Vacation Hell: Princess of Hell #4 (9 page)

And, yes, I was sinking in the direction I’d been swimming. I’d gambled wrong and lost. But I wouldn’t give up. I might not have an ounce of air, but I had magic still, and I was about to die.

A word came to my lips, a guttural sound made of power, and it blew out of me on my last breath.

לעזור –
Help.

T
he familiar sword
, a dull gray without the flames bathing its length, washed ashore, without Muriel. That didn’t bode well. Muriel loved that weapon. She would never relinquish it unless not given a choice.

I need to get it back to her.
Auric knew her well enough to realize she’d find trouble; she always did. She’d need her weapon, but returning it to her might prove difficult since he didn’t have the slightest clue where to even start looking.

“Where the fuck is she?” Auric raked a hand through his hair, staring off at the calm ocean waters, the surface deceptively smooth, not one misplaced ripple marring its glassy sheen. Not a single sign of Muriel.

“She’s alive,” Teivel remarked. “Her bond to me is still strong.”

“I know it. I feel it, too.” This didn’t have the feel of his heart being torn out, not like when Lilith had dragged her into an entirely other dimension. “But for some reason, I can’t follow the trail. It’s as if it’s shooting off in different directions.”

“As if carried by the current of a sea.” Teivel tucked his thumbs in the loops of his jeans as he stared at the water. “Wherever she is, it’s related to that.”

Auric glared at the Darkling Sea. There sat the one element he couldn’t storm by force. Much as it galled him, he’d have to call for help.

The line rang only twice before it was answered with, “House of ill repute and unlawful gains. How may we screw you today?”

“Ysabel, it’s—”

“Auric, I know. We do have caller ID, you know. This is not the fifteen hundreds.” The acerbic reply was tossed by Lucifer’s eminently qualified secretary and a true witch. As in evil spells, devil-worshipping witch who loved to block access to Lucifer with a nasty cackle. At least she used to be really nasty. Since she’d hooked up with a demon called Remy, she’d loosened up a bit. Now she sometimes only maimed those who irked her. But she still remained a very competent barrier to the big guy.

“I thought I was calling Lucifer’s direct number,” Auric said. As Muriel’s consort, he had certain privileges when it came to accessing the Lord of the Underworld.

“You did call the big guy’s private line. However, my lord has embarked on a most dangerous mission to save Hell from destruction. All hail our mighty leader.”

It surprised Auric she managed to say it without snickering. “Don’t tell me Lucifer has got you doing the scripted speeches again?”

“He’s got some communist goof who has been assigned as his special liaison with his newest marketing firm.”

The devil worked very hard to maintain his reputation. To the extent of sometimes fabricating crises. “So what supposed dangerous mission has he gone on?” Because other than Muriel’s issue with the beach, things had seemed rather quiet. “This isn’t another quest to discover the truly best tavern with the most buxom wenches again?” The drunken tour had made the news. The PR guys even managed to drag, from somewhere, a few demons and damned souls thanking the devil for changing their lives. Apparently, the best grog served by the most buxom wenches was of vital need to the populace.

Ysabel snickered. “No, and we also don’t need to fear he’ll drop his pants in public again either. He is, however, wearing a fabulous ensemble. But I won’t spoil that for you. Just watch HBC’s nightly news, and I’m sure they’ll have a video clip.”

“Where is he?”

“Sailing the Darkling Sea with Charon and a full crew. They’re trying to make it in time to stop some kind of prophecy from getting fulfilled.”

“Is this prophecy about a sea monster?”

While Auric couldn’t see Ysabel, he could imagine her actions by the rustle of fabric as she shifted the phone at her ear.

“The prophecy doesn’t specify the menace, but my understanding is the mermaids are involved.”

Mermaids, after a merman supposedly coming after Muriel? Coincidence? They didn’t exist in the pit.

“Any idea how long he’ll be gone? Can he be contacted?”

“Do I look like a seer?” Ysabel replied with clear disdain. “As for contact, go ahead, but if you disturb him in the middle of some kind of epic media moment, he might decapitate you. It’s always good for ratings.”

Lucifer and his quest for omnipotent presence. From the sounds of it, the man was dealing with an aspect of the sea problem occurring. The question was, should Auric join the devil—which even thinking it made him cringe—or did he stay here, guarding Lucinda and hoping Muriel would figure a way out?

Auric hung up with Ysabel.
I wish I knew the right thing to do.

“We have to stay and wait, of course.” The startling reply came with the slip of a little hand into his.

“Wait for what, baby girl?”

“Mommy, silly.”

“Do you know where Mommy is?”

“Mommy’s with the fishies.”

Auric peered down at his daughter, amazed as always at her perfection. It still boggled his mind that there were some who wanted to kill his perfect little girl. But at times like these, when she spouted the oddest things, he could see why she freaked some people out.

“Damned right she is. In a fishy’s belly.” Teivel never tempered his speech to Lucinda, a fact that drove Auric nuts.

“Don’t be telling her stuff like that.”

“Why? It’s true. We all saw it happen.”

Indeed they had. Auric had a bird’s-eye view when the sea monster dropped Muriel into its maw then dove under the waves.

But she’s not dead.
“She’s out there somewhere.” He knew she was alive. He could feel it through the link that tethered them, and yet, that link did him no good.

“She’s with my new daddy,” Lucinda stated with utter assurance. “Just like the prince in my book, he saved her with a kiss.”

T
he press
of lips against mine might have proven more fun if they weren’t trying to blow air into me.

I sputtered and flailed my hands against a very bare chest. “What the fuck? Where am I?” Unlike other moments in my life, I remembered quite clearly drowning, yet I obviously wasn’t dead. So how did I go from sinking to the bottom of the Darkling Sea to making out with… “You!”

My eyes opened and beheld a familiar face. It seemed my call for help had not gone unheard. A certain merman answered it.

“Yes, it’s me.”

“What are you doing kissing me?” And why stop now?

He rolled his eyes, which was kind of freaky because the pupils kind of tossed like a storm-swept sea. “I wasn’t kissing you. It’s called mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.”

“Since when does it involve tongue?” In his defense, it was my tongue that had gone wandering, but he certainly did nothing to stop it.

“I saved your life.”

No, he hadn’t. I’d never agree to that because then I would owe him. Debt was for fools. My dad raised me better.

I needed to turn the situation around until Tristan owed me. My gift for rational irrationality gave me the perfect attack. “You molested my mouth while I was unconscious. Total no-no, and given you’re such a perv, I have to wonder, what other parts of me did you take advantage of?” And could he do it again so I could properly appreciate it? I was feeling kind of weak at the moment, and I could have used a pick-me-up. That emergency call I’d put out had taken more out of me than expected.

“I did not molest you.”

“Not even a teensy tiny bit?” Why not? Did he not like a girl with curves?

“You are completely insane.”

“Thank you.” Our family took pride in our uniqueness.

He stood, and I noted that, once again, someone was naked, buff, and very aroused. Oh my.

“What’s that?” I pointed at his erection. “Is that part of your CPR technique?” More fuel to toss on the fire—thing was the heat was grabbing at me, too.

To my amusement, a ruddy color brightened his cheeks. “It’s a normal male bodily reaction to the proximity of an attractive female.”

“You think I’m hot.” I totally preened at the realization, thrust my chest out, gave my hair a little toss, even wet my lips.

What I should have done was sack him.

“I’d think any woman with two legs and at least one breast was hot. I haven’t gotten out much since my dad brought me over from the mortal side in order to train me to take over one day.”

Any woman would do? I scissored my legs, caught him around the ankles, and, with a heaving body twist, toppled him to the ground.

He scrambled to his knees, his face a thundercloud of annoyance. “What the fuck was that for?”

“I am not
any woman
, and don’t you ever forget it.”

Piece stated, I sprang to my feet and took a peek around, ignoring him for the moment. I could afford to play that game because I felt the weight of his stare upon me. He couldn’t look away.

Good. About time he behaved a little more normally.

I didn’t choose to examine, at this time, why I cared. I certainly didn’t have any intentions toward him. Nope. Not me.

Ha.

My location managed to distract me from Tristan for a moment. Where was I?

At first glance, it appeared like a cavern, a rather smallish one, the entire area surrounded by stone. And I meant entire area.

Only as I spun around for the third time did I realize there was no entrance leading from this chamber. On the far edge of the roundish space was a pool of water, no wider than ten feet across.

“Is this an undersea secret cave?” I spun around to face him, hands on my hips.

“Of a sort.”

“It could use some serious decorating.”

“Excuse me?”

I winced. “Careful with the manners there. As I get older, my tolerance for them lessens.” It should have scared me more that I was turning into my father, yet I’d never been happier. With sinning came pleasure. “And I said you needed some help decorating. You know, a pile of bones in the corner, maybe a few tribal-looking carvings. It’s all about setting the right ambiance.”

“Why would I set an ambiance that implies extreme violence and cannibalism?”

I fluttered my lashes. “Well, aren’t you going to eat me?”

E
at her
? His first impulse was to say hell yeah. Instead, all Tristan could manage was a choked, “Excuse me?”

It proved fascinating to watch Muriel getting annoyed. Her dark brows drew together, her lips pursed, her eyes flashed with real flames, and smoke, literally, rose from her skin.

He’d never seen a more attractive woman.
I want her, and not just because she has two legs and a breast.

Contrary to what he’d told her, Tristan didn’t lack for eligible female companions—and even some married ones. Yet none seemed to engage him on any kind of level. None of them made him fight an urge to drag the woman in front of him close. To kiss her, for real this time. Although she wasn’t wrong about his taking advantage of her. In his defense, he’d started out giving CPR, but when her soft breath rushed into him and her palms flattened on his chest, it turned into something different. Something hot, much like the embrace he’d shared with her on the beach.

“I told you I hate manners.” She purred the words and took a step closer to him. Heat rolled off her skin. His cold skin warmed. He clenched his fists at his sides. She stood so close. Close enough that he could grab her.

But he wouldn’t.
I don’t understand or particularly enjoy this strange pull she has on me.

Was it a spell? He needed to fight it. “I don’t give a damn what you hate.”

Her lips quirked. “So you’re not entirely goody-two-shoes.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You cussed.”

“I do that all the time. Big deal.”

“It’s the little sins that matter. But anyhow”—she waved a hand—“where are we, and how did we get here?”

“Here is one of the traveller spots that dot the path to the city. It’s useful for those who need a break or to breathe. As to how you got here, I was organizing the fishing fleets—”

“I thought those were called schools.”

A snort left him. “Only until they graduate. Anyhow, one minute I was giving last-minute marching orders, and the next I was sucked into some kind of mini vortex and spat out beside you. Since you were about to drown, and this cave was closer than the surface, I brought you here. A decision I admit to regretting.”

He couldn’t help a shiver as she ran the tip of her finger down his chest, stopping at a spot low on his belly.

“Don’t lie to me. I am the devil’s daughter, and I see right through you. The only regret you have is not doing this.” She yanked him to her, and taken off-guard, he didn’t react. Then again, would he truly have stopped her?

She commanded a kiss from him, and he allowed it. Fuck allow. He enjoyed it, the slant of her lips over his pure delight.

Her waist seemed a natural spot to park his hands. As for drawing her close, the skin-to-skin contact helped ease the tremble in him. It wasn’t cold that shook him, but need.

How he needed this woman.

The devil’s daughter.

The title said it all, trouble with a capital T. Yet, even knowing the drama that followed her, the exploits of her life, broadcasted for all to see on HBC, he still wanted her.

I have to have her.
Such a primal emotion. It made a man want to forget his responsibilities, but a strong man never did that.

He tore his lips from hers. “I don’t have time for this. I am needed back at the palace.”

Once again, her eyes flashed with ire. “Are you ditching me again?”

“You are welcome to come with me, but we must leave now.”

“No, thanks. I’ve also got better things to do, such as go home. Right now. I need to wash the stench of fish off me.” She wrinkled her nose and stepped away from him. She jabbed her finger in the air and drew a rectangle. It glowed a faint red along the edges for a moment before fizzling.

She frowned and did it again. It barely glowed for a moment, and it was gone. Her bare foot stamped the rocky floor. “Dammit. I don’t have enough magic. I need a bigger kiss. Maybe a grope.”

“Excuse me?”

The words left his mouth, and he didn’t have time to realize his gaffe or avoid her lunge. He took the brunt of the fall, a very peeved Muriel sitting atop him.

Her slender fingers circled his wrists and held them pinned. He chose to not break her hold, just as he chose not to buck her from his chest.

She straddled him, the dampness of her bikini bottom pressing warmly on his belly. She leaned over him, the wet strands of her dark hair tickling the sides of his face.

“You are going to have to stop baiting me,” she said, her brown eyes—a normal color now instead of dancing flames—boring steadily into his. “I am doing my best to resist you, and then you go and insult me with your good manners. Do you know how attractive you are when you defy me? I won’t have it. I can’t have it. It’s one thing to kiss you because I needed some magic to open a portal, quite another to kiss you because I want to.”

Part of her speech struck him. “You used me?” She’d not kissed him because she found herself attracted, but because she needed it to do magic? He felt oddly insulted. And…challenged.

“I used up all my juice getting your fish tail over to save me. I’ve got nothing to send me home. Unless you can open a portal?”

He shook his head. His magic lay in other areas.

“Okay then, we’ll just have to make out until I charge my battery enough to call one myself.”

“Or we could go the palace and have my father send you home. That doesn’t involve any kind of kissing or touching that neither of us wants.”

Could she hear that great big lie? And was it him or did she look as disappointed as he felt at his logical solution?

“Guess we should get moving then, although I do have a question.” She stared pointedly at the puddle on the floor. “How are we getting there?”

He grinned. “Princess, I am going to blow you.”