by Tara West
I nodded. “Ever since Ash joined the ghosting squad.”
He shot me an accusatory glare. “You knew this would happen?”
Anger infused my skull at the judgment in his eyes. “Did I know Shadow would steal her soul to Hell? No, but she seems to court trouble wherever she goes.”
“Then why did you let her join?” he growled.
I pulled back my shoulders, leveling him with a warning look. Had she been his woman, he wouldn’t have been able to keep her on a leash, either. “I tried to dissuade her, but it was not my choice to make.” The last woman I tried to control had not only rebelled but betrayed me as well. I still wasn’t sure Ash’s heart would be loyal to mine forever, but I wasn’t about to let my jealousy get the best of me. Not yet, anyway.
Ash
“Here, doggie. Nice boy. How about a yummy giant bone to chew on?”
My knees wobbled and sweat dripped down my back as I walked up to three sets of drooling, snarling jowls, holding out what appeared to have been the leg bone of a saber tooth tiger. How did I know this? Because of the giant fanged cat skull attached to the top of the bone structure. I suspected it was Cerberus who had killed the beast. I also realized if there had been a Hell specifically for tormenting cats and mailmen, an eternity with Cerberus would have been it.
My breaths came in shallow gasps as I was nearly overcome by rancid dog breath. May God strike me back down to the bottom level of Hell if I ever made fun of my loveable lab’s breath again. He could have eaten an eternity’s worth of crusted turd nuggets, used tampons, and recycled dog barf, and it still wouldn’t have come close to the unholy stench radiating off Cerberus’s three ugly heads. Even though I was a good twenty yards away from Freaky Fido, the smell hit me like a brick wall.
I wished I could have shielded my nose, but I needed both hands to wield the bone.
“Here, doggie, doggie,” I cooed as I set the bone down and slowly backed away, keeping my eye on that gleaming red elevator right behind him. If I could just distract him long enough to get into that oversized door.
“Ash,” Callum called to my back. “This isn’t going to work.”
I mentally rolled my eyes at my Sir Galahad Dragon hero who was a respectable safe distance away, hiding behind a boulder while I did all the dirty work. As I watched the venom from one of Cerberus’s fangs sizzle and smoke when it hit the ground, I started to believe Callum might have had a point.
And just when I thought all hope was lost, Cerberus sniffed the bone before taking it in his jowls and wagging his long, snakelike tail in appreciation. His two outside heads fought with the middle head for control over the bone, as they snapped at each other’s lips and necks.
Yikes.
I reminded myself to never invite them to a dinner party and offer them the last croissant.
Callum climbed out of his hidey-hole wiping grime off his legs. He let out a low, appreciative whistle.
I planted my hands on my hips, turning up a satisfactory smile. “See, I told you dogs love me.”
“Maybe so,” Callum hissed as he ducked down, “but that doesn’t mean he’s going to let you pass.” His eyes widened as he pointed beyond my shoulder. “Watch out!”
I tumbled to the ground as a pair of fanged jowls narrowly missed snapping off my head. I rolled away as he came for another pass, and then I jumped into the air, flying just beyond his reach as he snapped at my feet.
“Sheesh!” I wagged a finger at the dog. “What did I ever do to you?”
He answered with a triple bark that nearly blew out my eardrums.
“Bad doggie!” I scolded as he jumped up on his hind legs and sprang from the ground.
I screeched and flapped away, putting a respectable amount of distance between me and his fangs. Then I flapped away a little farther, putting even more distance between me and his breath.
Callum flew to my side. “Don’t take it personally. He doesn’t like anyone.”
I scowled down at the three-headed demon dog who was happily munching on the bone I’d given him, his tail slapping the elevator door in a taunting staccato. “Okay, new tactic.”
“We leave and wait for Aedan,” Callum said dryly.
But no, I had a better idea. I had no idea if my wind powers had changed since falling into this stink hole, but they sure felt different. I looked down at my palms, willing my powers to surge, and was surprised when I saw a little spark jump off my skin.
The memory of my death a few short weeks ago came flooding back: I’d been electrocuted by a faulty blowdryer, and somehow that same electricity had found its way into my hands. I wondered just how strong my powers were, deciding there was only one way to find out.
I flashed my best bad girl smile. “How about we teach Fido a lesson?”
Callum’s eyes widened, and he reached for me, but I flew down fast, landing on the ground with a jarring thud that caused pain to shoot up my legs.
Ouch. Okay, I’m not Super Woman. Lesson learned.
Even though I was farther away from the beast than last time, when I looked into his three sets of glowing red eyes, I realized I hadn’t really thought this plan through.
Shit. Why am I always acting without thinking? One day, like maybe now, my carelessness is going to get me in trouble.
But when the dog dropped his bone and came after me, I had no time to rethink my plan. I lifted my hands and fired off a charge, just enough to make him yelp three times and run harder.
Awww, triple shit.
I jumped into the sky, pumping my wings with all my might, and once again narrowly missed being Cerberus’s chew toy. Okay, so that plan didn’t work, but as I looked down at my aching palms, I knew I wasn’t channeling all my energy. There had to be more than a little spark. All I had to do was figure out how to release it.
I did my best to ignore the barking mutt below as I wracked my brain for an answer. Maybe I had to get really angry, like those times I’d channeled my wind back on Earth. Maybe if Cerberus did something to piss me off, I’d be able to hit him with enough of a charge to power all of Seattle. I had no idea why, but at the moment, I wasn’t feeling the anger. Yeah, I was frustrated, and hot and sweaty, and thirsty, and in bad need of a bath, pedicure, manicure, massage, and maybe a few orgasms, but I wasn’t angry. I should have been. I’d been kidnapped and brought to Hell, after all.
Hopelessness surged through me as I looked at Callum.
He flew beside me, patting my back in a brotherly gesture. The pity reflecting in his eyes reminded me of the time my mom had tried to control my meltdown after my bratty sister popped the heads off all my dolls.
“You ready to go back?” he asked, squeezing my shoulder.
I shook my head as wet heat stung the back of my eyes. “So plan A didn’t work, but I’m sure we could figure out a plan B.”
I thought about what else we could use to distract the ugly canine, and for some reason horny water came to mind. Hmmm. I wondered what would happen if I brought him a big bowl of water. Then I cringed when I realized what a two-ton horny dog could do to us. Back on Earth, I’d had a hard enough time pulling Jack off my beanbag chair.
“Do you know where we can get any giant sofa cushions?” I asked.
Callum gave me a look like I’d gone certifiably bat shit cray cray. Maybe I had. But after enough time in this infernal, sweaty stink hole, it was bound to happen.
Callum heaved a groan as he threw his arms into the sky. “Ash, you need to learn when to admit defeat.”
“No.” I stomped the air with both feet. “I will never admit defeat. I don’t deserve to be in Hell, Callum. I’ve never raped or killed anyone.”
His eyes widened and then narrowed, but not before I saw the flash of pain in his red orbs.
Oops. That was a totally insensitive thing to say, Ash.
He turned and flew back in the direction we’d come. I hastily went after him as I gnawed on my bottom lip. “Not that you have raped or killed anyone, but you know?”
>
“Yeah,” he grumbled. “I know.”
But, wait! He was giving up already? We still hadn’t figured out how to defeat the dog. Surely, he had to have another weakness other than really bad gingivitis.
Panic punctured my words. “Where are you going?”
Callum tossed a glare over his shoulder. “Home. I’m tired of chasing my tail around.”
After Callum dropped me off at his den, he went back out to talk to his demon roomies. He looked bone tired when he returned. The cut on his chest was red and raw, and I hoped his Devil’s whiskey would be enough to ward off infection.
I’d been wringing my hands in anticipation the entire time he was gone, worrying that he’d engaged in another battle with Shadow or his master.
“I have three sentries on duty,” he said as he bent over the table, reaching for his whiskey jug. “They will sound the alarm when Scorpius comes. Until then, we will need our strength if we’re going to zap that dog again.” He smirked and then took several swallows before setting down the jug with a clank. “We should get some rest.”
When Callum nodded toward his bed, I just about had a heart attack. My eyes bugged and my wings drooped as my gaze lingered on the striped furs. Did he expect me to sleep next to his rock hard, scaly body and not get turned on? Yeah, and never in a million years had I ever thought I’d use the words “scaly” and “turned on” in the same sentence, but this was Hell, and I was still horny from all that hormone water.
“You can sleep here,” he said as he stripped a fur off the bed and bundled it in his muscular arms. “I’ll sleep by the fire.”
I knew I should have been relieved to see him walk away, so why did I feel the keen stab of disappointment in my chest? Hot damn, his ass looked so good in that skimpy loincloth. If I hadn’t already been in Hell, I would surely have been banished to the fiery pit for wanting to jump the bones of my boyfriend’s demon brother.
I glanced over at the water trickling down the wall, licking my parched lips. It beckoned to me, told me to quench my thirst and then go rip off Callum’s loincloth and straddle his hard body. Just a quick screw. It wouldn’t count as cheating. We could blame it on the water.
I had to squeeze my legs together as desire shot through me and trickled into my panties. Oh, God, this was going to be one hell of a torturous afterlife if all I ever did was think about sex. I looked at the water again; the sound of it splashing against the stones was enough to drive me mad. I was so damn thirsty. I wondered how much it would hurt if I just had a few swallows.
“What are you doing here?”
“Huh?” My hand flew to my throat and my wings jerked me to my knees when I realized I’d been sitting on Callum’s makeshift bed. How had I gotten here, and what was I doing with a cup of water in my hands? One minute I’d been salivating over his tight ass, and the next I was getting cozy on the floor with him and drinking hormone water!
This was so not like me. I’d always been loyal to my men, even the jerks. But in Hell, it was like all of my morals had been turned inside-out.
He scowled at my goblet before prying it from my hands. “Go to bed, Ash. There’s no telling when Shadow’s master will arrive, but when he does, we will need our strength.”
Okay, lust momentarily forgotten. Shadow’s master was supposedly going to come for me because I was his prize. Why he wanted a frizzy-haired ghoster was beyond me, not when I was certain there had to be plenty of nice creepy demon girls he could kidnap instead.
I shook my head to clear my thoughts. “Who is Shadow’s master?”
He frowned. “They call him Scorpius, and he’s The Gatekeeper, the most powerful demon in our dimension.”
The Gatekeeper? That sounded important.
“What’s a Gatekeeper?” I asked.
A shadow passed over his features before he reached for his whiskey jug on the floor. “The one who holds the key to your escape.”
I blew a lock of frizzy hair out of my eyes. “That sucks.” Somehow, I didn’t get the feeling he’d be giving up the key any time soon. I wondered if dimensions in Hell were like levels in Purgatory, and if so, we had to be on one of the lower levels, because my current living situation certainly sucked. “So is our dimension toward the bottom of Hell?”
The jerk actually had the nerve to laugh, which wasn’t good, because his throaty chuckle sent a wave of lust straight to my girly parts. “We’re on the first dimension, the top floor. This is paradise compared to the others.”
I wondered just how shitty things became with each level, and I prayed I’d never have to find out first-hand.
“Callum?” I asked, taking a chance and using his given name.
“What?” He groaned before tipping back his head and gulping from the jug.
I scooted away from him, feeling uneasy at the amount he was drinking. Then again, I had no idea of a dragon’s tolerance level. I’d always been a cheap drunk. Two drinks and I was usually flirting with the nearest stud at the bar. Three drinks and I would have probably slept with that stud. Four drinks and I would have woken up thinking I was with a stud, only to realize he was a middle-aged high school janitor who still lived with his mom and had a bad case of eczema on his ass from playing too many online video games.
“How did we get our demon forms?” I asked.
He took another long drink as his eyes gleamed with distant memories. “Our demon forms mirror our deaths, and sometimes, I think even our hearts. I was crushed for several hours beneath a printing press after a building collapsed on top of me. I’d been drinking whiskey, and I remember my lungs were on fire. I should have used that time to call out to God and beg forgiveness for my sins, but I cursed him instead for making me weak and selfish. I cursed Katherine for being a whore. Mostly, I cursed myself for betraying my brother, a damn good man and my best friend. By the time rescuers had lifted the rubble off me, I’d breathed my last living breath. And when I woke again I’d been cursed to Hell, a just punishment for my sins. The rage in my heart has made me this creature. Every waking moment my chest strains for breath and my lungs burn, only now the flame is real.”
Holy shitfire! Talk about a tortured soul. He’d been living this way for over a hundred years. And I’d thought my life was rough. Seriously, what had I been tortured about in Purgatory? PMS cramps? Gluten intolerance? Bad hair days? All of that paled in comparison to what Callum endured.
“I’m sorry, Callum.” I fluttered forward, resting my hand on his. “I wish there was something I could do to ease your suffering.”
He shook me off with a scowl. “There’s nothing you can do.” Then he took another swig.
My wings fell at my sides as my shoulders caved inward. Jeez, talk about rejection, and I wasn’t even coming onto him. Well, I didn’t think I was, but my girly parts still ached, so it was hard to tell.
I worried about his drinking. He had to have finished the entire bottle by now. And then what? Did he have more demon moonshine locked up somewhere? Was he going to get too plastered to protect me?
“Shouldn’t you slow down?” I asked.
He arched a brow as steam poured from his nose. “You my mother now?”
I rolled my eyes. I wanted to say if I’d been his mother, I wouldn’t have wanted to fuck him, but I decided to keep that snarky comment to myself. “I’d like you to stay sober in case this Scorpius shows up.”
He shrugged. “I fight better when I’m drunk.”
I threw up my hands, fluttering to my knees. “You’re impossible, you know that?”
He actually had the nerve to grin, a damn sexy grin at that.
“Hang on,” I said, leaning over him as I wiped a drop of whiskey off his chin. The scales on his face were a lot smaller than the ones on his chest, nearly blending in with his skin. Beneath his tough hide he looked very much like Aedan. This beast was more man than anything. My hand lingered on his mouth, tracing the line of his lips. They were soft, like Aedan’s. I wondered if his kisses were as intoxicating.
>
“You shouldn’t touch me like that.” He grabbed my fingers, squeezing as he pushed me away. But the molten look in his eyes said he wanted me to keep touching him and then some.
I sat back on my heels, pouting as I fought the urge to lean into him. “I’m not hurting you, am I?”
“I took Katherine without thought or care for anything but sating my desires.” His features turned to stone. “Her nettle is the bane of my existence, tempting me in her nude form, knowing I’m not strong like my brother.”
I fisted my hands in my lap, squeezing until nails broke skin, desperately trying to tame my desire. “You don’t seem weak to me.”
His gaze roved the length of my body, lingering on my breasts before our eyes locked for several pulsating heartbeats. “If I wasn’t weak, I wouldn’t be thinking about bedding you now.”
A shudder coursed through me, sending a trill of desire and fear across my senses. “Oh.”
He pulled a thick blade with a bone handle from the side of his loincloth and handed it to me.
“Sleep with this. If anyone tries to harm you tonight, don’t hesitate to use it.”
“What if you try to harm me?” I breathed, and by harm, I meant screwing my brains out all night long.
“Then strike hard and without mercy.” He pulled back, eyeing me with an intensity hotter than damnation’s deadly embers. “Not in all of thirteen hells would I ever wish to betray my brother again.”
Aedan
Since I’d drawn first watch, it was my duty to stare out into the blackness and watch for vengeful demons. So far, I’d seen nothing, so I had time to brood over dark thoughts while Sarge slept with what appeared to be one eye open and Jack’s two heads snored beside the campfire.
My thoughts traveled to Ash. I’d hurt her today with my careless words, and now she was gone. Why had Shadow taken her and for what foul purpose? Alone with my depression, my confidence had finally began to wane. I wondered if I’d be able to save her, or if she was lost to me forever. So far, Jack hadn’t been able to pick up her scent, and I had no idea where to start looking. Were my companions and I alone on our mission, or would God extend His mercy down below?
