Sweet Revenge (Dueling with the Devil) (20 page)

A smu
g,
arrogant smile played on Ziz’s lips
.“
His hur
t
,
”
he pointed to Xavie
r,
“
increases as your agony rises. He might not care for his lif
e,
but he cares for you. Your pain becomes hi
s,
as the torment of my Lailoni’s death is forever branded in my heart
.
”

Electricity crackled in the air
.“
Control yoursel
f,
bab
e
,
”
Xavier whispered.

Too late. Bell blasted a full powered stream of energy in Ziz’s direction. The demon rolled Laurent in front of him to absorb the blow. The entire current of Bell’s voltage entered her brother. An ear piercing cry ripped through the air.
B
e
l
l
s
c
r
a
m
b
l
e
d
toward
L
a
u
r
e
n
t
,
b
ut
w
h
e
n
s
h
e
r
ea
c
h
e
d
t
h
e
s
p
o
t,
h
e
a
n
d
Z
i
z
h
a
d
d
i
s
a
pp
ea
r
e
d.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Her heart crumbled in her chest. What had she done? Bell lunged forwar
d,
scratching at the pavement where her brother and Ziz once stood. She killed him. She killed her own brother. Her temper finally drove her to the unspeakable. The rough asphalt dug into her knee
s,
but she couldn’t move. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she stared at the charred remnants of Laurent’s shoes. Her lungs constricted. The air thinned. Another shriek of grief exploded from a dark unknown place in the bowels of her being. Gasping to get oxygen into her lung
s,
she crouched closer to the groun
d,
resting her forehead on the road. When she felt the heat from where she electrocuted her brothe
r,
tremors ravaged her body from the force of her sobs.

Distant voices murmured unrecognizable words. Large hands clasped under her arm
s,
lifting her away. She scratched at the roa
d,
thinking it kept her closer to Laurent. Bell slapped her assailant. Or was he her rescuer? He held her tight against him. Her battle with the stone wall of his chest became an act of futility. With nothing left in he
r,
she buried her face in hollow of his neck and cried. Another first in her life.

t t t

Bell awoke cradled in Xavier’s lap. Her stomach lurched. She peered into the backsea
t,
hoping everything had been a horrid nightmare. The gaping hole leading to the trunk jolted her into certainty. She turned into Xavier’s bulk. She sucked in a deep breat
h,
trying to regain control as her body shook with sorrow. Xavier rocked her in his la
p,
petting her hair and wh
i
s
p
e
r
i
n
g
s
o
f
t
w
o
r
d
s
.
H
i
s
li
p
s
b
r
u
s
h
e
d
h
e
r
t
e
m
p
l
e
a
s
h
e
h
e
ld
h
e
r
c
l
o
s
e
.

The car stopped. The door opened. Xavier exited the vehicle with her still in his arms. It didn’t matter. Bell doubted her legs would’ve carried her. Numbness overtook her senses. The world around her lapsed in slow motion frames with muted sound. The only thing she heard clearly was the beating of Xavier’s heart. It grounded her to what little sanity remained within her.

Xavier laid her on the bed. Bell clutched a fist-full of his shirt when he attempted to stand. She looked into his eye
s,
the emerald-colored orbs she loved so muc
h,
sadness dimming their usual brillianc
e,
and pleaded for him to stay. He pushed back her hair and placed a delicate kiss on her brow. She wrung his t-shirt in her hand
s,
unable to find the words to beg him to stay.

He sat back on the pillows and gathered her close to him
.“
Bab
y,
I need to go down to help them figure out how to help Laurent. I won’t be gone long. One of the girls can come up and sit with you until I’m done
.
”

Loneliness plagued her with her brother gone. And she realized there was only one other person she wanted by her side. She didn’t want to let Xavier go. Bell choked back a tear. She had to rein in her emotions. They poured from her like a faucet with a broken valve. This was why she kept them locked in the recesses of her
conscience
. Emotions played to one’s weaknesses. Bell’s inability to shield her feelings killed her brothe
r,
the one person in her life who truly loved her.

If this is what love brough
t,
she was right to run from it for so many years. Agon
y,
heartach
e,
and then death. This was what caring for others taught he
r,
a lesson hard learned and not easily forgotten. Bell began her tutelage at an early age. She forgot the most important rule. The one thing her mother was right about. Don’t open your heart. It’s too difficult to
stop
the floodwaters once the dam had burst. No
w,
those currents sucked her into the undercurrents of her grief.

She turned away from Xavier and curled around a down pillow. A soft kiss grazed the top of her head. The bed shifted as he climbed out. He lingered at the door for a moment. She supposed he waited for her to say somethin
g,
but she was void of words. Only her tears remaine
d,
slowly falling down her face.

“
I’ll send someone up to check on you and bring you something to eat
.”
Xavier eased the door closed behind him.

Bell forced her eyes closed. She wanted to block out the worl
d,
shut off her min
d,
and lose herself in the darkness.

t t t

“
How she doing
?”
Marie asked.

Xavier plunked down into a plush leather armchair
.“
Not good
.
”

“
We’ll take care of her while you’re gone
.
”

“
Are we going after Ziz
?
”

Jacque downed his drink
.“
No. We’ll get Behemoth out first. We need all the help we can get
.
”

“
Who’s going to stay with Bell
?”
Xavier refused to leave her without protection.

“
The females will stay her
e
,
”
Leviathan answered.

”
I thought they had to remove the barrier
.
”

“
We made a potion you can take with you. With thi
s,
you will not need u
s
,
”
Isis said
.“
It’s better if we stay in larger groups. While we might be defeated individuall
y,
with our combined powers we can ward off most intruders. We’ll watch Bell and try to heal her
.
”

“
Thank you
.”
Xavier choked back the lump in his throat. Even Isis reached out to him to help. She smiled at him with motherly concern. She understood his pain. This is the same anguish Xavie
r,
himsel
f,
had exacted
up
o
n her not too long ago when he took the contract on his brother. Ye
t,
here she sa
t,
helping fix a wrong he created.

Isis crossed the room and hugged him gently
.“
We’re your
f
a
mi
ly
.
We stand together
.
”

His brother’s mother did more for him in that instant than his own mom had done in centuries. Isis gave him worth and a sense of belonging. Something he longed for all his life.

t t t

The heat suffocated them. After Angel and Natasha scried for Behemoth’s locatio
n,
Xavie
r,
Jacqu
e,
Damon and Leviathan found themselves standing at the mouth of the cav
e,
courtesy of Isis. Etienne stayed behind with the females. Vampire
s,
heat and fire didn’t mix wel
l,
especially during daylight.

They wound down the narrow corridors. Each corner and crevice provided an opportunity for disaster. Xavier refused to be caught unprepared again. Losing another person wasn’t an option. Because of the loss of her brothe
r,
Bell slowly slipped from Xavier’s grasp. She burrowed deeper into an emotional vorte
x,
separating herself from the world. He had to bring her back before she disappeared completely.

A shar
p,
screeching sound echoed off the walls. Hu
n
d
r
e
d
s of bats attacked from every angle. Only these weren’t like the bats found on Earth.
T
h
ese
c
r
ea
t
u
r
e
s
w
e
r
e
t
h
e
s
i
z
e
o
f
ea
g
l
e
s
,
w
i
t
h
i
n
c
h
-
l
o
n
g
f
a
n
gs
p
r
o
t
r
ud
i
n
g
f
r
o
m
t
h
e
i
r
m
o
u
t
h
s
.

Xavier swung his blade through the ai
r,
whacking anything close. He avoided discharging his gun in the cavern for fear the percussion would disturb the loose rocks. Damon moved swiftl
y,
using his daggers to cut through the cloud of monstrous bats. Jacque backed into Xavier and wielded his blad
e,
cutting the strange flying beasts in midair. No matter how many they destroye
d,
more came.

Leviathan remained cal
m,
lifting his hands to the sky. He pushed an invisible force from his palms. Xavier halted in mid-swing when the sky illuminated with fire. Roasting flesh and burning hair pervaded the closed-in space. Squeals of dying animals pierced his ears. He observed his father with amazement.

“
He
y,
Dad. You been holding out on us
?”
Jacque questioned.

Leviathan chuckled
.“
That’s a small show
.
”

Xavier gained newfound respect for his father. A demon with that kind of gift could rule almost anything. His father chose his female and child before power. Leviathan had no need to prove himself worthy to others.

“
Come boys. We don’t have time to stand around trading secrets. I’m sure Lucifer will soon know we are her
e,
if he doesn’t already
.”
Leviathan marched them forward.

The group quickened their pace. The temperature increased with each winding turn. The reddish-orange walls scorched
flesh
at
every
touch. Xavier hissed each time his bulky girth skimmed the searing stone. The alternative to singeing his skin on the walls was to fall into an open gorge on the other side of the narrow path. He had no idea what waited at the bottom of the dro
p,
but figured it couldn’t be good should he survive the fall.

The ground leveled out. Jacque stopped just in front of Xavie
r,
considering the two paths. A low rumble reverberating from the tunnel on the right made the decision for them. Leviathan led the way. The passageway opened to a large area where a barricade of fire raged in front of them. The intense heat
from the inferno caused sweat to drip
down Xavier’s face and back. Damon wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.