Genesis Queen (The Road to Hell Series) (43 page)

God help me if round two gets worse
.

He released Madison from the invisible bondage. Incapable of holding up her weight, she crumpled to the skin-stitched floor. Motionless, she breathed through the pain like she had when she’d been in labor. This was worse than any labor pain. The shallowest inhale incited a circuit of agony throughout her body.

Souls screamed and the floor writhed beneath her, the movement like ants against her flesh.

Madison coughed up blood, realizing only then that she lay in a puddle of the substance. Vision unfocused, she stared at her arm, willing her eyesight back to clarity. The concentration caused her head to pound faster than her heartbeat as her perception cleared.

Sweat-blood oozed from her pores.

Bad omen
.

Elias jerked her up by her hair and flung her to her back. Misery ripped through her and she groaned. She despised showing him weakness, but the pain was nothing like she’d ever experienced. Being torn apart in tiny chunks couldn’t hurt this bad.
Maybe this is how a meat-grinder would feel
?

“Tell me what I want to hear.”

It’d be easy to relent. The mere idea…she turned her head and spit up blood. What was that thing he stuck in her head doing to her? Killing her slowly? Unrecovered from the Sterillium sickness—she’d been intimate with the porcelain throne for the past month—she suspected he’d planned for this confrontation to end in her death.

Weirdly, dying didn’t trouble her, but rather how the people in her life would grieve.

Amos needed her guidance, required her unconditional love. He counted on her to keep him focused and moving in the right direction.

Nix had gone dark for her once before. She prayed he could resist the sway this time, but feared he’d lose himself again in the sinister place inside himself.

This treachery would destroy Micah. He believed the Kings the most loyal of all paranormal creatures. Being twins, Elias’s actions would hit him violently. Madison would spare him this cruel life lesson if it were in her power to do so. These two Kings would rip the world apart going at one another.

If she could have one wish—

Elias kicked her hip. “Tell me what I want to hear!”

Madison inhaled through the anguish and met her brother-in-law’s eyes. “No.”
I will not give him the satisfaction of breaking me
. If she broke for anyone it’d be for
her
fallen angel…Micah.

His fangs appeared overlong when he mimicked a smile. “I hoped you would say that.” He strung her up with jaw-clamps made by the bones of the damned. She cried when they entered her flesh and he laughed. “It’ll get worse,” he promised.

He’d whipped her, front and back, with an apparatus that looked like a homemade device of rusty nails. Blood dripped from her body and the floor wailed with each droplet. The constant
drip, drip, drip
of the liquid nearly undid her. Twice she almost begged him to stop. But both times, she thought of her men and the words evaporated. She’d remain strong for them.

With a growl, Eliel put his muscle into the next swing and the impact peeled skin from her belly. He flung the blood-coated torture gadget and it lodged in the wall.

“Scream! Goddamn you,
scream
!”

If he only knew how close she was.

“This won’t break her, Elias.”

Madison scowled at the new voice. She
knew
that voice.

“You’re going to have to go more hardcore than this.”

“Mother?” Madison squinched her eyes and tried to focus on the hazy figure. The blood in her vision turned everything blurry.

Her brother-in-law abruptly stepped backward and stared at Madison for a long while. “Bring Amos and Phoenix.”

The request was snapped to whom she had no idea, because there were no others present. But she hadn’t realized her mother was near, either.

Someone must’ve been close by because her son and her Sherlock lover were led into the room. Both were bound and gagged.

Elias snatched her out of the magical restraint. Her bloody body slipped in his hold, her knees buckled and she went down.

Chuckling, he yanked her up and licked blood off a nipple. Unable to let that offense go, Madison put the heel of her palm into his nose. With a crunch, his head snapped back, but his hold held. Fire burned in his gaze as he held her aloft by her hair and punched her. Hair ripped from its roots as she collapsed to the floor.

Dazed, she tried to push upward, but the grogginess coupled with the pain annihilated every inch of her body and nervous system…she never stood a chance of gaining her feet. He kicked her again and again and she couldn’t hold back her screams.

She tried to channel her Lynx, but he’d effectively shut her down. The silence of her inner demon frightened her. How quickly she’d grown accustomed to her succubus. Depended on her Lynx to guide her steps. To give her strength in the difficult circumstances. Never again would she take her demon for granted.

“I was going to give you one more chance to do the right thing, Madison, before I killed them. But you pissed me off.” He flung the strands of her hair in his hand aside.

She’d never know how she got to her feet, but somehow she managed. Swaying, she went for the rusty-nail-whip he’d utilized. Wrenched back by her hair, she crashed into Elias’s chest. Not ready to give up, she twisted in his arms, intent on turning the flogger on him.

“
Ichnaday
, Madison. Be still.”

Body obeying instantly, she went limp against him, the nails clanging against her leg. She screamed all the pent-up frustration inside her. Souls screeched with her. In the distance, a Hellhound answered with a howl and a Neko snarled.

“My angel dust forces you to submit.” He snickered. He removed the whip from her hold and slapped a knife into her hand. “Slice Phoenix’s throat slowly.”

“No.” Bound and gagged, restrained by five demons, Nix was defenseless.

“You have no choice, princess.”

“I’ll do whatever you want, Elias. Anything.”

“I could think of a lot of demoralizing ‘anythings’ to do to you.”

Breath fled her body in a whoosh and her blood went icy.

“A demon dick in your ass, another in your cunt, while you suck a third…all while I’m slicing and dicing you into itty-bitty pieces with my claws.” For emphasis, he clicked his talons together near her face. “I cannot make you scream enough to please me.”

Madison would rather die. But she would do anything to save Nix’s life.

“Could be fun.” Her demented brother-in-law executed a casual one-shoulder shrug. “Too bad I’m not in the mood to teach succubus play.”

Madison was extremely aware of the ragged sound of her exhale. If that was succubus play, she never wanted that experience.

“I’m the Queen,” she said in a rush.

Elias mock-pouted. “Nope.”

“I’ll be your goddamn Queen. Don’t make me do this. Tell me what to do.”

Nose to nose, he smacked her ass. “Too. Late.”

He caught her hand before she gutted him.

“Kill Phoenix
now
, Madison.”

She struggled against the compulsion as she walked stiltedly toward Nix.

“I’m the Queen,” she muttered. Nothing happed.

She tripped herself twice, burying the hilt deep into the flooring. As if the souls connected to the skin-stitched ground were compelled to eject her, she was bucked back to her feet.

She stood no chance of resisting the royal sway.

“I’m Hell’s Queen,” Madison screamed as she neared Nix.

“Afraid not.” Elias sounded bored.

Hand shaking, her arm lifted against her consent and brought the dull, rusty blade closer to Nix’s neck. The bastard could’ve at least given her a sharp one. She looked into her lover’s eyes. Fear brightened his gaze. “I love you, Nix.”

He was gagged and could not reply as she sawed the knife across his flesh, the blade lurching because of its dullness. She screeched the entire way through the action. The demons released him and he slumped to the floor. Madison crumpled on top of him, murmuring how much she loved him as he bled out and died in seconds.

“Heart-wrenching.” The King toed Nix’s head and it lolled to the side. Madison slashed the knife toward Elias’s knee. The bastard chuckled. “Kill Amos.”

“
Li
!”
No
!

“
Caj
.”
Yes
, he said mildly. He knelt, grabbed her hand holding the weapon, and slammed it down, straight into Nix’s heart. “Take this knife and thrust it into Amos’s heart just like that.”

Teeth clenched, she fought the compulsion to do exactly as he wanted. “
Li
.”

“
Ichnaday
, Madison.
Kill your son
.”

Madison stumbled to her feet, screaming telepathy for Micah to help. Her nose began to bleed and her right eye twitched.

No help arrived.

The first step she took toward her son, she vowed to thwart Elias by whatever means necessary. She pressed the blade to her own neck. Successful in gashing maybe half an inch, Elias zoomed to her and snatched her arm away. “Didn’t expect that. Remarkable that you can resist while under my command.”

Trembling, she glared at him. “I won’t kill him.”

“You will.” He spun her so her back pressed against his chest. One arm around her throat, the other holding her hand with the knife in it, he walked her toward Amos. Madison dug her heels into the skin-stitched floor and spewed curses. She promised death in every language she knew and claimed her status as Queen in the same languages.

“Still
not
the correct words.”

Elias jerked her arm forward and buried the blade to the hilt into her son’s chest. Her brother-in-law released her instantly, stepping around to face her so he could watch her like a heckler at a football game.

Everything transitioned down to her son.

Dead
.

With Amos cradled in her arms, she collapsed to her knees. Rocking him back and forth, she sobbed against his chest.

My baby is dead
.

A buzzing grew in her ears, drowning out the King’s maniacal laughter.

As if from a distance, she heard her mother say, “That’ll do it.”

Electricity crackled in the air. Elias’s humor silenced.

My baby is dead
.

Lifting her head, she touched Amos’s face. Glassy blue eyes stared back at her and she began to vibrate. Anger surged. Injustice over his death peeled back a layer of Elias’s dominion and she felt her Lynx stretch, her demon’s fury similar to a nuclear fallout.

My baby is dead
.

Without him, all reason to exist vanished. A life with Micah and Nix would be hollow without her angel.

No reason to live. My baby is dead
.

We need to kill Elias
. The determined words of her Lynx surprised her.

Yes
, she agreed, relieved to have Usha back. Madison lifted her head and nailed the bastard with a glower.

Pink misted the room. His eyes widened. Panic flared in his dark gaze. He reacted. He came at her, talons out and slashing. She fought back, but slipping on her own blood, she went down once too often, and he used it to his advantage each time. With Lynx already weak, she toppled the final time and slumped against the wall.

The swishing ceased and a lost soul cradled her head in its arms. A month ago the comfort would’ve been creepy. All that mattered in this moment was that her baby was dead.

Elias knelt beside her, panting and running his thumb over a nasty wound on his cheek. The touch smeared black blood. She smiled, but it felt wrong against her split lips.

A cup poofed into his hand.

“Drink.” He pressed a goblet that glowed like the Kings’ eyes to her mouth.

She knocked it aside, but was confused when nothing spilled from it.

He picked up the chalice. “Drink the contents. It’ll give you the power to bring one of them back.”

They stared at one another. Chest aching and her lungs wheezing with each labored breath, she suspected she suffered a few broken ribs and maybe a collapsed lung.

“Liar.” The word rasped out, the slight movement torment.

“Can you take the chance that I’m not?”

Elias pressed the cup into her hands, calling her bluff.

No, she couldn’t take the chance. If Amos could be revived, she’d take the opportunity at whatever cost to herself. Madison lifted the goblet to her lips and gulped the magical contents, convinced she brought more damnation to herself.

Chapter Forty-Two

“Here.” It’d taken Micah too long to scout out his brother’s hiding place. Fear for Madison’s safety clenched his heart like a vise. Putting faith in his brother had brought danger to her door. If something happened to her, he would never forgive himself. “Latch onto my power, Phoenix, so you may bond through the wall with me.”

The Ark of Heaven showed no fear or hesitation, but joined him in penetrating the soul-barrier. A quick scan and he spied them. Naked, Madison lay slumped on the floor, her head supported by the essence of one of the damned souls. Elias crouched near her. Blood coated her body like she’d skinny-dipped in paint. Maimed to the point of critical even for a demon, Micah tamped down his blood-rage at the sight of her abused body.

“
zkihtak
.” Eliel swiveled toward him and rose to his feet. “Come to thank me so soon?”

You are no brother of mine
. No relation of his would abuse his woman like this.

“Fuck. You.” He slammed his brother through the heart with a bolt of power. His twin hit the wall. Souls emerged, wrapping limbs around him. “How’s that for a thanks,
zkihtak
?” He slurred the final word. “Kur, get Madison to
Qugu Quta
and submerge her in the lake. She can breathe it. Phoenix….” The
Scepter of Spirits
descended into Micah’s palm. He’d never thought to use it against hellish brethren. “Join Kur, but do not enter
Qugu Quta
.”