Hell's Gift (26 page)

“I’d imagine not. If it wasn’t for being so relieved that we are not going to be banished, I might be a little irritated with you, myself. What recent events?”

“Rhyan has found himself in a bit of trouble, but I believe he is strong-willed enough to find his own way out. The demon used Malcolm’s weakness against him through the speculum, resulting in it taking total control of his mind and body. He couldn’t help Rhyan, couldn’t even hear him, but I could.”

“Malcolm’s weakness? What is his weakness?”

A knock on the solid wood door had Josselyn looking up in alarm. Isaiah walked to his chair behind the desk and sat.

“It isn’t my place to tell you what any angel’s weakness is. Perhaps you should ask him. Enter, Malcolm.”

Chapter 32

Rhyan

The beasts were no longer snarling and snapping at me. They had both transformed back into their original forms. The male and female were nude, as they laughed and leaned against the trunk of the tree that I thought only moments before had sent me to my imminent, yet temporary, death.

I almost wished it had. Because now I was waist deep in quicksand and every time I moved I sank a little farther down. I wasn’t within arm’s reach of anything except more quicksand.

My head low, my jaw set and murder on my mind, I glowered at my company that seemed to find my situation a little on the hilarious side. I didn’t find it the least bit amusing.

I had another, more troubling problem to deal with, though. Since I had fallen into the sinking sand, and my body was forced to stay still, the fatigue had begun to set in once again. I could feel my muscles relaxing and the need to sleep was overwhelming. My anger at the two laughing hyenas was the only thing keeping me awake, and already I could feel that dissipating away to a mild irritation.

I would sleep soon, and then my unconscious body would be dragged from the cavity and toyed with. I couldn’t allow that to happen. I had to do something.

“Rhyan—”

“Malcolm, Jesus, where the hell have you been? I could use a little help here.”

“We’ve had some trouble up here, too. I was possessed by a demon. There is evil in the Heavenly Realm. Nothing you need to worry about. The portal is closed now and I can’t pull you through or send you anything. On a brighter note, Isaiah’s known the whole time we were helping you, but instead of punishing us, he’s going to help.”

“How is that helping me now?”

“Stop being a sour-puss and get yourself out of that mess.”

I looked down. I was up to my pectorals and the speed I was sinking was increasing. I gritted my teeth together.
“How do you suppose I do that? You can’t send me a rope to throw over any of the branches to pull myself up, so what are my other options?”

“Well, your spear is strapped to your back still, and you’re only about ten feet from the tree. The weapon is only about seven foot long, but the length of your arm should more than make up the distance. Stab the tree.”

“Why didn’t I think of that?” I said, and the corner of my lip curved up into a half smile.

The faces of the demons sobered, and they seemed to be more cautious of me all of a sudden as they glanced at each other nervously. I’m sure my expression made it clear I knew something they didn’t. I just prayed it would work.

I reached behind my right shoulder and grasped the wooden hilt of the spear. Weariness crashed down on me even harder, making it extremely tough to pull the lance free of the thick sand. The motion caused me to sink to my armpits. The topside of my hourglass was about to become empty.

“What are you doing? Just give up!” the female shouted at me and took a step closer, but the male gently placed his hand on her arm.

“Remember what he said,” the male warned.

She seemed to pale a little, and I could only assume he was referring to Damien, or maybe even Lucifer, by the look on her face.

I chose to ignore them. Letting them distract me would only cost me precious time.

The spear out of the muck, drawn back at arm’s length and ready to be thrust at the tree, I hoped I was as good of an aim as I used to be. There had been no use for spear throwing or jousting as an angel. There was a strong possibility the blade could go astray with how hard I would have to throw it to stick in the thick bole deep enough so I could pull myself to the bank without it coming back out. If that happened…I was screwed.

“Stop doubting yourself and bloody throw it before you sink, Rhyan.”

My eyes closed and I let out a mighty roar as the stick left my hand. I heard the thud as metal jabbed wood and my eyes immediately opened.

“You did it! Now, grab the end before it’s out of your reach.”

I took in a deep breath and let it out. I had done it, but with the sand up to my neck and the warmth of it cradling my body like a cocoon, I wanted to let it take me under.

I lazily opened my eyes to the shocked faces of the demons, and could tell the male was beginning to realize how much I wanted to give in to my tiredness.

“It won’t be long now,” he said and smiled. “I knew his love for the princess wouldn’t be enough to beat Lucifer.”

“Grab the hilt, Rhyan.”

I closed my eyes and welcomed the comfort of the sand as it rose above my chin.

“Rhyan…dammit, grab the bloody hilt! You can’t let him win!”

I could hear Malcolm mumbling something in my mind, and I knew I should have done what he told me to do, but I’d lost even the energy to pay attention.

“Rhyan?”
Abbi’s voice broke through my mind loud and clear and my eyes shot open just as the quicksand reached my nose.
“I’m not giving up. You made me promise that I wouldn’t give up on us, so why are you? Please—”

“Abbi? I love you and I’m coming. I won’t give up.”
And with that, I grabbed the end of the spear and pulled. My weight, plus the suction and grip the quicksand had on me, made it a near impossible task, but I would do it. I would not rest until Lucifer bowed his head in defeat and handed Abbi’s soul back to her.

“C’mon, Rhyan! I know you can do this,”
she chanted.

I was tired, but I ignored the fatigue and pulled harder. Determination rushed through every inch of my body, including my eyes that were locked on the two demons at the end of the spear. I pulled harder and fought off the urge to give up. My muscles strained and burned, but I drove them past the breaking point and accepted the pain as my only salvation out of this hell hole.

The girl demon rushed for the metal blade lodged into the tree and began working it back and forth in an attempt to release it, but the male demon threw a gust of power at her and she fell to the ground. She gave him a heated stare, but stayed where she was.

Something appeared behind the female, grabbing the focus of every being present. It was a white door. The door to the next syde. The girl jumped to her feet and ran for it. I could hear the searing of her flesh and the shrill yell that followed as soon as her hand fell upon the knob. It was obvious she hadn’t earned the right to pass through it.

I had to keep myself focused and I pulled myself the last foot to the bank. When I glanced up, the male demon had his hand stretched out in front of me. I studied it a moment, then looked up to his face.

He nodded once. “You have my respect, angel. Nobody here will keep you from going through that door.”

I clasped my hand around his and he pulled me free of the quicksand.

Chapter 33

Rhyan

My teeth chattering could’ve been heard in Lucifer’s chambers from my location, and I would have gambled my soul again that he was sitting on his throne with a big smile on his face at my discomfort.

I had to put the acid jacket back on, but it didn’t help much against the kind of blizzard I had to walk through to find my way out of that syde—the Syde of Pride, if Malcolm’s research turned out to be correct. I’d sent him to double check and to hopefully figure out what I needed to do to earn my way out. Staying there a minute longer than I had to was another minute in sheer, agonizing pain.

The temperature had to be hovering around zero Fahrenheit or below, and it seemed the winds were tugging and nipping at my jacket, desperately trying to find a way inside to chill my bones even further.

At least there were people here, but none that looked even the least bit friendly. Some were huddled around burning pits or barrels, trying to keep warm, while others only wandered aimlessly as if lost and searching for their lost souls—or maybe they were looking for their sanity. I knew I had to get out of here quick, or there was a good possibility I would lose mine.

The only positive thing about being in a syde made of ice? I could no longer feel the blisters that covered my feet; they had gone numb, along with my hands, only minutes after opening the door.

Malcolm said he thought Velan was the prince, and I needed to find him so I could retrieve my object. At first I thought he was crazy to even suggest such a thing, but it didn’t take me long to agree it was the best idea. I could’ve named about ten things that I
needed
at the moment. Hot chocolate and earmuffs were near the top of the list.

From out of nowhere I was knocked to my knees in the snow. I quickly turned around to defend myself, but as it turned out, I was only in the way of two other men scrapping out their differences. They were both bleeding from several different lacerations on their faces and upper torso areas, and I noticed the smaller of the two palmed the hilt of a short dagger in his right hand.

His opponent was struggling for breath and I assumed he had taken a stab to one or both of his lungs, and the organs were swiftly filling with his prideful blood.

“He will die soon.”

I turned quickly and observed the man standing to my right. He was watching the show intently, his eyes dancing with mute laughter. His dark hair was sticking out from the edges of a knit hat, and I didn’t miss the glint of the metal rings and studs through his ears, nose, eyebrow and the pointy spike below his lower lip. Just guessing, but I was willing to bet a metal detector would go off if it was waved below his neck, too.

Just above the black scarf wrapped snuggly around his neck, I caught a glimpse of the top half of a skull with red eyes. Everything about the male suggested ‘bad-ass’, but I wasn’t getting that particular vibe from him just standing there looking at two men beating the crap out of each other. His size was also something to take into account. What he lacked in height, he must have been able to make up for in other respects, or Lucifer wouldn’t have made him the prince over the Syde of Pride.

He turned to look at me, but seemed more curious than ready to take my life.

“Do you have something that belongs to me?”

“I might.”

I wasn’t sure what he expected of me, but as long as we were both being civil, I could continue to keep it going in that direction, no problem.

I heard an awful gurgling cough, then turned just in time to see the bigger man fall to his knees and spew bright red blood over the snow and ice. I noticed the audience the fight had accrued earlier had dwindled to only the fighter and the dead man at his feet. Everyone else had disappeared.

I remembered how frightened Pogo had been of my Abbi when I had only known her as the Princess of Gluttony, and how scared I was of Damien in his snake form. The royalty was to be feared. But I also remembered the passion in my woman’s eyes as we made love, and I recalled the respect in the eyes of the Prince of Sloth when I caught the spear he’d thrown at my head.
They had emotions. I just needed to search for the good in them before they surprised me with the bad.

I cleared my throat as I turned my focus back to Velan. “I hope it’s a pair of thermal underwear,” I said, then smiled as Velan burst into laughter.

“Not hardly, angel. Lucifer is not happy you have so easily breezed through two of his sydes—”

My body flushed hot with anger and I took a step closer to him, crowding his personal space, forcing him to either look up at me or knock me on my ass. He chose to look up at me, but did not show fear. That was okay; I was fresh out, too. “You call what I did easy?” I growled, not caring whom I was talking to or what he could do to me.

There was no doubt in my mind he could kill me a thousand times before I could even move the four inches to touch him, but I didn’t care; I had gone through and completed two of Lucifer’s sydes, and the little prick in front of me thought it was
easy
?
Oh, hell no!

Velan smiled cunningly. “You certainly made it look that way, and it hasn’t ever been done before. Not sure even he could do it. We all want to know what your secret is, angel.”

I didn’t even have to think about it. “Love.”

The demon studied me a moment more and then reached into the pocket of his coat, pulling out a pack of Marlboro reds and a matchbox. He offered me one, and when I declined, he stuck the coffin nail in his mouth, lit it with a match and returned the pack to his pocket.

He lifted the matchbox to his ear and shook it about. I could hear the soft rattle of the tiny wood bouncing around cardboard walls, and then he tossed the box at me. I caught it with one hand, then watched him turn and walk away.

“What’s this?” I shouted, and observed his retreating form with smoke billowing out from around his head.

“Your object.”

I looked down at the small box, then slid it open.

One match.

Malcolm

“Christ on the cross!” Malcolm shouted, and then cleared Isaiah’s desk with a quick sweep of his hand.

Isaiah only huffed and averted his eyes from the highly angered angel.

“This is all your fault, Isaiah!” he said, and pointed to the archangel. “And you need to figure a way to get him help. He’s going to bloody freeze to death before we can discover a way to get him into the next syde.” He held his index finger up for all to see. “One match! One damn match, Isaiah. I’m sure you don’t even remember what it’s like to feel pain, but he does, damn you, and you are the one that put him there!”