by Celia Kyle
Sam and I moved toward him, blades raised.
“You’re too late, Caith.” Keller’s voice echoed through the room. “I didn’t want to do it this way, but you won’t stop interfering. You left me no choice.”
I hesitated a few feet from the pentagram. Something in me told me that crossing the circle could be fatal. “What is this?” I hoped to buy some time for Jezze to finish her work. “I have the sigil, Keller. You’re going to have to kill me to get it.”
He laughed and shook his head. “You don’t understand what the sigil is, do you? It’s not something to be claimed by a person. It is power, Caith. Power cannot be claimed and owned.”
“But I have it,” I raised a brow and pointed at my chest.
“The sigil is stepping through a door into a new level of existence.” He didn’t speak any louder yet his voice still boomed as if he’d shouted. “Anyone can go through a door. Anyone can evolve and reach new heights. How they get there is the question.”
I stared at the pentagram and finally understood Keller’s intent. “You’re opening a ritual circle, a portal to Hell. And you’re going there in the flesh.”
“That’s suicide.” Sam put voice to my thoughts.
Keller laughed. “Almost. Which is why this wasn’t my first choice. Better to tie my strings to your soul, Caith, and send you to retrieve it for me. I could have drawn on its power through our connection and never put myself at risk. Now I can travel there in the flesh and claim it for myself.” He looked at me then, eyes completely black, the darkness in him growing with every breath. “You cannot stop me.”
I licked my lips, mind shuffling through my ideas while I sought my next move. Ritual circles were a sonofabitch. They were used to summon demons, and once the dem arrived, they would be trapped in the circle and bound to the summoner’s will. The circle acted as a magical force field (Star Trek totally got the idea from a warlock), holding them captive. Some dems escaped by tricking the warlock into breaking the circle and setting them free in the process.
Keller did the reverse. He was creating a portal into Hell.
So what would happen if I broke it?
Fucked if I knew, but I had a bad feeling it would suck us down to Uncle Luc’s territory. Fine for Keller and me. Not so much for Sam. Every demon in Hell would tear the gel apart the moment they saw him.
Keller lifted an athame and dragged it across his palm, drawing blood. As soon as his blood dripped onto the circle it would open the portal.
“Sam,” I looked to my mate, “go.”
“But—“
On High love him, but he didn’t listen. “Go!”
I raced forward and tried to reach Keller before he opened the portal. His blood fell toward the ground, drawing closer with each millisecond, and fuck… There wasn’t time to catch it before it touched the floor.
But it wasn’t a question of my speed, only how I moved through time. I extended my arm and called on my hellfire. The flames rose straight from the depths of Hell, fueled by the darkness in that realm. It came from a place where time meant nothing. I didn’t have to worry about calling it fast enough. I merely had to let it free.
The Hellfire erupted around Keller, scorching his skin and boiling away the blood on his hand. That single droplet vaporized before it could touch the ground and the blood runes that Keller had painted on his skin were seared from his flesh. The pentagram vanished in the same instant, cutting off the ritual circle and closing the portal.
I brought my sword down on Keller a moment later. My sharpened blade was anxious to taste the warlock’s blood. He deflected it with a blast of magic that knocked it from my hand.
He leapt to his feet and lunged, screaming as he attacked. “You vile bitch! You’re ruining everything! I was going to make you my queen. We belong together. You’re my soulmate.”
I snorted and punched Keller in the face. “You’re wrong, asshole. I was never your soulmate. You were a good time when I was foolish and lonely.”
“And what,” he shouted. “You think the fucking angel is your soulmate? He’s nothing and I’ll prove it.”
Keller thrust a hand toward Sam and I swung for Keller’s wrist. A burst of magic shot from my ex’s hand just before my blade connected. The metal sang as it sank through flesh and bone, severing Keller’s hand. It fell to the ground with a wet splat.
Keller’s spell shot toward Sam and a swirling vortex formed in the air. It was a smaller, cruder version of the magic he’d used to attempt the portal to Hell. This couldn’t open a passage that a man or demon could use, but it created a connection to the realm.
A horde of screaming spirits poured out, all flying at Sam. He swung his divine blade and the sword glowed with holy power. He hacked through several of the angry spirits, slicing them to pieces as easily as my own blade cut through flesh and bone.
But there were too many. Too many and their claws tore into Sam, ripping at his soul. Their ghost-like forms couldn’t harm flesh or draw blood, but they could shred his soul if I didn’t stop them.
“Jezze!” I screamed and hoped she could hear me. “You need to finish that spell, now!” Keller’s phantom strings allowed him to control the spirits. If they were severed, they’d fade and vanish back to the spirit realm.
But it didn’t look like Sam would last long enough for Jezze to sever that link.
I ran to Sam, but Keller intercepted me. He thrust his remaining hand at my chest, his palm slamming into my chest over the sigil that was burned into my skin. He grabbed me and a heaving lurch jerked me forward. He fought to tap into the sigil and suck its power the same way he’d drained so many innocent people.
I grabbed his wrist in a tight grip and swung my sword with my other hand. He stepped close and swung his bloody stump to block my attack. He was too close for me to use the sword. I didn’t have the leverage to get into his body.
I dropped the sword, grabbed his wrist with both hands, and strained to draw him away. His hand shifted into his wolf’s claw, sharp talons digging into my flesh. Asshole wanted to claw my heart from my chest along with the sigil.
Yeah, not happening.
I channeled a combination of Hell and holy fire into my hands, savoring the conflicting warmths while I burned his flesh with darkness and pure light. His skin crackled and burned, the fur sprouting on his arm catching fire. He screamed in pain and I smiled widely even as he pushed me against the wall and tried to pin me there. His naked body pressed against mine and the stench of blood, sweat, and burning fur made my stomach heave.
“You’ll be mine, Caith.” Keller’s spittle peppered my face. “I’ll kill you and then rebuild you. You’ll be my eternal undead servant to use as I please.”
Keller’s hard cock pressing against my thigh told me how excited he was at the prospect of using me. My stomach clenched again and I grimaced in disgust. I released his wrist and lowered my hands, fingers still burning with the twin flames.
“Is this what you want?” I grabbed his exposed dick in an iron grip.
Keller howled and staggered back, his grip on my chest abandoned to clutch at his burned crotch. Ouch. That looked like it hurt. It was one of those wounds a man didn’t recover from easily. Or ever if I had got a say. While he clutched his burnt crotch, I kicked him in the chest and he fell to the ground. His screams echoed off the walls, the screeches hurting my ears with every new wail.
Using the toe of my boot, I flipped my sword from the ground and caught it mid-air. With a flick of my wrist, I aimed the blade at Keller.
“Goodbye, Keller.” I brought the sharpened metal toward his head.
“Then let his fragile mind join me in Hell!” That shout was different from his screams of pain, the deep tenor and hollow words reverberating in the room.
Like a spell.
Just before my sword pierced flesh, Keller threw his hand toward Sam. A flash of light and the air shook like a crack of thunder bouncing through the sub-basement.
I drove my sword int
o Keller and he shuddered before going still.
Just to make sure I stabbed him a few more times. (Okay a dozen.) And cut off his head for good measure. His head rolled across the basement floor, not stopping until it hit the wall with a sickening, wet thud.
I spun, searching the area for Sam, ready to celebrate victory, but… But he’d dropped to a knee and clutched his head, eyes shut. The last of the spirits had vanished—Jezze’s spell must have worked in those final moments—but I wasn’t sure how much damage they’d done to Sam’s soul.
Nor did I know what Keller’s final spell had accomplished.
“Sam?” I went to him, dropping to my knees and cradling his head to my chest. “Sam, baby, are you okay?”
Sam groaned again, still clutching the side of his head. He went limp and leaned into me, his chest moving with his deep, slow breaths. I stroked his face, brushing hair out of his eyes while I looked him over for injuries. I used my expanded senses to search for spiritual damage. He was weak, but it didn’t seem like anything was horribly wrong.
“Sam? Talk to me. What’s wrong?”
He pushed away from me, enough space between us so he could look in my eyes, his gaze unfocused. “You…?” He frowned and shook his head while he rubbed his temple. “I… I know you? I know that I know you, but…”
But he didn’t recognize me and my heart… We could fix this. I cupped his face and held him still. “No. No.”
He pulled from my loose grip and scanned the sub-basement as he pushed to his feet. “I don’t know where I am. What happened?”
“Sam,” I stood as well and cupped his shoulders to hold him steady. “Sam, please tell me you’re okay.”
He looked hesitant, as if he wasn’t sure what to say. It was an expression I’d never seen on him. Sam was never unsure. “I don’t… I don’t remember anything.”
Sam took my hand and gave it a squeeze. He said he knew me and he seemed to trust me on some deep, instinctual level, but I saw the truth in his gaze.
There was nothing there.
Keller’s last words echoed in my mind. Then let his fragile mind join me in Hell!
Keller had taken Sam’s mind—his memories—with him to the depths of Hell.
And there would be no way to get Sam’s memories back.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Momma R and Jezze tried every spell they could to restore Sam’s mind. From healing magic and psychic power to spells designed to restore what was lost and let it be found again.
Sam sat in Momma R’s kitchen patiently the entire time, letting them do what they could. Except the more time that passed, the more it became clear that nothing would work.
A knock at the front door drew me to the front of the house and I rushed to answer. Sorsha stood on the porch, a bag of healing supplies slung across her body.
“He’s in here.” I led her to the kitchen. “They’ve been trying well… everything.”
“I feel fine.” Sam’s tone remained patient and innocent. “I appreciate everything you’re trying to do—whoever you are—but I don’t want to be a burden.”
I swallowed hard and stroked his face. My chest burned, not from the sigil, but from the pain of having Sam and yet not. “You’re not a burden, sweetheart.”
Sam took my hand and gave it a squeeze. Somehow, even without his memory, he still trusted me. Our connection went deeper than memories. He was my soulmate, my twin flame. That was something Keller could never touch. But it seemed that even in death, the warlock had managed to get his final revenge.
Sorsha did what she could, passing healing charms over his skin and giving him a restorative amulet. She hoped the amulet would work… eventually.
“There’s no certainty,” Sorsha managed to remain calm even as I internally freaked out. “It might take days, weeks, or years for his memories to return. If they return at all.”
I clenched my fists. “I’m not going to give up.”
“Nor should you,” the healer gave me a sympathetic smile. “After what you survived, when we thought all was lost, I would never doubt you again. But you may need patience.”
She touched my arm, her smile turning sad before she turned away to repack her supplies. She’d done all she could, but it hadn’t been enough to fix Sam.
Nothing seemed to be enough.
And as the day wore on, no matter who I called, there was no cure for Sam’s amnesia.
In the tween.
I had one more card to play. It was a difficult one, but I had to try.
“Can you guys keep an eye on him?” I spoke to Jezze and Momma R as I tipped my head toward my sort-of-mate. “I need to make a call.”
“Sure thing,” Jezze answered. “But a call to who?”
I walked out without answering her—Jezze wouldn’t be a big fan of my next actions. This wasn’t exactly going to be a local call.
I passed through the living room and Bryony spied me from the couch. He was working on his homework with Esmeralda watching him while the rest of us worked on Sam.
“Where you going, Mom?”
I leaned over the couch and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “I’m going to get help for Sam.”
Bry glance into the kitchen. We’d only told him that Sam was “sick,” and that we were trying to make him better. I wasn’t ready to explain evil warlocks and memory-grabbing spells to my kid.
“I hope he gets better soon.” Bry looked at me with worry in his eyes.
He’d almost lost me and now the man—angel—he viewed as a kinda-dad was ill.
“Me too, sweetie. Me too.”
With one last kiss, I left and hopped into my SUV. I took back roads out of the city, steadily driving toward an isolated, empty field miles from the nearest house.
I plodded to the center of the field, high grasses and trees hiding me from view from any random passerby. I waved my arm in a large circle and let a quick burst of Hellfire burn away the foliage so I had an empty circle in the dirt. I used my dagger to etch a ritual circle as well as a five-pointed star surrounded by runic symbols.
My own portal to Hell.
I dragged my dagger across my palm to draw blood and then held my hand over the circle until the red droplets splattered to the dirt. The wound closed an instant later, leaving my skin whole and unbroken. Under different circumstances I would have been excited to have my healing ability back at its fullest, but now I had other things on my mind.
A flare of swirling light and a rush of heat preceded the portal’s opening. I called out to the beings I needed. “Mom! Uncle Luc! I need you.”
There was a long silence and part of me wondered if they’d ignore the summons. If anyone else tried to summon Lucifer from Hell, they’d fail miserably.
Or Uncle Luc would appear just to kill them for being so presumptive as to summon the High Lord of Hell. But I wasn’t just anyone. I was family.
The swirl expanded and a great hole tore into the air above the circle. Smoke and ash floated from the portal immediately followed by two figures dressed in all black. Uncle Luc stepped out with my mother on his arm and both smiled warmly at me.
“Caith,” Uncle Luc said. “I’ve been meaning to check in on you. I hope you’re well.”
I smudged the dirt with my foot to break the circle—setting them free so they could travel wherever they pleased. Not that they couldn’t have gotten out on their own—they’re both stronger than me and I couldn’t have hoped to contain them.
After all, Uncle Luc regularly visited on his own using his own powers. I’d only summoned them so they wouldn’t have to strain to get to the tween. That way, they’d be at full strength to help Sam.
“Come on,” I turned and stomped toward the car. “I need your help.”
It only took me a few steps to notice that neither of them followed me. I turned back and leveled my darkest glare. They hadn’t moved an inch.
“Seriously, come on. With all the shit I go through for both of you, you owe me. Uncle Luc, I saved
your lover-girl and made sure your kid was born safe, didn’t I?” And let me just say that hadn’t been easy.
Uncle Luc nodded. “Don’t think I’m not grateful, infans. You always do wonderfully and I’m proud of you, but this time, there’s nothing we can do.”
I snorted. “Bullshit. Is this because he’s an angel? Fuck that. Gel or dem, you owe Sam as much as you owe me.” I pointed at Uncle Luc. “He protected your little girlfriend. He’s helped you time and again when he had no reason. It’s time to step up and return the favor.”
My mother sighed and shook her head. “We didn’t say we won’t help, we said we can’t.”
“Why not?” I crossed my arms, glare still in place. “Give me one good reason.”
“For starters, he’s a gel,” Uncle Luc drawled.
I rolled my eyes. “I said a good reason.”
“That’s not a reason I’d use to refuse. He is, after all, your lover.” He curled his lip and I wasn’t sure if it was because his little niece had a lover or that he was an angel. “Our powers won’t work. The power of Hell can only harm a gel, not cure him.”
I wanted to yell and rage at Uncle Luc, but I should have thought of the obvious. I was just… so fucking tired. Tired and worried and scared and… all of it.
“Then help me find Keller. I killed him and I know he didn’t get sent to On High. He’s somewhere in Hell—your domain. Find him and bring him to me. If he absorbed Sam’s memories, I’ll suck those things right back out of his On High damned head.” Then I’d cut off his head. Again.
Mother shook her head. “I wish we could dear, but you see—“
“See what?” I spread my arms, frustration pummeling me. “Haven’t I done enough? Do I need to march back to Hell and drag his ass out myself?”
Because I fucking would.
“It’s not that, infans.” He was using that soothing tone I hated. “It’s far more complicated. You see, Keller’s soul never reached Hell.”
I was going to bring him back and cut him into tiny pieces before putting him back together again. Like, a dozen times.
