bedeviled & beyond 06 - bedeviled & befouled (21 page)

I spit sand from my mouth and started after her.

“I don’t like this, Astra.”

“Ya think? Just be ready.”

“For what?”

I shrugged. “Expect the worst. I’ve learned worst case scenarios usually find me first.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The Monster’s Lair

So pretty standing there so still, so terrifyingly real,

The monster’s dream he doth fulfill, a horrible fate to seal.

The slashing tail before us in the passageway left an indelible path to follow, a visual accompaniment to the heavy sound of slithering that marked Nestrada’s passage into the earth.

The passage where we walked was unlit, filled with the biting stench of rotted fish and other things that didn’t bear too close an examination. I got the sense of climbing, as if we moved up a mountain through its interior.

Gerch stayed close, his black gaze sliding continually around the space. I used my power to sense the air around us, searching for foreign auras. Between us I figured we’d be forewarned if anything approached.

After about an hour, the passage finally started to widen, a soft, amber light giving the rough-hewn walls a fractured appearance and creating shadows that made me jumpy.

A wisp of fresher air told me something was about to change. A low, insistent roar sounded in the distance. “Sounds like water,” I told Gerch.

He nodded, saying nothing. My companion was in full-out demonic-soldier mode, his craggy face stiff and dark with intent and his big hands clenched at his sides. I suspected he was wishing for the sword he’d lost in the tumble with our snaky kidnappers.

Nestrada’s thick, deadly tail snapped sideways one last time and disappeared. We rounded a curve in the passage and saw a wide, uneven opening. The space beyond that opening was filled with light and vegetation. In the distance a massive waterfall crashed down the rocky wall, ending in a jagged pool big enough to accommodate a giant, slithering monster with pretty blue eyes.

Around the pool, standing still and straight, were several figures dressed in gold-and-silver robes. The figures stared straight ahead unmoving. Their silky hair, blond to midnight black, trailed over their shoulders, down their bodies and pooled on the floor. Not one of them turned to look at us when we entered the cavern. I wondered if the creature had them under some kind of spell.

Heat pounded down on my head and I looked up. A stark, blue sky, devoid of clouds, held a golden globe of light, which beat relentlessly against the ground. I judged the temps to be well over a hundred degrees. If it weren’t for the fine mist caused by the waterfall, I figured the space would be like a desert. Steep, rocky walls enclosed the opening where we stood, creating a wide bowl that should have been airless. Yet a soft breeze lifted the tips of my damp hair off my shoulders.

Apparently we’d found Nestrada’s hidey hole.

“Astra.”

I turned to find Dialle standing a dozen feet away. He looked unharmed, yet his pretty blue gaze was filled with sadness. I started toward him but didn’t get far. I brushed up against a barrier of some kind that burned my skin and pitched me backward. Landing on my ass on the grassy surface, I shoved off and brought power sizzling to my fingertips. “What is that shit?”

Nestrada laughed and icicles danced down my spine. Gerch reached for a non-existent sword.

“He is in a prison of his own making, child.”

I frowned, addressing Dialle. “What the hell’s she talking about?”

He sighed, looking down at his hands, which were folded in front of him. He looked calm, terrifyingly resolved. “She’s right, Astra. I have given Nestrada what she wishes so that you can defeat my father and the witches.”

The ice in my spine spread to encompass my body, bringing gooseflesh up along my arms. “What exactly is it that she wants, bud?”

He lifted his hands, smiling. “Me.”

“He is pretty, is he not?”

I turned to the slithery bitch and lifted a hand, intending to power-smack the snaky smile off her evil face.

“Don’t, Astra. I have given my word.”

“Dialle, this doesn’t make any sense. Everything we’re fighting for is lost without you. Your court will die. Even if I manage to defeat your father and the two bitches on my own. It will all be for nothing if you aren’t part of it.”

“No. You can hold the court alone, Astra. You are my queen. If you mate again the court can remain whole.”

All the blood ran from my face and I staggered back. “No.” Gerch’s earlier words suddenly made sense.
He never told you?
“I won’t do it, Dialle. I won’t leave you here.”

“You must, Astra. You have no choice because I intend to stay.”

Nestrada’s blue eyes sparkled with humor. I got the sense she thought we were just adorable. And that really pissed me off.

I’d show her adorable.

What are you up to, Dialle?

His gaze held mine steadily.
There is no trickery here, Astra. Nestrada has an item that will help you defeat your mother and Astis.

I noticed he’d left his father off the list. I wondered if there was a message there.
What item?

“He refers to my venom. It has very powerful and deadly properties.” Nestrada’s too-beautiful voice brought my head snapping around. She’d heard our telepathic conversation? I turned back to Dialle and he inclined his head slightly. His gaze widening in silent entreaty.

Okay. So we couldn’t communicate. Fine. It didn’t matter anyway. I knew what I was going to do, and it didn’t include leaving Dialle behind to be the monster’s plaything. “Fine,” I told Nestrada. “I don’t like it and I can’t promise I won’t be back later to find some way around it, but I’ll honor Dialle’s wishes on this. For now.”

The creature shook her head at the adorable naughtiness of her toys and it was all I could do not to bitch-slap her with my power. “You will not defeat me, child.”

“Probably not. But I’ll enjoy trying.”

Her bright-blue gaze sparked with delight. “You were correct, halfling. You are much larger on the inside.”

“Just tell me what you have and how I can use it.”

~SC~

An hour later I was clutching a cloth-wrapped package and Gerch and I found ourselves climbing a set of steps cut roughly into one wall of Nestrada’s hidey hole. I felt Dialle’s gaze on my back as I climbed, my heart bleeding at having to walk away.

“We can’t leave him here, Astra.”

“I have no intention of leaving him here.”

“You’re currently doing a very convincing impression of it.”

“Just be quiet until we get out of this place. I have a plan.”

“I can’t wait to hear it.”

Sighing, I murmured, “Neither can I.”

~SC~

I sat at the base of a tree, staring into a fire that had raged for hours on a couple of chunks of wood I’d found on the ground. The flames leapt higher as the breeze soughed over it, seemingly nurtured by nothing more than the contents of the air.

Judging by the sulfuric stench of the wind I wasn’t even surprised.

“We need to make a move, Astra.”

I looked up at Gerch. He’d been pacing restlessly behind me as I considered my plan to release Dialle. I thought it was foolproof. The problem was I had no idea if I was strong enough to access the materials I’d need to pull it off. That was what I was trying to figure out.

“Tell me what you’re thinking. Maybe I can help.”

I shook my head. “I doubt it. It’s pretty radical.”

“I can handle radical.”

I sighed. Maybe he was right. I wasn’t making any progress myself. I might as well give him a chance. “Okay, here’s the thing. I noticed that every place where Nestrada hangs out is tropical. She obviously likes—or needs—heat. So I asked myself why. Then I realized she’s kind of snaky. What do you know about snakes?”

He shrugged. “I know they give me the creeps.”

“Snakes don’t do well in the cold. If it gets cold enough they die.”

“Good to know. The next time I’m attacked by a giant snake I’ll throw ice cubes at it. But that doesn’t really help us here. There’s no way to make it cold enough in Perdigo to kill Nestrada. She’s massive and powerful. I’m guessing she’d need a mini ice age to die.”

I frowned. “That’s the thing. I don’t think we need to kill her. We just need to slow her down enough to release Dialle and get out of here.”

Gerch’s beady eyes disappeared under his wide brow as he frowned. “So you just need a massive, short term, cold spell?”

“Yeah.”

He snorted, lifting his hands to the sides. “Hello, Astra. Hell environs. The climate here isn’t exactly glacial.”

“No. But I know a place that is, at least at the higher elevations. And it’s winter there right now. I’ve cut a hole between the two places once before, maybe I can do it again.”

His eyes widened. “Olympus.”

“Yeah. There’s just one problem. I just got my power back and I’m not sure I have enough juice to pull it off.”

Gerch dropped onto a log beside me, looking thoughtful. “The last time you did it you tapped into Dialle’s power.”

“Yeah.”

“Can’t you just do that again?”

I shook my head, touching the spot on my throat where my daemon hickey had been before that bitch Crisanne had magic-raped me. “We shared the mark then. I don’t have a way to tap into his power anymore.”

“Are you sure? Maybe there’s some residual connection there.”

“I’ve been trying to connect. It’s not happening, I’m afraid. Either the mark is truly gone or Nestrada’s barrier is stopping us from connecting.” I fixed the big soldier with a look. “Do you think we can get my sister or Slayer here? Or even my aunt Myra?”

“Only the king could transport them. I can’t bring them over and you aren’t of these environs. Without your connection to Dialle, Hell won’t recognize your transportative magic.”

We sat in silence for a few minutes while I continued to consider my options. Finally I sighed and stood up. “I don’t see any way around it. I’m going to need help.”

Gerch stood too. “Help? From whom?”

I shook my head. “You don’t want to know. How do I contact someone in the inner circle?”

Gerch narrowed his beady gaze. “Whom do you want to contact?”

“I told you. You don’t want to know. Just tell me how, Gerch. The longer we stand here arguing, the longer it will take to get Dialle out.”

The big devil sighed. “Generally you would use a sulfur-core cell phone but we don’t have one.”

“There has to be another way.”

“There is, it’s archaic, but it should work.”

“I’ll try anything.”

“Basically you need to perform a summoning.”

“Like witchcraft?”

“Devil craft actually. But yeah. You need to cut your hand and dribble three drops of blood into the fire. Then say the name of the person you want to see three times.”

I arched an eyebrow. “Seriously?”

“You asked.”

Shaking my head, I found a sliver of rock and sliced the tip of my finger with it. Then I stood next to the fire and squeezed the wound, letting the blood drop into the flames. It flared high, nearly singeing my eyebrows. I jumped back. “Frunk me!”

Gerch grimaced. “Sorry. I should have warned you. Blood has power in Hell. In fact, blood and fire are the two most powerful substances here.”

I murmured the name I didn’t want Gerch to hear and then repeated the process two more times. We waited as the fire crackled happily. Nobody appeared.

I looked at Gerch. “It didn’t work.”

He opened his mouth to respond as the fire exploded upward, sending wood, flame, and dirt in a wide arc. I shrieked as a flaming tinder burned through my clothing and into my skin. Gerch jumped back with a curse.

A tall, dark figure unfurled from the spot where the fire had been, fixing me with a sexy, velvet gaze. “Well, well, well. Astra Q. Phelps. You’re the last person I ever expected to summon me.”

I glared at the infuriating royal standing a few feet away. “King Nerul. You’re looking disgustingly vigorous.”

Nerul laughed, pulling the sides of his robes back to place his hands on his hips. I was relieved to see that he wore tight, leather pants under the robes. Though his buff, golden chest was bare. Nerul liked to run around with all his parts bouncing. Totally nakies. Suffice it to say I wasn’t in the mood for that kind of entertainment at the moment.

“Have you lost your frunkin’ mind, Astra?”

“Probably.” Gerch’s outburst reminded me that I needed to get my business underway. It was getting darker by the moment and Hell after dark was a place you did not want to be unless you had some serious protection.

Nerul took a step closer and my hands came up, fingertips sizzling with power. “Don’t move, asshole.” Gerch reached for his sword, only to grimace when he realized it wasn’t there. I needed to remedy that. He wasn’t much good to me against the nasties in the Hell environs if he wasn’t armed.

Nerul crossed his arms over his chest and smiled down at me. “You called
me
, Astra.” He was well over six feet tall, slim and elegant, with smooth, black hair that he’d cropped short. No more sexy devil tail at the base of his strong neck. Pity. Nerul’s velvet gaze was fringed in thick lashes that were almost too pretty for a man. He was very good looking. But I knew the evil in his soul and it dimmed his appeal considerably.

“Yeah. Unfortunately I’m aware of that. I need your help.”

He lifted a slim, black eyebrow. “What’s in it for me?”

“I’ll speak to Dialle about letting you back on the court.”

He threw back his head and laughed, genuinely amused. “You are so delicious, Astra. I’ve heard how Dialle treats his court. I’ve also heard he has a lot of vacancies at the moment. I don’t think I want to serve under him.”

Good news apparently traveled fast in Hell.

“He had nothing to do with that slaughter. That was his father’s doing.”

Nerul stepped closer and I gritted my teeth, barely containing my urge to send power crashing into him. “You truly believe that? I guess you haven’t gotten any smarter since last we met.” He reached out and tugged a strand of my hair. I jerked my head to pull the hair from between his long, tapered fingers.