“They’re coming,” Laura announced to everyone. She smiled at Shelly. “I know they won’t give up on finding you so we are just going to leave you here, but not without a little parting gift.” She blew a handful of herbs in Shelly’s face. “Remember not, our faces blurred, our plans protected, no trouble stirred.” Then she lit another candle. Shelly got dizzy and everything in her field of vision got blurry. She felt lightheaded and fought the urge to pass out.
When her vision finally cleared, she was alone in the room, trapped in a demon confinement spell on the floor.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The mountains of West Virginia were beautiful, Jake thought as he and his two angel companions flew over them. The trees were thick and full of bright greens and reds, interrupted only by the cut of the river that ran down the mountain they were passing. He didn’t care if they had to inspect each and every house, barn, car, and warehouse in the entire United States, he was going to find Shelly.
He didn’t know when he went from hating her to caring so damned much, but it had happened. In fact, if he were completely honest with himself, he would say that he had never hated her. She had intrigued him from the start, with her smartass attitude and her unique red and golden hair. Her eyes were lit with laughter, even when she was pissed off. He was drawn in by her passion, and not just her passion in bed. She was passionate about everything she did. From running her realm in Hell to fighting to being obstinate about him belonging to her, she did everything at a hundred and ten percent.
He knew, just knew that he was closer to her on this side of the Earth. He had no way of explaining it, but he was certain Shelly was on Earth and he was getting closer to her. He is mine, he heard Shelly’s words in his head again. How many times had he heard those words in his mind? As much as he hated to admit it, the prospect had not offended him the first time she said it, and now, he knew it was true. He would never be one of her souls in Greed, but he was hers, just the same. He thought maybe he always had been. His neck tingled where she had left a mark on him while they were together. Jake had never been one for hickies, but this one he liked. It was her way of reminding him of her claim on him.
“Hey!” Antonio’s voice rang out over the wind, “you listening?”
Jake turned and looked back at the angel. “Yeah, what’s up?”
“Ash said we’re landing!” he barked back at Jake. Then he nose-dived toward the tree line. Jake shook his head and followed him.
He landed silently on the soft grass in a small clearing in the trees. Jake smiled as he realized that he was getting better at this whole flying thing. Ash and Antonio were already there, waiting for him. “Bout time you joined us,” Ash grumbled. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”
Jake pressed his lips together before answering. “I don’t really know,” he admitted. “I guess I'm just worried is all.”
“As well you should be,” Antonio replied to him. “I don’t know what is going on with Shelly, but a rogue demon is never a good thing.”
“She isn’t rogue,” Jake snapped at him.
“How do you know?” Antonio barked back at him. “She isn’t where she is supposed to be.”
Jake stomped over to where Antonio stood and got right up in that angel’s face. “I just know, ok. Back off.”
“You act like I insulted your woman,” he said. “You even look a bit pissed off because I even suggested it.”
“If we didn’t need you, I think I would kill you,” Jake growled at him. “Shelly is not rogue. She wouldn’t do this to us. Something has happened to her and whatever it is, she is in trouble.”
“I agree,” Ash finally added to the conversation. “I haven’t known Shelly long, but this is too far out of character for her. I don’t like it. Rogue or not, we have to find her.”
“Why don’t you try looking for her aura, like you did when Leanne went missing?” Antonio asked Ash.
Of course! When his younger sister had been kidnapped by demons just after Ash assumed power, he had looked for her aura and it led them right to her. It had led him to Elizabeth as well. It was worth a try.
“I don’t know if I can find her if she hasn’t been here,” Ash warned him.
“Try,” Jake said. “It’s all we got.”
Ash looked up at the clouds that were slowly inching their way across the afternoon sky and drew in a deep breath. Then he closed his eyes and lowered his head, clearing his mind of everything. Then, he concentrated on his demon.
Jake watched as patiently as he could. He hated that they were standing still on top of a mountain and not mobile in their search, but they had flown for hours without seeing hide nor hair of the woman. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other while Ash gathered his thoughts. A strong hand landed gently on his shoulder and he knew without looking that it was Antonio. The angel was lending him his strength and patience.
Ash’s eyes snapped open and he looked out over the land before them. He searched every trail and every ridge with his eyes before turning to Antonio and Jake. “I got nothing.”
“Damn it,” Jake snarled. The hickey on his neck started to tingle again and he rubbed at it. “Where the fuck is she? Can’t we get a fucking break?”
“What is that?” Antonio said, pointing to Jake’s neck.
“What is what?” Jake asked. “It’s a hickey. Haven’t you ever seen one before?”
“No it’s not,” Antonio said, coming closer for a better look. “I don’t think that's what it is at all.”
“Of course it is,” Jake said with a roll of his eyes. “Shelly got a little over zealous on my neck is all.”
“Ash,” Antonio called out to their leader, “you should see this.”
Ash came to look and smiled. “Well I’ll be,” he muttered.
“Would one of you please tell me what the fuck all this is about?” Jake growled. “We’re wasting time.”
“You should have told us,” Ash told him. “This would have been helpful thousands of miles ago.”
Jake was teetering at the end of his rope. “Told you what? I am not a fucking mind reader!”
“Hey, chill,” Antonio said. “We don’t want you setting the forest on fire. We’re talking about that mark on your neck. It’s not a hickey. Or it's not just a hickey. That’s a mating mark.”
“A what?”
“Shelly has claimed you as hers,” Ash said.
“Well duh, she told everyone I belong to her in Greed. Doesn’t mean I’m gonna go there.”
“No, my friend,” Ash said, “she has marked you as her own, as her mate. You can find her.”
Jake rubbed at his neck again. “You sure?” he asked. Antonio took out a cell phone and took a picture of the mark. Then he turned the phone so that Jake could see it. The mark that started out small was bigger than it had been before. And instead of being roundish in shape, it had taken on the contours of a small flame working its way up his neck. It looked deliberate, like a tattoo.
“You are probably the only one who can find her,” Ash told him. “Now, concentrate. Where do we need to go?”
Jake did what he saw Ash do earlier and closed his eyes. He concentrated on Shelly and her lovely hair, her fiery eyes, and her smile she wore like she had done something devious. He thought of the feel of her skin under his hands and the way she laughed. He felt a tingling on his neck and then a pull in his chest.
It was as if he were a puppet on a string. He knew which way to go. He opened his wings and shot into the sky, knowing the others would follow him. He followed the pull he felt to the east with the sun to his back. He was going to find her.
They flew over the mountains and toward the coast. Jake let his heart guide him through the changing landscape and then followed the river east. The further they flew, the closer he felt to her. He could almost smell her hair, could almost feel the touch of her hand.
Before long, they were back in the same city where they met up with the witch for the scrying spell. Damn i
t, Jake thought, they had been here. They had been so close and yet so far away at the same time. She had been under their noses the whole time. Anger boiled up in his chest but he fought it down. He didn’t have anyone to direct it at yet. Not yet, but soon. As soon as he found her and she was safe and sound, whoever was responsible for this was going to pay. He prayed she was safe.
Jake landed on the roof of an apartment building and stalked toward the stairs. “She’s here,” he said without looking back. Ash and Antonio were right behind him. He realized that he could feel them too. He didn’t need to see or hear them for confirmation. The men had formed some kind of bond during his short time as a guard and for that, he was grateful. He could feel their trust. Their friendship. It balanced out his temper that was only hanging on by a thread.
Jake plowed through the heavy door that lead off the roof and into the interior of the building. He maneuvered the stairs without fault. He broke into a jog on the second floor hallway. The pull in him was getting stronger and stronger, and his heart kicked up a notch as he approached a door.
It was just like any other door. It was painted brown and it had a deadbolt and a handle. The difference was, that as Jake laid his hand on the wood, he could literally feel her presence on the other side. “In here,” he said as he laid his head against the door. Please let her be all right, he thought.
He looked over his shoulder at Ash, who nodded. Then, Jake took the knob in his hand and wrenched it open. The deadbolt gave under his strength and the door splintered away from the frame. Jake threw it open and stepped inside the small apartment.
“What the fuck?” Antonio asked as he came in as well.
Jake’s sentiments, exactly. The room was a wreck. A lamp was knocked over and lay on the floor, its light flickering on and off, the furniture was all askew by varying degrees, and there was broken glass everywhere. There was a table in the center with herbs and two candles lit on it, but just beyond that, was Shelly. Jake’s heart did a little flip in his chest. She was alive. She was standing ramrod straight in the center of a drawing on the floor.
“Witches,” Ash growled as he rubbed at the chalk drawing on the floor. “Someone summoned her.”
“What?” Jake barked as he walked to her. Her eyes met his but she didn’t move a muscle. There was something very wrong going on here. Jake knew without a doubt he would never forget that look in her eyes. They were traumatized, haunted. “What happened?” he asked her, but she only stared back at him with that terrifying look.
“She’s under a spell,” Ash said as he finally rubbed one of the lines of the spell on the floor away. Still she didn’t move. “You’re free now,” Ash told her.
Shelly’s eyes only moved to meet her leader’s. She tried to convey her situation to him, but it was useless. She couldn’t move. Not a single muscle. She tried to make her feet move, she tried to make her mouth speak, but she was trapped inside herself, a prison made of her own skin.
“Damn it!” Ash shouted. “Blow those fucking candles out!”
Antonio moved to do just that, but Jake went to Shelly. He wrapped his arms around her stiff body and held her close to him. “I’m going to find who did this to you,” he promised her. “I’m gonna find them and I’m gonna kill them.”
As Antonio blew out the candles, Shelly was finally able to move. All of her limbs started going at once with the pent up energy that she had summoned before. Jake was almost thrown back away from her, but he held on strong. “Stop fighting me!” he shouted at her.
“Sons of bitches!” she growled. “Where did they go?”
“Calm down,” Ash said gently. “It’s all right, we’re here now.”
He laid his hand on her shoulder and Shelly forced herself to stop thrashing.
“What happened?” Jake asked her.
The look she gave him would have burned a lesser man where he stood. “I was summoned,” she said through gritted teeth.
“We figured that much,” Antonio offered. “By whom?”
Shelly yanked her head around to glare at him. “I don’t fucking know,” she replied. “I thought it was Ash,” she looked at her leader. “I let the spell take me because I figured it was you finally realizing you could do it. Next thing I know, I’m stuck in that fucking circle and I can’t hear anything or move.”
“Did you see anyone?” Ash asked her.
Shelly shook her head. “It’s like I can’t focus on their faces. It’s a blur. They must have done something to me. I know there were three of them.”
Jake was gently rubbing her arm while she talked, and he noticed a small puncture wound in the bend of her elbow. “What happened here?” he asked.
Shelly looked at the mark. “Beats me.”
“It looks like they took her blood,” Antonio said.
“Well, fuck,” Ash grumbled.
Shelly growled. “I swear I’m going to kill them.”
“I don’t understand,” Jake admitted.
“If they took my blood then they can call me again and again,” Shelly told him. “Not to mention any number of other things.”
“This is seriously fucked up,” Antonio said to no one in particular.
“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” Shelly snarled at him.
Jake heard a low growl that seemed to come from everywhere all at once. Shelly looked up into his eyes and he realized the feral sound was coming from him. His vision went red and smoke began to fill the room. “I will kill them,” he snarled, pulling her closer to his chest. Yellow and red flames began to dance up the walls and across the ceiling. The fire grew until the alarms went off.
“Shit,” Antonio barked. Out of habit, he started looking for an extinguisher.
“No,” Ash said, “let it go. It’s better if it burns anyway. Antonio, grab the laptop and anything else that might help us and Jake, take Shelly home.” He saw Antonio get to work on his orders and there was no sign of Jake. He didn’t have to be told to take Shelly out of there, it was already done.
Ash looked around the room one last time. The smoke was heavy and thick. No doubt the other residents of the building had already started evacuating. Once Antonio was gone and the fire was chewing up everything in its path, Ash flashed himself back to Hell.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Ash and Antonio returned to Hell with electronics in hand. They flashed immediately into Ash’s office. Ash knew before he had completely materialized that Elizabeth was already there.
“And what did you think would happen?” she asked. Ash turned and saw that she had pulled a chair up to the cage and was talking to the soul who had escaped Greed.
“I didn’t know,” Liam admitted to her. “I just thought I could help.”
“Hey, Liz,” Antonio said cheerfully, “What’s up my boo?”
Elizabeth turned and gifted Antonio with a warm smile. “Just talking,” she answered him.
Ash growled at his friend. “She’s not your boo,” he grunted under his breath. He knew that Antonio was just like that, but still, he didn’t like anyone calling his woman by a pet name. Especially that one. Who came up with that anyway? He should find that person and rearrange their brain for them, he decided. It would be doing the whole world a favor.
“Oh, that is where you are wrong,” Antonio grinned. “I love this woman to pieces. She can be my boo if she wants to.”
Ash knew that Antonio was just messing with him for fun. It was just the way the angel was. He was a fierce warrior, but damn if he didn’t try to get a rise out of Ash every chance he got. Ash knew better though. Antonio had his own mate waiting for him in Heaven when he was finished helping Ash get his guard together. “Don’t make me rethink that whole not killing you thing,” Ash warned him as he went to his mate. He held out his hand for her and she took it. Ash pulled her from her chair and wrapped her in his embrace. He stole a kiss from her lips and set her on her feet. “What are you doing?”
“I was just talking to Liam,” she said. “I missed you. Did you find
Shelly?”
Ash nodded. “Someone summoned her. They took her blood.”
“What does that mean?” she asked him.
Ash settled into his chair and pulled Elizabeth into his lap. “I’m not sure yet. We have their laptop and a few other things. We’re hoping that we can find out what their plan was by the information we get off it.”
Antonio had already taken a seat and booted up the laptop. “Yeah, that’s not going to be as easy as we thought,” he said without looking away from the screen.
“Why not?” Ash asked him.
“It’s encrypted. Pretty fucking good too.” Antonio tapped away at the keyboard but his brow furrowed deeply. “I ain't sure I can get into it. I don’t suppose you are computer savvy?”
Ash motioned for Antonio to give him the computer and he slid it across the desk. Ash typed at it for a moment, only to realize it was locked up good. “Damn,” he cursed.
“Yeah, that’s what I said,” Antonio agreed. “I thought you were good at hacking?”
Ash shook his head. “I am a novice at best,” he admitted.
“Oh, well,” Antonio said cheerfully. “I got this.” He closed the laptop and tucked it under his arm.
“What are you doing?” Ash asked him.
“I know a guy,” Antonio answered, as if that should explain it.
“The last time you said that my woman came back to me a vampire,” Ash reminded him.
“What, you don’t like me as a vampire?” Elizabeth said incredulously. “I thought you liked the fangs.” She grinned, exposing the teeth in question, and Ash had to will the shiver that ran down his spine into submission. Oh, he liked the fangs. He liked them a lot.
“I was just saying,” Ash said.
“I promise not to bring back a vampire computer,” Antonio vowed before taking the computer and disappearing.
Redemption (The Keepers of Hell Book 3) Page 9
