Sweet Revenge (Dueling with the Devil) (17 page)

“
Excuse m
e
,
”
a female called from the back of the room
.“
You just left me in the car
.
”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Bell tense
d,
when she heard the woman’s voice. Reality came crashing down around her. What the hell was she doing? Why did she feel such an attraction to this demon? He had no standing in her world. A bastard son of one of the Princes of Hel
l,
born to some lowly demoness. He had no linag
e,
no hom
e,
no future. Okay. She admitted the deadly assassin thing was hot. Bell preferred the bad boy
s,
probably why Jacque couldn’t fully satisfy her needs. Always the Boy Scout. She wanted to believe lust drew her to Xavie
r,
but it was something mor
e,
a force she wasn’t ready to face.

She pushed against the mountain of a man wrapped around her like a fine mink coat.
Get the hell away from hi
m,
the voice in her head shouted. She teetered on the brink of foolishness. She seriously needed to get her bearings straight.

“
Get off m
e,
Xavier
.
”

He stumbled back a few step
s,
disbelief wilting his excitement.

She straightened her clothe
s,
wiping the remnants of his kiss away
.“
Don’t look at me like I’ve gone stupi
d,
when you came in here as yourself. S
o,
it doesn’t matter if I didn’t call you Sean
.
”

He surveyed the room. The gilded mirror above the sofa confirmed his error. The gravity of his actions finally hit him. He faced the others posed for battle. Backing u
p,
he shoved Bell behind him. She swatted his hand away and popped out from behind him. He barked an order she ignored. Fear gleamed in his eye
s,
deepening the hue.

“
Calm down. They already know
.”
She sauntered to the doorwa
y,
where the girl from the bar waited
.“
You are dismissed. Leave while I still feel like being polite
.
”

The pretty female didn’t stick around to hear anything else.

Everyone remained quie
t,
each sizing up the other
.“
Let’s not all speak at once
.”
Bell directed Xavier towardthe sofa
.“
Nice of you to show up. I was starting to worry
.
”

“
The world must be coming to an end if Isabella LaCoste is worried about someone other than hersel
f
,
”
Xavier sai
d,
with a nervous laugh.

Xavier’s father took the seat across from them. Jacque filled the club chair with Angel perched on the arm. The others decided on the settee at the far end of the room by the fireplace.

“
Nice to see you’re not gone to your final death
.”
J
ac
que searched his brother’s face.

“
You sound unsure about your statemen
t,
little bro
.
”

Leviathan spoke before Jacque answered
.“
We were just getting
u
s
edto the idea before you showed up. Isabella was filling us in on what happened
.
”

“
What brings the ‘All Important’ Leviathan Topside
?”
Xavier warily eyed his father.

“
Apparentl
y,
you
.
”

“
Okay. Let me get this straight. The female who cares for no one and the father who abandoned his child are consorting together to save me
?
”

Bell saw the reluctance in Xavier's expression. His words mocke
d,
but his voice sparked with hope. He wasn’t used to being the object of concern. She remembered a day from her youth. Xavie
r,
Jacqu
e,
their fathe
r,
and Isi
s,
Jacque's mothe
r,
attended a ball sponsored by Bell’s mother. Xavier sat in a corne
r,
invisible to mos
t,
due to his mother's breeding. The other three mingle
d,
exchanging banter with the party goer
s,
as unaware of the sullen youth as the rest of the patrons in the room. She had considered approaching him that day. His haunting gaze beckoned her. But Jacque strolled up to her with h
i
s
d
az
z
l
i
ng
s
mi
l
e
a
n
d
c
h
a
r
mi
ng
t
a
l
e
s
a
n
d
s
h
e
,
to
o
,
f
o
r
got
a
b
o
u
t
t
h
e
b
o
y
i
n
t
h
e
c
o
r
n
e
r
.

“
Maybe we should've left you to die in the Hell plane you disappeared to
.”
She turned her back to hi
m,
shielding herself from his penetrating stare.

“
Bel
l,
as much as you would like to take credi
t,
you didn't save me. Like I've done all my lif
e,
I took care of myself
.
”

She laughed at his revelation
.“
Guess you did. So why did you come back here with Ms. Swampland twenty-twelve at your side
?”
Bell cracked her knuckle
s,
at the thought of the girl. Letting the human walk out unharmed went against all of her natural instincts to protect what was hers. Ye
t,
Xavier wasn't hers to protect.

Xavier hesitate
d,
creasing his forehead
.“
I believe Ziz is coming for you
.
”

“
Why the hell would he come for me
?
”

“
He seems to think I have feelings for you. He wants to destroy everything I love
.
”

“
And where did he get this insane idea
?
”

“
Wel
l,
we were pretending to like one another. I guess we did a good job
.
”

Angel giggled
.“
If you gave him a scene like you showed us tonight in that kis
s,
there's no wonder he thinks you're a
c
o
up
l
e
.
”

Why am I blushing?
Isabella LaCoste didn’t get embarrassed
.“
We try to keep up appearances. Don’t have to get up too early in the morning to pull one over on y’all
.”
Bell found herself unravelin
g,
delving into an unfamiliar world. Her emotions seeped from every pore. She couldn’t shield herself from her feelings. Her mind rejected her attempts to recover. The essence of who she was quickly faded from her reach.

“
Are you alright child
?”
Marie called from the doorway.

“
Of course I’m alright. I’m just tired. Let’s get this conversation over with. I need some rest
.”
Bell picked at the hem of her shirt. When she turned away from Mari
e,
she found herself in Xavier’s penetrating stare.

She wanted to hide from the pensive longing in Xavier’s gaze. The others she could ignore. Why must he look at her as if he wanted to devour her? This was his fault. Bell needed someone to blame. She ignored the voice reminding her she had sought out Lucifer. She had to have her reveng
e,
no matter what. But was she ready to pay the cost of exposing hersel
f,
b
a
r
i
ngher sou
l,
allowing the possibility for someone to hurt her again? Treat her like her mother did her father? His love for her mother ruined him. Bell refused to be victim to the same fate.

“
When Ziz comes for u
s,
I’m not sure there’s a way to stop him. But if there i
s,
I’ll find it. I won’t let him hurt Bell
.”
Xavier’s eyes dropped to his hands. Before he di
d,
she saw the reflection of her anguish in them. He also traveled a path he didn’t understand.

Laurent cleared his throat
.“
My father thinks there’s a way. That’s why we turned to Leviathan. We need help releasing my father. With their combined powe
r,
they could defeat Ziz. But my father also believes with all three warrior
s,
they can take down Lucifer
.
”

“
Is this true
?”
Xavier asked his father.

“
Possibly
.
”

“
If there’s even the slightest possibilit
y,
then we gotta try. I’m tired of others dying by my han
d,
directly or indirectly. I tried to end it with my deat
h,
but not even Death could save me from my fate. Maybe this onc
e,
my father may be the answer
.
”

Xavier’s words cut through her like a scythe. His overt pain wounded Bell. She brought this sorrow to him. Her bruised pride and selfish ways destroyed everything she touched. She understood why Jacque chose someone els
e,
someone so different from her.

“
So
n,
we’ll try to do all we can. We’ll devise a plan to retrieve Behemoth
.”
Leviathan stood and paced the room
.“
Is he still sane? I don’t imagine he has been vacationing on a beach somewhere
.”

Laurent answere
d,
“
I’m not sure if you can quite call it san
e,
but he is lucid. He mainly stays in his demon form. He very rarely takes his human form anymor
e,
but he did it for Bell
.
”

“
Can you take us to where he is
?
”

“
Yes. But there’s a magical barrier containing him in a ring of fire. We can go i
n,
but he can’t get out
.
”

“
Luc is so unimaginative. We girls can take care of that
.”
Marie committed all the females in the room. A
n
d
n
o
o
n
e
d
a
r
e
d
to
a
r
gu
e
.
“
I’m not sure what magic he used. Will Isis be willing to help
?
”

“
I will ask my wife. It might take a little convincin
g,
but she’ll relish the chance to thwart the actions of Lilith and Lucifer
.
”

Bell watched Xavier. There was an unrecognizable expression on his fac
e,
one he fought to hide. The look tempted her to return to his side and stroke his face. Something about this demon continued to draw her to him. He was a creature of extremes. Menacing strength and heart-wrenching sorrow. An all-or-nothing male.