Keepers of Hell
Box Set
Books 1-7
Copyright 2017
Danielle James
“Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company.” –Mark Twain.
Savior
By Danielle James
The blood ran in a thick river down his forearm and dripped off his elbow as he held the demon off the ground by his throat. He didn’t care that he was bleeding. He didn’t care that the soles of his boots were slowly melting on the steaming floor of this hell. All he cared about was watching the life drain from the evil bastard he held in his hand. If he let go, the blood would run faster from the slash he had made in the thing’s neck. But where was the fun in that?
No, the fun part was watching the series of thoughts and emotions that crossed their ugly faces as he bled the life from them. Not that they deserved a life anyway. He got some sick enjoyment out of watching them go from confident and cocky, to surprised, scared, and finally, accepting their fate of death at his hands.
Yeah, he was one sick fuck. He knew it. He was going to Hell permanently one day and that was his own fault. But damned if he wasn’t going to take out as many fucking demons as he could before he made it his personal home.
Yeah, housekeeping. That’s what he was doing. Cleaning out the infestation before moving in.
He hadn’t realized when he made the deal with the demon that killed most of his family that the price would be his soul. He could still hear his mother’s screams as the demon raped and killed her. It then killed his father. He had sat in a corner behind the couch, cowering in fear, and watched it all. When the demon moved on to his little sister, he couldn’t hide anymore. He had thrown his ten year old body over his sister’s and bared his teeth at the demon. The demon, of course, had found it amusing.
He fought with everything he had in his little body. He still didn’t know what made the demon stop, but it did. It offered him a deal that he couldn’t refuse. The demon said that it liked his spunk and if he would agree to work for it when the time came, it would spare his sister’s life.
He hated his job, but he loved his sister, so the eternity of being covered in demon blood was completely worth it.
When the demon finally gurgled its last breath, Ash released his grip on its neck and allowed it to slump to the floor. It landed with a sickening thump and crumpled into a pile of mangled flesh and blood. Ash wiped the blade of his knife on his leather pants and slid it home into the sheath on his hip. He wiped the blood from his face with the back of his arm and started walking back the way he had come. He didn’t bother with cleaning up the mess he had made with the demon; because he knew about a thousand minions would be along shortly to devour every morsel that was left of it. In fact, he could already hear their scampering feet approaching.
Ash took the amulet he wore around his neck out of his shirt and softly chanted the spell that would take him out of hell and back to Earth. He felt his body changing from solid to something more like fog, his molecules separating and preparing to transport. Then for that glorious split second, everything was black. There was nothing to see or hear in that moment; no assignments from the boss, no bills to pay, no people looking at him as if he were some kind of freak. No, when he transported he was at peace, if only for a second.
CHAPTER ONE
Ash found himself standing in the middle of his own living room, surrounded by his own things. Not that there were many of them, but they were his just the same. His home had been a gift from the boss and had been built on unholy ground. At some point in time, there had been a mass murder on this land and it still carried the stench of evil within it. Of course, this made Ash’s trips back and forth to hell easier. It had become something of a portal, a place where the veil between this realm and hell had worn thin
He could transport from anywhere, but it was easier from his home. The amulet ensured that. It had been a special commission from a local witch. The demon had never told Ash his name and Ash didn’t care. He preferred to be called Boss, and that was fine with Ash. He didn’t want to be on a first name basis with that fucker anyway.
Ash removed his soiled clothes and dumped them into the trash. He would burn them later, after he acquired enough to make a decent bon fire. It was a good thing that the demon kept him supplied with leathers and weapons. But that had been part of the deal. Lele would be safe, Ash would do the demon’s bidding, and he would never want or need for anything. Her name was actually Leanne, but ever since she was born, Ash had called her Lele.
He took his knife holster off last. He took it to the kitchen sink and ran the water as hot as it would go before running the blade underneath the stream. Blood ran in rivulets down the drain as it washed away from his favorite knife. When it was clean, he dried it carefully on a soft towel and then took himself to the shower. He didn’t bother to place the blade back in the cabinet with the rest of them. No, this knife was special. The boss had given it to him on his last birthday. It was the Blade of Darkness. Supposedly, it had been used against angels back in the time when Heaven had been at war and the losing team was cast out. Those who weren’t sent immediately to Hell were cursed to walk the earth as unholy creatures, never to be seen by the human eye. Those lost angels spent their days influencing humans to do their bidding. Yes, it was true that humans had free will, but the Fallen could influence their decisions with a whisper in their head or just a nudge in the right direction. Insanity wasn’t something God created; it was the end result of the Fallen and their influence on mankind.
Ash contemplated this as the hot water sluiced down his torso. He didn’t look at the drain because he didn’t want to see the demon blood mixing with his own as it circled and drained. The connotation just didn’t sit well with him. He was not evil. Yes, he had to do what the demon told him to do, but not because of his free will. He had to do it because he made a deal and if he broke it, the price was his sister’s soul. Sometimes reminding himself of that fact was all he could do to keep himself from crossing over completely to the other side.
He hadn’t understood when he struck the deal with the boss so long ago. How could he have? He was only ten. He had been shaking like a leaf in the wind when he stuck his little hand out to shake the much bigger hand of the demon. He could still remember how enormous the creature had been. It was built like a human, two arms, two legs, a head, and even two feet, but that where the similarities stopped. The demon was a shade of red all over, as if he had been out in the sun far too long. He was bald on his head and there were black talons protruding from his fingertips. The thing Ash remembered the most, though, were his eyes. They were solid black. Even the parts that should have been white were black. It was as if someone replaced his eyes with shiny, onyx stones. After they shook, the demon disappeared. After a while, Ash began to believe that it had all been some figment of his imagination and that the demon was not real, but only something his mind had conjured to deal with having seen his parents brutally murdered. That was what the authorities believed. But on his eighteenth birthday, the rules had been laid out for him as clear as glass. He had lain awake in bed that night, unsure of what would become of his sister once he moved out of the foster home they had lived in for eight years. He had worked his ass off and graduated from high school a full year before any of his classmates, and he was due to start attending college in the fall. He planned on going into engineering, which would have made his father proud.
It was that night that the demon came back to him. It appeared at the foot of his bed with a satisfied sneer on his ugly face. “Hello, Boy,” it said into the dark room. Ash had nearly jumped out of his own skin before scampering backward on the bed until his back hit the he
adboard.
“What the hell?” he asked.
The demon laughed. “In a manner of speaking,” it replied. “You have grown up well,” the demon continued. “It is time to start your training.”
“Training for what?” Ash demanded. “Who are you and how did you get in here?” He knew that this thing was familiar, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
“How easily humans forget,” it said, and then it moved with lightning speed and picked Ash up and slammed him against his own bedroom wall. He heard the drywall splintering under the force the demon used to push his body against it. It held him there by the front of his shirt. “It is time for you to remember,” the demon said, staring into Ash’s eyes. He didn’t want to look at those black pools in the demon’s face, but Ash didn’t have a choice. He found himself swimming in them, surrounded by the blackness. And then, the memories had returned. All of them…. his parents…the deal.
“You will not be going away to college,” the demon snarled, “But to my house to learn your new duties. I will come for you. Tell no one, for that will break our deal and you will forfeit both your sister’s and your own soul.” It dropped Ash to the floor and disappeared as quickly as it had come. Ash was left gasping for breath and shaking in fear.
***
As the memories flowed freely, Ash soaped his body up again and scrubbed harder. He had done some nasty things since then, and none of them were worth being proud of. He killed whatever entity the demon demanded. The only thing he refused to do, and it was in the contract, was killing an innocent soul. He now spent his days and nights hunting the hunters. He killed to protect his sister, and he rationalized it by telling himself that all of his victims were evil and he was making the world a safer place. But that didn’t wash the blood off his hands, did it.
Finally, long after the water turned cold, Ash shut the faucet off and got out. He wrapped the towel around his waist and trudged to his room. He tossed open the closet door and yanked a pair of black jeans off the hanger, as well as a black tee shirt. But that really wasn’t a choice; that was all he owned. All of his clothes were black. He finished off the ensemble with one of a dozen pair of black, steel-toed shitkickers, and then went to run a brush through his dark hair.
He studied himself in the mirror. His hair had gotten longer over the last few months. He used to keep it short and neatly trimmed, but lately he did well to remember to brush it. Now, it lay against his shoulders and was wavy when it dried. The fine wrinkles around his eyes and across his forehead made him appear older than his thirty years. But what did he expect? He didn’t exactly lead a charmed life. He didn’t bother to shave the scruff off of his, face but brushed his teeth quickly and headed out the door.
***
Lele was waiting for him when he arrived at the restaurant. With the help of the host he found her table, and she stood to greet him. She smiled, and her beauty radiated from her. Ash felt his heart warm at the sight of her and he felt the inner rage inside him calm. She had always had that effect on him. His little sister was his whole reason for living, and one look at her never failed to remind him of that fact.
He kissed her lightly on her cheek and handed her the little gift-wrapped box he had picked up on the way to her.
“Ash, you look like shit, Brother,” she smiled at him.
“And you are beautiful as always,” he grinned back at her. She raised her hand to fluff his too long hair.
“Thank you,” she said as she took the box from his hands. “What is it?”
Ash pulled out his chair and sat down, and she did the same. “You have to open it,” he grinned.
Lele ripped open the paper and a wide grin spread across her face. She removed the necklace and immediately placed it around her neck. “Thank you,” she told him. “I love it.”
The small sapphire pendent sat perfectly below her collar bone and sparkled like his sister’s eyes. “Happy birthday,” he told her.
“So, what’s new with you?” she asked, placing her hands under her chin and training her eyes on his. He hated when she did that. He couldn’t lie to her when she zeroed in on him with those baby blues.
He shrugged his shoulders and gulped down a drink of water. “Not much,” he finally replied. “Just work.”
“You work too much,” she reminded him. “I just don’t understand how an architect can work so many hours.”
“Oh, it can be done,” he offered. That was his cover story. Architecture… a job that would take him out of town often and would require long hours and meetings that wouldn’t allow him to answer his phone. Of course, he had to have a good cover. Cell coverage in Hell was spotty.
Their server appeared at that moment, saving Ash from having to explain himself any further. Ash ordered his usual, a burger and fries. Lele shook her head at him, but didn’t give him her usual talk about how his diet was gonna kill him. Hell, his diet was the least of his concerns.
“I’ll have the filet, medium, the roasted vegetables, and a Caesar salad,” Lele ordered. The server took their menus and flitted off to send it to the kitchen.
“I have some news,” Lele said when the man was gone from their table.
“Oh really?” Ash asked. He smiled at her, but inside, he was worried. He didn’t like change, and from the look on her face, that was exactly what she was about to announce.
“I know how protective you are of me,” she started, fidgeting with her napkin. “And I am sorry I haven’t told you sooner, but I think now is the right time. I wanted to make sure.”
“Lele, what are you saying, what didn’t you tell me?” Ash asked cautiously.
Lele took a deep breath and let it out with a sigh. “I have met someone,” she finally blurted out.
Ash had suspected it was going to be something like that. He studied his sister closer than before and noticed a few things he had missed. She was glowing, from the inside out, her smile was quicker than before, and she seemed very relaxed. And, there was a ten pound diamond ring on her finger. “Who?” he demanded.
“Now don’t go getting your panties all in a bunch,” she told him as she sipped her drink. “He is very nice. He has a good job and he treats me like a princess.”
“Who. Is. He?”
“We have been dating for a while now,” she continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “I really think he is the one. No, I know he is the one.”
“Lele…”
“His name is Tucker. James Tucker. He is a doctor at the hospital.”
Ash was shaking on the inside. He didn’t like that someone had gotten under his radar and so close to his sister. What did this doctor want from her? Why was he too chicken to come and meet him in person? What had he been doing to his sister?
“Ash?” Lele said softly.
“Tucker,” Ash repeated. He would definitely be looking this man up and doing some research when he got home.
“We want you to be there,” Lele continued talking. Ash realized that he had been in his own little world while his sister had been telling him something important. “Are you even listening to me?”
“Be there for what?” he asked.
“For the wedding, silly!”
Wedding! Oh hell no! “Don’t you think it’s a little soon for a wedding?” Ash demanded, desperately trying to keep his cool.
“Ash,” Lele said in her no nonsense voice. “We have been dating for more than a year.”
A year! What the fuck kind of hole had he shoved his head in that he didn’t notice his baby sister had been dating for more than a year? He scrubbed his hand over his face and schooled his features to not show her the panic rising inside himself. “Does he make you happy?” he finally asked.
“Very,” she said with a smile.
“Then I suppose that’s all that matters,” he told her sweetly. She didn’t need to know that he was going to research this man all the way back through his ancestors, or that he just became Ash’s new person of interest.
She too
k his hand and squeezed. “I knew you would understand,” she said. “I want us all to have dinner so you can meet him and see what a wonderful man he really is. It means the world to me that I have your blessing. I want you to give me away.”
Ash tromped down the speech that was begging to get out of his mouth about how she was too young, too soon, too naïve… and just let his sister enjoy their birthday dinner in peace. He would deal with James Tucker later.
CHAPTER TWO
After Ash enjoyed his dinner with Lele, he watched her as she got into her car and drove out of the restaurant parking lot. He set out to go home, but instead, as he walked the dark city streets, his feet took him to Memorial Hospital. He just had to know more about this “James Tucker.” He didn’t have a plan as he entered through the emergency doors, only a mission.
He watched as the employees scurried about from one patient to the other, trying to make sure that everyone was taken care of, even though they were understaffed and over worked. Most of the staff in the ER was nurses, and he knew that his target was in fact, a doctor. Ash watched as they went through double doors that required a pass key to get into. That was the door he needed if he was going to get any information.
After scanning the room, Ash decided on a seat close enough to the door that he could move quickly when the time came. And it did come. A nurse was hustling by and scanned her key and then pushed the door open. Ash didn’t wait for another opportunity. As she entered, he walked right up behind her and slipped through the heavy doors before they could close again.
He found himself surrounded by activity. He walked down the hall as if he had a direct purpose, his boots echoing off the walls as he went. He knew that he was just oozing with malice, but could do nothing to stop it. Nurses subconsciously moved out of his way as he tromped through the ER. He passed one room after another. Sick man here, sick kid there. Hell, he could just feel the germs trying to chase him down. He hated hospitals.
The Keepers of Hell Box Set Page 1
