Hell's Gift

by Haigwood, K. S.

“Rhyan…”

  “No.” I shook my head, speaking aloud to both Malcolm and Lucifer. My balance and vision were rapidly getting better. I felt steadier on my feet and there was only one of the damned fallen angels in the room with me and Abbi now. “Not a physical fight between you and me. I have no powers, abilities or weapons to assure it a fair fight against you. I’m not seeking a challenge with you physically, but perhaps if I complete certain tasks, chosen by you, of course, I win Abbi’s soul and she goes free…with me.”

  “And if you don’t complete said tasks? What do I get for your failure?” He loosened his hold around Abbi’s neck and rubbed the back of his fingers gently over her cheek. “She is so beautiful. Don’t you agree? A prize this grand would have to have an equal or greater value for me to be interested in gambling her.”

  “Rhyan, stop! This is not what I meant for you to do. There are other ways. We will figure out another way!” Malcolm shouted in my head, making the pounding headache from my mild concussion that much worse.

  “Hush, Malcolm, you’re giving me a migraine. I have to do what is necessary to save her. I will not fail.”

  “I will willingly give you my soul.”

  “Nooo!” Abbi screamed.

  “No!” Malcolm shouted.

  I couldn’t listen to them. I had to do what my instincts were demanding that I do. I knew it was the only way. There was no time to ponder and figure out another way. My eyes never left Lucifer’s, and I watched as his eyebrows popped up.

  “I’m intrigued. A pure soul given willingly, to do with as I please, would be a true treasure, even more so than this little gem,” he looked down at Abbi’s weeping eyes, “although, if you lose, I will get to keep you both.”

  “Don’t do this, Rhyan! You can’t even imagine the power he will gain from getting a pure soul given to him willingly. You cannot make a deal like this with the devil. You will not win!”

  “I will not fail, Malcolm.”

  Without looking away from Abbi, Lucifer smiled, then continued with the impossible task I would need to complete in order to leave Hell with her at my side. “There are seven sydes of Hell. Your quest is to find a way out of each one of them. If you can do that, then I will give her the soul and you are both free to go.”

  “Jesus,” Malcolm sighed in my head.

  My heart was racing because I felt the tasks would be impossible to complete. Nobody had ever found a way out of Hell before, much less seven of them.

  “Hell, at least ask for supplies to help you though the sydes, Rhyan.”

  “And you are not to touch her again with even a gentle hand, not that I’m suggesting you have one of those, unless I give up and declare defeat. Nobody is to hurt her.”

  As if in agreement with my terms, Lucifer immediately released Abbi from his hold. She ran to my arms in a tangled mess of hair and tears. I hugged her tight to me and whispered positive words in her ear while Lucifer looked upon us expressionless.

  “Say it!” I shouted at him.

  “I’ll do you one better than that.” He held out his hand and a scroll appeared atop his palm. He tossed the coiled parchment through the air and I caught it with the hand I didn’t have wrapped around my wife. “If you agree to what it says I will place my blood upon that canvas, and after you do the same the deal will be sealed and unbreakable for either of us.”

  “Who says? I am no fool.”

  “And I am no liar. I am now, and have always been, a man of my word.” He smiled mischievously. “You can ask your Father about that.”

  I unrolled the scroll and read it. Everything we had said and agreed to was written there. There was even something added for my benefit: one object to help me on my way through each syde.

  “You’re helping me?”

  He shook his head. “No. I just want to keep it interesting. I worry not that you should succeed.”

  I nodded.

  Abbi’s sobs grew louder and she clung to my naked body. “Don’t agree to this, Rhyan. It’s impossible.”

  I kissed her forehead and pulled her to me in a tight embrace. “Nothing is impossible when it comes to you. I love you. I will not break my promise. A thousand times, remember? Just don’t give up on me. Don’t give up on us. No matter what anyone tells you, I will be back for you and we are going to leave here…together.”

  “You have more faith than I do at the moment. You have no idea what you are about to agree to,” Malcolm said.

  “I’m hoping I have a guardian angel that will help me get through what I’m about to agree to.

  “I’ll do my best, brother; just don’t give up, right?

  “Right.”

  I made eye contact with Lucifer. “Where do I sign?”

  Chapter 23

  Malcolm

  “Damn it!” Malcolm slammed the double doors to the speculum and ran from the room. As soon as that stupid male had signed the devil’s contract, agreeing to give away his soul if he couldn’t complete the impossible tasks, Lucifer had promptly deposited his naked ass in the middle of the cobblestone walkway in the Syde of Gluttony with no protection from the acid-ash, and the closest shelter had been two-hundred yards away, under the bridge that Hodo…Podo…Pogo, or whatever the little bastard’s name had been, lived under.

  He didn’t have a clue where to start. He didn’t know a damn thing about the Syde of Gluttony or really any of the sydes Rhyan would have to go through before he could bring his precious soulmate back to Heaven.

  He stopped and kicked the wall in frustration, but no mark was left behind on the perfect stone. Even with as hard as the blow had been, his perfect boot along with his perfect foot within it was still unharmed and, well…perfect.

  Malcolm was almost willing to switch places with Rhyan just so he could feel something again. He wasn’t without the sense of touch or feel, but Heaven wouldn’t allow them to feel pain. He craved it like a bad habit sometimes.

  “Malcolm!” Josselyn shouted from across the courtyard as he exited central, and instead of running she just appeared in front of him.

  He side-stepped and went around her. “Why aren’t you with Kendra?”

  She stood there, blinking and staring in total confusion at the back of his head as he walked away from her. What was his problem? Josselyn hurried to catch up, then matched his long strides.

  “Where are you going?”

  “To find out everything I can on the sydes of Hell so I can save Rhyan’s dumb ass from spending an eternity there.”

  “What?” Josselyn stopped walking, but he didn’t. “Malcolm,” she said, and choked on the instant pressure in her throat. It was obvious something had gone terribly wrong. She’d never even seen Malcolm in a bad mood, much less hear swear words escape his lips. “What is it?” she demanded.

  When he only continued in the same direction, away from her, she growled, then appeared in front of him once again and shoved him to the ground with a thrust of her hands.

  He looked up at her, stunned.

  “You are not the only one having a bad day, angel boy. If I remember correctly, you were the one that came to me with a plan to help Rhyan. Now, I don’t know what went on with him in my absence, but I can tell you there will be a crap-load go on very soon at the home of Adam and Kendra Chamberlain if I don’t get more back-up. I can’t…” She pressed her lips together and looked away as her eyes flooded with fresh tears. “I’m not strong enough to protect them against Murry.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest and just stood there as he looked up at her, dumbstruck.

  Malcolm cleared his throat. “You seemed to be doing perfectly fine when I checked in on you earlier.” He got to his feet without meeting her gaze.

  “Really? Was that before or after the demon mind-molested me, because I didn’t think I handled that part well at all.”

  Malcolm had been ready to come back with a cocky comment, but her words had his frozen in his throat. He closed his mouth and swallowed. “What? Who was it?”

>   “I don’t know, but I do know I need back-up. He wasn’t Murry, or so he said, but the arrogant demon warned me that I should be glad he wasn’t. Said he was Murry’s equal or something and that he can steal my soul and drag me to Hell. Is that true?”

  “No,” Malcolm said a little too quickly, and avoided her stare. “I don’t know. I don’t know anything right now.” He rubbed over his eyelids with his thumb and index-finger, then pinched the bridge of his nose slightly as if it would help cure all the problems crashing down on them. He sighed, then made eye contact with her as he got back to his feet. If anybody deserved to know, it was her, he thought. “Rhyan and Abigail met up with Lucifer—”

  “What?”

  “Uh, yeah, Lucifer kind of interrupted…them, and it didn’t go in our boy’s favor.”

  Josselyn covered her mouth with her hands. “Oh no!”

  “Yeah. Even better: Rhyan decided to act on his idea to try and win Abigail’s soul from him. He got his stubborn on and wouldn’t listen to a word I said. He just up and practically handed his own soul over to Lucifer.”

  “Wait…what?”

  “He agreed to a challenge, Josselyn. He has to go through and figure out a way to get out of all seven sydes of Hell, then—if he manages to pull off all of those impossible tasks—Lucifer will give the soul back to her and let them both go.”

  Malcolm had noticed the distant look in her eyes as she stared off into nothing. He was just glad she hadn’t been present for the show Rhyan put on, or she would’ve been a basket-case.

  “And…” she swallowed. “…and, if he doesn’t win the challenge? What happens then? His soul…?” She looked up to meet his eyes, but she already knew the answer, so she didn’t want to hear anymore. She turned and began to walk away, anger quickening her steps.

  Malcolm caught up with her, but didn’t touch her. He didn’t trust himself to touch her after how she’d looked at him through the speculum. He wouldn’t want to stop at just kissing her. And that was exactly what he would do if he touched her. He was caving. He knew he wasn’t her soulmate, because he knew his was in Limbo, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t make another woman happy. Right now wasn’t the time to be dwelling on how the particular woman beside him would feel in his arms, so he dropped the thought from his mind…for now.

  “I’ll do what I can for Rhyan, Jossel—”

  “He’s a big boy. I can’t worry about him right now, when my own soul might be on the line for taking care of his charge. If he wants to gamble his own soul, that’s fine, but he isn’t going to gamble mine.”

  “Okay, so, where are you going?”

  “To tell Isaiah what I’ve done, and beg for mercy and help, I suppose. We can’t do this alone, Malcolm, and if you don’t want to be involved anymore I completely understand. I don’t blame you. I won’t mention your name when I talk to the archangel. Nobody ever has to know that I had an accomplice in this. Isaiah knows more about Hell than we do—”

  “Nobody in Heaven knows more about Hell than I do at this point…” Malcolm started, then abruptly cut off his own words.

  She stopped and turned on him, hoping his features would tell her what the rest of the unspoken sentence hadn’t.

  “That’s it? Credit? You took Rhyan as a charge so you could spy on Hell and take credit for everything you see through his eyes, didn’t you?” She gave an exaggerated laugh. “You have no choice but to stick around and see how this plays out now, because you took him on as a charge. You’re just as stuck as he is; that’s why you’re livid. Am I right?” When he only dropped his eyes to stare at the ground, she huffed. “You are pathetic, Malcolm.”

  “I admit my intentions were selfish to begin with, but I honestly don’t want Rhyan to have to go through what he is about to go through,” Malcolm said defensively. “Look, can we just wait on going to Isaiah for a while? Just think how this will look to him. We’re unprepared, went against their orders and have no idea how to keep Rhyan’s head above the water. If we get a little more information on the sydes, we’ll be able to go in there with a plan. Instead of punishing us for making things worse, the head guardians will see we’ve been trying to help. Maybe if we have enough of a platform, some inkling of the way forward, they’ll let us get on and fix the problem as punishment.”

  She studied him for a long moment, then sighed in temporary defeat. “What do you suggest?”

  Malcolm smiled and let his relief spew from his lips. “Walk with me,” he said, then continued on in the direction he’d been going when she’d shown up. She casually fell into step beside him and began to listen to his plan. “I think we need to find out all we can about these sydes; that way Rhyan will know what to expect. I know who rules over each syde, and I know a little about the atmospheres, but what Rhyan needs is a way out, so we need to stay at least one step ahead of him, to help him get through Hell as quickly and painlessly as possible. Lucifer wrote up in the contract that he would supply Rhyan with one item to help get him through each syde. I can’t imagine it will be much, but anything is better than nothing, right? And we can try to slip him minor abilities. I just hope Lucifer doesn’t find out about our involvement or he’ll say Rhyan has breached the contract and then he will take great joy in hurting Abigail. Never mind the seven Hells, that alone would destroy Rhyan.” Malcolm sighed heavily. “Rhyan swears he will not fail, but if he doesn’t it will be a miracle.”

  Josselyn was too quiet, so Malcolm turned to her. She had her head down as she walked, and looked to be in deep thought.

  “Josselyn?”

  She looked up, startled. “Huh? Oh, yeah…I think you’re right.”

  His brow furrowed and he nodded. “About which part exactly are you agreeing with me?”

  “All of it—”

  “So what did I say?” he asked, and then stopped walking. “Where are your thoughts, Jossel? Two minutes ago you were hell-bent on taking the issue to Isaiah, and now you look like you’re off in a daydream somewhere.”

  “I’m sorry, Malcolm. It’s not that I don’t care, but I don’t think I can take any more bad news. There’s just no space left in my head. I wasn’t paying attention to you because the demon has me all shaken up; that’s all.”

  He closed the distance between them and took her hands, letting them dangle loosely between their bodies. “Then we will start there. Kendra’s welfare is extremely important to Rhyan, and if something happened to her I can only imagine how that would affect his thinking and resilience. If he’s going to succeed, we need him focused, and that means no extra worries, right?” He smiled and she nodded in agreement. “I can have a couple of LOD members stay with you. They don’t have to know anything about their mission except that there is a demon threatening to physically harm your charge. In fact, the less they know, the better for them; they won’t get in trouble if someone discovers our scheming ahead of time.”

  Josselyn suddenly threw her arms around Malcolm’s neck and hugged him tight. “I’m so scared.”

  He sighed and wrapped her in his strong embrace. She felt so good in his arms that he nearly told her of his feelings. He cared for her deeply, and she couldn’t keep falling into his arms like that; there would be consequences.

  He opened his mouth to speak, but what came out wasn’t what went through his mind a second before. I think I love you. “I’m scared, too.”

  Chapter 24

  Thoros

  “I have it blocked off here, here and here.” Thoros pointed out several different places in the still waters of his fountain to the Prince of Pride. “I feel really good about the stability of the structure and think it is something you should consider trying for your sy—”

  The door of Thoros’ lair burst open and Murry appeared.

  Thoros acknowledged his presence with a pop of his brow, then went back to focusing on the fountain once again. “I think the only real problem you’d have—”

  “Did you go?” Murry interrupted.

  Thoros inhaled sha
rply through his nostrils, then let it out slowly as he looked up through his lashes at the new prince. He glanced to Velan. The prince nodded in understanding then left the room.

  Thoros stared at the door for a moment more before looking at Murry. “Your manners have much to be desired. If you had barged in on Lucifer or even Damien like that you would have discovered your ass in your hands. Don’t take my generosity as a sign that I like you—because I don’t.”

  “I only wished to know of—”

  “I know exactly why you are here and what you wish to know. I believe you have more important things to worry about than a weak female angel.”

  “So, she is weak?”

  “Do not forget the reason Baddon was relieved of the position you currently hold. I’d suggest you tend to your guardians in training and teach them what they need to know. None of us know why Lucifer chose you to replace Baddon, and we are not dumb enough to question his reasoning. Regardless of the reason why, he will expect you to step up and exceed the rest of us because you are new, but we are not going to let you make us look like fools, either, so I’d say you have quite the plateful.”

  Murry studied the Prince of Lust in mild contempt.

  Thoros smiled. “I’m sure you have a lot of pent-up frustration and hatred toward your charge for choosing the other side, but I have informed the angel guarding her—”

  “Him—Adam is my charge, and my quarrel is not with him, though I have much to say when we meet again, nothing—I am sure—he will want to hear. His wife’s guardian angel temporarily ruined my plans, so I intend to get my revenge.”

  Thoros shrugged. “And you see this as something that cannot wait until your new minions even know your name?” Thoros chuckled as he dropped to the couch in a relaxed position, and then casually covered his eyes with the bend of his arm. “We had bets going on how long you would last. I think I overshot…by a lot.”

  “My duties to my syde have my undivided attention, Thoros, which is why I asked you to go check to see what I would be up against. I know I don’t deserve any favors. It is known by all that Baddon is one of your best comrades, and I understand how difficult—”