by Lowe, Aden
Too late, Dix realized Belial intended that dream for only the few he selected. While the rest of the group might want nothing more than to pursue their own ideas of fulfilment, Belial and Lilith had definite plans. With Belial's followers to pay the way and do the work for them, the pair planned a little Paradise on Earth for themselves and any they deemed worthy of joining them.
Paradise to them meant freely indulging in whatever depravity caught their fancy without fear of repercussion. Drugs, bestiality, necrophilia, human sacrifice—to them it all fell under their rights to religious freedom, and the laws against those things meant religious persecution.
Even though Dix disagreed, he couldn't voice his opinions because of the risk to Sophie. His every action or word could be used to hurt her. The moment he figured things out and started to leave the Church, Belial claimed his so-called right as the representative of the Dark Lord to make Sophie his Consort for a ritual.
Already familiar with the brutality of that scenario, Sophie wanted nothing to do with it. When she objected and Dix defended her, things went from bad to worse. Two of Belial's apprentices held Sophie down for the hideous assault, after two others tied Dix and forced him to watch. Sophie screamed in pain and terror and Dix vomited, sick with despair at his inability to help her.
But before that night, Sophie had talked non-stop about Sanctuary and how wonderful life would be there. From her, Dix heard over and over about the farm in Ohio Belial's grandparents had left him. The entire group planned to visit the farm to make preparations for All Hallows Eve that last year. But before any of that could happen, Dix ratted Belial out.
The important part for the moment was to remember the location of that farm, since Belial's followers probably took Georgie some place they considered safe. No doubt Lilith had done her homework and knew Dix had the Hell Raiders on his side. She'd want a location his resources couldn't reach, no matter what she intended to do.
He really needed to talk to Kellen and Trip and the others. Too bad everyone was still sleeping. Without a moment to lose, he'd have to wake them. He dug for his cellphone, but it wasn't in his cut pocket. A half-formed image of the damn thing on the bedside table in the sick room, hooked up to a charger, flashed through his head. Damn his luck.
The deep breath he attempted to take in reflex to a thought of yelling for someone took care of that idea in a hurry. Hell, he kept his voice very low talking to Badger to keep from having to breathe too deeply. He'd be lucky to draw enough air in to carry on a normal conversation. Where the hell had Badger gone, anyway?
Dix called out, but no response came. The old man had probably gone to town, with Dix's luck, but he might have just gone to sit on the porch in his usual spot. The battle to get out of the damn chair nearly kicked his ass, but he stuck with it and finally stood there, weaving like a drunk about to hit the floor.
His balance probably wouldn't improve with time so he pushed away from the table and pointed himself in the general direction of the front porch. With a little luck he might make it there before noon. One painful step at a time, he crossed the dining room. Finally he half-fell against the wall in gratitude.
Three more steps to the door and as he reached for it, the damn thing swung open. "Oh, hey, kid, you going somewhere?"
Dix really wanted to let his head thump against the wall, but that would hurt too damn bad. "Yeah, I was trying to catch up with you."
Badger tilted his head to one side as if unsure what to say. "Kid, you just ain't right. What'd you need?"
"I need to talk to Kellen but I left my fucking phone. Would you give him a call for me? I have an idea where we might find Georgie."
Any inclination for a smartass remark evaporated, leaving Badger looking like the dead serious Captain of the Home Guard. "Let's get you to a chair." The older man grabbed his phone and found Kellen's number while he half-carried Dix to one of the big recliners. "Hey, boss, sorry to wake you, but we need you in the front. Dix has something on Georgie." He paused. "Yeah. Got it." He shoved his phone back into his pocket. "He'll be out in a minute."
Dix sat back in the chair and wished for painkillers. But no, he needed to keep his wits and figure out where Belial's Sanctuary might be located. With Midsummer approaching, and with it their version of the Great Rite, they had a limited time to find Georgie and get her away from them.
Lost in thoughts of the past, he failed to note time passing and Kellen's approach startled him.
"You know where they took her?" Kellen wasted no time.
"I think so." Dix explained his reasoning.
"So where is this place?"
"That's just it. I never knew, other than Ohio. Surely we can track it down though. The newspapers at home were all over the trial and used his real name. Couldn't we find it that way?"
"I don't know. The others will be here soon, so maybe they'll know where to start."
Chapter Seventeen
Lilith's words, especially the reference to Dix, made Georgie's stomach heave. She tried really hard to keep the water down, but it insisted on coming back up. Right on Lilith's shoe.
Bitch jumped back with a curse. "You'll pay for that." The cold tone of her voice sounded far more frightening that if she had shouted. An even colder smile twisted her mouth. "Only four more days and it will be Midsummer and we will perform the Great Rite. And you will be the guest of honor." She turned on her heel and stalked from the room.
Georgie's heart pounded, heavy in her chest. Great Rite? What did that mean? Certainly didn't sound all that great for her. She could ask TImmy, but it would have to wait a bit. The risk of bringing Lilith back in was more than her stomach could handle at the moment.
How did these people know Dix? The rollercoaster of dread and fear sent her heart back to her throat. The Dix she knew would never associate with people like them. The stubborn little voice in the back of her mind refreshed her memory on the sort of men he currently called brothers. Whatever criminal activities they might be involved with, Kellen and the other Hell Raiders treated violence as second nature.
The one called Naberius left the room, thank goodness. Just sharing the same air with him made Georgie nauseous. A suffocating sense of evil surrounded the man. Not the usual lowlife criminal evil, but real Evil. The kind that made you want to reach for a cross and take a bath in holy water. Even with him out of the room, the air still seemed thick, clogging her throat.
Desperation to think of anything else forced her to look around the room, searching for a distraction. Across the room, Timmy sat on the rotting couch and played a hand-held video game, totally engrossed. It looked like he wanted to remove himself from the situation, and Georgie couldn't blame him. He didn't seem to have the mentality to deal with the circumstances he found himself in.
And it seemed like he might be her only hope.
"What are you playing, Timmy?" It took real willpower to keep the quaver out of her voice, but she had to do it.
He looked up at her, seeming startled to realize she still sat there. "I shouldn't talk to you." His attention returned to the game, and from the stubborn set to his jaw, he preferred she not disturb him.
Well hell. What now? She waited a few minutes before trying again. "I'm not a mean person, Timmy. I wouldn't do anything to hurt your feelings." A prayer passed through her mind in an attempt to ensure he believed her.
Tears glistened in his eyes when he looked up. "Yeah, maybe, but Lilith and Naberius might decide to make me hurt you so I can't like you."
"You could tell them no." The tremor in her voice sounded far too obvious to her ears. She could only hope he wasn't the type to get off on fear the way his companions did.
He shook his head. "I can't. They make me. They can make me do anything, even stuff I don't want to."
Dread settled deeper in the pit of her stomach. She couldn't count on him to help her, so she was on her own. Dix couldn't be able to help her, even if he knew she'd been taken. If he still lived, he probably had no idea who had
taken her, much less where. No one else would have a clue where to begin either.
Careful not to draw Timmy's attention, she took a good slow look around the room. A loose baseboard lay against the wall. That might have some potential as a weapon, especially if there were embedded nails or a jagged end. A long shard of glass from a shattered window pane lay not far away amid a litter of small sparkling slivers. Another possible weapon.
She needed to know for sure how many people stood between her and freedom, and what resources she might have. Clues to her location would come in handy too, but she doubted anyone giving her a map.
"Hey, Timmy, we drove a long way to get here, didn't we?" Any hints she received would have to come from him. None of the others seemed the type to just volunteer information.
He glanced up from his game and frowned. "Yeah, it took a long time."
Shit. They thought she'd stayed unconscious for the whole drive. "I thought we must have. I'm stiff, like I laid still too long, and feel like I have a bunch of new bruises, too."
His brow cleared. "I'm sorry." For a moment it seemed like he might say more, but stopped himself with a slight shake of his head and a look toward the door where Lilith disappeared earlier. Fear evidently kept him quiet.
Georgie needed a new tactic. There had to be a way of getting information without endangering Timmy. She just had to think of it. Better not piss him off either. At the moment, he seemed to be the only person there with no specific plans to do bad things to her. She preferred not to give him reason to start making plans.
Loud male laughter came from somewhere else in the house, impossible to pinpoint as the sound bounced around the mostly empty room. Timmy stood, as if to leave and investigate, but seemed to think better of it, and plopped back down on the moldering sofa amid a cloud of dust.
A sudden fit of sneezing hit Georgie, each little spasm feeling like a club to the head. When it finally stopped, she could have sworn Timmy or someone equally huge pounded on the inside of her skull. Despite the pain, Timmy's demeanor alarmed her. He seemed afraid of whoever owned that laugh.
She winced against another sneeze attack. "Who was that, Timmy?"
He looked up at her, eyes wide with fear, and sort of drew his head down between his shoulders like a turtle. "I don't know."
Bullshit. The man looked like he wanted to crawl under that moldy couch and pull it into a hole on top of him. Eyes watering heavily from the dust, Georgie decided to try a different tactic. She sniffled a little. "I'm sorry, Timmy, I'm just really scared. I don't know why I'm here or what's going to happen to me."
The tears streaming down her cheeks surprised him, or something did. He tucked his game into a pocket and looked around frantically. "Shh, don't cry." He stood up. "I'll get you something to eat. That will help." He hesitated rather than take a step, like maybe a sobbing girl was less frightening that whatever waited in the next room.
"No, Timmy, I'm not hungry. I'm scared." The tears might have started as a reaction to dust in the air, but they were quickly becoming very real. Damn, she had to keep her wits. Fear was simply another enemy in this situation.
He sat back down. "I'm sorry." If anything, he looked even more scared than she felt, worried gaze on the door to what she figured was the kitchen.
"Look, Timmy, I don't know what's going on. Can you at least tell me that?" Desperation made her voice crack.
He shrugged, but before he could say anything, Lilith's heels clicked somewhere nearby, accompanied by a heavier footstep. Timmy put one finger to his lips in a shushing gesture and pulled his game back out of his pocket.
Georgie took the advice and bit her tongue on all her questions and swiped her hand across her eyes in an attempt to erase the tears.
Lilith came in and for the first time, Georgie noticed more than her shoes. Purply-black hair swung loose around voluptuous curves barely concealed in a snug red dress better suited to clubbing in a big city. Jealousy stabbed at her. Dix knew this woman, presumably had fucked her, since she'd made some remark about his taste. Skinny little her didn't stack up well against those tits and ass, not to mention the long legs.
Heavy leather boots followed the high heels. Lilith stopped and a starkly beautiful man moved up beside her. Brilliant blue eyes met Georgie's startled gaze. She found herself powerless to look away from him, even if she'd wanted to.
"Lilith, you didn't tell me what a little treasure you had waiting for the Great Rite." His gravelly voice raised goosebumps on her back. "Belial will be pleased."
The woman made a derisive noise and rolled her eyes. "He doesn't care what they look like. All that matters is a vessel."
The same loud laugh from earlier came again. "Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, Lilith. The Dark Lord appreciates beauty in his Consort as much as any man would."
The words coiled fear, dark and ugly, in Georgie's belly, far stronger than before.
Lilith repeated the eye roll. "Belial isn't as superficial as you, Abaddon."
He grinned and came close to offer Georgie his hand. "What's your name, sweets?"
Georgie swallowed hard and stayed silent, unable to look away or move. A rat caught in a snake's hypnotic stare must feel much the same way. Several smartass replies came to mind, but her throat refused to open up enough for her to say them.
"Just as well. I like 'em shy." He bent down to run one finger along her cheek, leaving a trail of ice.
Lilith turned to glare at him. "Really? You've refined your taste then. Last I heard, you liked anything you could stick your dick in." She stalked away and went into the other room.
Georgie didn't care what sort of bullshit the two of them had going on. She just wanted to be left totally out of it.
Abaddon laughed again and turned back to her. "Don't let mean old Lilith worry your pretty little head, sweets. She's just jealous."
The shudder raced over her, refusing her attempt to suppress it. Which was worse? This man's beautiful savagery or Lilith's jealousy? Georgie hoped she didn't find out because she had a feeling neither would end up in a fun way for her.
Finally, he left, freeing up some of the air once more so her lungs managed to fill properly once more. If she'd had any doubt before, she knew it now. These people were straight up evil with a capital E. The logical side of her brain, the part that said the boogeyman doesn't exist and evil is mainly a figment of Hollywood's imagination, had minimized the hints she'd had before. The last few moments overrode logic though.
The way they talked, it sounded like they planned a ritual centered around sex, and probably rape, with her as the guest of honor. Her stomach heaved again but she managed to stop. From here on out, she had to keep her wits and not let fear decide anything. No emotion could come between her and survival.
She turned toward where Timmy concentrated on his game, ignoring everything else. No one else is this bunch of lunatics would do anything to help her. Even though she hated to think of them hurting him, if survival meant exploiting Timmy's nature, she would have to do it. First off, though, she needed information.
"Hey, Timmy?"
He looked up a little, then shook his head and went back to his game.
"Can I have a little more water?"
That seemed to get through to him. He turned the game off and brought her the same water bottle from earlier. As soon as she took it, he returned to the couch and his game, as if he sensed the change in her motivation. He wasn't going to make it easy for her.
Chapter Eighteen
Hot dry wind blasted against Dix, nearly knocking him over and burning his eyes. All around him, a desolate landscape of twisted rock reflected the heat. Overhead, the searing sun hung impossibly large and close, baking everything within its range.
Every drop of moisture fled his body, leaving his skin uncomfortably tight, ready to split and allow the sun access to his organs. Mocking laughter echoed in his head and a dark face hovered before him. Belial in full demon mode. That face had haunted his nightmares for y
ears, and there it was, for real.
The head fell back in uproarious laughter, revealing a mouth full of teeth more suited to a wolf on steroids. "Hello, Samael. Welcome to Hell. It's been a very long time. I hear you have a lovely little gift for me. I'll taste her soon."
Dix's heart tried to break through his ribcage. The rough voice vibrated down his spine and his stomach threatened to turn inside out at the name they'd given him. The leader of the cult had dragged him into a little psychic conference for the second time in his life. After the first, he'd prayed it would never happen again, even convinced himself it had only been a dream. Maybe it was, but it still scared the piss out of him.
Mental doors in his head slammed reflexively in an attempt to keep the bastard from pillaging his memories. "I don't know what you're talking about." He needed to keep his terror to himself and prevent Belial from using it as a weapon against him. Before, he hadn't known how to shield his thoughts at all and the demon reduced him to nothing within seconds.
More laughter. "Don't try to play with me Samael. We both know you won't win."
An image of Belial's demonic face superimposed itself on his mind, pushing everything else aside. Yellow eyes with vertical slit pupils glared with hatred while Dix attempted to push it away. At first it faded a bit, but then came back stronger than ever.
Belial grinned. "Oh, I see. She's special. Not like sweet little Sophie. It's a good thing I'll be able to entertain her personally, then."
His belly clenched. "No you won't. In case you forgot, you're in jail, asshole."
The coarsely-shaped head shook, almost sorrowful. "How easily you forget. No jail can hold me longer than I want to be held. I'll be out before Midsummer and the Great Rite. Never fear, I'll be there to take your sweet little gift as the Dark Lord's Consort." The terrible laughter echoed again. "You would be so proud of our little Church, Samael. We've grown so strong now. I have people placed exactly where I need them to make sure certain things happen. Your little motorcycle gang, for instance. It would be such a tragedy if something terrible were to befall the leaders."
