Hell's Gift (21 page)

Chapter 26

Rhyan

After Malcolm transmitted through my brainwaves what Abbi had done to Lucifer in the meeting, I chuckled, then got to my feet, ignoring the fact that my skin was on fire from the acid burns, and concentrated solely on how to get the hell out of that syde.

I’d made it under Pogo’s bridge, but he wasn’t there. The ash falling from the dark sky had only gotten heavier since my arrival, and I assumed Lucifer was the individual controlling the atmosphere since my dearly beloved had been relieved of her position. I never expected him to make it easy on me.

Then I remembered he had promised me an item to help me get through each syde a little easier. “Where is my item?” I shouted out into the blizzard of ash. The stuff was so thick I couldn’t even see the small huts a hundred yards away from the bridge I was under. I would never be able to find a way out in all that mess.

A shuffling noise brought my attention around to the opposite opening of the bridge. Pogo was jogging toward me with something in his arms.

“Pogo!”

He shook the hood of the jacket free of his head as his bony legs guided him under the bridge with me. He was laughing as he handed me the package wrapped in brown paper. “Got yourself in a bit of trouble, did ya? I’m sure the whole syde knows about it by now. East Court is sure spreading the word fast, and we are always the last to know anything.”

“East Court?” I asked.

Pogo nodded. “This here is East Court—”

“Wait—what is
everybody
saying about me?”

“That you’re an angel and you have come to steal Princess Abigail from…from
him
,” he finished quietly.

I sat in the muck and placed the package on my lap, then let my face fall into my hands.

What in God’s name had I got myself into? Had I really just made a deal with the devil and expected to win?
I thought about that for only a few seconds, then Abbi’s smiling face popped into my mind.
Yes, yes I had, and yes, I would win. I wouldn’t give up.

I tore into the package Pogo had given me and pulled out an acid-jacket in my size. I guessed that meant I wasn’t going to find my way out of the syde by staying under the bridge.

“Who gave this to you to give to me?” I asked.

“The barkeep—”

I looked at him in surprise. “Barkeep? Why is there a barkeep here if there is nothing to drink?” I asked, and suddenly realized my mouth was cotton dry, and knew I would have done just about anything at that moment for a drink of something, anything, to quench my thirst.

Pogo shook his head and frowned. “There is no fresh water. There is drink.” He nodded. “There is a never-ending supply of drink, but it doesn’t matter how much you consume, your thirst will only worsen.”

“I suppose there is food as well,” I stated, then placed my palm over my stomach when it growled. “Look, I’ve been here several days and not had an urge to eat or drink anything. I know I don’t have to have it, any of it.”

Pogo shuffled his way over to his make-shift bed and sat down. “If you eat the food, you will lose weight. Soon, there will be nothing left of you except for a really hungry pile of bones. It’s our punishment for indulging while on Earth. That is what’s wrong with Miles, Princess Abigail’s minion, the one that bit you—”

My head jerked in his direction. “My wife is no longer a princess here. She has no minions anymore.”

Pogo nodded. “So, it’s true? You really did make a deal with…
him
?”

I stood quickly and put the ankle-length jacket on, being careful to make sure all the buttons were fastened and secure, then I looked down at my bare feet. They were covered in burns from my earlier run to the bridge for cover. If I trudged out in the acid blizzard without footwear it would only be a matter of minutes before the acid ate my flesh to the bone.
Guess I should have asked for two items.

“You’re not going out there, are you?” Pogo asked.

“I have to. I’m not going to find a way out by sitting under a bridge.”

“You ain’t gonna find a way out, period. There is no way out.”

“I can’t believe that. There must be, but if there isn’t, then I will make one.” I looked from the falling snow-like ash to Pogo. “How far have you heard of anyone traveling across this syde?”

“All the way.”

“So, what’s past the edge of East Court?” I asked.

“West Court,” Pogo replied.

“No, what I meant was the other way. If a person keeps going East, does it ever end?”

“Yes,” Pogo nodded, “they will walk right into West Court. And if you walked through North Court and kept going, you would eventually arrive at South Court.”

I sat there for a moment in confused silence. “And if you continued on in the same direction you would end up back in North Court?”

“Yep! See, there is no way out. Each syde is like a small spherical world of its own.”

“But the royalty and Lucifer move to the different sydes—”

“They have abilities that allow them to do that.”

I thought out loud to myself, “And if I had the ability to do that, too, I’m sure it wouldn’t count, because I could just place myself in and then out of all the sydes. Not to mention the negative attention I would get from Lucifer for having an ability. Hmmm…”

I looked up to see a pair of boots in my line of vision. Pogo’s sore-covered hand was holding them out for me to take, to use them. I shook my head.

“Take them. They are an old pair.” In his other sore-laden hand was a long strip of cloth. I imagined it was to cover certain body parts under the concealment of the new jacket, and I took it from him, then got to work making the undergarment. “You need to get going so you can get this all figured out. Nobody is saying anything out loud, but we are all rooting for you. And that is all I’m going to say, too.”

I cleared my throat around the forming lump. Maybe Pogo wasn’t that bad after all, I thought. “Thank you.” I took the worn boots and slipped a burning foot into one of them. I screamed and my eyes watered when my burnt flesh peeled away from being forced into a boot too small. It took me a few moments to catch my breath enough to attempt putting my other foot in the other boot.

Damn, that hurt!

“Let me know of something you may need and I will try to get it to you. It can’t be anything really obvious, because we don’t want Lucifer knowing that you are being helped. That may forfeit your chance of winning and automatically offer your pure soul up to him on a silver platter.”

“Thanks, Malcolm, I could use some of that magic healing love that Josselyn has so much of. It’d be awesome not to feel any pain right now. Oh, and some boots that fit would be nice, as well.”
I didn’t hear anything for a little while, so I stopped trying to lace my second boot up as a chill traveled down my spine and fear consumed my mind; I dreaded him telling me something else bad had happened.
“Malcolm?”

“I have no way of talking with Josselyn. She has gone back to be with Kendra and her family. She left as soon as Abigail had to leave the room and I couldn’t see Murry anymore. We knew he would heal soon enough and she didn’t want to chance him going straight for Kendra.”

I sighed.
“I hope she knows how grateful I am for all she is doing to help me. I appreciate both of you, immensely.”

“Don’t thank me yet, Rhyan. We need to get you out of there before Lucifer finds a way around that contract. He wasn’t at all happy with Abigail for her rebellion.”

“I totally agree, so what do you suggest? One of the occupants described the syde to mimic a planet. It just keeps revolving back around to the starting point. He said there is no way to physically go into another syde unless you have an ability, but I’m sure if you managed to give me the ability to do that, Lucifer would know I was being helped and I would be disqualified for cheating. We both know what will take place if that happens. Yeah, I would suggest we think very carefully about what you should help me with. I can’t afford to lose Abbi again.”

“You can’t afford to lose your soul, Rhyan,”
Malcolm snapped.

“If I lose Abbi again, my soul is as good as gone anyway, Malcolm. Don’t pretend to think otherwise.”

“You’re right. I forgot who I was talking to for a second there,”
Malcolm responded sarcastically.

I huffed, then stood, wincing at the pain in my feet. The boots were about two sizes too small, and that only added to the discomfort of the burns, but I had to admit that it was better than treading through the dusting of ash on the ground barefooted. Luckily, it soaked into the dirt fairly quickly, or there would be inches of the stuff piled up like snow drifts everywhere.

“Which direction should I go?” I said to both Pogo and Malcolm.

“North,” Pogo replied.

“South,”
Malcolm said.

“West it is, then,” I said, and stepped out into the acid blizzard.

Chapter 27

Thoros

Thoros stretched his long legs along the thick oak branch and allowed his back to relax against the trunk of the massive tree outside Kendra Chamberlain’s home. He’d been wondering what was so damn important about the female since Murry’d burst in on him and Velan in conference.

Now he was really curious.

Apparently, the guardian angel that had ruined Murry’s career as a guardian demon was the same angel that was attempting to win Abigail’s soul from Lucifer. The angel had balls, he had to give him that much.

He leaned forward to peer through the kitchen window only a few yards away from his perched position in the tree.

The weak angel was still there, and she had listened to him.
Good girl,
he thought, but wrinkled his nose as he sized up her back-up. They looked a little green, too. He had no doubts he could take them all hostage within seconds of them knowing he was even there.

His attention focused back on the female angel. She couldn’t sense him because he hadn’t wanted her to, yet. He wasn’t sure if he wanted her to know at all. He’d hoped he could find the answers he needed by just examining the female human from the window, but he’d been rubbing his chin ever since he had arrived. There was nothing obviously special about the young woman.

Why would Murry want a different guardian demon’s charge?

Thoros growled in frustration and the female angel jumped to her feet, staring hard at the dark window, all the while looking like she was ready to bolt out of the house and tackle the intruder to the ground.

He felt like she was staring straight into his eyes, but he knew it to be impossible. He’d placed a mask over his physical body and aura to keep from being detected by anyone, much less a fallible angel like herself, he thought, and then smiled.

Just to be on the safe side, Thoros didn’t move from the limb he was crouched on. She only stood there a moment longer at full alert before she relaxed her stance, then turned to her very nervous company, assuring them all that it must have only been a squirrel. He heard her volunteer to check the locks on the windows again and then she vanished from the room.

Josselyn

Josselyn left the dining room and faked going to check the bedrooms for intruders. She knew there wasn’t anything evil in the house with them, and she’d checked the windows four times already. They were locked. Unless someone from inside the house had unlocked them, they were still secure.

She did, however, know that there was an intruder in a tree outside the kitchen window. And from the expression on the demon’s face she knew he didn’t have a clue how visible he was to her.

Guess you aren’t the only one with fancy tricks up your sleeve, fiend.

She carefully opened the front door and slipped out into the cool night air. Autumn was almost over on Earth and she could feel the cool bite of winter nipping at her heels. Heaven’s temperature was always perfect, never too hot or too cold, so she’d regretted not borrowing a jacket from Kendra earlier for patrolling the perimeter of the house after the warmth of the sun had been replaced by the cool light of a half moon.

She placed her footing quietly at the edge of the house so as to not make even the slightest of noises and alert him to her presence.

The tree came into her view as she peeked around the corner. The leaves, dead and brown, but still heavily blanketing every limb, obstructed her view of the exact place where the demon sat waiting for the right time to make his move.

She groaned in her mind, then ducked her head lower to try seeing from a different angle. No good. She rose up on the tips of her toes, straining to see him in the tree, but no amount of height was going to move the leaves out of her way.

A quiet whisper came from behind her. “What are we looking for?”

Josselyn put her hand up to silence the new-comer. “A demon…” She froze, her body going completely rigid as the whisper - that voice - floated through her mind once again.

As soon as she collected herself, she turned and about jumped out of her skin. The demon’s face was only a breath away from her own. She tried to scream, but his hand quickly covered her mouth and his firm body pressed her in between him and the vinyl siding of the house.

She was acutely mindful of where his mid-section touched her body, and her own female defense system kicked in. Her knee came up hard between his legs. Immortal demon or not, he was not immune to having his testicles thrust up into his pelvis. Immediately, he covered his groin and fell to his knees.

Turning as quickly as she could, and almost falling on her face in the struggle to get away, Josselyn ran back toward the front door.

I’m so stupid. Why didn’t I have one of the other angels come outside with me?

“Wa…” the demon squeaked, then gave a huge gasp as he finally managed to draw breath.

Running up the porch steps, Josselyn stumbled and almost fell as she glanced at the demon still where she had left him.