Hell Bound (Hellscourge Book 3)

by Diem, J. C.

  “Yikes!” Leo exclaimed and stumbled back a step, dragging Sam with him. The hound bared its fangs in disappointment that I was out of its reach. Instead of attacking me, it slowly drew back before turning away and fading from sight.

  Letting out a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding, I looked up at Nathan. He smiled in relief that I was intact and it took everything I had not to mash my lips against his. His eyes dropped to my mouth as if he’d read my mind.

  “I am so glad that you are back,” he said. “You were gone for so long that we were beginning to worry.”

  By my count, we’d been gone for nearly five days. Nathan put me down and I surreptitiously checked my forehead. Relief swept through me when I didn’t find any suspicious lumps. I checked my hands, but they were too dirty to see if my skin was a different color. “How long were we gone?” I asked.

  “Twelve days.”

  Alarmed to hear that, I felt my pocket for my cell phone then remembered that I’d left it in my room. “Zach will be wondering where I am.” His lips tightened at the mention of my boyfriend.

  “Do not worry,” Leo said. “I came to the rescue. I heard your cell phone make a noise and checked it to see that there was a message from your beau.” I must have left it on vibrate rather than silent. I made a face at the nickname they’d all decided to call him. It was ridiculously archaic and they used it just to annoy me. “I worked out how to use the device and sent him a message,” he added.

  “What did you say to him?” I couldn’t hide my trepidation. Leo was the most progressive of my friends, but he didn’t know much about how human relationships worked.

  “I told him you were feeling ill and that you would contact him when you felt better.”

  I reached over and gave him a hug. “Thanks, Leo. You’re the best.”

  “Did you locate the object?” Nathan asked.

  “Yeah.” I dug it out of my pocket and handed it to him.

  Closing his hand around it, he slipped it into his own pocket. “We should get back to our base,” he decided. “You look like you could use some rest.” I didn’t bother to tell him that I’d slept for two days straight. The rest I had in hell wasn’t the same as sleeping in my own dimension. I felt drained of energy and weary to my very bones.

  ₪₪₪

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Sophia smiled widely when she noticed that we’d appeared next to the table, but Brie merely scowled. The clairvoyant stood and drew both Sam and me into a hug. She winced at the smell that wafted off us. I could apparently repair rips and tears in hell, but I couldn’t make dirt disappear. “You should take a shower,” she suggested. “I will soak your clothes overnight and see if I can rid them of that awful odor.”

  “Thanks, Sophia,” I said with genuine gratitude. Once again, she was stepping up to take on the role of my foster mother.

  We trudged upstairs and I motioned for Sam to shower first. He took longer than usual, but I knew I would be in the bathroom for a lot longer than him. I stripped off in preparation and pulled on a robe.

  A soft knock came at the door and I knew who it was even before I opened it. Nathan stood in the doorway. Knowing it would be dangerous for us to be alone behind a closed door, he didn’t enter the room. “Did you sustain any injuries while you were in hell?”

  “A few,” I admitted. I held up a hand and stepped back out of his reach when he instinctively took a step towards me. “I’m fine now. The legion healed me.” My hand went to the scar on my abdomen. I could almost feel the rot spreading through me. The wound wasn’t bleeding, but it definitely wasn’t completely healed.

  “Are you in pain?” he asked me softly.

  “No. Not yet.”

  We both knew that wouldn’t last. The Wraith Warrior had ensured that I was doomed no matter which dimension I was in. If I stayed on Earth, my insides would putrefy. If I spent too long in hell, I’d take on the physical shape of a demon. I was in a lose-lose situation.

  “What are you two doing?” Brie asked suspiciously from behind Nathan. He turned to show her that we weren’t even touching.

  “We’re having a civil conversation,” I said with exaggerated patience. “That’s a skill you haven’t mastered yet, but don’t worry, you might eventually get the hang of it in another century or two.”

  Sam shut off the shower just in time to overhear my stinging barb. A chuckle sounded inside the bathroom and Brie cut a glare in his direction. “Hagith and Orifiel have asked to be updated with your progress. I will retrieve them while you have your shower.” She sent me a frown that wasn’t particularly scary since she had the young and angelic face of a teenager. “We will be back shortly. Do not keep us waiting.”

  She disappeared and Nathan flicked me a look. “When shall I advise Sophia to have tea ready for you? Will twenty minutes suffice?”

  “You’d better make it thirty,” I said with a grin. He really did know me well. Brie’s order for me to hurry had pretty well guaranteed that I would take my time. Besides, I had a lot of crud to scrape off my skin, not to mention to wash out of my hair.

  Sam emerged from the bathroom while I was watching my guardian walk away. Nathan sent me a sardonic look over his shoulder, as if he knew I was admiring the view. Pushing aside my hopeless longing for him, I waited for Sam to reach me before I spoke. “We should probably keep the fact that I’m turning into a demon to ourselves,” I whispered.

  If Hag and Orifice found out about this, our tentative alliance with them would be shattered. I already had enough enemies to deal with and I didn’t want to add any more to the list. I wasn’t sure how my friends would react if they knew. It was best to remain silent about it.

  He nodded in agreement. “I had the same thought. They will probably try to question me while you are in the shower. I believe I will stay up here and watch television until you are ready to join them.”

  Seeing the way he kept glancing towards the living room just across the hall, I narrowed my eyes. “You’re a TV junkie and you’re dying for your next fix.”

  His gaze slid away from mine and he assumed an innocent expression. “I do not know what you are talking about.”

  “The first step to conquering an addiction is to admit that you have one,” I said solemnly.

  “I am not addicted,” he insisted. “I can stop watching it whenever I please.”

  “Sure you can,” I said with a grin and stepped around him. “By the way, that’s what all junkies say about their addictions.”

  Stepping into the bathroom, I heard his rapid footsteps enter the living room. The TV came on even before I locked the door. Hanging my robe on a hook, I switched on the shower. It was impossible not to see the disturbing scar on my stomach as I did my best to wash away the accumulation of grime. Something stirred when I rubbed the washcloth over the thick black ridge. I had to press my lips together to hold in a moan of dread. I wasn’t sure if there was something alive in there or if it was just my internal organs reacting to the infection.

  It took even longer than I’d anticipated before I finally managed to get all of the dried sludge out of my hair. It was closer to forty minutes than thirty when I shut the water off. Drying myself off, I dressed in jeans and a hoodie then went to retrieve Sam. He didn’t even notice me standing in the doorway. His eyes were glued to the screen as he watched whatever had captured his attention. I hated to drag him away, but I needed his moral support for the grilling that I was about to receive. “Are you coming downstairs?” I asked.

  Tearing his eyes away from the screen, he heaved himself to his feet. “I have a lot of programs to catch up on,” he said, “but I will watch them while you sleep.”

  “You recorded them while we were gone?” I asked incredulously.

  His nod was sheepish. “It is actually quite easy to set the device to record automatically.” Sophia might not watch television very often, but she’d bought the required gadgets to be able to watch and record shows.

  “I’m goin
g to crash as soon as the inquisition is over,” I said as we headed down the stairs. “I’ll probably be out for hours.” Maybe I’d sleep for two full days just like I had in hell. I felt almost weary enough to fall into a coma.

  ₪₪₪

  Chapter Forty

  Wintry silence met us when we stepped into the front room. Hagith and Orifiel were standing side by side stiffly. Neither deigned to look in our direction until after we’d taken our seats. “I am sure you delighted in keeping us waiting for as long as possible,” Hagith said with her usual sneer. “It is proof of just how childish you truly are.”

  I looked her directly in the eye and stared at her without responding. The silence grew even more uncomfortable until Sophia shifted restlessly. “Violet? Are you going to share what happened to you in the seventh realm with us?”

  “Sure. Just as soon as Hagith apologizes to me.”

  The blond angel’s mouth dropped open and Orifiel looked aghast. “I will do no such thing!” she declared. “Briathos advised you that we would be here shortly. You should have had the decency to be ready for when we arrived.”

  “Have you ever been swallowed by a gigantic hellsnake?” I asked.

  She was taken aback by my conversational tone. “No.”

  “Well, Sam and I have and it did some pretty disgusting things to our hair and skin.”

  “Then there was the sludge from the swamp,” Sam added and shuddered. “That stench will linger for a while.”

  Leo was struggling hard to control himself and lost. Heads whipped towards him when he sniggered. Nathan was doing a better job of containing his amusement. He sat with his arms crossed, waiting patiently. A tiny smile played around his perfect mouth.

  Sophia knew I wasn’t going to budge until I got what I wanted. “Hagith, please apologize to Violet and Samuel. It appears that they have gone through some very trying ordeals. I am sure she will be happy to tell us the full story once you have appeased her.”

  Hagith struggled not to vent her frustration. Orifiel put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a meaningful look. Brie rolled her eyes at us all. “Please just apologize so we can all get on with our mission,” she suggested. She was far more polite to the angels than she’d ever been to me.

  Her back went even stiffer as Hagith mumbled something that sounded vaguely like an apology. I was going to ask her to repeat it, but Nathan caught my eye and shook his head in warning.

  “Fine,” I said with a huff. “This is what happened.” With Sam’s help, I relayed the story about how we’d infiltrated the prince’s palace. I told them that I’d tortured him for information about where he’d put the object. We carefully avoided any reference to my skin changing color or the horns that had seemed to be growing on my forehead. I also didn’t mention my questions about the angel souls that had been collected and what their purpose was. That was just between Sophia and me. Since I hadn’t learned anything, there was no point bringing it up anyway.

  “When we returned to the gate, we found an entire regiment of demons waiting for us,” I finished up. “I went with a hunch and asked the nightmares to veer away. After a mile or so, they stopped and I called out for the hellgate. Just as I’d hoped, it moved to our location. We were able to leave without taking the entire regiment through with us.”

  “A pack of hellhounds followed us into the shadowlands, though,” Sam added. “They almost came through the portal after us.” The Demon Lord, or his captain, would have had to challenge the gate and survive the nine trials in order for them to follow us. Even then, they’d only be able to take five lackeys with them. But I was pretty sure I was the only one who could use the shortcuts to Earth. Defeating the master gate had to be the reason why I was able to find the portals.

  “They would not have survived for long,” Orifiel said. “Creatures that were created in hell cannot exist in this realm.”

  That explained why the hounds had turned tail and had slunk off rather than leaving the portal and attacking us when they’d had the chance. The undead raven was different. It had been born here and had been taken through to hell by the Hellmaster to be his eyes and ears.

  “You have killed two of the Demon Princes,” Hagith said. “You have also found three pieces of this object of power.”

  I could have said something snarky about her ability to state the obvious, but Sam elbowed me in the side before the words could escape. “Yep,” I said instead. “That about sums it up.”

  “May we see the pieces?” She directed the question to Sophia, who nodded and pushed her chair back and stood. She took the stairs to the second floor and came back with a metal box. Putting it on the table in front of Brie, she waited for the teen to unlock it with a spell. Flipping the lid open, she revealed two tarnished silver metal pieces.

  Hagith took them out and put them on the table. Nathan added the latest piece that I’d found beside them. The edges were jagged and reminded me of a jigsaw puzzle. Hagith moved them around, trying to fit them together, but none of the pieces fit. “Can anyone make out what these images are?” she asked.

  They were so faint that they were barely noticeable. We all shook our heads and I lifted my arm that held the crimson bracelet and pulled the sleeve back. “They look a lot like the images that keep appearing on my bracelet.” I noticed that more images had appeared after I’d killed the second prince.

  Hagith and Orifiel stared at me in horror that was mixed with a tinge of fear. “Why did you not tell us about this sooner?” Hag said in a strangled tone and flicked a look at Brie. I’d forgotten that they hadn’t seen the color of my bracelet. It should have been golden in color. Instead, it was as crimson as my dagger. Sam’s was a dingy gray color, presumably because he was an imp.

  “I did not think it was important,” she said in self-defense. I’d tried to hide this development from them, but they’d obviously noticed the gradual change. Nathan had been aware of it. He’d been trying to help me keep this a secret.

  “In the future, you will advise us of anything that happens in relation to Violet, no matter how small you believe it may be.” Her tone was scathing. Exchanging a glance, she and her sidekick disappeared. Brie sent me a sullen look, clearly blaming me for her public reprimand. I had no idea which angelic order our allies came from, but they were clearly higher in the hierarchy than the rest of our gang.

  Sophia placed the metal pieces back into the box and Brie locked it again. They were apparently important to the Hellmaster, but I still didn’t know what they were or what their purpose was. It was all part of the puzzle I’d have to solve in my quest to stop the demon apocalypse from occurring.

  My mission had become even more urgent with the changes that were happening to my body. I still had six more princes to eradicate and six more pieces of the object to find. I’d also have to deal with the Hellmaster at some stage.

  Each time I was hell bound, I faced the danger that I would become the very thing that I was supposed to be fighting. All signs were indicating that I would eventually turn into a demon. I was in a race against time and I had no control over when I’d find the next portal to hell. I had to trust that Fate would guide me and that she wouldn’t abandon me to face my destiny alone.

  Titles by J.C. Diem:

  Mortis Series

  Death Beckons

  Death Embraces

  Death Deceives

  Death Devours

  Death Betrays

  Death Banishes

  Death Returns

  Death Conquers

  Death Reigns

  Shifter Squad Series

  Seven Psychics

  Zombie King

  Dark Coven

  Rogue Wolf

  Corpse Thieves

  Snake Charmer

  Vampire Matriarch

  Web Master

  Hell Spawn

  Hellscourge Series

  Road To Hell

  To Hell And Back

  Hell Bound

  Hell Bent, the fourth b
ook in the Hellscourge series, is due to be released on the 2 nd of August.

  If you would like to be advised of any new releases, please visit my website: www.jcdiem.com and sign up to receive my newsletter.