“We can deal with that when the time comes,” Ash told her. “All the demons are back where they belong, except him, and the portal is gone. Not just closed, but destroyed. Ryver did it. That woman fucking did it.”
“She is pretty amazing,” Lacy agreed. “How is she doing?” she asked, taking a seat. She was so tired, but she had to know how the others were. Had to know they were okay.
“She’s healing,” Ash said. “Lucas is with her.”
Lacy wanted to ask more, but the pull of sleep was getting too strong to resist. She was saved from admitting it, though. Ash’s head cocked to the side and it seemed as if he were listening to something no one else could hear.
“Seriously? Now?” he grumbled to no one in particular. “I gotta go,” he said just before flashing himself away, leaving the others to stare at the empty space where he had been.
Chapter twenty-three
Kaia stumbled out of the kitchen carrying the bottle of vodka by its neck in one hand and her glass in the other. When she bumped sideways into the wall, the clear liquid sloshed over the top of her glass. Kaia didn’t stop to clean it up, but continued to make her way down the hallway. She finally arrived in the kitchen and she went directly to the refrigerator. She opened it, not expecting to see anything worth eating in it, but she looked anyway.
Moldy cheese and a half-eaten ham sandwich were all that was inside. She slammed the door closed and went over to the sink. She downed the last of the vodka in her glass and rinsed it out under running water. Then she refilled it.
Kaia hadn’t been sober in longer than she cared to admit. At first, she drank to dull the pain she felt every day. Over time, the alcohol lost its numbing effect and she drank more to try to get the same feeling. When that didn’t work, she added Xanax to the mix.
Now, she walked around her home in a constant zombie state. She didn’t go out except for when she was out of booze and her doctor had long since stopped prescribing the pills. Now she had a guy who delivered to her door. Hell, he delivered the pills and sometimes he even brought the vodka with him too. She didn’t ask him where he got them and she paid him well. They had a mutual understanding. She didn’t ask questions and he didn’t judge her. It was the only human interaction she had anymore and that was minimal at best.
Kaia didn’t have a house payment anymore and she really didn’t have any bills. The insurance policy had paid them all off and she still had a hefty sum left in her bank account. Add to that the settlement from the insurance company, and Kaia would never have to work again.
Not that the money did her any good.
Who would she spend it on? There was no one left for her to dote on.
She had enjoyed her life before. She was a secret service agent and she was good at her job. She even received a metal for her services. Shot right in the shoulder one day by a bullet that was meant for the president. Kaia hadn’t even thought about it, she just threw herself in front of the man she had sworn to protect.
She flopped down on the sofa and sat her bottle on the end table beside her. She rubbed her shoulder that still ached from time to time. A stroll down memory lane wasn’t going to do her any good. She tried every day to keep her mind off of that terrible day that ruined her life, but as usual, it came roaring back to the front of her mind.
They had been on their way to Orlando for a family vacation. Kaia and her husband pulled their suitcases behind them while Cally ran ahead of them. She had been six years old with curly blonde hair and the face of a cherub. The little one had been so excited to go to Disney World. Cally loved princesses and couldn’t wait to meet Princess Jasmine when they got there.
“Come on, Mommy. Come on, Daddy!” she squealed. “Our magic carpet is about to leave!” The magic carpet was actually a 747 jet that would take them from Washington, DC to Orlando, Florida nonstop. Kaia remembered laughing and pulling their luggage faster.
They boarded the plane and found their first class seats easily. Cally bounced up and down on her little butt with excitement as the plane started moving. They took to the air and, eventually, Cally fell asleep. Kaia had watched the clouds go by her window and was nearing a nap herself.
What they didn’t know was that deep in the engine of the plane, an oil seal, something that would seem so insignificant, had torn. They didn’t know that oil was leaking at an alarming rate from that broken seal. So much so, that it was blocking the pistons from moving properly.
The engine finally gave in to its injury.
There was a loud thunk and smoke began pouring from under the wing. Kaia could see it. She could smell it.
The pilot came on the intercom and assured everyone that everything was okay and that even though they lost one engine, they still had three working properly. They would be landing early in Charleston to change planes, though.
But the pilot hadn’t known just how much oil was leaking. It covered most everything in the engine compartment including the hinges that controlled the landing gear.
She had buckled Cally in her seat tight and held her husband’s hand as the plane descended in Charleston. Kaia’s knuckles had turned white from the effort she was exerting, but she couldn’t loosen her grip on her husband or her daughter. She knew she had to hold on tight to them.
The pilot realized too late that the landing gear was malfunctioning. They were dangerously close to the ground and he tried to pull the nose of the plane back up, but it was no use. The plane slammed into the asphalt at one hundred eighty miles an hour.
Kaia heard the ripping and crunching of metal a millisecond before the entire body of the plane ripped in two. She held tight to her family as the plane ripped and rolled out of control. Fire was licking at the seats they sat in and metal flew through the cabin as the plane disintegrated. A propeller smashed through the side of the plane, narrowly missing Kaia’s head.
She didn’t know which way was up. The cabin had broken and rolled and was bouncing around on the earth like a tin can. There was so much noise. Fire. Kaia closed her eyes and said a fast prayer for safety just before the movement stopped. She breathed a sigh of relief and then opened her eyes.
Her daughter was gone. She hadn’t held her tight enough. In her other hand, Kaia could feel her husband’s fingers wrapped around her own. She turned to tell him that they needed to find Cally, only to realize that she was, in fact, holding his hand, but the rest of him had been torn away from her.
Kaia choked back the scream that threatened to escape her throat. She hated that memory. She hated that she could still see her beloved’s hand twitching while the rest of him had been destroyed. She hated that she lived and that her family died. She hated that everyone else on that flight died. She had been the lone survivor, and for what? A lifetime of loneliness and regret? She drank down her glass of vodka and refilled it. She didn’t know what God had been thinking when he saved her and her alone, but she was more certain every day that it was a mistake.
How long could she keep living like this? She thought. She was tired. She didn’t want to do it anymore. She didn’t care anymore. She rubbed the scar on her shoulder.
She pulled the bottle of pills out of her pocket. It was a brand new bottle of Xanax. Kaia felt a small smile curve at the corner of her lips. She didn’t have to do it anymore. And she wasn’t going to. She opened the bottle and dumped the entire thing into her mouth and washed it down with a long swig of vodka. Then she laid herself back on the sofa and waited for the pills to do their job.
Epilogue
Kaia felt a stab of disappointment when her consciousness took control of her body once more. She had failed. When the pain she had been fruitlessly attempting to run from came crashing down on her heart once again, Kaia realized something. She was sober. For the first time in months, she was stone cold sober and completely aware of everything. She could feel every cell in her body and surprisingly, it didn’t hurt. She could also feel that she was lying on a hard floor. It wasn’t cold, though. In fact, it was quite warm
.
She forced her eyelids open and the first thing Kaia saw was that the ceiling was not the one she was accustomed to waking to in her home. It was dark and barren, smooth like sheet rock. Forcing her elbows under her body, Kaia sat up. When she looked around, she realized she wasn’t in her home at all. She was in some kind of cave. When she looked to her left, she saw a wall of fire.
Immediately her survival instincts, that she didn’t realize she still possessed, kicked in and Kaia crab walked backward until her back hit the wall. She didn’t know where she was, but wherever it was, it was on fire! Panic filled her chest and Kaia struggled to breathe. The flames got brighter, but did not come any closer. Out of the corner of her eye, a shadow moved within the flames. Kaia watched as the shadow moved closer and finally, stepped out of the fire.
It was no shadow, but the devil himself. Kaia had never believed in Heaven or Hell, but the proof was standing right in front of her. The man was huge, with an even bigger set of black as night wings on his back. She had succeeded in taking her own life, but the goal had been to end her own pain. Now she realized that she was destined to live with that pain and the consequences of her crime for the rest of eternity.
“I am not the devil so don’t go there,” the man rumbled at her as he came closer. Kaia wished she could disappear from sight, to go back to before she took the pills, but that wasn’t happening. “I am an angel and yes this is Hell,” the man continued. “And before you ask, yes, you belong here. I don’t usually know about the soul’s final destination at this point, but I know you committed suicide, and that is the one sin you can’t ask forgiveness for before death. So let’s get the preliminaries over with. I’m Ash. I run things around here and you have a choice to make. Will you be here as your eternity, paying for your sins and subjected to many lifetimes of pain? Or, will you work for me, doing what you did in life, serving the greater good?”
Kaia didn’t know what to say. It really was a no-brainer, though, wasn’t it? She pressed her lips together and thought about what the angel, Ash, said to her. Work for him?
“I don’t really have a lot of time here,” he continued. He held his hand out at arm’s length. Kaia stared at it for a moment, and then placed her hand in his much larger one. “Great,” he said, pulling her up to her feet. “Welcome to Hell.”
RESURRECTION
Copyright2016©
Danielle James
Chapter One
Ash didn’t wait for Kaia to contemplate walking through the wall of fire, but pulled her right on through it with him. Her heart hammered in her chest as the flames touched her body, but did not burn. They were hot, yes, but her skin remained unmarred. No sooner than they had cleared the strange fire, Ash pushed a button on the wall and a set of elevator doors opened. Kaia felt the corner of her lip turn up at the strange sight. An elevator. In Hell. Of course, there was.
Ash stepped through, pulling her along with him. “I really must apologize,” he told her as he pressed another button, and the doors slid silently closed. “I got a real fucked-up situation going on here, and it needs my immediate attention.” His lips formed a thin line, and his brow crinkled as if he were debating how much to drop on her all at once. “I am missing a soul who was supposed to be here just before you. Normally, I would give you the tour and get your wings, and then get to business, but today we’re gonna have to do things differently.”
Kaia listened right up until she heard the word wings. She was going to have wings? Like an angel? Ash was still talking, she realized, and shook herself mentally.
“You’ll like Lacy,” he was saying. “She has an amazing gift that can help you calm down and stop freaking out so badly. She can give you the tour.”
The doors slid open, and Ash stepped out. Kaia followed behind him, damn near running to keep up with him. His legs were so much longer than hers! Every step he took equaled two of hers, and then there was the insane pace he was keeping. She was surprised that she wasn’t out of breath already, but then again, she was dead. Did dead people get winded? The thought drifted out of her mind as she took in her surroundings.
The place she entered looked like no version of Hell that she had ever imagined. Fire and brimstone? Sure. The caverns she originally landed in were more like what she expected to see everywhere. This was so not the case. Soft grey carpeting stretched from one wall to another in a hallway that was lined with windows and doors, like an expensive office building. The enormous angel stopped in front of a set of heavy wooden doors and flipped his hand at them. They opened silently on his command, and he stepped in.
“Everyone, this is Kaia. Kaia, this is everyone. Y’all introduce yourselves,” he said as he folded himself into a chair behind a large desk. Ash’s attention went immediately to the computer screen, leaving Kaia standing there and staring at the huge office.
Aside from the large desk, there was a wall covered in television screens. Kaia could tell they were showing closed circuit security footage, but it was like no place she had ever seen. That must be the Hell she was expecting. Every screen was filled with a different scene. Some of that fire and brimstone she had expected, and others with what looked more like paradise. To her right, a very large, open area with the same grey carpeting spread out. She was willing to bet she could have fit her entire house in this one room. There was a huge, black iron cage in the corner. It was approximately ten feet by ten feet with heavy black bars. Inside was a cot, a few books, and a woman. Why was there a woman in the cage?
“Hello, Kaia,” a female voice said. It was then that Kaia realized there were several people in the room with her. This woman was taller, with jet black hair and dark eyes. Her smile was kind, and as she held out her hand, Kaia took it. “I’m Elizabeth,” she continued. “I’m Ash’s mate. It is nice to finally meet you.”
“Hey girlie,” a man said, yanking her attention to the right. His black hair hung from a widow’s peak and just kissed the tops of his shoulders. His eyes were nearly black as well, and his skin had the slightest bit of caramel color to it, as if he were of Spanish descent. He was attractive, to say the least, but the most impressive thing about him was the enormous white wings at his back. “I’m Antonio,” he said with a toothy grin. A grin that flashed fangs at her. “Vampire extraordinaire and warrior angel at your service.”
Kaia couldn’t help but smile at him as he shook her hand. “Hello,” she finally said.
“I’m Jake,” another angel said, waving to her from across the room. His wings were odd. They were dark brown near his body, but grew lighter as they reached out from him.
“I’m Shelly,” a woman with fiery red hair said as she waved from her seat in Jake’s lap. “It’s nice to have a fellow redhead in the crew.”
Kaia waved at her.
“Hey Kaia,” another angel said. “I’m Lucas.” This one was military. After all her time in the Secret Service, Kaia could pick a soldier out of anywhere. “What branch, soldier?” she asked him.
Lucas grinned at her. “Marines. Sniper. Also, the sexiest werewolf this side of Hell.”
Kaia grinned back at him. Of course, he was. The crazy ones always were Marines, and this one was a wolf to boot.
“That is my mate, Ryver,” Lucas continued, gesturing to the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. Her long black hair looked like midnight ink in contrast to her pale skin. Her eyes were so blue they damn near glowed. But her wings … they were indescribable. They seemed to change color as she moved. At the present, she was fussing over the woman in the cage, but did turn and wave over her shoulder.
“I’m Lacy,” a pretty blonde angel said. Just her voice made Kaia want to sigh. Ash had been right. She was making Kaia feel more at ease already. “I hope you don’t mind, I sent you some calming vibes.”
“You’re supposed to give me the tour,” Kaia remembered.
“Yep. You just let me know whenever you’re ready, and we’ll get right on it.”
Was she ready? Had she been ready for a
ny of this? Did it really matter? “I guess whenever you want,” Kaia answered her with a shrug. “But first, what’s with the woman in the cage?”
Lacy looked to Ash for confirmation before turning back to Kaia. “Come on,” she said. “I’ll explain on the way.”
Lacy led Kaia out of Ash’s office, waving goodbye to all of those she just met.
“I like her,” Antonio grinned. “She’s gonna be a force to be reckoned with.”
“If she accepts her position,” Ash grumbled under his breath while tapping away at his keyboard.
Antonio opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, a loud bang cut him off.
“You said she would be all right!” Jensen bellowed as he stormed into Ash’s office. Why did it seem that any and everyone just barged right on in? He was the fucking leader of Hell! Did no one respect that position anymore? Everyone except Antonio snuck silently out of the room, leaving Ash to explain this one on his own. When Jensen barged in, Ash picked his head up and raised a questioning brow. “Kaia! Damn it!” Jensen continued as if Ash didn’t already know. “You said when you took my soul from that plane crash that she would live and everything would work out the way it was supposed to!”
Ash pushed himself back from his desk and leaned back in his chair. He studied the man in front of him. Yes, he had said that just before he took the man’s soul to Hell to run Murder. He figured the man would be a little perturbed when he saw how things turned out, but Jensen was more than upset. He was seething with anger and contempt. “It has,” Ash finally answered him.
Jensen jerked his tablet out at arm’s length and waved it at Ash. “Then why in the holy fuckness is she on my list?”
The snort that Antonio tried to hide went unacknowledged. The warrior angel had been doing his own research and was pretending not to listen to the drama at hand. Ash knew this day would come, and he was prepared to handle it. Antonio, of course, had warned him that Jensen would be madder than a wet hen, but it was no matter. Things had to be the way they were. “She is on your list because she took her own life,” Ash told his leader of Murder.
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