by Laurèn Lee
21
Liam left Charlotte in his bedroom, the dungeon, and locked the door behind her. While she was grateful for him to leave her alone, she couldn’t help but wish to be anywhere else. Even in the drab room well below the surface, the temperature easily reached well above one hundred degrees.
Charlotte pulled the elastic hair tie off her wrist and threw her greasy tendrils into a messy bun. She peeled her soaked t-shirt off her body and tossed it across the room. She stood there in her bra and tank top and wondered what to do next. She paced the room, her footsteps reverberating against the stone walls.
Charlotte sighed and sat on Liam’s bed. Even though she knew demons didn’t need to sleep, she wondered why he’d need a bed in the first place. Then, she realized and jumped off the comforter as though it were on fire itself. Gross! she thought.
Who knew how many she-demons Liam had taken to bed here. She didn’t want to know, though. The thought was grotesque enough to poison her mind.
Then, a rattling piqued her interest. Charlotte wasn’t sure where the noise originated from, but she wanted to find out.
“Hello?” she called.
Nothing.
“Is anyone there?”
The rattling returned. It sounded like metal banging against even more metal. Like a cage. Charlotte sidled against the walls of the dungeon, hoping to sense the noise grow louder so she could pinpoint it more clearly.
She reached the wall near the door and pressed her ear against it. It burned her at first, and she jumped back, holding her earlobe with care. When the pain eased, she knocked on the same spot. It was hollow. She knocked again, then pushed against it with all of her body weight. It budged, but just barely. She pushed again, her feet sliding against the stone floor. Finally, the wall creaked and opened like a garage door.
“Hello?” Charlotte called again.
Spider webs hung from the entrance to the secret dungeon within the dungeon, and Charlotte batted them away with fury.
“Who’s there?” a feeble voice called out.
“Uh, Charlotte. Who are you?”
“Charlotte Harper? It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
A lone chill hopped down Charlotte’s spine as a sense of familiarity poked at her instincts. “Have we met before?” She squinted her eyes as she stepped carefully, delving deeper into the darkness.
“Yes and no,” the voice said.
Hands clapped, and a flame appeared in the stranger’s grasp. The light illuminated the person or thing before her, making Charlotte gasp. Even hunched over, she guessed the man easily towered over six and a half feet tall. His hair, as black as night, stood on its ends like he touched a live wire.
“Who are you?” Charlotte asked.
“You don’t recognize me? You’ve seen me in your dreams.”
“Lucifer?” Charlotte’s voice barely audible.
“Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!” Lucifer choked and rubbed his throat.
“What happened to you?” she asked. “You don’t look as scary as I thought you’d be in real life. And how is the Devil himself stuck in this creepy hideaway? Can’t you get out of those chains?”
“Liam happened to me,” Lucifer spat, losing all the nonchalance from his voice. “And he used some kind of spell on the chains.”
“Join the club,” Charlotte said, pursing her lips. “Did you just say spell? What the heck is going on? Liam can use spells now?”
“Apparently he’s teaching himself a few simple ones. What are you doing down here, anyway?”
Charlotte shrugged.
“Come on! Share with an old, feeble man.”
“You’re not a man,” Charlotte said.
The flame within Lucifer’s hand barely blazed anymore. The fire was as weak as the Devil himself appeared to be. Charlotte noticed one of his fingers had an indentation around the top toward the knuckle. Must have been the finger where he wore his ring before Liam stole it.
“You’re right. I’m less than a man right now, caged up like a fucking animal,” he sneered.
“Did Liam do this to you?”
Lucifer coughed again and clutched his neck. “Aye.”
“I’m trapped down here too if it makes you feel any better.”
Lucifer yawned. “It doesn’t.”
“Why hasn’t he killed you yet?” Charlotte asked.
Lucifer turned his neck side to side, his cartilage cracking and popping. “He can’t kill me. If I die, the powers in my ring die with me. So, he’s keeping me alive, but barely.”
Charlotte nodded and slowly retreated away from the Devil, fallen and broken.
“Wait!” he called. “Where are you going?”
Lucifer rattled the chains anchoring his wrists to the wall. Charlotte looked over her shoulder and noticed the feeble desperation upon his face.
“It’s creepy in here. And I should probably figure out how to get out of Hell,” Charlotte said matter-of-factly.
“Please don’t leave yet,” Lucifer pleaded, struggling to speak. His voice transformed into a raspy squawk.
“Why? What do you want with me?” Charlotte narrowed her eyes.
Shivers coursed down her limbs just being in the same vicinity as Lucifer, let alone the same room. In the secret dungeon, not much heat circulated throughout the stale air. Charlotte struggled to breathe as well.
“To talk. It’s lonely in here all by myself.”
“You’re the Devil. Surely you can entertain yourself,” Charlotte said and stepped closer to the trap door back toward Liam’s room.
“Do you want to know why I sent Adriel to run you off the road?”
Charlotte stopped in her tracks, dread filling her body like a helium balloon about to explode.
“You’re toying with me. Nice try,” Charlotte said, her hand on the doorknob.
“Didn’t you ever wonder why I picked you?” Malice wove in and around each of Lucifer’s words.
“I don’t care. You just want me to stay, and I’m not falling for it!” Charlotte’s right foot stepped out of the hidden dungeon and into Liam’s room.
“You promised your soul to me once. Do you remember?”
Charlotte sneered. “You’re pathetic. I never sold my soul. I’ve only had a part of my soul stolen by one of your demons!”
“A demon you fell in love with,” Lucifer reminded her. “So, it couldn’t have been all bad.”
“Screw you, Lucifer. I hope Liam destroys you.” Charlotte nearly closed the door behind, enclosing Lucifer in darkness once again.
“Duffy!” he shouted.
Charlotte whipped around, stopping dead in her tracks. “What did you just say?”
“You heard me,” Lucifer called.
Charlotte stomped back. The dying flame in Lucifer’s palm barely illuminated her face, yet Lucifer could clearly see the fury etched into her expression.
“When you were a child, and your aunt fell ill, you prayed to the heavens to save your beloved Aunt Duffy. You said you’d trade your soul for a few more years with her. Only God didn’t hear you; I did.”
Charlotte’s jaw dropped. “I was only a child. How could you ever have heard my pleas?”
“The world is a mythical place. I cannot explain everything that happens above or below the ground.”
“So what? You heard me asking for my aunt to live a little longer. What does that have to do with anything?”
If Charlotte were a demon, smoke would surely have billowed out of her pores at this point. Her hands shook, and she tapped her foot on the stone floor.
“I granted your wish, Charlotte. Don’t you understand? Duffy lived for five more years, and I held your promise in my pocket. Only I decided to wait some years before collecting.”
Charlotte pressed her back against the wall and slid down. “Let me get this straight,” she began. “Because I asked for my Aunt Duffy to live longer and offered up my soul—as a ten-year-old—you thought that was a binding contract?!”
&
nbsp; “What can I say? I don’t always follow the rules. Sure, I didn’t get your signature, but you did promise.”
Charlotte’s hand fumbled across a large stone a few inches away. She picked it up and whipped it toward Lucifer, striking him in the jaw. He felt for the wound and laughed wickedly as a few drops of blood fell to the floor.
“Nice aim,” he said.
“This is bullshit!” Charlotte said. “I was a child!”
Lucifer shrugged, and his chains rattled. “It is what it is, dear Charlotte.”
“So, that’s why you had Adriel come and take a piece of my soul?”
Lucifer nodded, the gesture only just visible in the dim light.
“You’re despicable,” Charlotte spat.
“Demon here,” Lucifer said and waved.
“Then, Adriel wasn’t good enough for you, right? Because he’s actually capable of other emotions besides evil?”
Charlotte inched closer to Lucifer, ready to pounce if necessary. In his state, he could barely hurt a fly.
“He lost his touch, that one. Saving you and getting all gooey inside. It was unacceptable.”
“But once I was on your radar as an adult, that meant Liam was on it, too. Great choice in picking your next fearless leader, asshole,” Charlotte said.
“It seems I did make a grave error in judgment that time.”
“Sounds like it wasn’t the first,” Charlotte mumbled.
“I heard that!” Lucifer roared.
“Well, now that you got us into this whole mess, how do you plan on getting us out? How do you plan on getting your ring back from Liam?” Charlotte asked. She stalked back and forth, anger fuming through her mind.
“That is one dilemma I don’t have an answer to, I’m afraid,” Lucifer said.
Charlotte sighed, and while she could move freely, she might as well have chains wrapped around her body, too.
22
“Are you sure this is going to work?” Henley asked Adriel.
“Nope, but it’s our best shot,” he replied.
Adriel, Henley and Mary Elizabeth stood outside Liam and Charlotte’s condo on Lake Erie. Adriel forced Cyndy to stay back at the house, and Bentley promised to stay with her. Although, Bentley’s offer seemed quite suspicious since he shuddered any time someone mentioned Liam’s name.
Cyndy didn’t mind staying back, especially with Bentley as protection. Once he learned Cyndy would keep him company, his nerves seemed to melt away, too.
“I still don’t think this is a very good idea,” Mary Elizabeth said, her ivory dress flowing in the breeze rippling off the water.
“It’s the only way I know to get his attention. He has trophies in there,” Adriel said, struggling to speak the word “trophies” out loud.
“Here goes nothing, then,” Henley said, a light in one hand and a red can of gasoline in the other. She strode up to the condo and poured gasoline all around the foundation.
Mary Elizabeth and Adriel kept a lookout. However, no one was in sight. The sun had just disappeared under the horizon, and most of the neighbors in the area were already in bed or out for a night on the town at the newest rooftop bar or at one of the luxurious hotels downtown.
Henley returned to the side of the condo where Adriel and Mary Elizabeth whispered, “Ready?”
“I was born ready,” Adriel said.
Mary Elizabeth nodded, and Henley stroked the metal on the lighter until a flame burst from the end. She inhaled deeply and tossed the lighter onto the gasoline. Within seconds the flames appeared out of thin air and fed on the gasoline like a race car rounding a track.
She, Adriel and Mary Elizabeth jumped back as the condo ignited before them. They walked a fine line as they needed to stay long enough to know Liam would leave Hell, but not too long to be caught once the police and fire crews arrived.
Overhead the sky darkened with black clouds, and thunder roared into the night. A flash of lightning struck the lake, and Mary Elizabeth grabbed Adriel’s arm.
“He’s coming,” she whispered.
Charlotte promised Lucifer she’d help him out of his chains as soon as she could, but she couldn’t stand to be in the hidden dungeon any longer.
“This place really gives me the creeps,” she said. “But maybe I can find the spell Liam used to bind you to free you?”
“Darling, you’re in Hell. It’s not a comfortable B&B in the Hamptons.” He stared at her with a laser-beam gaze but accepted her promise to return. “Don’t leave me in here too long. I don’t like it much either.”
When Charlotte finally closed the secret door behind her, she gazed at the empty room. A single snake slithered across the floor, making Charlotte screech and jump onto the bed. “Go away!”
The snake wormed its way to the bed and looked up at her with curious eyes. Almost as if it understood what she was saying.
“Please leave me alone,” Charlotte begged.
The slimy neon scales disappeared from view, and Charlotte regained her position with her foot firmly on the ground.
What to do now?
The door to the dungeon flew open, and Liam poured inside. His eyes bulged from his head, and his blond hair sat askew and out of place.
“What’s going on?” Charlotte asked, unimpressed.
“Our home. The condo. It’s burning down!” For the first time in quite a while, Charlotte sensed more emotions coursing through Liam besides evil and wrath.
“What?” she squawked. “What do you mean it’s burning down?”
“Did you not hear me, woman? Someone set it on fire! I have to go try and stop it.”
“Well, why are you telling me this? Why not just go? You don’t have a minute to waste with the time difference!”
“I need to do one thing first,” he said. “Turn around!”
“Excuse me?”
Charlotte crossed her arms over her body, a gesture she often performed in Liam’s presence. Her heart raced, blood rapidly pumping through her veins.
“I said turn around, damn it!”
Not wanting to argue, Charlotte did as she was told; however, she had a feeling of what Liam was about to do. A click echoed in the room, and Charlotte knew Liam opened the secret door. Little did he know she was already aware of the hidden compartment in his room. She could have told him this, but why did he deserve to know any of her secrets?
“What are you doing here?” Lucifer seethed. His voice is barely audible from inside the secret dungeon.
“I need a favor,” Liam said as he slipped inside the room.
Without her ex-fiancé’s eyes still on her, Charlotte whipped around and tip-toed to the opening of the dungeon to eavesdrop.
“I will do no such thing,” Lucifer commanded.
“Oh, yes you will,” Liam said through gritted teeth. “You obey me now, remember?”
Lucifer rattled his chains and hollered at the top of his lungs. A few pieces of the dungeon wall fell to the ground with a large thud.
“You will do this for me, or I’ll increase your torture tenfold,” Liam threatened.
“What do you think you’re going to make me do now? Huh? Going to make me kill a few more of my own kind? Make me feed on human flesh again? Torture our kin until they beg for eternal death?”
Liam chuckled. “No, I need you to watch over the Underworld for a very short time in my absence.”
Lucifer whistled. “And why would I do that?”
“Quiet, old man!” Liam roared. “This is not a debate. Either agree or die!”
Lucifer twisted his wild beard with his long fingers and answered, “Fine. For how long?”
“As long as I need you to. And,” Liam began, “you cannot do anything to sabotage my throne!”
“As you wish, my liege,” Lucifer said and bowed.
Liam whispered and waved his hands before Liam. A pulsing aqua orb formed in the palm of his hand and twinkled in the darkness. Goosebumps prickled Charlotte’s skin as she watched Liam cast a spell before
her very eyes.
The orb bounced in his palm and eased itself into the air on its own accord. It floated toward Lucifer, and Charlotte could see the Devil close his eyes and clench his fists, preparing for the blow. But it never came. Instead, the ball of light kissed the chains, and they melted until Lucifer’s wrists were freed.
Lucifer half-opened one eye and sighed a breath of relief to know he was still alive.
“I must go now. No funny business, old man,” Liam said.
Lucifer nodded without firing back a racy quip. Charlotte scurried back into Liam’s room and faced the opposite wall, tapping her foot.
“You can look now,” Liam said as the trap door closed behind him.
“Wow, really? What an honor,” Charlotte said.
She turned around to face Liam. She pursed her lips, and he launched himself toward her. Charlotte, aghast, stepped back, but Liam came so close, she could feel his warm breath against the nape of her neck.
“You need to learn manners, love.”
“You need to learn about personal boundaries,” Charlotte snapped back. “I can smell the she-demon pussy on your breath.”
Liam chuckled, picked Charlotte up from her underarms and tossed her like a doll onto his bed. The air escaped her lungs out of pure shock. By the time she landed on the silk sheets, Liam had disappeared.
23
Adriel, Mary Elizabeth, and Henley hid behind Liam’s vehicle in the driveway. The sirens grew louder, approaching from all different directions. If Liam didn’t arrive soon, they’d have to vacate the premises before getting caught.
“I don’t think he’s coming,” Henley said. “He’s too busy being the King Dick of Hell to care about what happens to this place.”
“He’ll come,” Adriel said.
“I think so too. I saw the basement. A truly evil soul wouldn’t want to lose those mementos.” Mary Elizabeth shuddered and recited a prayer softly under her breath.
A quick pop burst into the air, and smoke rose from another area beside the condo: Liam had arrived. Henley gasped, and Adriel covered her mouth with the palm of his hand, which was covered in ash and dirt.
