“Senoy, Sanaenoy, and Semangelof.” He looked back at Michael. “These were the three angels who chased Lilith when she fled Adam after he tried to force her into sex.”
Michael snorted. “That’s a matter of opinion, brother. The way I remember it, she refused Adam his husbandly rights and ran away into the desert to whore with demons, then she married you and whored with ... angels ... and men.”
Dis watched a muscle in his brother’s jaw clench. “Whatever. The human didn’t know what to do with what he had.”
“Humph. Kinda like you with Lilith, huh?”
Dis stared at his brother open-mouthed. He had to admit Michael was right. He didn’t know what to do with the lingering thoughts of Lilith that were plaguing him. He had wanted her and lusted after her, but had grown morose and angry when she fooled around with others. “Yeah, what’s your excuse?”
Michael’s eyes narrowed. “I’m a bit more honest in my desire, Sam. I wanted to fuck Lilith ever since the day she came into existence. I have no delusions that the bitch loved me.”
Dis turned the talisman over and over in his fingers. He might be misguided with what to do about Lilith, but he knew what to do about Hayley. He felt the same driving desire he experienced with Lilith and Beatrice, but there was more. He liked to see Hayley’s smile and hear the sound of her voice. He liked the tiny sounds of satisfaction deep in her throat when he made her come. He wanted her to be happy and safe.
His eyes met Michael’s. “What happens when the talisman is put back on her?”
“The initiation will become null, and all memories of her past lives will leave her. Her soul will be free to go back where it belongs.”
Dis felt his lungs constrict. She would return to her life on earth, while he had to stay here. Alone. He couldn’t be the one to send her away when his soul screamed for him to keep her for himself. “Do it.” His voice and hand shook, but he gave the necklace to Michael. “I want her to be safe and happy.”
Chapter Eleven
Hayley raised her arms above her head and twirled around the half-naked man in front of her. She didn’t care that he was painted a weird blue-green color. She just wanted to dance. The music reminded her of one of Chimara’s songs.
The beat pulsed through her body, and she closed her eyes. Her hips moved in a sensuous motion. She felt good. No, she felt great. After Dis had fucked her last night, she had awakened with memories of some wild dreams. No, she frowned -- more like déjà vu.
The blue guy moved closer, but she pushed him back. He might have a good body, but he smelled like rotten fish. Not like Dis. She breathed in deeply with the memory of his body moving over and in hers, slick with sweat. A groan escaped her throat. The man was a god.
Images of Dis and another man flashed through her mind. Her eyes opened wide in realization of why her body felt so alive. She’d dreamed of having sex with Dis and another man ... Michael? The name seemed right, though she couldn’t remember ever meeting him before. But she did know him. Intimately. She stopped dancing and groaned.
Why was she dreaming of these things? She looked at the man in front of her and had to repress a gag. Why was she dancing with this man when she wanted Dante? She’d never been one for casual sex. Now, in the space of two nights, she was allowing her body to be groped by this strange guy and indulging in group sex. She glanced at Gina.
The other girl had a vague, empty look on her face. Her beautiful body was flushed from her exertions, and Hayley felt her clit twitch with the memory of Gina’s tongue.
Who knows, you might begin to like it.
“No.” Hayley lifted her head and scanned the room. Nothing, but she could have sworn someone had spoken to her ... a woman. She shook her head. Her imagination playing tricks, like the other day when she’d looked into the mirror and thought she’d seen someone else.
Swhoosh. A soft rustle sounded behind her in a corner hidden in the shadows. Torches flickered in the stale air. Someone, or something, watched her. She squinted in hopes of seeing into the darkness. Nothing but blackness met her stare.
“Dante, is that you?”
“Relax, babe. He’s passed out by now, the way he downed that fifth.” The sweaty man wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. “Why don’t we go somewhere more private?” His breath fanned her face.
“Eeyewww.” Hayley pushed out of his embrace. “Ever heard of a toothbrush or a bar of soap?”
She had to find Dante. She had to explain to him how much she wanted to please him, but that sharing partners wasn’t her thing. She knew she needed to go home -- back to the real world, away from the overflow of hedonistic pleasure that abounded in his world. But she couldn’t. Dante had given her something she knew had been missing in her life: passion.
“Where ya going? The party’s just starting.” Cold, clammy hands grasped her wrist and tried to pull her back into the crowd, which had grown thicker since her arrival.
“Let go!”
A figure emerged from the shadows, and she held her breath. She couldn’t move, but didn’t know if it was from fear or fascination as a man appeared in front of her. Taller than Dante, his arms and legs were like tree trunks, and the contours of his muscles were carved in clear detail for her eyes to behold.
His abdomen held various scars, but still lay flat and sculpted. When her gaze fell to his sex, large and bulging behind the leather of his pants, her mouth watered in anticipation.
She swallowed against the sudden desire flaring to life in her groin. Her fingers bit into her palm. She tore her gaze from his cock and focused on his face. She gasped as recognition dawned. “Michael.”
His blue eyes shone from the darkness, and his mouth moved in the briefest of quirks at the corner. “So, you remember who I am.” His voice echoed throughout the room.
The demons closest to them slowed their dancing to study the newcomer. Their eyes squinted with suspicion.
Hayley shivered. “I-I think so.” She moved closer to him; the grasp on her wrist slackened.
One second he stood in front of her; the next, he circled around her, leaning close. She turned to him but stepped backwards until her body pressed against the door to Dante’s office. His eyes were narrowed, and his nostrils flared, as if he tried to smell her. His head turned at an angle, reminding Hayley of Dante.
The comparison ended there. Their eyes might be shaped similarly, but they were of different colors, except when Dante’s glowed iridescent in moments of distress. Her hand reached out to touch Michael’s hair. He pulled his head back, and his expression grew wary, like a stray dog.
“It’s okay.” Slowly, her fingers touched his hair. “I won’t hurt you.” Silky soft like Dante’s and just as black. The man’s face was hard and fierce. A long scar traced the edge of his cheekbone. He wasn’t beautiful like Dante, but his features held an appeal a woman couldn’t deny -- pure animal magnetism.
Her hand trembled, and she tasted fear but continued her exploration with her fingers down his cheekbone to his jaw. To her surprise, he closed his eyes and turned his face into her hand. Hayley stopped the progression of her hand and watched in amazement.
A large hand covered her own, and the warrior -- for there was no other name she could use to describe the man in front of her -- kissed her palm with such gentleness, she wanted to cry. The blue eyes opened and studied her with ... love ... and sadness. She didn’t understand why he looked at her like this.
“Lilith, you are so beautiful.” His whispered words washed over her skin, bringing sadness. Everyone thought she was someone else.
“I-I’m Hayley.”
Michael smiled and leaned to her. Before she could move, he covered her lips with his. Their breaths mingled, and the velvet of his tongue against hers made Hayley’s body tremble with need. She wanted to bring him closer, but he pulled away. His hands, strong on her upper arms, held her in place.
“It is time for you to be gone from the little one’s mind.”
Hay
ley stared at him. What was he talking about? She shook her head in confusion. “What do you mean ‘it’s time to be gone’?”
Michael’s jaw tightened before he brought her to him and crushed her mouth beneath his. Hayley’s head fell back, and the hot, aching need she’d experienced earlier came forward in a rush.
The heat began in her groin and spread through her abdomen up to her brain. She felt like another person inside of herself, clawing to get out. In her mind rose an image of Michael sprawled on his back against the grass rose, his head thrown back in satisfaction while his hand caressed a woman’s head between his legs.
Hayley gasped when she realized the woman was her, but not. She tore her mouth from Michael’s, and he let her go.
His eyes traveled over her body, and Hayley stared back. No, that wasn’t her. It was ... Lilith. A wave of dizziness made her stumble back when Michael opened the door. She felt a burning sensation between her breasts. She touched her face and neck where sweat covered her skin.
She clawed at the object she felt against her skin, but her hand came away scorched. She screamed and looked at Michael. Satisfaction shone in his eyes. Why? She’d thought he liked her.
Hayley looked at her hand, and the pain intensified. “What have you done?”
She’d been branded. Her eyes focused on the words burned into her flesh. Then she understood. Sensoy, Sansenoy, Semangelof. Her years as Lilith rushed through her mind.
He was trying to repress the memory of her past lives. She didn’t want to forget who she’d been and what it had felt like for him to love her, for all of them to love her. She had been strong. Beautiful.
With Lilith’s knowledge, she would grow strong again, become mistress of the demons. She wouldn’t be alone anymore, locked away in Hayley’s memory. Tears flowed down her cheeks, and her hands clenched into fists. Her nostrils flared to take in the putrid air of Hell.
“You bastard!” Her voice wheezed and hissed, changing forms, as her memories raced.
“Leave her, Lilith. Go to the desert, where you belong.”
The memory of Lilith burned the edges of her mind. Her brain felt as if it were on fire. The demoness came forward with a rush, and Hayley clutched her head. Her words were garbled and full of pain and anger. “I hate you! More than I hate Samael.” What was left of Lilith fought for control, scratching and clawing her arms, fighting against the forces that pulled her into oblivion. “I curse you for all eternity, Michael. May you never find the one thing you’ve always searched for your entire existence.”
Michael, his face without a trace of emotion, stood firm and quoted a verse from ancient texts. “‘Shadai. Senoy, Sansenoy, Semangelof, Adam, and the ancient Eve. Out, Lilith.’”
She covered her ears, but still felt the memories recede. Michael paused. A look of great grief crossed his features. His voice sounded choked when he continued.
“‘The wild-cat shall meet with the jackals, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow.’” The angel’s voice grew softer. “‘Yea, Lilith shall repose there, and find her a place of rest.’”
With one last scream, Hayley felt the wild, lustful memories leave her mind. The echoes of the demoness’s screams drifted into oblivion, and she fell onto the bed.
Michael moved forward, but Dis shoved him away. He didn’t want his brother to touch the girl crumpled on the bed. She belonged to him. He saw the love on Michael’s face. Whether his brother denied it or not, he knew the angel loved Hayley, who was Lilith.
He pulled Hayley into his arms and registered Michael turning away to return to the shadows.
“Hayley?” Dis pushed her hair from her face with shaky hands. God, she was so pale. He raised his eyes to the heavens.
Don’t let her go without me telling her goodbye. He rocked her in his arms and buried his face in her hair, so soft and silky. He loved her. She had to know how he felt. Maybe if he had told Beatrice sooner, she would have chosen him all those years ago.
“Hayley, look at me.”
Slowly, her eyes blinked -- once, twice. The beautiful gray irises focused.
“W-What happened?”
“Oh, thank you, Lord.” Dis kissed her forehead. “Thank you.” He held her damp body close. She would leave him soon and go back to her world. He wanted to enjoy the feel of her one last time in his arms.
“Dante? What’s going on?” Her small voice interrupted his moment of relief and gratitude.
He laughed, tears in his eyes. “That’s my girl, always demanding to be in the know.” He held her face in his hands. “I love you, Hayley.”
Her eyes grew wide. “I-I love you, too. But why are you crying?”
“You have to go home. You don’t belong here.”
A look of comprehension crossed her face. Her voice sounded calm, reserved. “I’m really in Hell, aren’t I? And you are the devil, aren’t you?”
Dis nodded, too scared to speak.
“Did I die?”
“No, not yet. Your soul is trying to go back. That’s why you’ve been having the dizzy spells and headaches. You were sent here by mistake.”
He knew she hadn’t believed her circumstances until now. Her time here would be like a dream for her, and he was glad. He didn’t want her to remember how her memories of Lilith had made her act the whore. His Hayley wasn’t like that. She was everything he and Lilith weren’t, sweet and innocent.
“What about my friend, Jay? Did he die?”
“I don’t know.” He hadn’t kept track of her friend. The man could be anywhere in the bowels of Hell. His demons wouldn’t have tired of their new toy yet. She didn’t need to know her friend would spend eternity in the clutches of demons. The thought would terrify her. He didn’t want her to be afraid of him, a monster, a demon. He only wanted her love.
“What do you mean, you don’t know? You’re Satan, aren’t you? Don’t you control this place?”
Her anger erupted, but he stayed calm. “It doesn’t work that way. There are rules, Hayley.”
“Rules? I want my friend back.” She pounded her fists against his chest. “You’re the fucking devil, damn you. Do something!”
“We don’t have time. You have to go.” He caught her fists to his chest and forced her to be still. “Now.”
Gray eyes stared into his, and he saw the light already fading. Her tears fell to wet his skin and pierce his heart. She shook her head.
“I love you. Why can’t I stay with you?”
“No, love, that’s not how --” He choked on the words he’d said to her earlier. “-- things are done.” Rules. There were always the damned rules.
The light faded. Her eyes closed. He held her warm body, just a shell, in his arms.
Dis threw his head back and howled. The music screeched to a halt, and demons throughout the realm shook in fear at the sound of their master’s misery and anger. There would be hell to pay tonight.
Chapter Twelve
“He did what?” The shout echoed down from Olympus, traveling across the River Styx, up through the old warehouse, and into the streets beyond. The sound reverberated like thunder, and passersby searched the heavens for the thundercloud, but the sky remained clear.
Hades bowed his head against Zeus’s anger. When his brother was in this mood, there was no consoling him. They must all ride the storm, so to speak.
“Michael repressed the memory of Lilith, thereby releasing Hayley’s soul from Purgatory, my lord.” Talos stepped forward to try and explain.
“Bad move, tin man.” Hades moved between his brother and his creation. He leaned close to Talos’s ear. “You don’t know when to keep quiet, my friend.”
Talos shoved him away. “I’m not your friend.”
Hades laughed, then shrugged. “It’s your funeral.”
“Will you two shut up?” Zeus’s head lowered, and he glared at them with anger-filled eyes from under his white brows. His nostrils flared.
Hades thought he could actually see steam coming from the god’s ears.
He almost felt sorry for Talos, but not quite. If the gatekeeper had done his job, this would be over. Instead, they were going to have to storm Hell and close the gate by force. Even with Dis in a weakened state, Michael would be close by.
“I thought I told you to grab the girl.” Zeus paced around Talos. “What happened?”
“Michael showed up and took her away from my contact. The demon had her within his grasp, but the angel intervened.”
“Damn, fucking watchdogs!” Zeus’s voice thundered again. “Should’ve crushed them under my thumb when He first created His pets.” Zeus smacked his fist into his hand. “Nasty, vicious creatures, especially the one -- Gabriel. Actually makes Dis look like a choirboy.”
Hades narrowed his gaze. Talos didn’t appear nervous or anxious. Maybe he was telling the truth, but how had the angel known what was going on?
Charon.
“My lord Zeus.” Hades stepped forward, braving his brother’s wrath. “I think there is another we must be concerned about more than your metal creation here.”
He winked at the hostile look Talos threw him. The brass man hated anyone defending him. Too bad; he’d have to get over it. They were in too delicate a situation to worry about hurt pride. Time was precious if they still intended to take the gate of Hell.
“What are you talking about?” Zeus asked. “If Talos, or his goon, didn’t give us away, who did?”
“Charon, my lord.”
Zeus sucked in his breath with a hiss. “The little bastard. I’ll kill him.”
“Hard to do when he’s already dead.” Talos’s mumbled words were loud enough. Hades wondered if he did it on purpose.
Sparks flew from Zeus’s ears, and the god’s eyes glowed red above the snarl of his mouth. Hades sighed and rolled his eyes. “Do you ever shut your mouth, man? You just want to piss the old guy off.”
“Why not? I’m in Hell any way you look at it.” Talos’s red-eyed glare met his before he moved off into the shadows.
Hot House: Dante and Hayley Page 12
