Hell Hath No Fury (Hellscourge Book 8)

by Diem, J. C.

  A hint of a smile appeared on his gorgeous face. “Why do you think I was beaten so badly?” he asked. I tensed with hope and he put me out of my misery. “No matter what she did to me, I refused to bed her. I told her I would rather be strangled with my own entrails than to satiate her monstrous desires.”

  He was so small and fragile that I’d probably crush him if I tried to hug him right now. I contented myself with taking his hand and choked back tears before they could fall. “I’m so happy to hear that,” I said and it was his turn to be somber.

  “Where did you go when you fled from Hagith and Vepar?” he asked.

  “I went to Zach’s apartment.”

  Disappointment entered his eyes. Withdrawing his hand, he looked away from me. “I am sure Zachariah took great pleasure in consoling you.”

  “Actually, he was only trying to get me naked so he could harvest my essence.” His eyes snapped back to me at that. “It turns out that he’s a Nephilim and his father was the Prince of the ninth realm.”

  Nathan’s mouth dropped open, but nothing came out. He was as shocked to hear this as I’d been. He remained silent as I told him the entire sordid tale. When I was done, he held his hand out to me and I took it again. “While I am saddened for the pain and suffering you went through, a selfish part of me is glad that I no longer have a rival for your affections.”

  “He was never really a rival,” I said with a sigh. “My demonic side lusted after him because I think it sensed he was just like me. You are the one I’m in love with.”

  His smile was breathtaking, but he shook his head. “You are nothing like Zach. He is as evil as the creature who spawned him. Even though you are wearing the guise of a Demon Princess, your heart is still pure.”

  I appreciated his sentiment, but my heart was far from pure. It was filled with hate and rage at the monsters who had destroyed my life. My determination to kill the Hellmaster came back with a vengeance. I silently vowed to find the final two pieces of the object of power. I’d somehow get the other pieces back from Hag and forge them into the weapon that I’d been promised. I was going to put an end to my ultimate nemesis once and for all, or die trying.

  ₪₪₪

  Chapter Forty-Two

  I’d grown accustomed to the heat from the flowing rivers of lava that dotted the wastelands, but Nathan was struggling with it. The closer we drew to the nearest volcano, the worse the heat affected him. Sweat dripped down his face and body to dampen his clothes.

  It took us a few days to reach the base of the volcano. Ash rained down steadily and bright orange lava flowed down its sides. When we stopped, Nathan climbed out after me. He raised a hand to shield his eyes from the view. We were a few hundred yards away from the river of lava, but it was still too close for him. “Promise me that you will be careful,” he said. He had to tilt his head back to speak to me.

  After his initial reaction to seeing my face, I’d refused to take my helmet off again. He couldn’t see my trepidation as I knelt to gingerly hug him. “I promise,” I replied. “I’m going to sneak into the cavern as quietly as a mouse, or one of the giant rats that infest the cities here. I’ll be back with the hunk of metal before you can even miss me.”

  I stood before I could lose my nerve and trotted closer to the volcano. None of the demons who were trapped inside me were stupid enough to have been inside a leviathan’s nest. They couldn’t offer me any guidance, which meant I had to follow my instincts.

  Seeing a clutch of boulders, I headed towards them. I found a wide tunnel angling downwards just beyond them. Seeing gigantic cloven hoof prints, I knew my instincts were steering me in the right direction and entered the tunnel.

  Calling on my dagger, I clenched my hand around it. I glanced at it periodically to check whether the blade was glowing as I descended. The sounds of deep breathing grew louder with each step I took. Only something of a considerable size could make that much noise when they breathed.

  The tunnel levelled out a couple of hundred yards beneath the surface. Heat and light emanated from a huge cavern ahead. Pools of magma dotted the ground and leviathans were crowded around them. One hundred feet tall, unlike most creatures in hell, their skin was red. Only their hooves, gigantic horns and wings were black. They wore loincloths made of black leather to cover their nakedness. Their wings were wrapped around their bodies and their heads hung down so their chins rested on their chests.

  Peering up at the sleeping giants to monitor their faces, I wended my way through them as quietly as I could. If I made any noise at all, they’d awaken and stomp me into mush. It wasn’t easy to keep my distance from them. There were over a hundred of them crammed into the cavern and they stood shoulder to shoulder sometimes. My blade remained dull silver, indicating that I was still safe, for now.

  Movement high above drew my gaze upwards. I froze when I realized leviathans weren’t the only creatures that were calling this cavern their home. Large bat-like creatures hung from the ceiling. Their claws were dug into the dirt to keep them in place. One lifted its face out of its wings and I saw the flat snout of a vampire bat.

  Waiting for the hellbat to settle down again, I continued my search. The cavern was so large that it took me nearly an hour to work my way to the other side. Spying a glimmer of dull silver near the far wall, I headed towards it. The tarnished piece of metal that I’d come in search of lay directly between the feet of a leviathan. It was on the far side of a pool of magma and was flanked by two equally large monsters. They surrounded the pond, leaving me with a small gap to work with. I’d have to leap over the magma to retrieve the object.

  Another gargantuan was standing behind me. I backed up to it as close as I dared then ran towards the pool. Leaping over the thirty-foot wide pond, I landed between the leviathan’s feet with a thump. The creature stirred at the noise and I froze in place. Both giants on either side of it shifted slightly before they settled back to sleep.

  When the leviathan looming above me finally started breathing heavily again, I slowly bent down and picked up the object. I concentrated and it disappeared to join the other items that were magically hidden beneath my armor.

  Turning to view the pool of magma again, I didn’t have as long a run up this time. My back was already to the wall and I didn’t think I’d be able to clear the distance. I had little choice but to use my wings. Unfurling them, I was careful not to brush them up against the leviathan as I sprinted towards the magma.

  Leaping into the air, my wings flapped noisily as they carried me over the deadly pool. All around me, leviathans stirred. Landing on the ground, I pulled my wings in tightly and froze in the shadow of one of the giants. Gigantic scarlet eyes opened sleepily, searching for whatever had caused the disturbance. Before they could settle back to their slumber, a piercing shriek came from above. One of the vampire bats had woken up and it was staring straight at me. My dagger blazed scarlet in response.

  “Uh, oh,” I breathed then started running when it dropped down from the ceiling. Looking over my shoulder, I almost stumbled when a huge hand snatched the bat out of the air. The leviathan crammed the creature into its mouth. Muffled cries of pain were soon cut off as it chewed then swallowed.

  More and more of the behemoths woke up and were grumpy at being disturbed. One of them saw me and bellowed loudly enough to almost shatter my eardrums. Alternately sprinting around or gliding over the pools, I headed for the exit with a hundred leviathans on my heels. Flying around their heads, the bats also went on the chase. They’d caught my scent and were salivating at the chance for a meal. Hands smacked some of them out of the air or caught them and stuffed them into mouths, but the majority of them were zooming towards me.

  Reaching the tunnel, I bolted for the surface. My nightmares had come at my frantic call and Nathan threw the door open for me when I burst out into the open. I dived inside and the shadowy steeds took off even before I pulled the door shut.

  Nathan squeezed onto the seat next to me. We watched throu
gh the back window as hellbeasts erupted from beneath the ground. Spying us, the lead leviathan threw back its head and bellowed in rage. “I hope your nightmares can outrun those creatures,” Nathan said fervently.

  I’d been hunted by leviathans before and I knew they wouldn’t be able to keep up with us for long. The bats were more of a concern. We easily left the lumbering behemoths behind, but the vampire bats continued to follow us.

  Ignoring their own need for food and rest, the nightmares continued their mad gallop for several days before they had to stop. When they came to a halt, we climbed out and I called on my hounds. All thirty-six of them appeared just as the bats descended. Four of the dogs moved to guard Nathan as he crouched down to make himself a smaller target.

  My axe sheared through thin wings and hairless bodies as the frenzied creatures tried to swarm over me. Instead of fleeing to the nowhere lands, the nightmares left the carriage and joined the battle. Using their fangs and claws, they reared up and tore into the winged pests. The bats had my scent and they were focused on trying to drain me dry. Unfortunately for them, I was completely covered in impenetrable armor.

  There were nearly fifty bats swooping at me. One landed on my back and its teeth screeched on the metal that guarded my neck. Two of my alphas latched onto it and tore it off me. They savaged it to death while I swung my weapon to fend off another of the annoying creatures.

  Hearing a sound of pain coming from Nathan, I spun around to see a bat trying to wrap its wings around him. One of its claws had dug into his back. It was trying to pull him closer as it hovered in the air. My hounds were leaping at it, trying to get to it without hurting him.

  Enraged at seeing my guardian in peril, I leaped at the offending hellbat. Afraid to use my axe when I was so close to Nathan, I punched the thing so hard that its head came off. My roar of fury was so fierce that the few remaining bats flinched away. Turning tail, they abandoned their hunt and retreated towards their lair.

  Turning to Nathan, I knelt beside him. Blood poured from the wound in his back, but it was already slowing. If we’d been on Earth, he would have healed far faster than this even without his essence. Being in hell had weakened him, just like it weakened my angels. He might not have his grace, but his body was still infused with some of it. “I will be fine,” he said with a weak smile. “You have turned into quite the warrior.”

  “That was nothing,” I joked. “You should see me when my wrath takes over.”

  “I am looking forward to it,” he replied then his eyes fluttered shut as he passed out.

  I caught him before he could sprawl to the ground. Studying his face, even with the faint white scars the raven had left on his right cheek, he was still perfect to me. I would make whatever sacrifices I had to in order to make him whole again. It wasn’t just because he was the only one who could retrieve my soul. I wanted to restore him to his former glory, even if it meant we could ultimately never be together the way we both wanted. My need for him to become the man I loved again outweighed my selfish desires.

  ₪₪₪

  Chapter Forty-Three

  It was a long trek to the wall that enclosed the second realm of hell. Since this was my first journey here, I had no idea where the gate was that would lead us to New York. Despite everything that Fate had put us through, I had no choice but to trust that she would make sure we were heading in the right direction. Nathan slumbered in my arms as I trudged through the wasteland. With the danger gone, my hounds and horses disappeared back to the nowhere lands for now.

  Nathan woke up after an hour or so and insisted on walking. I could see the cut on his back through the hole that had been torn in his sweater. The wound was beginning to close, but it still had to be painful.

  After a few hours of rest, the nightmares returned. Alternating between riding and walking during the next week and a half, we were on foot again when the gigantic black wall finally came into view. When we reached it, there was no pathway or any sign that a gate had ever been used in this area. Mentally crossing my fingers, I spoke. “Are you there, hellgate?”

  A section in the wall in front of us shimmered and a gate appeared. Eyes and a mouth formed as two stone gargoyles peered down at us. “This is an unexpected surprise,” the gate said as he examined us. “Should I be honored that Hellscourge herself is paying me a visit?” His mouth shifted into a parody of a smile, but his eyes remained expressionless. “I see you now have what appears to be a human following you around instead of an imp,” he added, switching his gaze to Nathan. “I would not classify that as much of an improvement.”

  “You’re hilarious,” I said and rolled my eyes. “Which city do you lead to?”

  “I lead to a quaint little area of Manhattan,” he replied with a nasty grin. “In all the eons that I have existed, no one has ever used this particular portal before.” His grin widened fractionally. “I am sure you will enjoy the experience enormously.”

  I exchanged a look with Nathan to see his concern. The gate’s smug expression told us that there was a reason why no one had ever used this location to enter or exit from New York before. He clearly wasn’t about to ruin the surprise. “Open up,” I commanded.

  “With pleasure,” he replied and a crack appeared in the middle of his face. Groaning in protest, rusty hinges eventually allowed the gate to swing open just enough to let us through.

  We stepped through the opening and he immediately began to close again. Mist swirled around Nathan’s knees and my hooves as we walked through the gloom. It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to the dimness. The second realm of hell had been almost too bright, thanks to all the lava that flowed across the wasteland.

  “What is your plan for when we return to Earth?” Nathan asked when we were about halfway to the portal. It was a topic that I’d avoided simply because I didn’t have much of a strategy at all. “We both know what will happen once you step through the portal,” he added.

  The toxin would spread through me again and I’d most likely die. I’d almost expired the last time I’d left the shadowlands. Leo had managed to zap me with holy fire in the nick of time. Now that he was a captive, I wouldn’t be able to summon him to me. Hag and Orifice had made sure of that with the wards they’d placed in their cells and around their warehouse.

  “I was hoping you might have some ideas,” I confessed. “Our friends are probably all prisoners by now. Even if Sophia hasn’t been captured, she doesn’t have the ability to use holy fire on me.”

  Nathan was in the same predicament as Sophia now. Without his grace, he’d lost his magical abilities. “I will go in search of an ally who can purge you of the toxin,” he said. “With luck, Brie, Domiel and Jeduthun have not been discovered as our spies. They will have to go out on patrol at some stage. I will try to gain their attention and lead them back to you.”

  “I guess we don’t have much of a choice,” I said unhappily. “You’ll just have to be careful not to be spotted.” If Hag and Orifice took possession of him again, they’d probably hand him straight back to Vepar. He’d already suffered enough because of them. All three were high on my list of enemies now. I’d whittled down some of my foes, but there was still an annoying number of them left for me to deal with.

  We continued on and at some stage the ground changed from hard dirt to cobbled stones as the walls of the portal closed around us. Yellow lichen covered the damp walls. I was too big for Nathan to be able to walk beside me. I let him take the lead just in case something tried to sneak up on us from behind.

  It was strange to approach the portal on foot rather than on the back of a nightmare. At least I didn’t have to worry about being bucked off this time. When we reached the end of the passageway, I was doubly glad we were walking. Instead of a normal wooden door, this one was made of metal. If we’d been propelled towards it, Nathan would probably have suffered broken bones upon impact.

  Nathan turned sideways to let me slip past him and I called on my dagger. Using my blood, I drew the
rune to unlock the door. The handle was as pitted with rust as the door itself and it shifted with a reluctant squeal. The moment I pulled the door open, I recoiled from the stench that wafted inside. “Ugh! What the hell is that smell?”

  “I believe it is sewage,” Nathan said. His nose was wrinkled in distaste as we peered through the opening. A long tunnel lay ahead. Noisome brown liquid, that appeared to be several inches deep, slopped over the doorway. Seeing movement, I watched as a rat swam through the sludge as it fled from us. Small ripples spread out, causing the sewage to spill into the portal.

  “I can see why no one has ever used this doorway before,” I said in disgust. “It would be hard to stumble across it down here.”

  “We are lucky we found the hellgate that led to Manhattan. Unless it was lying to us.”

  “I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure we’re back in New York.” I pointed at a sign that I could see at the far end of the tunnel with the initials ‘NYC’. Fate had ensured that we’d returned to the city where the apocalypse was scheduled to commence soon.

  Pricking my finger again, I drew the rune on the other side of the door, glad that it opened inwards. The moment I stepped into the tunnel, my illness would return with a vengeance.

  Nathan stepped in front of me and looked up at me. “I would like to see your face before I leave,” he requested.

  “You already know how ugly I am,” I said sorrowfully. “I don’t want to put you through that again.”

  “I admit I was startled for a moment when I first woke, but I am past that now.”

  With a sigh, I willed my helmet away. Nathan studied my hideous face then stretched his hand up towards me. Knowing what he wanted, I knelt in front of him until we were eye to eye. He pressed his palm against my cheek and I closed my eyes at the sensation as warmth spread through me. Leaning forward, he pressed his lips against the blackened skin of my cheek. “You will always be beautiful to me, no matter what form you wear,” he said.