Hades didn’t acknowledge her in the least and continued his dance of the seven veils with the bombshell. Seeing Hades dancing was disconcerting, until she heard him sing. He had an astonishing voice, one that could move a crowd to tears with its beauty. She had no idea that he was so talented. Alarms were screeching in her head as she watched Hades carry on. He would never willingly act this way in front of her, let alone ignore a threat to bring Michael to his doorstep. Something was very wrong. Revealing a softer side to her, especially when it could be used as ammunition against him, would make him look weak, something he despised. Hades would set her on fire if he knew that she had seen him sing and dance.
“I demand to know who you are,” she said quickly to the woman as she walked closer to the dais to get a better look at her.
The woman ignored her and continued to dance and play the lyre in front of Hades next to his throne. She was grinding against him while Hades moved his hips along with hers. She removed his tie and tossed it onto the throne. There was a rhythmic motion to her body that felt out of place.
Anjali needed to stop this cringeworthy display before the slut took Hades’ pants off. “Enough of this! It’s time to go back to the Hall of Shadows, you little hussy. Hades has better things to do than you,” Anjali slowly put her foot on the first step of the dais, waiting for a reaction from either of them.
The woman slowly turned to her and sneered. Her bright purple eyes narrowed and her hair moved by itself. She was beautiful, ethereal, and definitely didn’t belong in the castle. The woman moved closer to Hades and continued playing her lyre and swaying. Anjali nearly gagged when a full-blown breathtaking smile appeared on Hades’ face as the woman whispered to him. Who knew Hades could almost be attractive, let alone carefree?
“Oh, Hades is going to kill you once he finds out that you made him smile and giggle,” Anjali lunged forward to push Hades away from the woman, but the woman bared her teeth and let out a screech that shattered the stained glass windows behind the dais. Anjali stepped back and covered her ears, nearly doubling over to the ground. The woman inserted herself between Anjali and Hades.
Hades was immune to the ear-piercing screech. He was hearing something completely different in his head.
“He belongs to me. I will kill him if you move any closer,” the woman snarled.
Anjali hated Hades, but if anyone were going to kill him, she should have first or maybe second dibs. Sadly, a truce was a truce. She wouldn’t leave Hades unprotected and vulnerable against an enemy.
“Trust me, you don’t want him,” Anjali glared at the woman, but stayed her ground until she could figure out how to fight her. “Who the hell are you?”
The woman’s eyes grew brighter until they glowed. She extended her arms away from her body and water sprayed from her shimmering dress with enough force to propel Anjali backward through the entire hall. Anjali was drenched and gagging. She stood up and found that she was ankle-deep in murky water.
“Eww, pit sweat, gross! Oh, and it’s warm. What is wrong with you?” she shook out her arms to get some of the swamp water off her. She was never going to get the smell out. She regained her composure and taunted the creature. “Darling, I’ve been drowned in the Realm of Seas. You’re going to have to do better than spritzing me with a little water,” Anjali cavalierly wrung out her hair for effect.
“So be it,” the woman replied.
The woman extended her arms again and a giant wave rose up into the air and crashed down through the hall. Anjali was swept up in the swell. She twisted and spun as the water rushed out into the rotunda. She was sucked through the doorway and was almost washed down the staircase. She grabbed the wall as the water rushed past her. She was finally able to wade through it when the water level decreased. She trudged through the water as her skirt floated around her legs.
Stupid water hag, she grumbled.
That’s when it dawned on her. She knew which water hag it was. It was the Rusalka, Skylis, their latest prisoner. Anjali had only ever seen her true hideous form. The monster had sharp pointed teeth that filled a rounded sucker mouth. She bit her victims to paralyze them so she could eat them while still alive. Her gray skin was withered and her black eyes were dead. She looked more like the creature from the bottom of the lagoon. The worst part was the smell. She thought the swamp water smelled bad, but the creature itself reeked of blood, and decay.
So much for not hurting the prisoner, she was going to rip her head off and hand it the Council, personally. No one attacked the Heads of Hell.
When she entered the hall again, she saw Skylis take hold of a very dry and pliant Hades and moved in to kiss him.
“Step away from him,” Anjali commanded, storming back into the hall.
Skylis was surprised to see her, but grabbed Hades by the neck. She held her nails against his throat as they extended into claws.
Anjali felt the darkness well up inside of her. She was tempted to remove her ring and unleash her power, but didn’t want to accidentally kill Hades when he was helpless to run. Instead, she used another weapon, one bestowed upon her by Lucifer, Hell Fire. While it was normally used to punish the creatures of God and the Rusalka was outside of God’s realm, fire was fire to a water hag, or so she hoped.
She raised her palms up and summoned the fire, which sprang to life in her hands. The flames grew as Anjali’s anger increased.
“A little fire won’t stop me,” Skylis chuckled, but there was a small flicker of fear in her eyes.
“Yeah, I have a feeling it will,” Anjali smirked. She launched two fireballs at Skylis without warning.
Unfortunately, the little minx was flexible and nimble. She let go of Hades and sidestepped the first fireball, then did a back walkover to avoid the second. She gracefully stood up and flipped her white hair to show that she wasn’t impressed by the attack.
Anjali looked around and took an inventory of the entire room. Hades’ black leather chaise throne had a wooden base. The various display tables along the walls were also made of wood. Then of course, there were the ugly red sheer curtains that hung from the ceiling on either side of the throne. They were certainly flammable. Yes, there was enough there to work with.
Skylis took a defiant step closer to reclaim Hades, proving that she didn’t see Anjali as a threat. Anjali distracted Skylis by making a run at Hades, who was still a few feet away from her. When she saw Skylis lunge toward Hades, she used her power to pull the throne forward and block Skylis’ path. She fell on top of it, confused by its sudden appearance. Anjali threw a fireball and ignited Hades’ throne.
Skylis screamed as the fire licked up the wooden base and ignited the leather. The fire engulfed the throne and burned Skylis. The second the fire touched her dress it shifted and became the gray skin that Anjali recognized.
“He’s going to be so pissed at me. He loves that throne,” Anjali muttered to herself.
Anjali quickly pulled the other wooden objects together with a few waves of her hand and created a circle around Skylis while she screamed and tried to scramble off the throne.
“Stop her!” Skylis screamed, though she no longer sounded like a woman, she sounded like an owl that had learned to speak. Her voice was shrill and high-pitched.
Hades turned and locked his empty eyes on Anjali. She wasn’t sure which was worse, angry Hades or robot Hades. She decided on robot Hades. There was no fun to be had in kicking the shit out of him when he couldn’t feel it.
He jumped down off the dais and swung his fist at her chin. He moved so fast that she wasn’t able to duck in time. She landed on her ass, stunned by the blow. Before she could move, Hades’ expensive black leather shoe came down on top of her. She grabbed it before it smashed her in the nose. She twisted his foot and kicked out his other leg, knocking him to the ground.
She got to her feet and threw a few more fireballs at Skylis, while trying to shake off the searing pain in her jaw and the ringing in her ears. She wanted to kill Hades, but knew it
wasn’t his fault.
Hades rolled and popped back up to his feet. He threw himself at her to tackle her, but she put her feet up and rolled him over her head. He landed on his back while she rolled to her side into a crouch. She had to figure out how to stop him.
If she hit Hades, he would retaliate once conscious. She needed him subdued.
“Kill her!” Skylis screamed, trying to jump through the wall of flames to safety.
Hades used his to power to whip Anjali around the room. She spun uncontrollably until the wall stopped her. By the time the world stopped spinning enough to see clearly, Skylis had gotten clear of the flame circle and was stalking an oblivious Hades. Instead of attacking Skylis, Anjali used her power to lift and pull the flaming throne on top of Hades to keep him from attacking again.
Skylis laughed when she saw her target immobilized. “Kill him for all I care. You will be doing me a favor. Once I’m done with both of you, I will find Lucifer and make him destroy your precious Council. No more of my kind will suffer in the Hall of Shadows once you are all dead!”
“I’m sure you’re not the first creature to come up with that plan,” Anjali needed to buy time until she could call for help. She had no idea how to stop Skylis.
Anjali watched Hades crumple to the ground under the weight of the burning throne. She knew Hades would hold a grudge, if he ever woke up. She felt guilty for burning him, but she needed to slow him down.
She threw consecutive fireballs in front of Skylis, pushing her back to the dais. Skylis lifted her arms to start the water works again, but Anjali threw one fireball at her head and one over her head. She quickly moved the wooden chair that Hades had once tried to seduce her in, and tossed it behind the retreating water hag. Skylis ducked the fireball to the face, but fell back onto the chair. The other fireball hit its intended target, the curtains. Skylis scrambled to get back to her feet, but Anjali flicked her wrist and sent the flaming curtains raining down on top of Skylis and the chair, lighting everything on fire.
Skylis screamed and writhed. Her dress vanished completely and revealed her horribly deformed body. She frantically fought against the burning curtains with her claws, ripping them to shreds. She raised her arms, hoping to put out the fire with her swamp water. The water filled the room, but it did nothing to the Hell Fire.
“Good luck with that, Hell Fire is waterproof,” Anjali splashed over to Hades who was groaning and shaking his head.
Hades moaned and then swore. He awkwardly pushed the burning throne off his singed body. He sat up and swayed, while holding his head. There were burn marks across his cheek and palm. His clothes were charred and his hair was disheveled.
Anjali waved her hand and extinguished the flames consuming the throne while throwing more fireballs at Skylis to keep her busy. She sloshed through the water and nearly tripped when she reached Hades.
He was dazed, but appeared to be free of Skylis’ spell.
“How many fingers am I holding up?” Anjali yelled, trying to make herself heard over Skylis’ grating voice. She wasn’t holding up any fingers.
“Fuck you, that’s how many. Why am I wet and burned?” Hades pulled his leg free from the last of the debris. He was trying to figure out what he did to deserve a throne to the face. He couldn’t remember doing anything bad to Lady Black, recently.
“Good, you’re coherent. Now, how do we kill her?” Anjali yelled as she pointed to Skylis. From the corner of her eye, she watched Skylis rip apart the last of the curtains and stand up. She was burned in multiple spots and her teeth were blackened. A look of pure rage contorted her ugly face.
“Shit, how did she get in here? Is she an early Christmas present?” Hades insinuated that Lady Black had set her loose in his hall. He looked over at Skylis, disoriented. Suddenly the throne to the face made sense. The swamp witch must have bewitched him. Perfect, he would never hear the end of it from Lady Black.
“No, but now I know what to get you. I found the two of you about to swap spit. She made you smile, sing, dance, and worst of all, giggle. Now, how do we put her down?” Anjali braced herself against another wave that crashed through the room.
“Seriously, she made me sing in front of you?” Hades cringed. “Fire will slow her down and make her reveal her true nature, but it won’t kill her. We need Celestial Bonds and dirt,” he gasped, coughing up water as they fought against the waves and threw fireballs when they could.
“I expected you of all people to have Celestial Bonds hidden within your domain. You must be losing your touch. How do I keep her from taking control of you again?” she asked as lit as many wooden objects as possible on fire and moved them closer to a flipping and jumping Skylis.
“Light me on fire. Just don’t take too much delight in it. I could plug up my ears, but then I’m useless to you. I would have no idea what you wanted me to do,” Hades threw a number of fireballs to keep Skylis from leaving the dais.
For every fireball Lady Black threw at him, he would release a foul creature into her room.
Anjali nailed Skylis in the head with an awesome shot. “We have to keep her contained. We’re screwed if she gets out of here. Wait, women aren’t affected by her power, are they? I mean, I sensed there was something different about her.”
“She is essentially a siren, a temptress. She preys on the weakness of men. Lucky for you, women are immune to her power. If she had be-spelled you, I would have let her eat you,” Hades shook his head, trying to get the water out of his ears as another round of waves slammed them into the side of the tower. There were locked in a standoff.
“I have no doubt you would’ve let me die. You’re just lucky I have a soul. Now, summon Katarina and Talya before she kills us both and finds Lucifer. Lucifer won’t stand a chance against the vixen with the long legs,” Anjali said, once she was able to get air in her lungs. She sent a stream of Hell Fire straight through the water as Skylis dove into the thigh-deep lagoon and swam for the exit.
“Katarina, Talya, I summon you!” Hades yelled. He blasted Skylis with fire, causing her to bank right toward the dais.
Within a few of moment, the two female angels arrived at the entrance to the Hall of Misery, eager to assist Lord Hades. Anjali saw their smiles quickly fade when they surveyed the room. They tried to avoid being swept away in the current.
Skylis glided through the rising water, doing her best to swim around the blazing objects in the room.
“Surround the Rusalka and keep her in this room! Use your Hell Fire!” Hades shouted as he and Anjali jumped out of the way of Skylis’ version of a shark attack. Hades had just given them permission to use fire outside of the realms.
Katarina and Talya were confused at first, but quickly saw the problem when Skylis leaped out of the water and tried to bite Hades’ leg. They formed a triangle with Anjali and kept Skylis occupied.
“I need to get out of here and obtain the items to stop her. Can you handle things without torching more of my shit?” Hades asked snidely as they kept Skylis from getting too close. He admitted to himself that he was afraid to leave Lady Black alone with the monster, but he knew from experience that she was tougher than she looked.
“I’ll do my best, but so help me God, if you leave me to be eaten by her, I swear I will come back and haunt your ass for eternity,” Anjali growled. She dove out of Skylis’ path so that Katarina could blast her with fire.
“Deal,” Hades said before taking a deep breath and diving under the water. He swam for the doorway as the three women covered his escape. Knowing what was at stake, he had to hurry before the enchantress had all the males in Hell eating out of her palm, including Lucifer.
Katarina watched Hades swim out of the hall, but didn’t say anything. Anjali wasn’t sure if Katarina was mad that he had left or afraid that he wouldn’t return.
The river hag attempted to grab their legs to drag them under and drown them.
“Look out!” Talya screamed at Katarina when Skylis launched herself into the air at
Katarina.
Katarina screamed, but was unable to dodge the attack. She fell backward into the water as Skylis tackled her and dragged her under.
Talya and Anjali looked at each other in disbelief. They both waded through the water searching for Katarina. The surface of the water had calmed, but it was too murky to see the bottom in the dim light.
Anjali felt something brush past her legs. She thrust her hand down into the water and connected with flesh. She dug her nails in and pulled. Katarina gasped for air as Anjali pulled her to the surface of the water. Not who she expected, but it was better than nothing.
Katarina was bleeding from her throat and chest; claw marks marred her beautiful skin.
“Bitch clawed me and bit me,” Katarina muttered before she collapsed back into the water. She was paralyzed from the neck down.
Anjali quickly pulled Katarina’s back against the front of her and held her head out of the water.
“Guess you should have been nicer to me. Now, be my second set of eyes. When she attacks, hold your breath and we will find you,” Anjali huffed, trying to keep them both above the waist-high water.
“Like I have a choice?” Katarina gasped.
Talya screamed as fire shot past Anjali and Katarina. Skylis was trying to sneak up on them from behind. Anjali had never been more grateful that Hell Fire only burned its intended target.
Anjali heard Skylis shriek when the fire hit her body. She turned but kept Katarina angled away from Skylis.
“Now,” she said to Katarina, dropping her into the water.
Katarina took a deep breath and sank into the dark water.
Anjali grabbed Skylis’ arm just as she leaped up to dive under again. She pulled her up and punched her in the throat, then in the gills. “That should keep your head above water,” she panted. “Find Katarina!” Anjali yelled to Talya.
The Third Throne: Angel of Death Page 26
