Hell's Gift

by Haigwood, K. S.

  I stared at the door for a moment, wondering which would be the lesser of two evils: staying in here with her or escaping out into the acid-ash without protection from the storm. I jerked at my bindings. If I could find a way out of them, I was leaving this room.

  I glanced around again, looking for something that might help me out of my current situation. There was nothing, not that I would’ve been able to reach anything if I’d wanted to with my wrists and ankles in shackles.

  I stiffened as I heard a soft noise behind me, and waited for another blow from the whip. It didn’t come.

  “Looking for this?” a female voice said, and a gold chain with a small key as the charm was dangled in front of my face, then securely fastened at the nape of my neck. “Or maybe you want this.” A silky, soft material was rubbed across my bare back, then the black satiny fabric of the Reaper’s cape was tossed over my shoulder to the floor in front of me. I pulled at my restraints again and she laughed.

  I should have known she would want to play games. I was all for playing, just probably not what she had in mind. I’d take the whip away from her and choke her with it, but from the look of my surroundings she would enjoy that way too much. Princess Gluttony was obviously into BDSM and I didn’t aim to be her submissive.

  “If you can release yourself, you’re free to go, boy,” she said, then I heard the soft click of her high heels walk away from me. The sound of my pounding heart beating against my ribcage was all I could hear for a moment. I thought maybe she would leave me in peace to figure out a way to escape.

  The sound of a whistle on the air was only brief before the leather whip cracked and my flesh broke between my shoulder blades. My jaw clamped the gag viciously. The spasm that shot through my body involuntarily thrust my weight forward. The leather at my wrists and ankles was unyielding, not letting me move more than a few inches from their resting point.

  The pain was extreme, but even if the ball-gag hadn’t been in my mouth I wouldn’t have made a peep. I couldn’t give her the satisfaction of knowing she was winning the current game. Although it was hardly fair; if she’d only freed me from the manacles she’d so kindly trapped me in, the odds could’ve quickly been evened up.

  I forced my resisting legs to obey my mind and stand upright again. It took every bit of strength I had, but I did manage it. I couldn’t take many more blows from the whip. I had to do something, anything, to keep her from lashing me again.

  I tilted my chin up, defiantly, then looked as far over my right shoulder as I could manage. The dim lighting cast her shadow on the stone floor and I could see the whip that was still in her hand. I tried to speak around the gag, but my words were incomprehensible.

  I watched as the shadowed figure’s head turned to the side in what appeared to be curiosity. Good, Death was thinking about something other than beating me for the moment. I was making progress. Hopefully.

  “Have you had enough, boy?” she said, putting heavy emphasis on her pet name for me, but I didn’t say anything; she wouldn’t have understood me anyway, and I sure didn’t want her to mistake my muffled words as a no.

  After a few moments silence I heard the leather whip fall to the ground. I didn’t bother hiding the exhale of relief that passed through my nostrils. That comfort didn’t last long, because in the next moment the sound of metal scraping metal sent chills up my spine. Was it possible to die in Hell? If so, I could only pray it happened quickly. And where would I go then? Limbo? Purgatory?

  The footsteps moved closer to me, each one seeming louder than the last. There was no way to prepare for the type of pain that was headed my way. I almost wished she would’ve picked the whip back up. I could use a few more lashings, no problem.

  I felt the cold steel touch the center of my back, my knees locked and every muscle from head to toe flexed under my skin. I was a tense mess. My breathing was fast and heavy through my nose and there was nothing I could do to prevent her from knowing how scared I was.

  “You want to keep the gag, or would you like to hear yourself scream?” She giggled, making me want to choke her until her eyes popped out of her head. She ran the tip of the blade in swirls over my back and shoulders, then stopped. “Let us play a different game. I’m boring of this one quite quickly. If you play by my rules, there should be no need for you to feel any more pain…for now. I’m sure you agree. Nod once if you do.”

  That was actually the first thing we agreed on, so I didn’t hesitate; I nodded.

  “Good. Now, I’m going to remove your gag. If you try to bite me I promise you will not enjoy the consequences of your actions. Are we on the same page? Nod if we are,” she said.

  I lifted my head, then let it fall in agreement with her. I didn’t want to bite her. Biting her was way too mild for what I really wanted to do to her.

  I felt the blade slip under the material holding the gag in place and then watched as the silky fabric fell to my feet. A hand quickly grabbed the gag and pulled it from my mouth.

  I took a second to adjust my jaw, then took a deep breath and let the exhale pass through my lips in a low whistle. “Was all this necessary?” I said after a moment.

  “I didn’t want you to make the mistake in underestimating me again. I will not be so lenient the next time you decide to rank yourself equal or higher than me. It was really for your own good.”

  My head jerked in the direction of her voice, but I still couldn’t see her. Why the hell was she hiding? “For my own good?” I’d been hearing that a lot lately. Why was always someone else deciding what was best for me? “Come around here, where I can see you!” I shouted. “I feel like I’m talking to myself. It’s the least you can do after chaining me up like a dog and beating me. And I would never dream of being your equal. I’m not a coward.”

  There was silence for a moment, and I almost regretted saying what I did. I waited for the knife to go in my back, but it didn’t happen.

  I heard the soft clicks of her heels before I saw her. I half expected to see a hideous beast with red-tinted skin or snake-like scales, horns protruding from her ugly head, and the classic tail humans always pin on a demon’s butt to make them seem more like a fairy tale creature instead of the evil they actually are.

  Without the four inch spikes she walked on her slim build couldn’t have been any taller than five-six. Black fishnet stockings stopped mid-thigh and were attached to a black and gold garter belt. I glanced away, suddenly uncomfortable with the situation. Kendra had been the only woman I’d seen in such garments, and that had only been by accident. Well, most of the times had been by accident.

  The thought of Kendra knowing about what had happened to me made me ill. Did she know why? I closed my eyes and took in several deep breaths.

  Death laughed. “Are you shy? I wouldn’t have guessed it with you having a body like you have. You could make a nun have wet dreams.” She walked closer and inhaled the air around me. “What is that intoxicating smell you have on your skin?” When I ignored her question she ran her fingers from my chest to the waistband of my pants. “You can look at me, you know,” she whispered. “If you can swallow that pride of yours I will keep you as a minion to serve my personal needs. Then we can discuss you touching what you see. I allow very few men to touch me, but I would consider letting you.”

  Embarrassment long gone, my eyes fell to hers. I couldn’t deny they were the prettiest almond shaped, pale green eyes I’d ever encountered, or even how perfect every angle of her body was, of what I could see, but I could ignore it. And ignoring my natural male urges was exactly what I had to do. I was not going to be her love slave. Nothing would change my mind about that.

  I looked at her lips, then leaned down so she could feel my breath on her skin as I spoke. “Pride isn’t what’s keeping me from touching you, nor am I waiting for your approval, sweetheart.” I heard the quick intake of breath and knew I had her attention. “It’s the bile that rises to the back of my throat when I think of having to touch your disgusting body
for even as little as it would take to choke you to death.” I smiled, then kissed the air in front of her blank face before standing back upright again.

  The sharp pain I felt in the next instant was indescribable. I hadn’t seen her move at all, but as I looked down it was clear she had, at some point. The black hilt of a dagger was sticking out of the center of my chest.

  I could feel myself drowning in my blood. My lungs were filling with the thick liquid I had only recently acquired in my body. The intense burning was only getting worse. Breathing became impossible, and I began to panic. I fought to free my hands from the straps imprisoning me, but only succeeded in moving the knife deeper within the cavity of my chest, tearing and ripping my insides to shreds.

  The blade was in my heart. I could feel each pump of my heart around the steel. I could also tell the muscle was failing. Would I actually die? Could a person die in Hell? Where would I go? I worried again. Surely not Heaven. She wouldn’t have been so eager to send me packing to the good side, even if they would have me back.

  My blurred vision focused on Death and the sly smile that was creeping across her face. “You, bitch,” I said.

  The last thing I remember was watching her hand reach to retrieve the dagger from my breast.

  Chapter 10

  Malcolm

  “I’ve got to do something,” Josselyn said through her tears as she tore from the room in a mad dash toward Isaiah’s chambers.

  Malcolm caught up with her quickly, grabbing her around the waist and holding her to his unyielding body. Her feather-like hits and kicks weren’t affecting him at all.

  “Stop, Jossel.” When she didn’t comply, Malcolm squeezed her a little tighter to him. “I said, stop!” The wails turned to soft whimpers. He turned her around and pulled her to his chest, gently rubbing his fingers over her blonde locks as she cried.

  “What is this nonsense? You know you can’t barge into the archangel’s chambers and tell him what we’ve done. It is extremely difficult for me to keep the guardians from knowing what we’re doing to help Rhyan. I can’t imagine they would be happy with us after Isaiah has already instructed you to stay out of it, that it is too dangerous to help him.”

  He pushed her away so he could look at her tear-streaked face. Her lids were closed and trembling as they leaked clear drops of sadness.

  She’s beautiful, Malcolm thought. He would’ve given almost anything to be the one to make her smile again, but sadly he feared he wasn’t the angel she saw holding her when she closed her eyes. He framed her face in the palms of his hands and wiped the new tears from her cheeks with the pads of his thumbs as she fought to catch her breath.

  “Open your eyes and look at me, Josselyn,” Malcolm pleaded, but dreaded what he would see in their depths. He prayed he was wrong in assuming what her reasons were for saving Rhyan.

  Her lashes fluttered open like the wings of a butterfly, and behind them in her brown eyes was the answer he wasn’t looking for.

  Malcolm released her and took a step back. His breathing was erratic as he dropped his gaze and placed his hands on his hips. He knew this wasn’t going to end well for her, and he was certain the odds were not going to be in his favor, either.

  “Don’t do this to yourself, Jossel—”

  Fire blazed in her glare. “I’m not doing—”

  Malcolm’s head shot up to look at her again. “Don’t tell me you’re not in love with him! I can see it…” He ran his hand over his face and forced calm into his voice before finishing his thought. “…I can see it in your eyes,” he finished in a pained tone.

  She turned on her heel and began to stalk off. “I don’t have time for this.”

  “He can’t love you. He has found his soulmate, Josselyn.” Malcolm watched as she stopped in her tracks, and then as her body began to shake.

  She turned back to him with fresh tears in her eyes and shook her head. “It’s not true. You didn’t tell him that when he was—”

  “Because he has to realize it on his own. If I had told him everything I knew, he would have given up or maybe he would never accept it, which would give him a permanent spot in Hell. I couldn’t take that chance and still expect him to make it back to Heaven…with her.”

  “No…” Her bottom lip quivered under the intensity of the truth in his eyes.

  Malcolm groaned and clenched his jaw in frustration. “I’m not going to watch you do this to yourself—”

  “Then don’t,” she snapped. “Go away and leave me alone! I don’t have to believe it if I choose not to.” She rubbed her hands together nervously, then looked back at him with a blank stare. She didn’t want to believe him, but she knew it wasn’t possible for him to lie. Why? Why Rhyan of all the angels in Heaven? She could make him happy again. She looked up at Malcolm with sad eyes. “You know who she is, don’t you?” Malcolm let out a heavy breath and nodded once. “Tell me.”

  Abigail

  “Perhaps we should convene this meeting when everyone is mentally, as well as physically, here with us.”

  She could hear a voice speaking, but the words didn’t seem to matter in the least. The look on the face of the stranger as she shoved the entire six inches of her double-edged dagger into his heart was still painted clear in her mind.

  The right side of her lips turned upward into a half smile as his last words rang through her head again. “You, bitch.” Indeed she was, and from the look on his face he hadn’t known that she would get to be a bitch to him again and again and again.

  The familiarity in his blue eyes had taken her aback a bit. She had noticed them before, but never so closely. She found herself wanting to know his secrets. And she was sure he had secrets. He was different. She couldn’t read him at all. Lucifer had been the only other person that didn’t broadcast loud and clear to her, and that was only because he was strong enough to block her.

  It also puzzled her that he seemed to still possess his soul. She would definitely have to have another look through those magnetic, bright as the sky eyes of his. Surely she was mistaken. The soul is automatically lifted when the spirit enters Hell.

  The clearing of a throat distracted her thoughts, bringing her out of her personal and satisfying daydream. “Are we boring you, Abigail? Care to share with us what amuses you so?”

  Abigail slowly lifted her eyes to meet the dark, beautiful windows staring back at her. Her heart gave a small leap at his beauty. The perfection in every inch of his defined body always took her breath away. The black irises, which her own eyes were drawn to, blended so perfectly with his pupils that it was as if all of Hell’s souls could be seen within their depths. They were hypnotizing to say the least. The coal-black, perfectly arched lines above his eyes, slightly raised in a question, let her know he wasn’t at all pleased with her lack of interest in the meeting. His meeting.

  Lucifer didn’t appear angry; he never did wear his emotions on his sleeve for everyone to see. She probably knew him better than anyone, but even she wasn’t allowed into the deepest, darkest part of his mind. He made sure of that.

  She shook her head slightly, but kept eye contact with her master. Looking away would have cost her dearly after everyone present went back to their duties. “I was only replaying in my mind the welcome gift I gave to a new minion earlier. Unfortunately for him, he was a little out of place and needed guidance…” she cleared her throat, “…and a personality adjustment. I had to introduce my dagger to his heart.”

  Lucifer stared her down, face grim and lacking any emotion. He didn’t comment further on the subject of her daydreaming. His eyes shifted to the other side of the massive stone table, but Abigail could still feel his stare boring a hole through her as if he hadn’t looked away at all.

  An uncomfortable pressure settled behind her eyes and she knew that, even though Lucifer was focused on and engaged in conversation with Baddon, he was also reading her every thought. She didn’t need any more warning than that to give her full attention to the meeting. Her fantas
ies could wait until later.

  “You haven’t met your quota of souls for the quarter. Do I need to look into this further or are you on top of things?” Lucifer asked Baddon, and she risked a glance at the giant. His red hair was brighter than the hottest lava. His cerulean blue eyes sparkled in the shadowy lighting of Lucifer’s conference quarters. There was a nervous tremble in his one hand that was atop the smooth stone table. Not just anyone would have noticed it, but she did, and she bet Lucifer had, as well.

  Please, just say you’re on top of things, Abigail thought, willing Baddon to hear her, but sadly, it looked as though he wasn’t concentrating on receiving any mental messages from her or anyone.

  Although troubled, Baddon’s frame was steady and solid as a rock. A round rock that happened to be rolling and bouncing down a hill, but at least he kept eye contact with Lucifer. He needed all the brownie points he could get. She hoped he got it together and said something soon. Lucifer hadn’t ever listened to too much stuttering or silence before taking matters to the next level. A dangerous, unwanted level in Baddon’s case.

  Baddon cleared his throat for the second time, then began. “I’ve had several guardians lose their charges to the angels.” The poor guy was almost in tears under Lucifer’s heavy gaze.

  Abigail closed her eyes briefly, pitying the big demon. This was not going to end well for him, but maybe Baddon’s irresponsibility would keep the beautiful master beast distracted enough so he wouldn’t question her further about the new minion. vzyl She wasn’t prepared to answer those particular questions yet.

  When Lucifer only continued to stare at Baddon, he continued, “They have all been punished to the utmost extent. There are twice as many training now to take their place—”

  “Mayhap I need to put someone in training to take your place,” Lucifer suggested calmly, but everyone in the room knew he was anything but calm.

  Baddon dropped his head in shame, and with it went his eye contact from Lucifer’s scolding stare.