Sweet Revenge (Dueling with the Devil) (29 page)

“
What? You can’t come with us. We don’t have time to watch out for humans. How many more of you haven’t shifted yet
?”
Xavier sought the older wolf for answers.

“
Charity is the only one. She hasn’t found a mate in the pack yet
.
”

Throwing up her hand
s,
Charity huffe
d,
“
Great. Put all my business in the streets. Loo
k,
I can fight just as well as anyone else. And you don’t have the authority to tell me shit
.
”

Xavier started to spea
k,
but Bell stopped him
.“
She’s righ
t,
baby. This is up to her pack
.”
She eyed the two females
.“
Understand this. If you choose to com
e,
we’re not going to babysit you. It’s dangerous enough without having to watch over a fledgling wolf
.
”

“
Don’t worry about me. I can handle myself
.”
Charity grabbed the other female and walked away.

Xavier and Bell headed over to Angel and Jacque
.“
He
y,
man. Those crazy wolves brought a human with them
.
”

“
Why would they do that
?”
Angel’s brow peaked in curiosity.

Bell shook her head
.“
Outside of being craz
y,
she’s one of the
m,
but hasn’t shifted yet
.
”

Jacque tucked his pistol into the small of his back
.“
Aren’t they born with the ability to shift
?
”

“
They’re all fucked up. We don’t have time to worry about this. Let’s just get down there and find Laurent
.”
Bell adjusted

h
e
r
w
e
a
p
o
n
s
.
“
Come on. Let’s roll
.
”

CHAPTER THIRTY

They landed just on the other side of the fiery river marking the entrance to Hades. Thank goodness Ziz located a portal that landed them on the correct side of the river. Charon always took so long to get the damn ferry to the shore. Bell swore he did it on purpose. Anywa
y,
there were too many of them to cross that way.

Her fathe
r,
Leviatha
n,
Xavie
r,
Jacqu
e,
Damon and Ziz each headed a party. The informant told Damon that Laurent was held in the castl
e,
but Lucifer’s castle doubled as headquarters for the Legion. It continued for mile
s,
especially the dungeons. At least the castle was better than searching the Wastelands or the lower levels where the degenerates and rejects of Hades suffered through eternity.

“
Stay in your groups. If anyone finds hi
m,
text the other
s
,
”
Leviathan directed
.“
Angel and Isi
s,
you go with Xavier. Bell and Mari
e,
you will stay with me. Natash
a,
you’re with Behemoth
.
”

“
Wait a minute. Why can’t I go with Xavier
?”
Bell asked. From their expression
s,
the other females wanted to be paired with their mate
s,
too.

“
We don’t have time for either of you to be distracted. You need to go with someone who is not too attached to you. This wa
y,
they won’t do anything stupid to try to save yo
u
,
”
he responded.

Bell couldn’t argue with his logic.

He divided the others into their teams
.“
This is the meeting spot. You have four hour
s,
after that come back her
e,
whether we’ve found him or not. We’ll regroup and decide how to move forward from there. Everyone watch your back and each other’s
.
”

Of course Bell’s team ended up with the human. She refused to stay Topside. If Charity wanted to commit suicid
e,
Bell wasn’t about to let it get them killed
.“
Look ki
d,
stay in the middle. Don’t break away from the rest of us
.”
Bell wished she could stand over he
r,
but Charity had Bell by a good four or five inches. Damn werewolves. Charity rolled her eyes and stomped away from Bell. This was exactly why Bell wanted nothing to do with the human.

Leviathan led them through an old drainage tunne
l,
a bunch of them burrowed under the castle’s main levels. The stench of old sewage and rotting carcasses assaulted
their senses
. Bell fought the urge to regurgitate her lunch. They trudged through the sludge and remains of odd animals and other experiments Lucifer tossed into the tunnels. Those that survived ran crazed through the streets of Hades or evolve
d,
branching out furthe
r,
like the Hell Hounds.

The soft glow of the torches at the end the tunnel signified they had reached the castle. Hushed tones floated down to them. The castle was always filled with soldier
s,
guest
s,
and other visiting
b
e
i
n
g
s. Getting to the dungeons without being noticed provided a challenge. Once they reached the entrywa
y,
Marie went to the head of the party.

“
Please join hands. It’s easier to cast the spell over everyone at once if you’re connecte
d
,
”
she announced.

Charity gripped Bell’s hand tight.
Why do I always get stuck

bab
y
s
itting?

Marie chanted a few words and a tingling sensation skittered across Bell’s skin.

“
This should keep us shielded from being seen. But it does not block our sound
s,
so please be quiet
.
”

Leviathan turned to address everyone
.“
Stay together. If you get separated from the grou
p,
then go back to the meeting spot. Don’t try to be a hero
.
”

They entered the lower halls of the castle. A few soldiers patrolled the area. Bell recognized a couple of them. Many of the younger soldiers came through her classes. Bell missed teaching at the Academy. She was proud to be one of the few female officers in Lucifer’s Army. The group slinked through the passageways. The dungeons lay ahead. If Bell remembered correctl
y,
it held fifty cells. It would take a while to search them all as a group.

Leviathan halted in front of the first titanium door
.“
We’l
l
pair up
to check the rooms. Do not leave the corridor until we all meet up agai
n
,
”
he whispered in a harsh tone.

He gave each of them their assignments. Bell got exactly what she feared. She and Charity were paired. Bell maneuvered down the hallway. The slender female followed quietly. They peered into the chambers unbeknownst to their occupants. Muffled moans carried from a cell down a separate corridor. Bell glanced down the side hall. It was empty.

“
Come o
n
,
”
she commanded quietly.

Charity hesitated
.“
We’re not supposed to leave this area
.
”

“
Look. You’re the one who was all big and bad coming down here. Someone’s down there. We’re gonna check it out
.
”

“
Okay.
B
ut
y
o
u
’
r
e g
o
n
na
e
x
p
l
a
i
n
i
t to
L
e
v
i
a
t
h
a
n
i
f
s
h
i
t breaks off while we’re down here
.
”

“
Fine
.”
Bell drug Charity down the hall. At the far end of the dimly lit passag
e,
the moans became louder. The damp air filtered the sound. The window of this cell hovered much higher than the others
.“
Give me a boost
.
”

Charity interlaced her hands and hoisted Bell to the open bars
.“
What do you see
?
”

“
It’s a guy. He’s in the corner of the roo
m,
so it’s hard to see him
.
”

She shifted the Bell to the right
.“
Can you see anything
?
”

“
Push me up a little further
.”
Bell craned her neck.

“
Um…he looks like he’s in bad shape. I can see the bottom of his feet. Uh. He has on jeans
.
”

Another agonizing groan came from the other side of the door.

“
O
h,
wait. He has a banded Legion tattoo on his arm. Shit. Put me down
!”
Charity dropped her on the ground
.“
That’s hi
m
.
”

“
What
?
”

“
That’s my brother
.
”

“
How do you know
?”

“
Because I kind of blasted his shoes off his feet
.
”

Charity raised her brows in confusion
.“
Oh. Okay
.
”

“
Let that be your reminder not to make me mad
.
”

Bell checked the latch on the door in case it might be open. No such luck. She needed a way in. She stared at her hands. Fear simmered in her gut. There was one way i
n,
but she would have to draw on her flaky powers. The level of heat she needed to manifest could severely damage he
r,
but she’d risk it for her brother. Being burned inside out takes years of healing to recover.
I can control it
.

“
Go stand down the hallway. I don’t want you to get hurt
.”
She moved Charity out of the way and waited for her to gain a safe distance from the door.

Bell shut her eyes. A flame lit in the pit of her stomach and grew exponentially from her core. Her breathing labore
d,
each exhale reminded her of a dragon’s heated breath. She focuse
d,
forcing all the heat in her body to concentrate in her hands. She laid her palms to the door hinge
s,
watching them melt under her touch. When the door fell to the floor with a loud clan
g,
B
e
l
l
s
l
u
m
p
e
d
t
o
t
h
e
c
o
l
d
s
t
o
n
e
f
l
oo
r
.

Charity ran
toward
her
.“
N
o
,
”
Bell commanded
.“
I’ll hurt you if you touch me now. I have to lock this down. Go to Laurent
.
”

Long legs shuffled past Bell and disappeared into the room. Bell inhaled deep breath
s,
trying to cool her body. Isis’s words rang in her ear
s,
“
You can control this
.”
Her temperature began to come down. She swallowed har
d,
continuing to chant the w
o
r
ds
to
h
e
r
s
e
l
f
.

Bell pushed herself off the floor and entered the room. Charity was kneeling beside Laurent
.“
He’s your brother
?”
she aske
d,
her shaky han
d,
hovering above Laurent’s bruised and battered face.

A stabbing sensation attacked her chest. Although she wanted to race to her brother’s sid
e,
Bell’s feet stayed planted. The horror of the brutality inflicted upon him engulfed her in fury.
Whoever did this will wish for Death after I’m done with them.

Willing her body to mov
e,
she ran to Laurent and held his hand
.“
I’m so sorr
y
,
”
she whispered.

His fingers tightened around hers. He mumbled something unintelligible. Bell rested her forehead on his arm
.“
Please don’t die on me. I need you
.
”

Bell sent a silent prayer. Then it hit her. Natasha.