bedeviled & beyond 06 - bedeviled & befouled (17 page)

The first thing I was aware of as my feet felt the ground again was a blood-curdling scream as a royal and two soldiers rushed us, swords drawn. Gerch jumped in front of me and took on the soldiers, his enormous form dancing lightly across the gore-coated floor as he fought both guards. I didn’t have time to admire his style. The royal rushed me with a yell and I barely got my sword up in time to stop his heavy bladed weapon. The concussion of his strike jarred my shoulder, washing it in pain. My slim blade held his a mere breath from my face, my arm shaking with the effort. “Fallen. Imagine running into you.”

The royal inclined his head in a mockery of a bow. “We’ve been expecting you.”

White light flashed past us, followed by the pain-filled yelps of a couple of gargoyles as they crashed into the far wall, taking several combatants with them. “Astra?” My aunt had grown to fill the hallway where we stood, her wings brushing the blood-coated stone as she started to glow with power.

“I’m fine. Find Dialle.”

She hesitated only a moment before flashing away.

The tall man standing before me had a cold, black gaze. Thick rings of red rimmed his iris’s, spinning in dizzying bursts. Wisps of silky black hair had escaped the leather tie at the base of his neck, framing his angular face. His jaw was taut with anger. “It’s good to see you, my queen. Thanks for making it so easy to kill you.”

“Yeah, good luck with that. I’d think by now you people would realize Dialle and I are hard to kill.”

He infused his sword with power and I flew backward, hitting the wall. I sucked air into my lungs, ignoring the pain shearing down my spine. A buzzing sound filled my ears and I shook my head, trying to dispel it.

The air shimmered again and Slayer and Darma appeared. Slayer managed a single step in my direction before the distant buzzing became a cloud of dark fairies.

The two of them were engulfed in the nasty bugs before they had time to react. Slayer sliced the air and spun as shimmering strands of fairy twine slipped around him, tightening until he couldn’t move his sword arm. Darma screeched as hundreds of tiny swords sliced through her skin like razors. Her hands came up and desperate bursts of white energy flew around the space as she tried to fight them off.

Fallen ducked an errant stream and I shoved him, gaining a couple of inches of space that allowed me to slice my sword across one of his arms before he retaliated with a downward stroke that nearly sent me to the floor.

My father appeared behind the royal and Fallen turned his head as the space lit with white energy. The royal was engulfed in white light, his dark eyes widening as his body started to dissolve under my father’s pure energy. His scream continued to throb against my ears as my father turned away, sending a stream of white light into the roiling cloud of bug-sized nasties attacking Darma and Slayer. The dark fairies disappeared with a sizzle and pop.

My sister and the dragon slayer were both bleeding from a dozen cuts and they were entombed in sticky fairy string. Darma shuddered and tugged at the string. I remembered all too well how that felt. “Here, let me help.”

A moment later, my father and I had extricated the dynamic duo from their prison web and we turned toward the distant sound of battle. In the time it had taken us to fight off Fallen and his nasties the battle had moved deeper into the court, leaving behind a floor full of corpses. I was relieved to see that not many of them were dressed in Dialle’s black-and-silver uniforms. Which reminded me. “Where’s Gerch?”

Slayer jerked his head toward the distant battle. “I saw him go that way.”

I started off in the direction Slayer had indicated. “Hopefully he’s looking for Dialle.”

A snarl sounded around the corner as we approached and my sister stepped forward. “Allow me.” The gargoyle that came around the corner, tongue lolling and blood coating its disgusting maw, didn’t even see her coming. She shot a concentrated burst of white energy into the thing and it exploded in a shower of gore.

I ducked, stepping back to avoid getting painted with flying ’goyle. “Overkill much?”

“Shut up, Astra. That was cathartic. I’m still seeing flying bugs with orange eyes and feeling my skin ripping.” She shuddered again.

Father dropped a hand on her shoulder. “Do you feel better now?”

She frowned. “Not yet. I need to kill lots more stuff.” She started forward and Father and I shared a look, my eyes widening.

“I guess we’ll never see magic-phobic Barbie again,” I told him.

He shook his head. “Those days are gone.”

I noticed he didn’t seem too broken up about it. Darma had been insufferable when she’d been all about not embracing her magic side. Even our father, an angel of God, had trouble overlooking her snootiness at times.

Slayer grinned. “If she wasn’t so much taller than you I’d think you were clones.”

I couldn’t help chuckling. “Don’t let her hear you say that.”

There was a burst of light ahead, followed by screams of pain. Slayer glanced in that direction. “You think she needs help?”

I shook my head. “My greatest fear is that she kills them all before we get there.”

He laughed.

Astra?

I didn’t realize how much I’d been worrying about Dialle until my aunt’s strident voice twanged through my head.
Did you find him?

He’s in the council chambers.

I’ll be right there.

Astra...prepare yourself...

Dread closed my throat, making it hard to breathe.
Is he...?

He’s alive, but his mind is shattered. I’m not sure you can pull him back this time.

I was running before I thought about it. I was barely aware of my father calling my name. I hit the long hallway leading to the throne room and slashed out with my sword as a uniformed devil turned toward me with a long, bloody knife. His head flew off his body in a spurt of dark blood and I kept running.

I was vaguely aware of power shooting around me as I ran. Attackers lunged and fell back without touching me. My hands flew, slicing, slashing, washing away anything that got in my way.

Finally, after what felt like an hour, I saw the doors ahead of me. Two guards in green uniforms trimmed in black stood before the door, swords drawn. I lifted my hands and they fell away in twin streams of bright energy. The doors slammed open and crashed against the wall as I ran through. I screeched to a halt.

The room beyond the doors was pure carnage.

Dead royals covered the floor, their assorted guards laying twisted and bleeding around them. The air smelled like a butcher shop, layered with the stench of sulfur from their magic. I looked around for Dialle. He was standing on top of the long, curved council table. His head was down and his fists were clenched at his sides. Gerch stood facing him, his big hands clasping a pair of bloody knives. His gaze never left his king’s downturned face.

“Astra?”

My head whipped around to find Emo standing next to my aunt. He was holding one arm against his stomach and he was covered in blood. “I don’t think you can save him this time.”

“I have to try.”

“He...” Myra’s voice faltered. She swallowed audibly. “He did all this, Astra.”

I blinked, unwilling to let her words sink in.

“He called all the royals into the room and blocked the doors. Then he systematically killed them all,” Emo added.

Tears burned and I shook my head, willing them away. “He couldn’t. Where would he have drawn that kind of power?”

My aunt’s blue gaze was suspiciously bright as it held mine, willing me to understand.

My knees buckled. “Oh good Him.”

She reached for me, keeping me from sliding to the ground. “I’m so sorry, Astra.”

All I could do was shake my head. There was only one place Dialle could have drawn that much dark power. “No.”

Footsteps sounded behind me. Slayer’s husky exclamation of horror brought me out of my funk and straightened my knees. I suddenly knew I had to protect Dialle.

I started across the room.

My father’s voice boomed behind me. “Astra!”

I ignored him. I ignored them all. As I reached the table Gerch turned and my heart broke in half. The big warrior’s eyes were bright with tears. His red, scaly cheeks bore their silvery trails. “He won’t look at me, Astra. He only stands there shuddering.”

I touched Gerch’s arm. “You’ll help me?”

He nodded. I squeezed the hard flesh beneath my fingers then placed my hands on the tabletop.

“Astra?” My father sounded desperate.

I swung myself up onto the table. “Leave us. All of you.” I didn’t even turn around but I was aware of Gerch clambering up onto the table with me.

“Astra you need to come—”

I swung around, enraged. “Go!”

Dialle jerked as my voice boomed around the room, enhanced by some kind of power I didn’t stop to examine.

I approached Dialle slowly, cautiously. Gerch stayed within reach, his knives at the ready, though I knew it would kill him to use them against his king. Again.

I spoke his name softly. “Dialle.”

He didn’t look up, didn’t move except to shudder.

“Dialle, I’m here now. It’s all right. Gerch is here too.”

Dialle’s shoulders shook in another shudder but his head stayed bowed.

I reached out and touched him, almost jerking my hand away as his skin singed mine. “He’s burning up.”

Gerch finally lowered his knives. “Sire?”

Dialle’s head lifted slowly. The tangled curtain of his midnight hair slipped away as he looked at me. I gasped under the clear, blue gaze. “My love.” His hand whipped out and wrapped around my wrist and the world started to slide away.

Gerch roared and slammed into us just before the corpse-filled council room slipped away under a veil of silence.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Damn and Damnation!

Fire burns bright inside her soul, and apparently outside too,

But water sucks away her goal, and turns her bath to poo.

The spongy ground reformed beneath my feet and I stumbled against Dialle. I’d have gone down under Gerch’s weight if Dialle hadn’t been there to catch me. The loyal soldier regained his balance and wrapped his arms around me, wrenching me away from Dialle and shoving me behind his broad back as his king turned.

Dialle frowned. “What is this, Gerch, old friend?”

“You told me to protect the queen. That’s what I’m doing.”

I stepped out from behind the big, red soldier but he threw a thick arm in front of me, holding me back.

A flare of something that looked like pain flitted through Dialle’s gaze. “From me?”

Gerch stiffened, his broad form rigid with matching pain. “If necessary, sire.”

Dialle’s gaze slid to mine, confusion mixing with the pain. “It’s okay, Gerch.” I placed a hand on Gerch’s arm, holding Dialle’s gaze. “Dialle wouldn’t hurt me.”

“Not the Dialle we once knew.” The big warrior resisted my efforts to shove his arm out of my way. “But the Dialle who just massacred a room full of his subjects...” Gerch let the thought hang there, unfinished.

I expected Dialle to get angry. Or try to pull rank on his loyal soldier. But instead the pain in his eyes deepened. “You believe I did that?”

“What else am I to believe? There was only you, standing in a field of death behind locked doors.”

Dialle’s gaze held mine, a question throbbing behind it. I knew what he was asking, but I wasn’t sure I was prepared to give him an answer he’d believe. “It looks bad, Dialle.”

He glanced away, his fists clenched at his sides. After a moment he nodded. “Very well. At least I know where I stand with you.”

“I don’t know how you know that, bud. Since I don’t even know how you stand with me at the moment.”

He turned away striding off into the growing dusk. I hurried to catch up, falling into step beside him. “Where are we?”

For a moment I didn’t think he was going to answer me. When he did, his tone was curt. “Perdigo. It’s an outer circle of Hell.”

Gerch stepped up on my other side, staying close. “Why have you brought us here?”

Dialle snapped a look toward Gerch. “I didn’t bring
you
here. You forced your way in.”

Gerch’s small, black eyes narrowed with irritation. “I’m doing as I was ordered.”

“Yes,” Dialle answered sourly. “Protecting the queen. From me.”

“Sire—”

“Save it, Gerch.”

We walked for several moments in silence. In a rare moment of discretion I decided I’d give Dialle some time to deal with his hurt feelings before I started pressing him for more information. I know, amazing huh? It appeared that I was growing up. Having your heart ripped out of your chest and your world torn into bitty pieces will apparently do that to you.

I used the time to take in my surroundings. If Dialle hadn’t told me we were in Hell I’d have never known it. In stark contrast to the smoky, singed, superheated environs of Hell’s fiery center, Perdigo was a very normal-looking place. The ground beneath our feet was covered in lush, green grass. We walked along a wide path, with immense trees towering over us. The strange-looking trees climbed high into the sky and were covered in smooth, pale-gray bark. Directly above us I could see a dark, purple sky dotted with golden stars and two, white-gold moons.

Strange looking bushes marked the grassy area where we walked. They were perfectly round, as if someone had taken the time to shape them, and were covered in velvety looking black flowers that gave off the scent of lemons. In the center of each dark bloom was a cluster of bright-red berries. I’d never seen them before and wondered what they were.

A soft breeze slipped through the trees, making the leaves in the huge trees dance and showing their whitish undersides as the branches swayed. The air smelled slightly smoky, with a delicate undertone of sulfur.

We seemed to be walking toward a long, uneven ridge far ahead.

“Why are we here, Dialle?”

He walked on, his jaw visibly working as he ignored me.

“Dialle?”

He jerked a look in my direction. “To find my father and that bitch you call a mother.”