felt Loki messing with my wrist, and steadied myself. Thankfully, after a moment, and not much pain, he said, ”Got it,” and gave me my arm back.
Suddenly, above us, there was light. My heart jumped with excitement, and I urged Loki to hurry up.
We climbed out of the hole, and I collapsed onto the black brick street, while Loki sealed the gateway with another few drops of my blood. I didn’t even care this time.
The world spun around me, and I closed my eyes like I might fall off. My body started to tremble, and I was suddenly sweating and freezing at the same time. Is this shock? I felt a hand grip mine, and knew it was Raphael.
Just the feeling of his hand in mine calmed me; I opened my eyes, and there he was. He was stretched out beside me on the street, black hair spread out like a fan, his pale skin lovely and perfect against the ebony brick. I smiled and let out the breath I was holding. I’d done it: I’d gone to Hell, and brought him home.
We heard the demons trying to get through the gateway, and backed away.
“It’ll hold for a while. That gateway shouldn’t even be here. Hades needs to seal it permanently,” said Loki, seeming rather casual about the subject.
Once my mind had a moment to calm down, I realized we were in the Vampire Quarter down one of the alleyways. I guess if you were going to hide a portal to Hell somewhere in the underworld, this was the right place.
“So Lucifer has just been able to come and go as he pleases here, for who knows how long?” I asked.
Loki shrugged, “Yes, but he really doesn’t enjoy leaving Hell, so I don’t think he’s used it frequently.”
The thought still didn’t settle well with me. “Now what do we do?”
Loki smiled. “First, we need to get you back to Hades and ask him to close the doors. Second, we need to secure your position in rulership. Third, I need to go home.”
We followed him through the Quarter and back into the city.
“What if I don’t want to rule? I don’t want to determine where souls go, that’s what the soul contracts are for!” I protested.
“It’s your destiny, Hel. Don’t fight stepping into your power,” he said without even turning around.
I still watched him with suspicion. How can I be his daughter? He looked so young himself.
“What power? I’ve never had the power to do anything!” I heard my voice getting louder as I got more upset.
He turned back to me and smiled. “More power than you can dream of.”
Raphael was silent, but kept my hand in his as we rounded the next street and approached the white palace.
Loki didn’t even bother knocking, just opened the door and went inside.
Two guards just inside the garden area eyed us suspiciously, but didn’t stop us from entering.
I watched as Raphael tried to take in all of the magnificence, as we hurriedly walked through the lush greenery and past the little pond. I had forgotten how beautiful and overwhelming it was on first glance. I hated that we couldn’t stop so that he could enjoy it.
“Hades!” Loki shouted, as we searched room to room. “We need to have a meeting at once.”
I saw the faintest blur against one of the walls, and moved more closely. “Are you one of Melinoe’s guards for the day?” I
asked the spirit.
“I am,” said a voice much deeper than I anticipated out of something barely there.
I jumped, but regained my composure. “Could you get her for us, please?
The spirit moved away from the wall and into a nearby room.
Moments later, the ghost was back against the wall, and Melinoe was coming out of her room, trying to fix her hair with her fingers, and adjusting her shirt. Her eyes got big when she saw us.
“I can’t fucking believe it! You made it back.” She truly sounded astonished. She walked over and clapped me on the shoulder, like a guy would generally do.
She hit me on my injured arm and I gasped, clutching my arm to my chest.
“Ooh, sorry,” she said, glancing at my arm. “Well, no one would have believed you survived Hell if you didn’t have a few battle scars.”
I was just about to say something to her when she walked past me and introduced herself to Raphael.
“You must be the great love that Hel was so determined to save. I’m not terribly fond of men, but I must say I can understand the appeal,” she said, putting a black finger to her lips and looking him up and down.
Raphael gave her his best smile and pulled me in close to him, kissing me on the head. “Hel’s pretty amazing for being my heroic rescuer. And who are you?”
Melinoe’s lips quirked in amusement, realizing he wasn’t falling for her flirty games. “I am Melinoe,” she said, “daughter of Hades.”
“Is he around?” I cut in.
She turned her attention back to me. “In the tunnels, I believe, searching for Cerberus.”
I covered my mouth, remembering I had told the dog to wait for me at the entrance to Hell. I hoped he was OK.
“Can we go find him?” I asked.
“Rest. I’ll have someone bring you some food, and tea. My guards and I will find them,” she assured me.
The three of us sat down in the main living area and tried to relax, even if it was just for a moment. Melinoe took charge, making sure we were looked after, and we were all grateful for the sandwiches and drinks that were brought to us.
Digging to Hell (The Gravedigger Series Book 3) Page 10
