by Tara West
I wondered who all these human-beasts were; no doubt, they had been horrible people back on earth. So far, the only nefarious soul I’d recognized had been Hitler. If anyone deserved to be thrown outside, it was him. I had assumed sub-level thirteen would be nothing but a lake of fire. The Devil must have powerful magic to have created such a sanctuary. I only hoped the hotel was weatherproof and up to fire code.
I took a seat beside my unwelcome dining companion, stiffening when I watched Aedan sit between a pair of slutty cat women, their long tails swishing behind them and caressing Aedan’s ass. Why did he have to sit there? Was he trying to piss me off?
A waiter, whose pointy furry ears and sharp canines made him look like the Big Bad Wolf, filled my goblet with blood-red wine. I pushed the offending cup away. I ignored the basket of steaming bread, too. If gluten back on earth made me sick, I could only imagine the nuclear diarrhea I’d get from the wheat in Hell.
“Why so glum?” the Devil whispered in my ear, his cool breath making my skin crawl. “This is supposed to be a happy occasion. Don’t tell me you’re having second thoughts.”
My head snapped back as I narrowed my eyes at my captor. I knew what he was trying to do: break Aedan and me apart. But why? What was in it for him, other than the sick satisfaction of shattering two hearts? “No, I’m not.” I pulled back my shoulders and turned up my nose, feigning a confidence I didn’t feel. “I love Aedan, and he loves me.” Did he love me? He’d been so quick to leave me alone with the Devil and sit between flirty felines.
“Of course he does.” His patronizing tone dripped off his tongue with acidic venom. “Even if his loyalty may waver from time to time, he still loves you most.”
Loyalty waver? He loves me most? Oooh, this guy was smooth, but not smooth enough. He was trying to undermine our faith in each other after sending us temptations. It’s not like he’d sent us the run-of-the—mill call girls, either. Sirens were beautiful temptresses with magical horny powers and perfectly perky and proportioned breasts. Thelix’s tits were like two ripe peaches begging for a squeeze. Damn. Just thinking about her made my girl parts ache. I had to get hold of myself. No wonder Aedan had shot his load.
Even if Aedan was intent on cheating on me again, I wouldn’t give up on us. Aedan meant too much to me. “We both know your sirens tricked us,” I sneered.
One finely sculpted brow arched. “Did they? Or do you just wish it to be so? That way neither of you feel guilt for succumbing to your desires.”
I rolled my eyes. “Nice try, but I was definitely tricked, and I won’t let that happen again.”
“That would be a shame,” he smirked, taking a long sip of wine. He set the goblet down, pulling his lips back in a predatory smile.
My heart came to a thudding stop when I saw his teeth were stained as if with blood. Oh dear God, the wine looked like blood because it was blood! Ewww. I’ve had some foul, cheap wine before. I remembered spring break in Ensenada, drinking a glass of some shit that tasted like hairspray and then leaving a trail of vomit from the bar to the bathroom. But I drew the line at blood wine. I’d always tried to keep an open mind when it came to trying new alcoholic beverages, but this drink fell under the category of “no fucking way.” I didn’t care if he spruced it up with cherries, a ring of salt, and a toothpick umbrella.
The Devil downed the remaining contents of his goblet, then signaled the waiter for a refill. He turned his attention back to me, a drop of crimson liquid hanging off his bottom lip. “Have you forgotten my first rule?”
“No.” I folded my hands in front of me, and with a stiff spine, repeated his foul words. “‘No pleasure is too sordid, carnal, or disgusting.’”
“I’m delighted you remember.” He leaned back, his eyes dancing with merriment, though it wasn’t the jolly merriment of Santa Claus, more like the feral satisfaction of a snake who’d cornered a mouse.
“But I’m not a cheat.” I clenched a silver-plated fork, trying to squeeze the tension out of my limbs. “Not intentionally.”
“Of course you’re not.” His voice dripped with mock sincerity as he nodded at Aedan. “A shame we can’t say the same for him.”
Aedan’s back and shoulders were rigid as the cat ladies continued to tease him with their tails. He looked at the dais from behind a pair of feline ears. When our gazes locked, my heart skipped a beat. There was a profound determination in his eyes, and I knew right then and there that Aedan had resolved to fight for us. I only hoped his resolve was stronger than the Devil’s.
I held my chin high, determined not to let the Devil win. “You tricked him, too.”
He threw up his hands, feigning innocence. “I had nothing to do with it.”
Yeah, and I’ve got a beachfront property right outside I’d like to sell you.
I grimaced when a waiter placed a pile of bloody meat in front of me. I preferred my steaks medium rare, but this thing looked like it had gone straight from the butcher block to my plate. Good thing I didn’t need food to survive in Hell. I just needed luck. Lots and lots of luck.
“Why did you bring us here?” I demanded, feeling a renewed sense of confidence after the look from my fiancé.
“I told you already. To throw you a party,” my host said as he stabbed a piece of meat with his fork.
I nearly lost my breakfast when the food began to squiggle.
“So after the party is over, you’ll let us go?” I knew it was a longshot, but I had to ask.
He set his fork down with a frown. “I’m afraid there’s no way out of sub-level thirteen until your friends come for you.”
Okay, so hang out with Satan until my friends came to fetch us. Seemed a little too easy. This wasn’t like when I was a preteen, waiting for my mom to pick me up from a slumber party.
“And when they get here, what will you do?”
He picked up his fork, that red, dripping piece of meat squirming as he bit into it. I’ve seen some gross shit before, but this went beyond disgusting.
As he chewed, I thought I heard a small squeal coming from inside his mouth. He washed it down with more blood before belching into his fist. “I will gladly barter for your souls,” he said with a smug smile before eating another piece of wiggling meat.
I looked at my plate and saw stew-sized bites sliding over one another, smearing trails of blood across the platter.
I angled my body away from my meal, doing my best to keep from retching as I faced him. “What kind of deal are you offering?”
“It’s simple.” He waved his fork around before sticking the meat in his mouth, his serpentine tongue darting out to lick his lips. “You can get out of this miserable inferno when I can.”
My jaw dropped. “So you want God to let you go back to sub-level one?”
“Sub-level one?” He slapped his knee and let out a deep, sinister chuckle. “Oh no, my dear. I expect to be reinstated at my rightful place in Heaven.”
My limbs shook and my brain numbed from fear. There was no way God was letting him back into Heaven. Sure, God had given Aedan’s brother, Callum, a reprieve from hell by granting him permission to come to Purgatory, but that was after almost a hundred years of trying to atone for the sins he’d committed on Earth. It’s not like Satan had been living a pious life in Hell. I hardly thought drinking blood and eating crawly meat chunks counted as a communion. And then there were his rules. Somehow I got the feeling Satan’s sordid rules didn’t jive with God’s commandments.
“I thought God banished you to Hell.”
“That was so long ago.” Satan waved away my concern with a flick of the wrist. “I’m sure he’s over it by now.”
Uh, I wasn’t a betting woman, but if we were in Vegas, I’d wager all my credits God’s answer to Satan would be a big, fat NO. “And what will you do if God refuses to let you into Heaven?”
He leaned toward me, the smell of his bloody breath nearly making me gag. “Then you stay with me.” He grabbed my shoulder, his long fingers digging into my sk
in and making my flesh crawl. “I’m sure you and I can find ways to amuse each other. “
I jerked out of his grip, overcome by nausea. I resisted the urge to cradle my shoulder, which felt as if it had been burned. “Aedan won’t go for that.”
He heaved a sigh, a look of mock sadness in his beady eyes. “No, I imagine he won’t, which is why I will have to put him outside.”
I shot out of my chair and pounded the table with both fists. “You can’t, you fucking asshole!” I didn’t mean for the words to shoot out of my mouth like a cannon, but it was too late to take them back now. Note to self: when calling a guy a fucking asshole, even if he is a big brown poop shute, make sure he doesn’t have the power to cast you into a lake of fire. My gut twisted as I slowly lowered myself into my chair and flashed a half-hearted “haha, I was just joking” and “please don’t slather me with barbeque sauce and roast me” smile.
The Devil slowly rose, stretching above me like a beanstalk shooting into the sky. “You need to learn your place, bitch!”
He pointed his scepter at me and started chanting. I didn’t know what he was saying. Something about “canis lupus,” whatever that meant.
Another wave of nausea swept over me. I swallowed a lump of bile as my limbs shook like jelly. What the heck was that all about?
The activity in the hall had gone eerily silent as Satan stretched and stretched, his body lengthening until he was as tall as a Nephilim. His sinister shadow looked like a skeletal giant as it flickered like flame across the stone hearth. “I can do anything I want in my realm,” he said in a voice so dark and powerful, it shook every table in the room and rattled my very soul, “and there is nothing anyone can do to stop me.”
Chapter Five
After the Devil’s tantrum, everyone in the hall began to scatter. Aedan rushed to my side amid the chaos, wordlessly pulling me up the stairs to our rooms. I squeezed his hand like a lifeline, so relieved he’d come for me.
Did this mean he’d forgiven me for being seduced by the siren? Because I’d already forgiven him. As angry as the thought of him with some other woman had made me, I knew he’d been tricked, too. All I wanted was to get the hell out of Hell and back up to Purgatory with my fiancé. I honestly didn’t care if I never visited Hell again. Aedan’s brother, Boner, and Sarge would have to visit us in Purgatory, because Hell sucked. Hell sucked big time.
Aedan pulled me past our rooms to the end of the long hall. We ducked beneath a heavy set of curtains and found ourselves in a small room leading to a set of double doors.
He spun me toward him, grabbing my shoulders. Deep lines marred his forehead, making him look like he’d aged ten years. “What did you say to him?”
Tears pricked the backs of my eyes. “He said he was going to throw you outside, so I called him an asshole.” I decided to leave off the “fucking” part. No use getting Aedan even more rattled. The way his chest was rising and falling, as if he’d run a marathon, I feared he’d have a heart attack if he knew I’d dropped the F-bomb on our unholy host.
His eyes bugged. “You did what?”
“Aedan,” I cried, wiping my tears with the backs of my hands, “he was threatening you.”
“I don’t give a damn what he said about me.” He squeezed my shoulders hard, panic in his eyes. “You know better than to provoke him.”
I bit my lip as a strange sense of unease settled over me. “What do you think he’ll do to me?” Although I already feared he’d enacted his punishment. Why had he pointed his wand at me and what had he said?
“I don’t know.” He searched my eyes. “Ash, please promise me you won’t lose your cool with him again.”
I averted my eyes, fearing his warning may have come too late. “I-I’ll try.”
“You have to do more than try. I can’t lose you.”
My gaze shot to his, and when that lone tear slipped down my cheek, I wanted to bitch-slap myself for being so stupid. Why had I provoked the Devil? That was about as smart as lathering up in fish guts and jumping into a tank of sharks—really voracious fucking asshole sharks with really big grudges.
I was going to answer him, but something about those double glass doors caught my eye. I thought I saw them change colors from dark gray to metallic silver.
“What’s that?” I pointed just beyond his shoulder.
He spun around. “It looks like an elevator door.” He ran his hands over the casing before pulling the doors apart with a grunt.
Was this a secret passage out of here? Were we saved? I tried not to get my hopes up as I followed Aedan through the crack in the doors. Escaping Hell couldn’t be this easy.
Imagine my shock and disappointment when we found ourselves, not in an elevator but on a balcony overlooking a lake of fire. It was so hot, it felt as if my skin was going to melt right off my bones. “We have to go back,” I rasped as the dry heat sucked up the moisture in my mouth and squeezed my chest like a vice.
Aedan wordlessly nodded as he pushed me back into the hall. I stumbled, falling to my knees and gasping for breath as he pulled the doors shut. He fell beside me, breathing with a wheeze and clutching his chest. It took several minutes for us to catch our breath.
“We can’t go out there again.”
His face was flushed with pink-and-yellow spots all the way to his roots, and it took me a few moments to realize his skin was burned. I turned over my hand, frowning at my yellow, puckered skin. A few seconds outside and we looked as if we’d fallen asleep in a tanning bed.
I sure was glad my balcony view had a screen-saver. By the time we went back through the curtains, two bulls were waiting for us, breathing steam through their snouts as they bore down on us with angry grunts.
We made a hasty retreat, and luckily, the guards didn’t follow. I guess they figured we’d rather take our chances in the hotel than go outside. As we walked toward our rooms, we tried opening several doors, but all but the one next to my room were locked. We practically ransacked the room, which looked surprisingly just like mine. We looked for secret doors or other means of escape, but our search was futile.
I fell back on the canopied bed with a groan. I had known escape was futile, but some part of me had been hoping I was wrong. If the Devil couldn’t get out of here, we didn’t stand a chance.
When Aedan sat down beside me, I heaved a sigh and rolled onto my side. “He said he’s not letting us go until God lets him back in Heaven.”
“We both know that’s never going to happen.” Aedan grabbed my hand, flashing a pitiful smile, as if I’d just come out of a beach cabana with a tampon string hanging down my leg. I hadn’t realized until that moment how much Aedan’s touch meant to me. Just the feel of his warm skin on mine, and a surge of self-confidence flowed through me, tampon neurosis and all, and stupid me thought as long as I had Aedan, everything was going to be okay. But would it?
“Would God abandon us down here?” I asked, and then cringed as I awaited his answer.
His smile vanished. “Maybe, but our friends wouldn’t. As soon as opportunity arises, we need to find a way out.”
My heartrate quickened. After going outside for just a few seconds, I didn’t think we could survive another failed attempt. Besides, our host had already warned us what would happen if he caught us trying to leave. “But the Devil told us he’d throw us outside if we tried to escape.”
“I know.” Aedan groaned, smoothing a hand down his face. “That’s why I haven’t broken out of my room yet.” His face colored. “I just don’t know how much more of these games I can withstand.”
By games, I knew he meant temptations. I sat up, grabbing both his hands and staring at his index finger. We should have been married by now, but that secondhand gold band I’d bought for him was lost, along with our luggage. I only hoped our future happiness wasn’t lost, too. I didn’t need a ring or gown or even a ceremony. I just needed Aedan. But I’d blown it. We’d both blown it with those sirens. If we made it out of the hotel from hell, I hoped we c
ould get past our accidental infidelity.
“Aedan, I’m so sorry about the siren.” My eyes welled with tears when I reflected on my behavior. Why had I gotten in that tub? Why couldn’t I have refused her? “I-I don’t want you to think I’m like Katherine.”
I sighed when he cupped my cheek, catching one of my tears with his thumb.
“You were tricked, Ash.” His tone was surprisingly sweet. “It’s not your fault. I’m sorry, too.”
I leaned into him, wrapping my arms around his neck and staring deeply into his bright blue eyes. “I know it wasn’t your fault either.” I only hoped we would both be strong enough to rebuke their advances in the future.
As if Aedan sensed my fears, he pulled me tightly against him, kissing my brow and then my nose before his lips sought out mine and our mouths locked in a long, languid kiss. The kind of kiss he usually gave me when he was in the mood for loving, not the kind of kiss I’d expect when we were trapped at the bottom of Hell.
I pulled away, offering him a wary smile. I wasn’t so sure now was the time or place to get frisky, especially not after what we’d been through that day.
“We can’t do this here,” I pleaded as heat swept through my cheeks.
He brushed a wayward piece of frizz behind my ear. “I know, sweetheart. I just wanted you to know how much you’re loved.”
Awww. My fiancé never ceased to amaze me. He’d actually found a way to earn brownie points in Hell. Given the chance, he could probably charm the Devil. He bit his bottom lip and pulled back. “I learned something from my dining companions.”
