Hell's Gift (13 page)

“Abigail, is he speaking the truth? I cannot wrap my mind around how this can be true.”

“No, it isn’t true. This male fell into my syde unannounced several hours ago. He has been ranting about being my husband since we first met and Lucifer has demanded I figure out who he is and why he’s here because of his smell.”

My heart was rapidly beating in my chest as she walked out from behind me to face my immortal enemy. I knew she was only trying to throw Murry off with her words to give us more time, but if she wasn’t telling the truth I couldn’t tell the difference.

My hopes plummeted as her cold eyes looked up to meet my pleading stare. She was serious. Or was she?

“I was in the process of changing my interrogation strategy when you so rudely interrupted. Now I will have to resort to torturing him again.” She shrugged. “That’s fun, too, so I don’t mind. It will just take longer than what I had originally planned. He’s a tough one.”

Murry cleared his throat. “Well, mayhap the angel stumbled, unknowingly, into Hell after going crazy when the love of his life chose another. Kendra was quite the catch. Rhyan’s hook just wasn’t big enough, I’m afraid.”

I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing he was getting under my skin like an itch that can’t be scratched. Containing my temper around Murry had always been difficult.

“Stay away from my charge, Murry. Oh, wait, that’s right, you don’t really have a choice, do you?”

I could feel the intensity in Abbi’s stare boring a hole through the side of my head, and I could tell she wanted to know more about this ‘love of my life’, since I was obviously not denying the accusation. But I also knew she would not do it in the presence of Murry. Doing that would only make the plan she was acting out backfire.

The earlier debate I’d had with myself of whether she was confident or stupid was confirmed, and I was actually happy that I had been wrong. That happens occasionally. I can admit it.

An evil sneer spread across Murry’s face. “I’m guardian over a syde as of a little while ago, angel. I can visit Kendra, Adam and baby Ben anytime I please, now.”

My heart jumped up in my throat. This couldn’t be happening. He could get to Kendra, and I couldn’t protect her. This couldn’t be happening, I repeated in my mind again. I knew he could see the fear in my eyes, and he possibly even knew that I couldn’t leave Hell now, but there wasn’t any way I could hide it. I had to figure something out. I had to let Josselyn know.

“Knock me out,” I whispered to Abbi.

She shot me a questioning glance.

I didn’t look at her. “Just do it. I can’t let him get to her.”

I could see out of my peripheral that her body had stiffened and sensed that she didn’t approve of me protecting another female. To be honest, I wasn’t sure how I would feel if the roles were reversed. Actually, I knew I wouldn’t like it. At all.

I was hoping I could make her understand later, but how exactly did you make your spouse understand that you loved another and would go through Hell to save them?

You didn’t.

And I could tell she wasn’t going to knock me back to Heaven so I could get Kendra help. So there was only one thing left for me to do.

I charged Murry.

Chapter 16

Malcolm

Malcolm rushed to grab Josselyn’s arm, then spun her to face him. “He will be ready for us to pull him here any second, Josselyn. I thought this was what you wanted, to help him get back to Heaven!” Malcolm shouted, then quickly forced himself to calm down.

He took slow, measured breaths in and out, his chest puffing up, then deflating, as he strategized a plan in his scattered thoughts. He lowered his head, tired but not defeated. This couldn’t end here, he thought. She was just angry and behaving like an immature baby about the situation, because she wasn’t getting her way.

“He made his choice—” Josselyn snapped, but Malcolm was quick on the draw.

“No, you did,” he snapped, his voice daring her to deny any accusations. “You wanted to help him for the wrong reasons, and now that it’s not going your way you want to bail on him. I…” He turned from her and kicked a rock across the length of the west courtyard. Even with his enhanced eyesight he didn’t see it land in the snowy mountains off in the distance.

Getting angry wouldn’t help the situation, but he was losing patience with her. He needed all the help he could get and letting anybody else in on what they were doing was a big no-go. Anyone else would turn them in for fear of being caught and banished just for knowing about it. No, it had to be Josselyn, he reasoned. Their energy combined was enough to pull Rhyan to them, but not his alone. He couldn’t do that and keep the head guardians from knowing what they were up to.

Josselyn turned from him and lifted her hand to caress a perfect golden rosebud. It seemed to respond to her touch, but she wasn’t paying it any mind. Her thoughts were elsewhere. “Why is this so important to you all of a sudden, Malcolm? Of course I want Rhyan to come back to Heaven, and yes, I thought for just a moment that I could change fate, that I could at least give him reason to be happy again—”

“He will be happy again, but only if he has our support and doesn’t give up.”

She glanced up, examining his body language, taking in and noticing every detail about the male before her. He was quite handsome, she thought. His sand colored hair was naturally tousled. Not just any guy would have been able to pull off the style, but she had no doubt that Malcolm could even make the mullet look good.

The tone of his skin was almost the exact same shade as his hair, which only made his piercing blue-green eyes seem to glow. He always wore a smile on his face, no matter his mood. If he was happy, angry, sad or up to no good, you would never know until he opened his mouth. His body was toned, perfect even, and she didn’t know why it had taken her so long to notice.

She was noticing now.

He had looked away from her, absently toying with the hem of his shirt. What was he hiding, she wondered?

“You never answered my question.” She waited a moment, but when he still avoided her inquiring stare, and the silence continued, she grew irritated and asked again. “Why is this so important? What is in this for you, Malcolm?” she asked. It wasn’t as if she had ever asked for his assistance, so she was a bit confused by why he was so eager to help her.

He couldn’t lie to her, but he could skirt around the truth. Looking her in the eye wasn’t going to be possible, though. She would see that he was hiding something and just keep asking questions until he either answered her or got angry and walked away.

He looked up and was just about to speak when something caught his attention. A big something. It was breathing heavy and stumbling right toward them, and from the look on the guy’s face it wasn’t going to be pretty once he reached his destination.

“Rhyan,” Malcolm whispered, dazed and very confused by what he was seeing.

“Huh?” Josselyn said, then followed his gaze. Her hand flew up to cover her mouth, but not before the gasp escaped her lips. “Oh, no!”

They hadn’t been concentrating on pulling him to Heaven. It was impossible for him to do it on his own; he had no abilities. They ran to meet him. It was obvious that he was injured and would pass out any second.

Josselyn reached him first and flung herself into his arms, molding her body to his as much as she could so his horrible injuries could heal faster. “It’s okay, Rhyan. Just hang on to me.

Rhyan

Each agonizing breath I drew in hurt a little less than the last. If Josselyn was still upset with me, at least she wasn’t denying me aid in healing.

I wrapped my arms around her and wished I could give her what she desired. She deserved to be happy. “Thank you,” I whispered by her ear. I felt her head nod and could tell by the trembling of her body that she was sobbing silently.

“Did we miss the memo?” Malcolm asked, confusion painted across his face.

I took in a deep breath and was surprised and happy to find the four broken ribs had already healed, as had the one that had punctured my left lung. Everything was in full working order again, and except for a few minor scratches and bruises, I was nearly healed.

I cleared my throat and set Josselyn back on her feet. I looked away so she could dry her cheeks without my stare causing her embarrassment. My eyes locked with Malcolm’s and my anger flared. “What memo would that be?”

“The memo that said you are allowed to enter back into Heaven. We didn’t pull you to us this time. I was waiting to be alerted of you falling unconscious but,” his eyes fell on Josselyn and when I looked at her she looked away from both of us, “I got distracted and I guess I missed it.”

“I don’t know, maybe
my wife
sent me here before Murry had a chance to take another of my lives. There is no telling what he is doing to my body right now.”

Slight surprise flickered in Malcolm’s eyes. “He isn’t hurting your body or you would be able to feel it. You enter into Heaven through a portal, but you never really leave Hell. It’s sort of like a mirror. It appears that there are two of you, but there is actually only one body and one mind. When you fall unconscious I can reach through and pull your spirit to us, but your body is actually still there. The one you are in now is only a replica, a hologram, a clone of sorts. It disappears from here when you are there, because your mind can’t be in two places at the same time, so when you wake up down there,” he pointed down with his finger, “there is nothing I can do to keep your spirit here. The good news is you can carry objects with you so we will hopefully be able to provide you with some firepower.”

I think I blinked a few times. The guy was seriously smarter than anyone gave him credit for, and it gave me a headache to listen to him explain anything. It was just way too much thinking. “Yeah…you lost me right before the portal part.”

Malcolm smiled. “You don’t have to understand for it to work. So, you bumped into Murry, eh?” He glanced away and I could tell something wasn’t right, but maybe I would have time to address that issue later; I’d almost forgotten the reason I’d attacked Murry.

I turned to Josselyn, panic for Kendra rising in me once again. “You have to talk to the head guardians, Jossel. Murry has been promoted and he is able to return to Earth in human form. He is a prince now and he will go for Kendra. You have to help her. You have to find a way to protect her.” I cupped her face in my hands and searched her eyes as I pleaded with my own. “Please. He will kill her, then he will have control over Adam again.”

My sanity threatened to leave me in that moment of silence. She stared back at me, fear in her eyes. She looked like she wanted to break and run, run from me, run away from everything, but she didn’t. Josselyn took in a deep breath and then nodded.

I grabbed her in a tight hug. “Oh, thank God. I know you will find a way and I know you will do your best to protect her.”

I squeezed my eyes tightly shut and the image of Abbi’s bruised and broken body was the only thing I could see. I had to get back. I had to trust Josselyn to protect Kendra, because I couldn’t do it anymore. I realized Murry might actually win against Josselyn, but it wouldn’t be because she would not try. I could only pray for the best outcome and hope good would prevail over evil again.

Above all else, I had to protect my wife and bring her back to Heaven with me.

Neither Heaven nor Hell would stop that from happening.

Chapter 17

Kendra/Josselyn

Kendra was lost in thought again. She looked down at the soapy water, and at the single fork and dishrag in her hand. She sighed and then tossed the utensil in with the other clean dishes to be rinsed.

“Stop it. You are worrying over nothing, Kendra,” she mumbled to herself as she set the water to drain.

“I wouldn’t say it was exactly nothing,” Josselyn said quietly, then watched as Kendra’s frame went rigid. She totally expected her to scream bloody murder and run from the room. After what the female had been through, she was surprised she hadn’t already been admitted into an asylum and fitted for her very own straightjacket.

Now she knew why Rhyan was so enamored with the chick. She was strong.

She watched and waited patiently for Kendra’s next reaction. She already knew what she was thinking, but rushing her wouldn’t help anything.

Kendra took in a deep breath, then looked over to Ben’s sleeping form in the bassinet she’d brought into the kitchen. She hadn’t wanted him out of her sight for even a second. She braced for the worst, and then turned to face her new company.

The girl sitting at her kitchen table was beautiful, Kendra thought. She wasn’t supermodel thin, but those curves were only part of what made her gorgeous. The girl wouldn’t have looked right skinny. She had long blond hair, huge sad brown eyes and an impeccable taste in clothing. Where did she get those boots?

Josselyn studied her always perfect manicure as she responded to Kendra’s thought. “Heaven. We have a wonderful mall,” she said, then looked up and winked at Kendra, but knew the gesture wouldn’t ease Kendra’s nerves at all.

Kendra swallowed, then pulled a chair out from the table and sat across from the angel. “You’ll have to bring me some the next time you visit. I wear a seven and a half.”

Josselyn studied the woman in admiration. She could see them becoming great friends one day, but in order to do that she would have to keep her safe. She nodded. “I’ll see what I can do about that.” She stuck out her hand and when Kendra only eyed it, she introduced herself. “My name is Josselyn.”

“And I assume you already know who I am and everything about me. I also assume, since you’re here and Rhyan isn’t, that something really bad has happened, so why don’t we save the chit-chat for some other time, like, maybe after I’ve helped bring him back from Hell.”

Wow, Josselyn thought as she retracted her hand and gave Kendra a knowing smile. “There’s nothing you can do to help him. I would have come—”