Her Black Heart (The Dark Amulet Series Book 2) (16 page)

CHAPTER

FORTY-THREE

Jeremiah

The ram-horned, lesser demon arrived in the fiery realm in two pieces. Two animal-headed slaves set the halves on a marble slab in the cathedral. They aligned the head with the neck and waited until the parts knitted themselves back together. The bones fused, tendons and muscles repaired, then flesh and finally skin grew over where the wound had been. Jeremiah sat up, rubbing his neck. He tested his vocal cords. “Hell-ellooo.” His voice cracked like he was going through puberty. He tried different words until the sounds came out smoothly. There was no sense in feeling for his horns; he knew they were gone. The next thing he did was test to make sure his legs and the rest of his body worked. He stopped prancing around when he sensed his master.

“Jeremiah, you stupid goat!” Abaddon’s voice boomed off the high-domed ceiling. The Ruler’s eyes raked over where his horns should have been and snorted.

He knelt before the Supreme Demon of Netherworld. “How may I be of service, my Darkness?”

“Tell me what happened. And don’t leave anything out.”

“The female, she has wings with black feathers.”

Aba groaned and clenched his jaw. “What else?”

“I told her to kill Ra’zael the Guardian, like you said, and then you might consider letting her keep the amulet…or…was it…you’ll consider allowing her to retrieve the amulet…” Jeremiah paused to think.

“Which is it? Oh, for fuck’s sakes, never mind. How did you happen to lose your head?”

“Hmm…oh, Ra’zael.”

“Ra’zael what, goat?” The Demon Ruler threw his hands up.

“Oh, he snapped my head off, of course.”

Aba narrowed his eyes on Jeremiah. “I know that, you idiot. Why?”

“I had the female by the throat.”

“Like this?” Aba seized his neck with both hands. The master was in his human looking form, but a good six inches taller than Jeremiah. “I thought I told you not to leave anything out?”

Aba flung Jeremiah across the room. His body flat-spun in the air. His stomach smacked the shiny black marble floor when he landed. Aba stalked toward him, his boots eating the distance in three long strides. The Ruler transformed into his beast form. He lifted Jeremiah off the floor by the throat and hurled him into a stone pillar.

Crack!

Marble chunks rained on his head. He lay crumpled in a heap, blood seeping from a gash on the back of the head. He didn’t dare so much as twitch a muscle; he played possum. The master grabbed his fetlocks and twirled around. Jeremiah’s head brushed the floor with each revolution. He closed his eyes and prayed the misery would end soon.

Aba got angry at his sycophants often and ripped them limb from limb, but never had Jeremiah witnessed him prolong their suffering. Quickly was how the Ruler did things around here. He was released and flew head first into a wall between two molten rock pits. Flames licked at his arms, singeing the hair.

Ow. Ow. Ow.

He scrambled backward on his belly, his hands squeaking on the marble.

A roar ricocheted all around.

His torture wasn’t over. Clumps of fur from his goat legs were yanked out at the roots. Tears spilled from his eyes. More and more wads from his coat piled up next to him. Aba laughed and flipped him over onto his back. His master’s eyes were ice blue.

“Where are your horns?”

“I don’t kn—”

“ENHHH! ENHHH! Wrong answer!” Aba hauled him by a hoof over to the pedestal in the center of the grand room. Iron cuffs and heavy chains appeared at the Ruler’s whim and were cranked around Jeremiah’s wrists. Aba left him alone, except the desertion wouldn’t last for long.

Jeremiah relaxed the tension in his body and allowed his muscles to go limp. If he was going to be ashed, he was going to embrace his death. Anything would be better than more of this helpless feeling. At least if he were turned into ash Aba couldn’t punish him physically anymore…except then his soul would be stuck here forever. And something told him, this wasn’t actually his home. What made him think that?

Shit…think, you stupid…Ra’zael…Ra’zael knew my name. How?

With renewed energy, he struggled against the restraints. He bucked and twisted, his cloven hooves thrashing about, pounding the marble beneath him. Chunks chipped off and scattered.

Aba returned with a chainsaw, the one Aza’zel always used. Jeremiah tried to picture him.

What color were his eyes?

Slate-blue. He pictured Ra’zael the Guardian. Same color. Same shape. Same. They were the same being.

“Oh, Deus!” The motor started and the chain moved. Jeremiah shouted over the rumble, “I’m an angel!” The Ruler cupped his ear pretending he couldn’t hear him. “I’m an angel!” He continued to shout over the saw. “You can hear me!” Aba raised the chainsaw over his head, poised to rip through flesh.

BOOM!
Jeremiah’s hoof came down onto the table, splitting the slab in half. The anchors on the cuffs broke loose. He yanked and rolled away from the blade. The goat got himself upright and ran.

***

Abaddon

Jeremiah rolled out of the way of the chainsaw and bolted from the cathedral, clacking his cloven hooves on the stone floor. Abaddon the Darkness pitched his head back and roared. The fire pits dotting the perimeter of the great room blazed high, scorching the ceiling. What was happening? He was the almighty power, ruler of this realm. Why did he feel he was losing control?

He had two choices: one, chase after Jeremiah; or two, let the coward leave Netherworld. Chasing the goat would only prove to the other slave-demons that their master had weakened. He knew this to be true and it was the reason for his display of dominance with Jeremiah. Aba shoved the remains of the marble table into one of the molten rock pools. He shrank to his normal size and appearance. With his mind, he conjured up another slab and parked his bare ass on the warm top.

Well, this sucks
.

Letting the fallen angel leave was the only option.

Aba whistled for his next closest beast and trusted errand boy. This SOB had the head of bull and wouldn’t dare leave the safety of Netherworld. He snorted. Safe…wasn’t that a crock? Of course, the demons with animal heads were the only true natives of the realm. Berus couldn’t speak but understood commands, and the true demon was loyal.

The beast stood before Aba, its beady red eyes drilling him. It had an iron ring pierced through the nose and one nipple. This creature differed from most of the other slave-demon. Fur didn’t grow on its legs; instead smooth red skin showed off the powerful muscles in its thighs. The only hair was a tuft located on the end of the whip-like tail. The horns protruding from the side of the head resembled a Texas Longhorn.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Aba asked, nodding his head at the floor. Without hesitation, Berus knelt down on one knee and bowed his head. Aba assumed the bulky beast was male, given the flat chest and well, bull-sized…

“Excellent. I have your cooperation. I’d hate to think otherwise.” The bull grunted once. “Jeremiah has been banished. Make sure it stays that way. Tell everyone.” Berus wasn’t completely non-verbal. The other natives communicated using grunts, clicks, snorts, and other noises Aba didn’t understand. Word always got around the dimension somehow. It had taken the Ruler several years to learn they were actually “speaking” to one another. The creature snorted and his nostrils flared wide.

Berus pivoted on his hooves and strode away.
Clip-clop. Clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop
. The ground shook with every hammering step.

Aba left the cathedral and stomped over the footpaths that were surrounded by pools of bubbling liquid ore. In reality, the Demon was wandering aimlessly, he only looked like he had a purpose. He didn’t. After threatening his slaves with physical harm and causing some damage, he found his way to his chamber rooms. He was bored, with nothing to do that was of any interest to him. Even his ninety-nine females were too much hassle to deal with in his current mood. Not that a little ménage à quatre-vingt-dix-neuf wasn’t appealing. On second thought, what
were
his ladies doing?

Aba put his ear up to the harem room’s door and listened to his females. Suzie’s voice was the loudest. Her laughter could be heard over all the other chatter. He pressed his forehead to the ornately carved wooden door. His entire body sagged from the weight of his little world. He’d been losing control in tiny increments. His ladies always seemed to give him strength, although it didn’t last long. The Ruler held his breath and opened the door
.
All eyes turned toward him. Suzie, his favorite plaything, ambled forward.

“My females, how are you?” They all stared at him in shock. It was as if he never asked about their well-being. Come to think of it, he probably never had. They were his captives, not his girlfriends, not that they ever complained.

Suzie smirked. He let the insubordination slide because the others couldn’t see her face. She was naked and clean-shaven below the waist. Both her nipples were pierced. Aba hated that this turned him on.

He spread his arms wide and welcomed his harem. “Come to me.” Suzie reached him first. She placed her hands on either side of his face. She was only one he allowed to kiss him on the lips anymore. A dark-haired female with a tail slithered between them but stayed on her knees. This particular female had a talent he enjoyed.

“Yow, baby.” Suzie giggled against his mouth as the vixen belted her bottom with the thin whip-like appendage.

Two more females, one with spiral horns and the other with a forked tongue, clung to his sides. His hands stroked their lithe bodies.

Everyone else swarmed and surrounded him. They lifted him up and carried him over to the pile of large velvet pillows. Closing his eyes, he put his hands behind his head. He could feel power surging through his muscles, his soul. A buried, tender part of his spirit cared for the females. He’d never admit how much they all meant to him. He despised parting with any of them. Except for the one female he ousted years ago. She’d been so whiny. What was her name? It started with an “E.” Evita.
Evie.
She was a beauty though, firetruck red hair and black loose corkscrew horns. He’d stuck her in the Void as a guard.

Aba tried to stay in the moment, but his mind drifted. He mentally detached from what was being done to him, although physically he remained functioning, pretending to pay attention with an occasional moan or gasp. Stray thoughts of Amalya rolled around inside his brain. He’d failed to make her his hundredth harem member. Aba was convinced she was the one to complete his congregation. That which compelled him to amass one hundred females was an enigma; he only knew he must.

He closed his eyes to keep from rolling them.
You think too much, that’s your problem.

Except…the nagging feeling he experienced every so often returned like a stone wall crashing down on top of him. A large, immoveable boulder sat on his chest, making it difficult to breathe, and he could forget about thinking clearly. He was paralyzed with fear.

A voice that wasn’t his own invaded his mind.
Time’s running out for you
.
Four more amulets, only four more chances.

“Don’t remind me,” he said aloud to the voice, not fully understanding the urgency.

“Don’t remind you of what?” Suzie asked. He hadn’t even noticed until she spoke that she was straddling his hips.

“Wasn’t talking to you.”

You must comply or die.

“What are you talking about?” he growled.

Fail and you’ll find out. Veronica is no more. Amalya got away…Julia slips further and further from your grasp.

The deep voice he’d always considered to be male now sounded feminine.

“Get out of my head!” he bellowed. Several of his more sensitive females whimpered and covered their ears. Suzie screamed for another reason.

CHAPTER

FORTY-FOUR

Julia

“What am I going to do with you?” he’d said.

Julia could think of a lot of things Raz could do to her. “You can do anything you want to me.”

Ra’zael smiled and looked heavenward. A heady chuckle left his throat. “Anything? You may want to reconsider that statement.”

All sorts of scenarios danced around inside her mind, things involving rope and leather. Fantasies, yes, but fun to think about. “Uhhh…”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” The angel laughed quietly. She eased back into the seat and decided to change the subject; after all, he’d just taken her virginity. No sense in being greedy.

“Why are your wings gray?” she asked. “Do you have Abaddon’s poison in you?”

“Taint. I never allowed him to kiss me, and as far as I know he didn’t.”
He shrugged. “Wings get dingy for lots of reasons. Probably because I was in Netherworld so long. I did bad shit.”

“Yeah, but to bad people, right?”

“Mostly.”

“Like what?”

Raz made an aggravated sounding growl. “Arghh…Julia. What’s this obsession you have with wanting to know the specifics? I thought I was a demon and acted accordingly.”

“Just curious.” She shoved her hands inside the front pouch pocket of her sweatshirt. The wad of cash from the Demon Ruler burned her palms. Julia took deep breaths as guilt panged her black heart. She focused on Raz’s chest and tried to match his breathing pattern—steady and rhythmic. Only his inhales and exhales were too long and the train car started spinning.

“You all right?”

Her head bobbled. “Hm…wha…”

“I asked if you were all right.”

“F-Fine…don’t I l-look all righ…” Julia’s words slurred and trailed off.

She woke up cradled in his arms. For someone who didn’t like to be touched, he certainly did a lot of touching. Not being able to resist, she reached up with her hand to cup his cheek. He veered his head away.

“Don’t,” he snapped.

Her bottom lip quivered. Why did she care? She was a monster.

He looked over his shoulder at the chair next to him. “Sorry,” he mumbled.

“What was that…that sounded like an apology,” Julia said softly. He guided her head to his chest and she sighed.

“What’s going to happen after we find the amulet?”
My amulet.

“What do you mean?” he asked and relaxed his head back on the seat. “Let’s worry about getting the necklace back first then we’ll talk afterward.”

I can’t talk later; I have to kill you
.

Julia wasn’t planning to murder him. At least, she hoped she wouldn’t have to if they got the amulet back. The possessor of the talisman was invincible. She pictured the markings carved into the metal. Chad thought they were Druidic in origin. What an idiot. Sold it to a museum!

Julia needed to be careful though. Ra’zael wanted to destroy the medallion, not wear the thing around his neck. He would never let her keep it. Her gaze flipped up to his face; his eyes were closed.

“You know there’s a good chance we’ll have to steal the amulet.”

“That’s not a problem. I’m more worried about Maurice’s guys showing up,” he said.

She snorted. “You can count on that.”

***

The conductor made an announcement the train would be pulling into Union Station in five minutes. Julia nudged Ra’zael awake.

He yawned. “Are we there yet?”

She grinned. She and her twin used take turns asking that every summer on the way to the campgrounds to annoy their father. “Yes, come on.”

They ambled up the aisle and exited the train at the end of the platform. Julia’s fingers felt the edges of the cash in her pocket.

Gawd.
What have I done?

The angel walked in front of her, the tips of his feathers skimming the cement. Hers would too if the feathers ever filled in properly. Ra’zael had this sort of swagger that caused his wings to shift with every step. She never thought wings were sexy. Actually she’d never even thought about wings, period. Until now.

In the presence of humans, wings looked translucent to angels, but were invisible to human eyes. Just to check that no one could see them, she glanced over her shoulder. Yep. See-through. She stroked one of the feathers. It felt corporeal to her.

Outside the train depot, Raz hailed one of the waiting taxis. Julia leaned in to talk to the driver. “Can you take us to the Hyatt on Michigan Avenue?”

“Uh huh, hop in.”

She wagged her eyebrows at her angel. The only response he gave was to get into the cab. Adept at settling her wings without much hassle, Julia wasn’t. Raz simply sat down like nothing impeded him. Maybe she
could
kill him. The only sounds on the trip to the hotel were road and traffic noises. Julia hadn’t slept on the train at all. Every time she tried to, her mind brought up images of her best friend’s dying face. The expression one of terror, knowing she wouldn’t be attending her junior prom on that coming Saturday. The horrific car accident left them hanging by their seat belts upside down. Blood dripped from Salina’s mouth. The crimson streaked over her nose and forehead. They hung for a long time until the police finally showed up. Her older model car wasn’t equipped with airbags. Julia survived. Her friend died during surgery from too many internal injuries.

The hospital tested Julia’s blood alcohol level. Not good. She was charged with DUI and vehicular manslaughter. Fortunately, before the end of the trial, her lawyer was smart enough to make her take a guilty plea in exchange for a lesser offense conviction from the DA. Julia had worn the amulet the during the entire trial—her lucky charm. Even though she said all the right things on the witness stand and her letter to Salina’s parents, read aloud in court, brought tears to everyone’s eyes, all she could think about was how grateful she wasn’t the one who died. She missed Salina. Every day.

The brakes squeaked and the yellow cab parked alongside the curb in front of the hotel. Julia stepped from the sedan and took a deep breath. Exhaust fumes met her nose. The revolving door swept them inside the tall building. After registering, they took the elevator to their floor and located the room.

Julia made an excuse and shut herself in the bathroom. She didn’t have to go, she just wanted to get away from Raz’s suspicious eyes. Okay, maybe she was being paranoid. Angels didn’t hurt people, they helped people. And look, he had already helped her by taking her virginity. She never let herself get close to anyone long enough to give it up. If you couldn’t trust an angel, who could you trust?

Oh,
Ra’zael…
Julia wanted to hate him. But couldn’t. She wanted to be rid of him. She needed the amulet all to herself. Death didn’t matter. She still craved its power.

Peering in the mirror above the sink, she whispered at the reflection, “You have to kill him, remember.” The door opened behind her and she pivoted, wild-eyed.

“Raz, I—”

His lips pressed against hers.