Zen had put off the mission into Hell for four months to give her a chance to control Pandora’s power. She’d seen the logic in it. Going into Hell with Pandora exploding uncontrollably from every fingertip—literally!—wouldn’t have been wise. Why did she suddenly find herself doubting Zen’s sincerity to help?
“Is this something you anticipated? And why you wanted me to wait before saving him?”
“No. I’m committed to your mission. You want to risk going into Hell and losing your soul, who am I to stop you? Pandora is a keg of dynamite in your system, but regardless of how lost your soul is, I still maintain power over it.” Which meant he could control her as well. “You received a phone call from Genovela Maxwell an hour ago.”
“Who is she?”
“She claimed to be a friend of Phoenix’s and a fellow Sherlock. She said she possessed information regarding Phoenix that could help you. I took the liberty of calling Georgie.”
“You called someone?”
“Cease your teasing.” A small grin tugged at his lips. “Amos dialed, I talked. Georgie verified Genovela’s identity, but couldn’t confirm if she retained relevant information on Phoenix. They go way back, something about Phoenix saving her from being possessed almost ten years ago.”
“How’d she get my number?”
“Same way Alessa did. Phoenix gave it to her before he went to Hell.”
Madison tucked her hair behind her ears. “What’d Amos say?”
“Says she’s legit, but he’s not picking up anything else.”
She nodded. A call out of the clear blue from anybody invited reservations. They remained one step ahead of Micah by trusting no one. “What do you think, Zen?”
“No idea. Anyone could be a trap at any given moment.” He held out a slip of paper. “This is her cell and where she’s suggested meeting in two days.” Madison accepted the note and read the location as he spoke. “Alessa met her twice, said Genovela is a bit rough around the edges, but she’s an active Sherlock.”
“Delta, Utah is about a day’s drive from here. Alessa and I’ll go meet her, see what’s up. You’re just a thought away if something goes wrong.” Lord knew the man could teleport almost as fast as she could send a mental scream for help.
Chapter Three
Micah returned to Hell with Phoenix, his entire world altered by four simple words:
I believe she lives
.
The conviction blazing from Phoenix’s green eyes almost convinced him, but hope, no matter how slim, might bury him if they discovered they were wrong. He couldn’t dismiss Phoenix’s point. When he married Madison, they’d covenanted their lives to one another, and it’d been signed in blood. Unaware of its demonic significance, she’d believed it a family tradition, but she’d participated of her own free will. They double-sealed the deal by ingesting one another’s blood in a marriage toast. Her death should’ve brought his. Simple as that. Yet, four months after her demise, he suffered no ill effects.
But I watched her die
. So how could she still live?
He shook his head and shoved into Elias’s bedroom, where he entertained a succubus.
“Brother.” Elias licked a nipple. “Something on your mind or do you wish to join us?”
Micah and Elias were twins, the only time two angels emerged from the same divine substance. As the firstborn, Father had given Micah the angelic name Beliel. Elias’s angelic name was similar, but without the B…Eliel. At the prime of their angelhood, they’d been the fiercest archangels, more feared than the leader of Father’s current army.
“We need to talk. In private.” He glared at the succubus.
Elias nodded his dismissal of the succubus with a sigh, sat up, and brushed his dark hair off his forehead. “This better be good, Micah. I anticipated her screams as I fucked her.”
“Madison is alive.”
His brother’s hand arrested mid-air. “You’re sure?”
“No. Phoenix is confident, however.”
Elias grunted and rolled to his feet. “Your new prize possession gives you false hope,
zkihtak.” Zkihtak
meant brother in the royal dialect. “You should let me fuck your Jesus-toy sometime. I’ll teach him not to play mind games.”
“That would be Phoenix’s decision, not mine.” Micah figured it’d be a long time before Messiah’s heir gave Elias the privilege.
“Explain to me why Phoenix believes our princess lives?”
Micah told him everything, expressing even his fear of hoping too hard.
Elias clambered off the bed and yanked on a pair of leather pants. “His theory has merit. Phoenix has bizarre talent in distinguishing powers. If anyone could differentiate her signature from Pandora’s, he would be the one to know.”
Elias agreeing with Phoenix elevated his optimism. But even the smidge of hope caused his teeth to ache.
“He’s also correct in that you should be dead. Yet, you suffer nothing. Not even your powers are diminished.”
“We have a plan to attempt to flush her out.”
Elias chuckled. “She’ll love that. Wish I could be there when she sees both of your faces. Tell me, if she lives, how do you and Phoenix plan to approach your relationship with her?”
“We’ve not discussed it, but she’s my wife. I’ll be the one to determine the relationship.”
“Not giving Madison a choice was your mistake the first time around. Don’t make the same mistake twice,
zkihtak
.”
Chapter Four
“How long do you think you’ll be gone?” Petra lay sprawled on the sofa flipping through a fashion magazine.
“I don’t know. A few days maybe.” Madison shuffled through her overnight bag, verifying she had packed everything she needed.
“Why? You got a hot date?” Alessa focused all her attention on Petra. “Demon or foe? Oh, that’s right, demons are your foes.”
Petra glared at Alessa before turning back to her magazine and crossing one ankle over the other. Madison couldn’t pinpoint one specific reason—other than being a demon—why the demon rankled the other woman.
“You sure you don’t want me to join you?” Zen moved a chess piece and smirked at Amos. “Checkmate. Beating you is too easy.”
“You’re just a mental call and teleport away if we need you.” Madison palmed her shurikens, set them aside. Her blade and Taurus pistol rested inside the duffle bag, along with the few necessary articles of clothing.
Holy water. Check
.
“You’re a cheater, Zen,” Amos grumbled, showing how big a poor loser he could be.
“I’m just that good.”
They began to reset the game, the high-pitched clacking of marble on marble ringing in the air.
Madison double-checked the clip to her pistol. Full. Her hellish sigil etched into the tip of each bullet would spray demonic guts everywhere and provide her victims a one-way ticket to Hell. She checked to make sure the safety was on before counting out five mags to go along with the weapon.
“Amos, you know what to do if something should happen, right?”
“Yes.” Amos executed his first move in the new chess game.
“Zen, if Micah should show up, you’ll get Amos to safety, right?”
“I know the plan, Madison.” Zen encroached on Amos’s queen. “I don’t forget anything. Ever. I did create the plan.” He placed his hands casually along the arms of the chair and cast a lazy glance in her direction.
Not that Micah would burst through the angel locks at the entrances and windows anyway.
Petra folded the magazine back and twisted a photo toward them. It showed a man surrounded by women ripping his clothes off, his dark hair a disheveled mess and bright red kiss marks all over his rather average, too-skinny features. Madison recognized the ad as one for a popular male body spray.
“Madison, do you think this cologne really drives women crazy enough to attack a man as unexciting as this one?” Her lips puckered as she contemplated the inconsistency of the ad.
“It’s advertisement, Petra. No cologne is going to drive a woman that crazy.”
“Hmm.” The demon cocked her head to the side, staring at the photo, her gaze cloudy with assessment. “I could drive a man that crazy,” she mused, a devilish gleam hitting her features.
Alessa rolled her eyes.
“But you won’t.” Madison flicked a sharp glance in the demon’s direction.
Petra shrugged and smacked her gum. “Don’t forget, Madison, that Genovela girl you’re going after is bonkers.” She made a twirling motion with her finger against her temple and popped a bubble. “Someone should protect you mortals from the psycho bitch.”
Madison zipped her bag and dragged in a choppy breath. “Your ilk drove her to it.”
“She’s weak-minded, or she wouldn’t be unbalanced.” Petra scratched a perfume swatch and sniffed it.
“A hundred demons possessed her. That’s extreme even for them.
Jesus Christ
”—Petra hissed at the word— “give the woman a break! I’d be nutty, too.” She hadn’t been possessed, and she skirted the fringe of sanity from all that’d occurred. “If she has valid information on Nix, that’s good enough for me.”
I gotta be a little crazy to go into Hell to save Nix. What a death wish to venture into the fiery realm
.
Petra hooked her finger in the magazine. “Wonder what Daddy’s going to say when you show up in Hell with a human you own to save Phoenix.”
“I don’t care what Micah thinks.”
“Checkmate.” Zen’s word spoken to Amos summed up her sentiments exactly.
Petra’s eyes narrowed on Madison.
FYI, it’s suicide to go into Hell to save Nix yourself. I thought that’s what your mortal sheep, Alessa, was for, leading her to the slaughter to save Nix for you
.
Madison shook her head and responded telepathically,
I wouldn’t expect a demon to understand
.
Smacking her gum, her step-daughter peered at her.
It’s doubtful you’ll come out of Hell alive, but you definitely won’t come out the same if you go in.
Madison shrugged and Petra’s lips parted in surprise.
I say we kill the demonic bitch, Petra
, Pandora’s lucid thoughts surfaced.
Kill her, dine on her blood and scatter her power across the world to wreak havoc on mankind
.
Taking a deep breath, she stepped away from Micah’s daughter. Every day remained a struggle to contain the vile power of Pandora’s Box trapped beneath her skin. Sensing the dual emotions—Zen always did when they involved the ancient entity—he caught her hand and she met his gaze.
I’m fine
, she spoke mentally. He nodded, released her hand, and returned his focus to the chess game.
This time she was fine. Next time she might not be able to control the vile thing inside her.
“You ready, Alessa?”
The horsewoman nodded as Madison anchored the knife Nix had given her into its sheath on her hip. The weapon made her feel closer to Nix. Four months had been too long to wait to save him. If she could burst into Hell tonight, she would, but just one misstep in their plan would spell disaster.
She couldn’t imagine the horrors Micah put Nix through and worried about the things he’d been forced to endure.
He’ll break
. Crow said he would.
Instinct warned she needed to be there as soon as possible after Nix’s fall so his soul wouldn’t become completely blackened by the things he’d be compelled to do. She should worry about her own outcome in this mission, but that didn’t haunt her dreams. What gave her nightmares was wondering what Nix would be thinking when he agreed to give into the King’s whim.
Chapter Five
A soul came through the fire, a polite way of saying the person died, had been judged to have committed deeds so tarnished, they’d been found guilty and re-routed to the pit. Their transgressions could be many, or few. Nix’s belly swirled in anticipation of bringing about pain, but he managed to resist rubbing his hands together in glee. A new soul to train with his tender, unmerciful hands. Life in Hell was
good
. Better than he could have hoped or expected. None of his family would recognize him now…not that he could recall any of their names. They no longer mattered. Revenge against an immortal that murdered the woman he loved had become his sole focus.
Nix circled his new victim. Beth, a twenty-something dyed redhead, and a little on the chunky side, but cute. As a mortal, he’d have done her and bragged about the conquest.
Nothing’s stopping me from taking her here.
Yes, there is
. Broken beyond any hope of future redemption? Probably. He’d embraced evil for revenge, and hadn’t regretted his decision. He’d killed many innocents to amp up his power and hadn’t regretted his actions. The innocent were particularly powerful. But that didn’t make him a rapist. Some morals remained untarnished.
But…
why
?
“Confess your sins and you can inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.” Nix slapped his palm with a flogger.
“Where am I?” Her voice quivered with terror as her wild-eyed gaze darted about the room.
“Don’t play dumb. You know where you are. Spill your transgressions, little girl, or….” He didn’t finish the sentence. He never did because the victim could fill in the blank so much worse than he could.
“I—I…um…stole a bra from
Victoria’s Secret
once.” She peered around the room and trembled.
Nix
tsked
his disappointment and stepped in front of her. He laced his hands behind his back. “You’ve got more.”
“No.” She shook her head hard, her too-bright red hair flying around her face. Black eyeliner and mascara streaked her cheeks.
He caught her chin with his hand and jerked her head back by her hair with his other hand. Their gazes clicked together, and he felt her shudder. In fear? Shit, he hoped so. He hoped to be lucky enough to terrify her into pissing and shitting her jeans.
Beth’s brown eyes flashed around the room. The floors were comprised of stitched-together flesh, the walls a combination of souls gyrating in random acts of lasciviousness and homicide, but her focus lingered where Micah stood in the shadows.
“I see your soul, Beth.”
Lie
. He could sense the stain of her sins, but not much else. “I know you’ve got more transgressions. If you don’t repent, you can’t join your grandma in the afterlife.” He didn’t even know if she had a grandma in the afterlife, but those words usually procured confessions.