Renegade (55 page)

“Kimber,” she said, stopping at his side and holding out her hand like she expected him to take it. “I have the unfortunate luck of being dragged through hell by these…
renegades
.”

Asmodeus took her hand, kissing the back of it like she was royalty, and to her credit she didn’t cringe at all, though her aura went all cloudy so I knew she wasn’t enjoying the attention. “My dear, you are far too magnificent to be with the likes of these people.”

“What’s a girl to do?” she worried.

“I’ll take care of you. You’ll never want for anything again. You will be treated like the queen you are.”

Her aura went muddy again and I watched her take a deep breath. “So if I stay here with you, you’ll let them go?”

He frowned. “I don’t know-”

Kimber snatched away her hand. “I just don’t think I can stand to see them anymore. Oh, the things they’ve put me through.”

Asmodeus grabbed up her hand again. “Of course. Yes. Fine, they can go, but you will stay.”

“No,” Sam argued. “We aren’t leaving her here.”

Asmodeus got an angry look on his face and I remembered he wasn’t just a guy who looked like a pimp. He was Prince of Hell, powerful beyond any of us, and making him angry was
not
a good idea.

Kimber laid a hand on the Prince’s arm. “Give me one moment?”

“For you, anything.”

She smiled and then walked toward us, her smile falling away when her back was to the Prince.

“What the hell are you doing, Red?” Riley asked, grim.

“Getting you a free pass out of here.” She sniffed.

“We can’t just leave you here,” Sam argued.

Kimber and I locked eyes. Up until this point I had said nothing at all. Was I really going to let my old best friend make this kind of sacrifice for us? “Why are you doing this?” I asked.

“Please, Heven.” She scoffed. “You aren’t the only one that can act like a martyr, you know.”

I narrowed my eyes.

She sighed. “I deserve this. After what I did to Cole…” Her words fell away.

Sam opened his mouth to say something and I cut him off. “You think this makes up for you killing him?”

“No. But at least this way no one else gets hurt.”

“Except for you,” Riley said.

“I owe you this much, Heven,” Kimber said, looking me in the eyes. Her aura rang with truth. She really was doing this because she thought it was her way of making up for all the bad things she’s done.

I nodded. I was going to let her do this.

She moved to turn away and I caught her wrist. “Kimber.” I released her when she turned back, sorrow filling her aura. “Don’t stay down here forever. Find a way out.”

She gave me a half-smile. “You know me. I always land on my feet.”

We looked at each other for a few more long moments. “Thank you. For doing this,” I finally said.

She smiled and then straightened her shoulders and turned back, walking to Asmodeus’s side.

“Now, go!” she cried. “Get out of here where I’ll never have to see you again!”

Sam and I began to walk away. Riley hesitated, staring at Kimber until she glanced his way and mouthed the word “go”
to him.

And then there was only Sam, Riley, and me. As we walked away I heard Kimber being ushered into the limo and Asmodeus once again exclaiming over her beauty. I didn’t look back.

Looking back was useless.

All that was left was to look ahead.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Heven

We walked forever it seemed. The mood that cloaked us was sullen and dark. Not even Riley found it in him to make a few snarky quips to lighten the mood. It had been a long road to the path I was on now. I used to be a sparkly teenager, carefree, beautiful, and without a care in the world. But then I was attacked, disfigured, stalked, killed, brought back to life, and given a destiny I didn’t really want.

But destiny waits for no one.

My destiny meant the end of life for some people that I truly loved—my mother, Cole, Logan… even my grandpa who died for me before I even knew what life would bring.

But destiny also brought me some good things. Like Sam. And even Riley. It showed me I was stronger than I ever knew. It showed me I was beautiful no matter what my face looks like and it showed me life was a gift—a gift that I fully intended to make the most of.

As soon as we got out of hell.

“Do you think we’ll ever find these souls?” Riley asked, drawing me out of thought.

“Absolutely,” I said, knowing with every inch of my being we were getting close. “We’re almost there.”

“How do you know, Hev?” Sam asked.

“Because I can feel them,” I replied, realizing it was true. They called to me, a song no one else knew, a secret only I was told, and a path only I could walk.

Riley could have looked for these souls for years and he never would have found them. Because he wasn’t the Soul Reaper.

I was.

“They’re just ahead,” I said, my voice becoming hushed and the insistence within me building, creating coiled tension that I wanted so badly to release. I began to run, toward a place I couldn’t see, facing an endless horizon of gray, but knowing deep within me they were there and they were waiting. Sam and Riley ran after me, not knowing, but trusting me enough to believe.

And then I stopped.

I looked down.

I was standing at the edge of a cliff, looking out over a vast display of land below. A land overfull with writhing souls.

Finally, we’d made it.

We’d arrived at the Soul Graveyard.

It was a sight I would never ever forget. In a way it was much more tame than I imagined this place to be—but that almost made it worse. Because the souls here were suffering, immeasurably, and while I had a taste of what being trapped in black nothingness was like, I knew I had no idea how these souls suffered.

Sam and Riley stepped forward and I took a moment to draw strength from the two men flanking me. “It really is like a graveyard,” Sam said, his voice hushed.

That’s exactly what it was like. An awful, sad graveyard of stolen souls. I stared out at the expanse of nothing. The landscape was bare, looking as if it had been burned and all signs of life snuffed out. Ash fell from the lifeless, empty sky and covered the ground, giving it a tomblike feel.

The souls were left out in the open, in the middle of nowhere where surely the urge to run and find a way out would tempt them, would make them ache for escape… yet there was no way to escape because they were held in place by chains.

It was cruel.

There were thousands of them. I could tell the ones that had been here the longest because they were shriveled and dark, the core of the soul black and empty. Whatever hope they had about being allowed peace in death had long been destroyed. But there were others—others who had been here less time—or maybe they were those who’d never given up hope. Their souls were lighter, brighter, and I knew they would find peace. Some of them fought the chains that held them, but most just seemed to accept the fact there was no escape.

My mother was among these souls.

Had she given up hope? Would she find peace?

“We need to get down there. We need to break the chains,” I said, unable to look at the sight laid out before me any longer.

“The ground slopes down into the valley over there,” Sam said, pointing around to the side of the cliff we were on.

“Let’s go,” I urged, turning to run.

My enthusiasm was short-lived.

Because when I turned I came face to face with my own personal demon.

Beelzebub.

He was back in the body of a dark-haired man with a wide chest and shoulders.

My first instinct was to step back, to cower. Everything about him repulsed and terrified me. He’d killed so many people I loved, and I knew—
knew
without a doubt—he wouldn’t hesitate to kill anyone I had left.

It was in that fear I suddenly found strength.

“What are you doing here?” I said, planting my feet and lifting my chin. I wouldn’t back down. Never again.

“Did you think I would allow you to set these souls free, taking away the source of my power?”

Well, I’d hoped.

“I thought you were banished from hell,” Sam said, standing strong at my side.

“Details,” he said, like it didn’t matter. “It seems the commotion you all started over on the island was the perfect diversion for me to get back.”

A low growl caught in Riley’s throat at the mention of the island where Ana once lived.

“Seems with all the uproar going on, it’s the perfect time for me to take control.” He stepped toward me and snatched my arm. “Come along,” he said, yanking me forward. “Let us go introduce the souls to their new ruler.”

I jerked backward, trying to dislodge the hold he had on my arm, but his grip held strong. A low sound emanated from within Sam and he moved closer.

Beelzebub sneered. “Stand down, beast.” And before any of us could do or say anything,

he literally stepped right off the cliff, dragging me with him.

I screamed as I dropped through the air, plummeting toward the unforgiving ground. My stomach pushed its way past all the organs in my body and lodged in my throat. I squeezed my eyes shut, but Sam called out my name and they snapped back open.

I tried to look up, to somehow reassure him I would be okay, but all I could see was the solid ground and how quickly it approached us. My entire body spasmed, tightening in on itself and trying to ready for the impact that would surely crush my bones.

Beelzebub landed like a cat on his feet, and I landed just as gracefully beside him. I looked around wildly, taking stock of my body and wondering why nothing inside me screamed with unbearable pain. I could only assume the reason I wasn’t a crumpled mess of shattered bones and skin was because he somehow protected me. Even though I was unharmed, my legs wobbled uncontrollably, my stomach still wasn’t where it belonged, and my heart… Well, I was lucky it hadn’t exploded inside my chest from beating so hard.