Execution (The Divine Book 6) (15 page)

She wasn't human, so I understood why she didn't understand. Who was to say her perspective wasn't the better one? It would save me a lot of negative emotion.

"Maybe having you makes me miss her more."

"She must have been a fine mate."

I leaned down and kissed her head. "Yes, she was."

"I'm sorry I didn't get to meet her."

"Me, too," I said.
 

Strangely enough, I meant it.

It felt good to get back to the Kitchen though I was surprised to discover that an entire Earth day had passed since we had arrived in Hell.
 

Time flies when you're having fun, I guess.

Alyx carried the Fist of God while I walked alongside her with Zifah on my shoulder. The damned still crowded the city, but it seemed as though my new reputation had reached their subconscious as well. Instead of forcing us to navigate around them, they steered clear of us. The adulterers ran big circles to avoid us, while the sloths simply stopped moving, standing barefoot in the broken glass and waiting for us to pass.

We returned to the club to wait for Damien to open the rift and take us back. We still had another day before he showed up again. I could only hope nobody knew we were with him, and that he would make it back in one piece. I didn't know what his business in Hell was, other than retrieving artifacts to bring back to the mortal realm. He had done it plenty of times before without issue, so I knew I shouldn't have been too worried. Still, I was feeling pretty lucky to have beaten Cain and gotten the armor back.
 

It was only a matter of time before my luck ran out.

Zifah stayed at the front of the club. He said it was to give Alyx and me a little private time, but I wondered if he wanted to watch the action on stage. He was an odd demon; that was for certain. It wasn't only his diminutive size and green skin, but also his apparent refusal or inability to curse, and his overwhelming desire to leave Hell. It was understandable for fiends and former humans to want to go back. It was rare for a demon made in Hell, no matter what their circumstances were.

Alyx and I entered the small room where the Hell Rift was resting. It was too small for her demon-form in there, so I was carrying the Fist. I dropped it over in the corner and heaved a content sigh, happy to finally be able to put it down.
 

"What a day," I said, turning to face Alyx.

I wasn't even all the way around when her lips found mine and her body pressed into me, shoving me back against the wall. My heart jumped into my throat as I struggled to keep up with her sudden passion, my own kisses barely able to match hers. She was on fire. Ferocious. An animal. I could feel the heat of her, smell the desire on her skin and taste it in her mouth. I'd never experienced anything like it before.

"Alyx," I said, turning my head to speak. Her kisses continued, from my cheek to my ear, to my neck. Her hands ran over my chest. "Alyx."

"I want you," she said in reply.

"I know," I said. I wanted her, too. More than I had ever wanted anything.
 

That was the problem.

"Alyx. Please stop," I said. I wasn't sure how I got the words out. It was only the smallest sliver of my soul that wanted her to. The rest wanted to tear her clothes off, pull her to the ground, and... I stopped the thought before I finished it.

Alyx didn't wait for me to ask again. She took a step back, her eyes sad. "I thought you loved me?"

"I do. That's why we can't do this like this. Being here is bringing out the evil side of me. I don't know how, but I know it is. I don't know if you understand, but I've never been with anyone before. Not even Charis. I don't want the first time to be on the floor in Hell. You're special to me, and being with you deserves to be special. Not like the adulterers out there."

She stared at me for a few seconds, and I felt myself growing tense. Would she cry? Would she yell? Would she leave? I didn't want to hurt her feelings.

Finally, her sad eyes turned into the softest, most loving eyes I had ever seen. She did start to cry, but a smile spread across her face at the same time. "Thank you, Landon," she said. "Espanto never made anything special for me. He never treated me like I was special, other than in the ways I could hunt for him. You make me feel like more than a thing and more than a demon."

I moved forward, taking her in my arms. At the moment, she seemed so small. So defenseless. Hardly.
 

"We'll have time later. I promise."

"Okay."

"There is something else I can do for you before we go back. If Cabal did tip Espanto, they'll both be in for a surprise."

She tilted her head in confusion.
 

"You need to pull your pants down."

She laughed. "You just said-"

"I know. Not for that."

She grabbed the band of the light pants Cain had left her in, sliding them past her thighs. I looked down at her, fighting against my darker self to avoid the patch of hair in the center and focus on the spot next to it instead.
 

The spot where Espanto's brand was etched into her skin.

I put my hand on it. She twitched slightly at my touch and then remained still as I traced my finger along the brand. Izaak had been marked by Gervais, and he had managed to remove it by cutting it out of his flesh. We had tried that a couple of times already, and both times the runes had healed back with the skin. Whatever Espanto had done, however he had done it, he had made the brand permanent.

This time would be different. I was smarter now. I had learned something new. I didn't need to heal the brand. I could transform it.

"This might hurt," I said. "I don't know."

"It's okay. It will be worth it."

I closed my eyes, shifting my hand to rest across it. I could feel the heat of the demon's power in the runes. I focused on it, asking it to change. It burned against me, flaring up as if in anger at the effort. Alyx cried out in pain, leaning back against the wall, trying to pull herself away. I reached back and put my hand on her rear to keep her in place, holding her tight and at the same time working to remain calm. I couldn't force the energy to neutralize. I had to be passive. Delicate.

"Landon," Alyx said, her voice strained with hurt. The flames were burning her legs, moving in a direct line toward her genitals like some kind of crazy safety measure.

"It's okay," I said.
 

Was it? I wasn't sure.  Every part of me was being tempted to push back, to fight fire with fire. I couldn't. I knew that was the wrong thing to do. I stayed the course, keeping pressure on the mark but not forcing any of my power into it. It was a crude, slow negotiation, and the flames continued to move their way downward. I could smell her burning pubic hair, and she whimpered and shook against my grip.
 

"Landon," she said again, growing panicked.

"It will be okay," I repeated, keeping my voice calm.
 

It would be. It had to be. I relaxed further, feeling the heat against my palm begin to cool, the power beginning to morph.

The flames lowered in intensity before reaching her sex. My hand was growing ever cooler, sucking every bit of demonic energy from the scar and turning it into something raw. Alyx began to relax in my grip, breathing heavily.
 

Within a minute, the flames were out. The brand on her skin would never heal, but the power held within it was gone.

She was free.

She leaned back against the wall, sobbing. I stood up, wrapping my arms around her and holding her tight while she buried her head in my neck. There was such an odd contrast between this tiny, vulnerable thing in my arms and the creature she could become.
 

"It's okay now," I said, kissing her head.
 

"Yes," she replied. "I know. I'm not crying because I'm afraid or hurt. I'm crying because I'm happy. The last time I felt like this was the night before Espanto came and took me away, when I felt warm and safe in bed with my brothers and sisters."

"He can't take you away from me again," I said.
 

She moved back away from me, a feral smile creasing her lips. "I'd love to see him try."

I nodded, and then reached out and pulled her pants back up.
 

"Are you sure?" she asked playfully.

"Yes," I replied with a laugh. "We can sit together. We can talk. I'd love to hear more about your life before Espanto."

"Okay."

I was positioning myself to sit with my back to the wall when I heard a commotion from the club.
 

"What is it?" I asked, knowing Alyx could smell and hear whatever was happening out there.

"I'm not sure. I don't see how this can be possible."

"How can what be possible?"

She opened her mouth to respond. At the same time, a bruised and bloody Gervais swept into the room.

"Gervais?" I said, completely confused and off-guard. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Zifah appeared a moment later, racing along after the fiend.

"Landon," Gervais said, his expression and voice more serious than I had ever seen it. "We have a problem."

That was the second or third time I had heard that in the last twenty-four hours. It didn't make me happy.

"Where is Elyse?" I asked.

"That is the problem. She's dead. So is your sweet flower by any other name."

I instantly lost all ability to move, or to think or to breathe. My entire body fell to mush, and I opened my mouth to try to express something, anything.
 

It was impossible.

"I don't believe you," I said. "This is just another one of your bullshit games."

My mind was reeling, my entire body was numb. I was too shocked to cry. I felt Alyx's hands on my shoulders, supporting me.
 

"I don't blame you for being doubtful diuscrucis. That doesn't make it any less true. Look at me. Not only am I here, but I am beaten and bloody. They killed me, too."

I heard the words like an echo across time. I tried to look at the demon, but my eyes refused to focus. This wasn't real. This couldn't be real. It was a trick. Lucifer was having fun with me, hurting me in the most productive way he could.

"How?" I heard Alyx say behind me. Her voice was ice.

"Elyse followed me into the deli. She didn't think I saw her, but I did. I see everything, you know. She was shot in the head by the clerk. He had a pistol hidden behind his counter. Rose was with her. She killed the clerk, but then one of the shoppers attacked her and hit her over the head with a bottle. I tried to protect her. I knocked the shopper down, but before I knew it, I was jumped by a man who came into the deli from the street. He didn't say a word to me, just hopped on my back and dragged me down."

"You're telling me some unarmed mortal killed you?" I said, my voice angry. There was no part of this that was making sense. I knew the clerk at the deli. His name was Ahmed, and he had a wife and three kids. He knew Elyse, too. I had brought her in with me more than once.

"No. Not that one. I broke his neck. By the time I got to my feet, two vampires had grabbed me, and Randolph Hearst walked in. He said, 'I told Landon not to interfere. Does he think I'm stupid? Finding another way to steal Abaddon still counts as interfering.' Then he cut my throat with a cursed dagger, the son of a whore."

"He knew who you were?"

"He's been stalking us the entire time, mon frère. Somehow, he heard everything I said to you."

Shit.

I closed my eyes as if it would drown me out from existence. I was in Hell, but the true hell was back home. Elyse, dead? Rose, dead? Just like that? No fight? No fanfare? Just gone? Hearst was bolder than I had given him credit for. It meant he had a lot of confidence in the power he was stealing for Abaddon. Either that or he was going to fulfill his promise to set the demon free.

"This is all my fault," I said, my jaw clenching in uncontrolled anger.

"Yes, it is," Gervais replied.

"Shut up," Alyx said. "It is not. Landon, you can't watch everything all the time."