Sweet Revenge (Dueling with the Devil) (26 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

A ball of fire danced in her palm. Bell worked all da
y,
honing her newfound powers. Who would’ve thought her small currents stemmed from pyrokinesis? And all it took to bring it out was to magically light her insides on fire. Bell winced from the memories of her body ablaze and her organs heated to the point they might explode.

She conjured flames from her fingertips. As she gazed into the blue aur
a,
her mind drifted to Xavier. Each hour ticking off the clock without his return cut her like a razor. She finally found a male who brought her happines
s,
but he came with a high possibility of getting killed. The other females succeeded in convincing her not to go looking for him and her fathe
r,
helping her understand
that
until she mastered her new powe
r,
she was of no help to them.

The temperature increased to unbearable. A blaze lit in the corner of the room. Bell froze. Did she cause this unknowingly? A dark voice whispered in her ear and she understood this was not magic but a power far darker than her own.

“
I warned you not to betray me
.”
Lucifer’s words teemed with resentment
.“
No
w,
you and Xavier will pay with the rest of them
.
”

The words echoed in Bell’s head
.“
I will kill you before I let you harm Xavier
.
”

“
You find a little power and think you can threaten me
?
”

“
I’ll protect those I love at all cost
.
”

“
We’ll see just how much you’re willing to pay
.
”

The fire dissipated. Lucifer was gone. Bell’s heart thumped hard in her chest. Sweat drenched her body as her internal temperature rose with her emotions. Lucifer wouldn’t harm anyone else in her life. She would not lose another person she loved.

A loud crash sounded in the front room. Abandoning her thoughts of the Devi
l,
Bell hurried toward the direction of the noise. Zi
z,
bruised and battere
d,
lay on the sitting room floor. Bell’s body ignited into an inferno. Her vision shaded blood-red. She leaped on top of Zi
z,
slamming her fists into his face. Tears and screams exploded from her. She reached bac
k,
a ball of flames manifesting in her right hand. Just as she was about to unleash the fireball into Zi
z,
someone snatched her by the back of her shir
t,
lifting her off the demon’s chest.

“
Hold up. Hold up
.”
Xavier grabbed her throwing arm
.“
Who the hell gave you fire to play with
?
”

Bell’s anger immediately diminished and her weapon disappeared. Turning aroun
d,
she threw her arms around Xavier. He enveloped her in his embrac
e,
sweeping her off the floo
r,
capturing her lips in a kiss. He tasted of smoke and sulfur. She melted against his bod
y,
wanting to be a part of hi
m,
but he broke the kiss with a heavy sigh. Bell raised a shaky hand to his chee
k,
relishing the sight of him. The prickly stubble on his jawline felt good under her touch.

“
You came bac
k
,
”
she whispere
d,
relieved Lucifer hadn’t captured
h
i
m
.

He played with a rebellious curl hanging in her face
.“
I told yo
u,
I’ll always come back to you
.
”

“
I didn’t believe you
.
”

“
I might be a kille
r,
but I’m not a liar
.
”

“
I don’t care what you ar
e,
as long as you’re safe here with
m
e
.
”

Someone coughe
d,
or laughed. Bell couldn’t tell which
.“
He
y,
y’all want to wrap up the airport scene from
Love Actually
and join the rest of us
?”

Bell shot an obscene gesture behind her back.
Like Jacque knew anything about Hugh Grant movies.

Xavier lowered her to the floo
r,
securing her arm around his waist. Her father examined Ziz
.“
O
h,
Dad. I didn’t hurt him
.
”

“
Thanks to Xavier
.”
Behemoth chastised
.“
I see you unlocked your full power
.
”

“
Why didn’t anyone tell me I could control fire? That would’ve been real handy when that asshole on the floor killed my brother
.
”

Ziz growled
.“
You were the one who injured your brother. Be happy you didn’t know how to access this power. You might have actually killed him if you had
.
”

Bell’s stomach flipped. She stared at Ziz in disbelief
.“
Laurent is alive
?”
A hush fell in the room
.“
I asked you a questio
n
,
”
she screame
d,
balling her hands into fists to stop the trembling.

Xavier squeezed her tight to his side
.“
Yeah. We think he might still be alive
.
”

“
Where is he
?”
Bell demanded.

“
Luc took him before we got there
.
”

“
We gotta go get him. Shit. That’s what Lucifer mean
t,
w
h
e
n
h
e
s
a
i
d
he
w
o
u
l
d
m
a
ke
m
e
p
a
y
.
”

“
You saw Lucifer
?
”

“
He dropped in a little while ago. He wasn’t happy about us switching sides. That’s why we have to go now
.
”

“
Bab
e,
I know you’re worried about your brothe
r,
but we can’t just run off to challenge Luc in Hades. We need a pla
n,
e
s
p
e
c
i
a
lly
s
i
n
c
e
h
e
’
s
e
x
p
ec
t
in
g
u
s
.
”

Her skin burned as if baked by the sun’s rays. Heat coiled in her core. Beads of moisture formed on her brow. Bell’s sanity slowly slipped from her grasp. She clutched onto Xavier’s arm to steady herself. When she touched his fles
h,
he jumped back. An angr
y,
red blotch blazed bright where her hand had been.

Her eyes wide with horro
r,
she stammere
d,
“
I’m sorry
.”
She crouched in the middle of the floor away from everythin
g,
not wanting to set anything on fire.

“
It’s oka
y,
baby. It’s already better. Look
.”
Xavier’s voice held a low bariton
e,
smoot
h,
with a taming quality
.“
You’re
o
k
a
y
.
J
u
s
t
n
ee
d
to
ca
l
m
d
o
w
n
.
”

“
Isabella
.”
Isis reminded Bell of a larger than life bronze statue
.“
I’m speaking to you child. You have the power to stop this. Put yourself back together if you wish to save your brother
.
”

Bell closed her eye
s,
shutting out the worl
d,
summoning Laurent’s face. She wouldn’t fail him this time. Her breathing fell into a normal rhyth
m,
as she envisioned smothering the flames. Her body cooled. She forced the remaining heat back into the recesses of her min
d,
as she had practiced so many times in the few hours since unleashing her gift.

She jumped when Xavier scooped her from the ground
.
“
I
t
’
s

a
l
l
g
oo
d.
You got it back under control
.
”

“
How did you know
?
”

“
I can tell. There’s a calmness about you now
.
”

“
I don’t want to hurt you again. Or anyone else
.
”

“
I’m a big boy. I heal fast. I’m fine
.”
He held her against his chest and whispered in her ea
r,
“
And I like a little pain sometimes
.
”

Bell giggled
.“
I’m sure I’ll find out more about that later
.
”

“
You know we can all still hear yo
u,
right? Whispering around a bunch of supes is really a moot poin
t
,
”
Jacque chastised.

“
We couldn’t hea
r
,
”
Angel laughed
.“
What did he say
?”

“
Not for innocent ears. Maybe one da
y,
we’ll have a girl’s night and I’ll fill you in
.”
Bell scrunched her forehead.
Did that just come out my mouth?

“
We need to figure out where Lucifer has taken Lauren
t
,
”
Isis interrupted
.“
You boys go find the wolf. Behemot
h,
Leviatha
n,
take care of Ziz. He needs to be full strength by nightfall. Etienn
e,
go find as many others who are able to join us tonight
.
”

“
I see you’re still bossy as eve
r
,
”
Behemoth joked.

Isis granted him a condescending grin
.“
I may be commandin
g,
but my husband is the only one of you fools who did not need saving
.
”

Her comment brought much needed levity to the room. Once agai
n,
they were risking their lives and those of their loved ones. The battle seemed to be a never ending cycle. Bell examined the faces of those in the roo
m,
worry evident in each expression. Angel’s held a particular sadness. Then it hit Bell. This was Angel’s wedding day.