The Keepers of Hell Box Set

by Danielle James

  Antonio chuckled. “You can. You have the appropriate appendages to do it. But, you gotta learn to fly before you can just leap into the air and take off.”

  Ash was still embarrassed. He was the leader of Hell. Hell! Yet he couldn’t fly. He let out a heavy sigh. “Ok, then what do I do?”

  Antonio shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know that there is right or a wrong way to do it. It’s different for everyone.”

  Ash was going to punch him. In the face. Probably with the sword that was hanging at his hip. He squashed the urge and tried to speak calmly. “Aren’t you supposed to be here to help me?” he asked more than a little irritated, “because right now, you ain’t much help.”

  Antonio smiled at him. Fucker.

  “Just tell me what you did to learn to fly?” Ash said through clenched teeth.

  “I just imagined myself in the air,” Antonio said. “Then I started to beat my wings and poof! Airborne.”

  “Poof,” Ash repeated. This angel/warrior/vampire was going to be the death of him, Ash just knew it.

  “Try beating your wings,” Antonio said.

  Ash did it. He told his wings to spread and they did as he commanded. He raised them and pushed them down several times. “Good,” Antonio said. “Now do it harder, like you’re pushing the air down with them.”

  Ash pushed his wings harder. He started to kick up a good breeze with them. “Harder,” Antonio said. “You ain’t gonna break them.”

  Ash pushed harder, until he was making enough wind to toss the angel’s hair around. “Keep it up!” he heard the angel say. “More!” now the angel was shouting.

  Ash pushed and pushed with his wings. He pushed hard enough that the force lifted his body from the ground. He kept beating his wings against the air. Higher and higher, he rose into the sky.

  “Great!” Antonio grinned at him. He was in the air as well, but it seemed like he was using a lot less effort than Ash was.

  “Ok,” Ash called loud enough to be heard over the wind, “Now what?”

  “Now you tilt yourself forward and go!” Antonio said, just before taking his own advice and shooting across the sky with ease.

  Ash watched him go half a mile in about a second or two. Then he did as the angel said. He tilted himself forward by pushing his legs back and his head down and… tipped all the way over. He was still beating his wings, so as his head lowered and his feet went back, the force of his wings propelled him faster until he was feet up in the air and head to the ground. He flailed his arms and righted himself, but couldn’t stop fast enough and was tossed over again. And again. He was spinning in the air like a fucking pinwheel. He could hear the laughter coming across the skies and getting louder as Antonio got closer. At least, the angel was going to help him.

  Or so he thought.

  “Pinwheel, pinwheel, spinning around,” Antonio sang.

  “Would you please help me?” Ash shouted. He was starting to feel sick.

  “What do you want me to do?” Antonio asked. “If I grab you then I am going round with ya! I can help once you get a hold on your directional difficulties.”

  “How do I fucking stop you idiot?” Ash bellowed. “I’m gonna fucking puke any second!”

  “Well, that’s gonna be gross,” Antonio remarked. “Just stop flapping your damn wings.”

  Ash did as Antonio instructed and stopped moving his wings. Aaaaaannnndd then….

  He started to fall. Ash wanted to close his eyes as the earth rushed up to meet him, but he couldn’t. His own body had turned traitor on him, and he watched as certain death rushed to meet him. Faster and faster he fell, head first, of course. How the fuck high up had he been, anyway. He had never imagined falling from the sky, but he would have thought it wouldn’t have taken so long. Time seemed to slow down as he plummeted toward his own death.

  “Spread your wings!” Antonio was shouting behind him. Ash was having trouble concentrating on anything but dying right at that moment. “Dude! Spread your fucking wings or else you’re gonna be splatter!”

  At some point, his wings had folded and were lying flat against his back, and Ash couldn’t remember how to open them. Open, open, open, he thought at his wings. The ground was coming fast and Ash felt a peace settle over him. He accepted his fate. All because he stupid wings wouldn’t open.

  Just before he would have crashed violently into the waiting brush beneath him, Ash’s fall leveled out and he began to float horizontally, just a few feet above the ground. He craned his neck and looked behind him to see that his wings had opened.

  “Whohoo!” Antonio yelled as he flew up beside him. “Man, I thought you were toast! Now fly, damn it!”

  Ash couldn’t believe it. He was flying! Fucking. Flying. He lifted his head so that he could see the sky and pushed his wings, rising higher and higher in altitude. He soared across the valley and finally let go of everything. He let go of his worries, his fear, and his inhibitions.

  “Hell yeah!” he screamed into the sky as he learned very quickly to maneuver. He watched the trees pass under him and felt free. Free of everything. His teacher flew up next to him and grinned that same stupid grin that had made Ash want to punch him before, only this time, Ash knew he was sporting the same grin.

  “See?” Antonio asked. “You just had to figure it out! Now, let’s go find us a worthy guard!”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  It took some effort, but Ash finally got the hang of the whole flying thing. He could dart left and right, climb higher or drop lower, he could even soar on the wind. The whole thing was just too fucking wonderful to stay mad at Antonio for being, well, for being Antonio. It was his personality, the way he was. Ash had a hard time believing that this all fun and games, light-hearted idiot was a fierce warrior for the Heavens. But you should never judge a book by its cover, right?

  “There,” the angel in question yelled out over the wind. He pointed to a burning building below. Heavy black smoke was spiraling into the air as flames licked toward the sky. Emergency responders were on sight, several fire trucks and police vehicles, and twice as many human bodies working to get the blaze under control.

  “What do we do?” Ash asked, doing his best to hover in the sky.

  “We watch.” Antonio hovered beside him.

  “Watch what? I don’t know what I’m looking for,” Ash reminded him.

  “Great courage and selflessness are key characteristics in a warrior. A warrior in life makes a good warrior in the afterlife too,” Antonio said as if Ash should have already known that. “I figure a blaze is a good place to start looking.”

  Ash watched as the first responders dumped water from their trucks on the blaze. It wasn’t looking like they were going to get the fire reined in. “I don’t think this fire is giving up,” Ash mused.

  “Let’s take a closer look,” Antonio said and started toward the blaze.

  “Wait,” Ash said, grabbing Antonio by the arm. “What if they see us? I know there are supernaturals, but it isn’t everyday one sees a couple of angels.”

  Antonio grinned. “No human can see an angel unless we want to be seen. As long as you don’t want anyone to see you, they won’t.”

  “Oh,” Ash said. Made sense. “Ok, let’s go.”

  The pair dove down and Antonio flew right into the burning building. Ash followed and when Antonio landed on the second story, Ash was right behind him. He tried to slow his speed, but landing was not something Ash had learned to do, so when his feet hit the floor, his top half kept going. He toppled over, and the only thing Ash could do was tuck and roll with it.

  “I will give the landing a three but a ten for the rebound,” Antonio whooped into the air.

  Ash stood and brushed himself off. “Suck it,” he barked at the angel. There were violent flames all around them, chewing up everything in sight. Neither the flames nor the heat had any effect on the angels, though. They were free to watch.

  When Ash heard someone calling for help, his first reaction was
to head toward that voice and get the person out of the fire, but Antonio stopped him. “We can’t help,” he said. “We have to let things play out.”

  “What if that person dies?” Ash demanded. “I can help.”

  “If that person dies, then that is the way it’s supposed to be,” Antonio said.

  Ash grumbled. He hated that he couldn’t help. He understood, but that didn’t mean he liked it. He watched as the fire fighters moved through the burning building. The blaze became too much for them and one by one, they had no choice but to go back out.

  There was still a man crying out for help.

  Ash watched as one fireman leaped over a wall of flames and used his body to break through a wall. Flames swallowed him up, but Ash had to follow him. He watched as the man fought through the flames and finally to the person who needed help.

  “Here,” the fireman told the man, “put this on.” He had given the man his oxygen mask. “I’m gonna try not to hurt you, but if we’re gonna get out of this alive, I need you to trust me and hold on for the ride.”

  The man was holding the mask over his face and nodded. The fireman hauled him up and over his shoulder. “Sit tight, princess, we getting outta this castle,” he grinned and took off running. He leaped over a fallen beam that was burning and tried to make his way back to the steps. A huge wall of flames stopped him. “Shit,” the fireman grumbled. He turned and searched for another way out.

  Ash could see through the fire and could see there was another set of stairs on the opposite wall. He blew gently in that direction and the flames flickered down just enough for the fireman to see the exit sign above the second set of stairs.

  The fireman leapt into action and hauled his cargo to the stairs. He went down them, two at a time, until they reached the end. They crashed through the heavy door at the bottom into the fresh air. They were greeted by EMT’s, who helped take the man from his shoulders.

  “I have to go back and make sure there is no one else,” the fireman announced.

  The EMT shook his head. “You can’t,” he said.

  “The hell I can’t!” He tried to go back inside, but a man even bigger than he was stepped in front of him. “Move, Captain,” he demanded.

  The captain just put his hand on the fireman’s shoulder. “I need you alive. We have evacuated the building. No one goes back in.”

  “But…”

  “No buts,” the captain insisted. “I don’t know how you got him out, but you saved his life. Now I feel like I have to save yours, because if you go back in there, you’re toast. Stay out. That’s an order.”

  Ash watched as the fireman sank to a sitting position, deflated by the order of his superior. “I like him,” Ash announced.

  “Yeah?” Antonio grinned.

  “Yeah,” Ash agreed. “He’s bullheaded, selfless, and follows orders. And he’s huge. So what now?”

  “Now, you mark him and we wait for him to die,” Antonio said.

  “I’m not killing him!” Ash barked.

  Antonio laughed. “No, silly. You mark him so you will always know where he is. When he dies, as humans do, he becomes yours.”

  “I don’t want his soul,” Ash grumbled.

  “You don’t get his soul… He has to accept your offer… Just, don’t worry with it right now,” Antonio said. “Just go mark him.” He accented his words with a not so gentle shove between Ash’s shoulders.

  “I don’t know how to do that,” Ash reminded him.

  “I don’t either,” Antonio said. “I guess you just touch him with that in mind. I dunno, just try it. I’m hungry over here!”

  Ash rolled his eyes and went over to the fireman. He laid his hand on the man’s shoulder. The man shivered for a second and looked around, but then went back to breathing the oxygen that the EMT insisted he breathe.

  “All done?” Antonio asked.

  Ash shrugged his shoulders. “I guess.”

  “Great! Now let’s get some food!” Antonio grinned and leapt into the sky. Ash followed him.

  They flew for a while in comfortable silence. Ash even dared to think that the warrior was growing on him. He even almost sort of liked him. Ash had a feeling of accomplishment, which was a welcome change from the overwhelming dump of information he had received lately.

  Ash was trying to take everything he had learned, everything he had been shown, and file it away in neat little compartments in his brain. That was working about as well as a bull in a china shop. He imagined his brain looked more like the city dump and less like an organized office.

  As he flew, he made a conscious effort to let go of the stress he had been under. He smiled as they passed a flock of geese that were no doubt heading south for the winter. He was really going to enjoy this part of his job…..the freedom.

  A part of him wondered what his sister was up to. As if he knew exactly what Ash was thinking, Antonio said, “Hey, let’s go see about that sister of yours.”

  Ash nodded his head and they were on their way.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Leanne was sitting directly across from Elizabeth in the small sandwich shop. “So how are things going on the OB floor these days?” she asked her new friend. Elizabeth was a doctor in the ER when Leanne’s brother had been shot. Thanks to her, Ash had survived what would have been a fatal wound otherwise. Leanne was engaged to the doctor who had been on call that night, James Tucker, but he hadn’t been there fast enough. Elizabeth had, so it was easy for Leanne to form a fast friendship with the doc. She had moved herself out of the ER and onto the OB-GYN floor shortly after Ash disappeared. That brother of hers was always doing that. It worried Leanne a bit that he had been gone so long this time. Normally, he would disappear for days or even weeks at a time, but this time he had been MIA for months.

  However, he was a big boy and could take care of himself. She just wished he would answer his damn phone.

  “I like it,” Elizabeth answered her. She cut a piece of her sandwich off and popped it into her mouth. “I much prefer bringing life into the world than seeing it out.”

  “I get that,” Leanne agreed.

  “How’s the wedding plans coming?” Elizabeth asked her.

  “Pretty good,” Leanne answered her. “I wish I could get a hold of Ash, though. I want him to walk me down the aisle.”

  “Still no word from him?” Elizabeth asked. She was more concerned than she thought she should be about that. She knew that she had operated on Leanne’s brother, but for the life of her, she couldn’t remember the man’s face.

  “Nope,” Leanne told her. “I know he’s off doing whatever it is that he does, but damn. He could at least answer the phone.”

  “Men are real considerate sometimes,” Elizabeth said. “How’s James doing with all the wedding plans?”

  Leanne barked out a laugh. “He is staying as far from it as possible. He says whatever I want he will go along with it, just as long as at the end of the day, we’re married.”

  Elizabeth nodded her approval. Just then, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She felt as if someone were watching her intently. She looked around the restaurant but didn’t see anything out of sorts. Leanne was still talking about wedding plans, but Elizabeth couldn’t concentrate. She felt a tight squeeze in her chest and suddenly felt like crying. Damned depression, she thought, choking back the tears and covering it with a cough.

  ***

  Ash watched his sister eating lunch with a beautiful brunette woman. She was wearing hospital scrubs so he assumed she was someone who worked with his sister’s fiancé. He watched in silence as they talked wedding preparations. He saw that Lele was well and healthy and hadn’t missed that she wanted to talk to him, but he couldn’t keep his eyes off her friend. Who was she? And more importantly, why did his dick think that he should go over and ravage her immediately?

  Antonio’s head whipped back and forth from Ash to Elizabeth as he watched the new leader of Hell become completely enraptured with the dark haired wom
an sitting across from his sister. A smile played across his lips. Yep that was her. Antonio had been given a double mission with this one. First, help Ash get assimilated into his new position and pick out his guard. Second, get him back together with the love of his life.

  Antonio had been given the story of how Ash had asked God to make them forget each other. But Ash’s power to lead had been forged by the love he had for this woman. She was meant to be his… his mate. The one he who completed his soul, balanced him out, and was meant to be by his side forever.

  From the looks of things, she was definitely his mate.

  Of course, it wasn’t as easy as just telling Ash that the woman was his. No, he had to find a way to make it happen between the pair without running his mouth. The big guy, God, would never take something as important as a mate away from anyone…. not a vampire, not a shifter, and not a human. Although he had honored Ash’s request, he had put in a little loophole. He didn’t always give people what they wanted, but God always gave them what they needed. And Ash needed his mate. That loophole? Easy-peasy. They just had to touch, skin to skin, and everything they had forgotten would be restored. They already remembered little flashes…. a sound, or a feeling. They just didn’t know what it meant. Antonio intended to change that.

  Of course, Ash was acting like a man without his mate. He was bitchy, grumbly, and although he had kept it in check so far, prone to violence. It was only going to get worse. Antonio felt a smile play on his lips as he watched Ash pretend not to be interested in her. Now, if he could just orchestrate it perfectly…..

  ***

  “How do I make her see me?” Ash asked, yanking Antonio out of his own head.

  “Shit,” Antonio snapped and grabbed Ash by the arm. He flashed them both out of the sandwich shop and around the corner into an empty alley.

  “What the fuck?” Ash demanded.