Hell's Gift (34 page)

Thoros broke from the kiss, set her on her feet and shoved her away from him. “Get out of here,” he choked out.

She shook her head, desperately trying to fight her way back to reality. She wasn’t thinking clearly, but it wasn’t Thoros’ black magic clouding her mind; it was all her. What made it even worse was she had wanted the kiss, and now she wanted another one. His mood confused her. Hadn’t he wanted it, too?

“What happened? I don’t understand why you’re acting this way. This is what you asked for—”

“Yeah, well, maybe I shouldn’t have,” he said, then turned and started walking away from the Chamberlain home.

“Where are you going? You’re just going to leave without telling me what I did wrong?”

He kept walking.

“So, you’re a coward? Is that it?”

He stopped walking and inhaled deeply at the sound of her cutting words. When he turned back around she was less than twelve inches from him.

“Things just didn’t work out the way I planned; that’s all.”

She stumbled back a step and blinked like he’d insulted her. She’d just had the most amazing moment of her existence and he thought it was nothing to him; even worse, he wasn’t satisfied. He was disappointed, even.

“Wow.” Pressing her lips together to help fight the tears away, she nodded, finally able to accept the rejection. Ignoring the sudden aching in her chest, she laughed lightly. “I’m so sorry to have disappointed you, Thoros, but now you can cross kissing an angel off your to-do list. Thanks for your help with Malcolm.” She turned back toward the house and the tears began to flow.

“No, Jossel—” he said as he grabbed for her arm, then turned her to face him. His heart jumped up in his throat the instant he saw the shimmering emotion in her eyes.

She jerked away from him as if his gentle touch burned her flesh. “Don’t touch me!”

Stunned and shaken and still staring at the wetness that traveled down her cheeks, he let her go.

“You were wrong. All of you are mean. Keep away from me, demon.”

Without objection from Thoros, Josselyn turned and ran back to the Chamberlain home, alone.

Chapter 43

Rhyan

“Isaiah?”

“I’m here, Rhyan.”

“Can you hear Abbi? Malcolm could hear her thoughts—”

“She’s fine. She worries over you, but Lucifer left her in his chambers alone after he found your note in Envy. He hasn’t returned.”

I prayed that was good news, and with the new knowledge that she was safe, I felt strong and eager to continue on my quest.

I still had no idea what to expect from that syde. Phoebe and I had been walking for several hours without any surprises. We found that once we arrived at the end of a corridor, we were faced with only two decisions besides checking to see what was behind the doors: to go up or down. Old, creaky stairs led to more old, creaky stairs and more corridors that looked exactly the same as all the previous steps and hallways.

We chose to go up.

Just like Envy and Sloth, there were no other people about. I honestly didn’t get it, unless the sydes were like my own personal Hells. We hadn’t even been graced with the presence of the syde’s princess yet.

It looked as though choosing a door to open was inevitable. Just walking around like we were doing was only going to cause us to go mad.

I kept the casual conversation with Phoebe going, to make sure her mind wasn’t being played with. She seemed to be fine; thirsty and tired, but well as could be expected, given the circumstances.

“Let’s just try a door. I don’t think there is ever going to be an end, and if your theory is right about doing the opposite, we are going to have to find something to not be greedy about,” Phoebe said, and stopped at the first door we arrived at after reaching the top of yet another staircase. “Oh, look, here’s a door, and I am totally not greedy about it.” She crossed her arms over her chest when I chuckled. “Seriously, Rhyan, how will we even know which door will take us to the next syde if we don’t try any of them?”

I ignored her question and looked beyond her to about mid-way up the corridor. One of the doors was standing ajar.

Phoebe turned to see where my attention had been drawn, then immediately pulled her dagger from the scabbard on her hip. “Seems as good a door as any to start with. Right?”

I silently took my spear from my makeshift pack and we proceeded to investigate the reason that particular room was different from the others.

Nothing jumped out at us as we grew closer, so I used the tip of my spear to push the door open the rest of the way.

Still no monsters.

“I’ll go first,” I said, and took a step closer to the dark room.

“I’m cool with that. I’ll make sure nothing gets you from out here.”

There was a cool draft coming from inside the room, and after getting up the nerve to actually look, I was surprised to see a teenager lounging on a couch, reading a book by candlelight.

I glanced back at Phoebe with a frown, and then motioned with my hand for her to look. I didn’t at all feel threatened by the young woman, so I ran my hand along the inside wall in search of a light switch. The girl closed the book with a loud clap and I jumped back out into the hallway. Suddenly there was light in the room and the girl was on her feet and smiling at us.

“Do come in, Rhyan. I feel as if I’ve been waiting eons for you to arrive. I nearly finished reading a fabulous book about a mysterious island full of amazing creatures of the night. I like to see how far off the humans are when they are imagining us.” She winked.

I stood, jaw slack and mouth hanging open slightly, realizing for the first time that I was speaking to Princess Lameria. I knew then what Isaiah had meant by young and innocent. The girl could’ve even been considered sweet by her looks. Luckily, I knew a thing or two about not judging a book by its cover.

“Well, don’t just stand there in the doorway. Come in and have a seat. Would you care for tea or sweets? You both must be parched coming right out of Fallis’ syde with very little water to split between the two of you. I can refill your bottle if you like.”

Phoebe stepped forward, ready to accept anything offered, but I put my arm out to stop her.

“Gratitude, but we don’t need anything except the gift I was promised from Lucifer. I’m sure you realize how little time we have to waste.”

Lameria’s bright red lips curved into a sly smile. “Clever boy you are not to trust me, but Abbi is a very dear friend of mine. I would do nothing to hurt the man she loves. If she has a chance to get out of here,” she shrugged her petite shoulders, “I am happy for her.”

“Forgive me for not believing you. Trust that it’s nothing personal.”

“Rhyan, we need water,” Phoebe whispered to me.

“We will be fine. Take nothing from anyone here unless you wish to return to Pride.”

She licked uneasily at her dry, cracked lips, then swallowed uncomfortably. “Yeah, you’re right. I think I’m good.”

I looked back to Lameria. “If you’re truly a friend of my wife’s, then you will get us out of here. If not, give me the object and stand aside. I am taking her, regardless of who gets in my way.”

Lameria’s eyes widened, maybe in shock, maybe in excitement, but not in fear of me or of my plans to defeat her. At that moment I feared her more than I did Lucifer.

She studied me a long moment, then smiled cunningly and waved off my comment with the flick of her hand. “I insist you have tea and sweets. I won’t give you the object until you do.”

I began to object, but her expression turned sober, almost like she was trying to tell me something.

“You will have tea and sweets, Rhyan.”

There was something in her eyes that made me want to trust her. I didn’t feel like I was being played with; I felt like Abbi was behind it all. And I realized that she was the first of them to call me by my name, instead of angel. It could have been a trick, but I didn’t feel as if it was one. Then again, I’ve been wrong before.

I nodded in agreement. “We’ll have tea. Then we are leaving.”

She nodded once and tossed her soft, black curls over her shoulder as she turned for the kettle.

Phoebe rushed to the plush sofa to sit.

My heart leapt in my chest at her quick actions. I felt as if I needed to babysit her with the irresponsible decisions she was making. I growled in irritation and went to sit in the chair across from her, keeping a careful eye on our host all the while. I glared at Phoebe as I sat, but she managed to avoid my incriminating stare of disapproval.

Lameria served tea and a platter of cakes. Phoebe dove into the offering like she hadn’t eaten in a month or more.

I cleared my throat to alarm her, but she’d already grabbed the second cake in her haste to satisfy her insatiable cravings.

“Phoebe!”

She seemed to realize her mistake and practically threw the cake to her tea saucer. “Oh, no,” she said, then covered her mouth with her hand. She looked up at me with regret clear in her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Rhyan. I don’t know what came over me.”

“I know exactly what came over you,” I said, and then looked to a smirking Lameria.

She shrugged, taking a small sip of her tea. “It seems you’ve been starving the poor girl, Rhyan. It appears she is no better off with you than she was alone, back in her syde. You may have struck a quite smart deal with Lucifer, but she has not. He will not let her leave here, no matter what she does to prove she has earned the right of exit.”

“Where’s the object?” I asked, and the tension in my voice was sharp enough to slice through butter. I couldn’t have hid it if my life depended on it. A little ironic, since that was exactly what was at stake.

“Drink your tea, Rhyan—”

“I don’t want tea!” I shouted as I hurled the china across the room. “I want the object I was promised so we can leave here. Stop playing games with me, demon. It will not end in your favor.”

She stood abruptly, black curls bouncing down past her petite shoulders in a flurry of silk ringlets, her eyes completely gone black in the image I had once thought all demons favored: fierce and evil. “You’ll leave here when I allow you to leave here,” she said menacingly as she set her tea on the table, then immediately closed the ten foot distance between us.

Her movements were too quick for me to follow, so I didn’t bother trying. I just braced for what was about to come, and come it did. An involuntary scream tore from my throat. Intense pain was suddenly present throughout the upper part of my body. I forced my eyes to open and look down at the cause. Princess Lameria’s hands were hidden from my view. She was elbow deep in my chest cavity, her hands thrust up under my ribcage with my right lung in one small hand and my beating heart grasped in the other.

“Rhyan!” Phoebe screamed, but I couldn’t assure her everything would be okay, because I wasn’t sure myself.

I fought through the overwhelming, excruciating discomfort and tried to speak, “I-I only wish to get to my wife.” I swallowed around the growing lump in my throat. “I can’t let him win. I won’t let him keep her here. She belongs with me in Heaven. You could all leave here. You only believe you can’t because he says you can’t.”

She squeezed my heart and I cried out again.

“This is my home. I wish not to leave it. And if the others try, they are fools and will get no better treatment than what has been bestowed upon you. You are highly mistaken, angel. Lucifer will not let them leave, and that includes you and your precious wife, Abigail.”

Okay, so that kinda let me know how close of friends the princess was with Abbi—the demon would just as soon burn all the royalty at the stake as help set them free. Perfect. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place and hadn’t a clue how to get myself unjammed.

“Why would you not want to live in a place free of fear, regret and pain?” I asked.

“Heaven?” she asked, and gave a hearty laugh, making her hands shake, sending a fresh wave of razor sharp pains through my chest.

I managed to keep from screaming, but hot tears poured down my face, like they could somehow, on their own, make the nightmare go away. “Why not?” I choked out, and wasn’t surprised when I coughed blood on her yellow blouse. I was dying, and the thought terrified me. I feared she was right in saying I would never get to leave Hell, let alone get to leave with Abbi.

“I was banished from Heaven not long after Lucifer fell. He offered me a home here as a princess and I will eternally be grateful. I wouldn’t dare betray him as Abigail has. The little bitch knows not her place and must be punished for her treachery. You are just an added bonus. Your pure soul will allow Lucifer access to Earth again.”

I remembered Malcolm saying he would gain more power from receiving a pure soul willingly, but I hadn’t stopped to think it would put more people in danger. Very selfish and greedy of me. “Please—”

She squeezed my lung and I couldn’t scream like my mind was telling me I needed to. I couldn’t catch even half a breath. I clenched my jaw and swore internally.

“Aw, so you are not above begging, I see.”

She released her death-grip and I shuddered through several breaths before I was able to speak again. I could feel my head growing light and knew I wasn’t far from losing consciousness. It made me ill to think I would wake up under Pogo’s bridge with no recollection of ever having met any of the royalty. I could’ve sworn a few of them wanted to side with me and Abigail. Malcolm had helped me through most of the sydes. I wasn’t sure Isaiah would know how to help me. I couldn’t tell he had helped much since he’d popped into my head in Envy. At least Malcolm stayed around and kept my spirits lifted, whereas I couldn’t even feel Isaiah. It may have been because he was considerably more powerful than just a normal angel and could hide his presence easier. Then again, it may be because something else terrible had happened in Heaven…or on Earth. I suddenly panicked at the thought of something happening to Kendra or her family, then immediately forced the thought to the back of my mind. I couldn’t worry about things I had no control over. I wanted to think I still had a little control over saving Abbi’s soul. If I had to stay in Hell after she was safe, then so be it. “I’ll do what I have to, to be able to hold my wife again. If you force me to start over at Gluttony, I will be back. I will be back a thousand times if that’s what it takes to save her soul.”