Road to Hell (24 page)

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“We made it,” Sam said incredulously. “I cannot believe that we are still alive.”

My heart was lodged in my throat, making it impossible to reply. We galloped across the shadowlands at a slightly less breakneck speed. I caught a brief glimpse of the gigantic corpse of the leviathan in the distance then it was lost in the mist.

I didn’t need to tell the nightmare where to go. It headed straight for the portal that would take us back to our world.

“Should we not be slowing down by now?” Sam asked uneasily when the alleyway appeared.

The passageway closed around us before I could respond. Just when I thought we would crash into the door, it was thrown open. Only yards away from the exit, the nightmare skidded to a stop and bucked us off.

Sam, the corpse and I sailed through the air. Nathan caught me and Leo caught Sam, but Brie just stared at the corpse of the lesser demon as it swept past her. It made it halfway across the road before it hit the asphalt. Rolling and bouncing, it finally came to a stop in the far gutter. At first glance, it could almost pass for a drunk person. On closer inspection, it could only be taken as a monster.

“Are you alright?” Nathan asked. His eyes raked over me, searching for injuries as he put me back on my feet. Seeing the tear in my jeans, he sucked in a breath. “You are injured.” He sent an accusing look at Sam, as if it had been his fault. The imp withered beneath his glare and I was glad my jacket hid my other wound.

“I’m okay,” I said before he could unload his anger. “I’m sure a kiss from you would fix me,” I muttered not quite quietly enough. His glare faded and an intense look entered his eyes. For just a moment, his mouth curved upwards in a smile. Then it was lost beneath his worry.

Still reeling from our close call, I turned to see Brie holding a demon lackey by the throat. Now I realized why she’d made no effort to catch the corpse. Fresh blood had been added to the rune and a gash had been made on the demon’s palm. “What’s going on?” I asked. “Why did you open the door?” They couldn’t have done it without the demon, but none of them could pass into the shadowlands.

“Sophia was sent a vision that you were in trouble,” Nathan explained. “As always, she was correct.” At the speed the nightmare had been racing, we would have received broken bones, or worse, if the door had still been shut when it had bucked us off.

“Now that you are back, we should leave before anyone becomes suspicious,” Brie said.

My legs were wobbly, but I was pretty sure they’d support me. I crossed to the door and pulled it shut then scraped my dagger across the rune to deactivate it again. The scarlet light promptly flickered and died and the rune faded until it was almost invisible. Nathan took a step towards me to whisk me back to our base, but I pointed at the body. “We need to take the corpse with us.”

“Why?” Leo asked.

“You’ll see,” I replied mysteriously. With a shrug, he trotted across the road. After a long stare at the demon, he picked it up and threw it over his shoulder then returned to take Sam by the hand. As a group, we teleported to Sophia’s store.

Brie’s captive started screaming as soon as we materialized. She ended the noise with her sword. I barely felt it when the lesser demon’s essence was drawn inside me. After everything I’d been through, one more evil soul wasn’t much to worry about.

Leo dropped the body he’d been carrying to the floor and we gathered around it.

“I told you I’d bring you back a souvenir,” I said to the teen.

He slanted me a look. “How very thoughtful of you. I must admit, this is not quite what I’d expected.”

“They didn’t exactly have any stores that sell t-shirts or coffee mugs.”

He gave me a half smile. “The demons are missing out on a lucrative enterprise.”

Sophia moved to stand beside me. “Is this how demons look when they are in hell?” she asked.

“Yep. That’s also how they look to me when they possess a vessel.” He was still wearing his threadbare black sackcloth outfit. It looked like something peasants used to wear in medieval times.

“He appears to be dead,” Brie observed. “All celestial beings are immortal, including demons. How is this possible?”

I shrugged. “I have no idea.”

“Tell us everything that happened after you entered the shadowlands,” Nathan said.

I was filthy, tired and starving, but I couldn’t keep them in suspense. We all took a seat at the table. Sophia entered the kitchen long enough to bring back food and a pot of tea. I managed to scoff down a plate of sandwiches and two cups of tea during my monologue. Sam added a few facts here and there whenever I left anything out.

“What is this object that the new master of hell is hiding?” Sophia queried when we’d finished our tale.

Reaching into my pocket, I showed them the piece of metal. Tarnished silver, it had an intricate pattern engraved on it, but I couldn’t quite make out what it was supposed to be. Like my bracelet, the images were too faded to be seen clearly. The edges of the metal were jagged and reminded me of a jigsaw puzzle.

“That does not look like it is worth guarding,” Leo said doubtfully.

“It must be important or why else would the Hellmaster have chased after us?”

“He came this close to catching us,” Sam said and held his thumb and finger a fraction apart. His skin was ashen and he looked like he was going to faint. I had a feeling I looked even worse than he did.

“How many more pieces are there?” Nathan asked.

“Eight, I think,” I replied. “Morax and the others have heard rumors that a piece is hidden in all nine realms of hell.”

Leo’s face reflected his dread at that news. “Does this mean that you will have to enter hell eight more times?”

“It sure looks like it,” I said unhappily. “If no one has any objections, I’m going to take a shower then pass out for a few hours.” When no one spoke, I dragged myself upstairs and retrieved a change of clothes from my room.

I examined myself in the bathroom mirror. Just as I’d suspected, I looked even worse than Sam. My hair was filthy and matted and the braids were coming undone. My face was pale and was smeared with dirt. I bit back yelps of pain when I peeled my clothes off. My wounds were healing, but I was afraid I’d have more horrible scars to add to the one that already marred my chest. The punctures stung when I scrubbed my body a little too vigorously.

After taking the longest shower of my life, I wasn’t surprised when I saw Nathan waiting for me in my bedroom. He crooked his finger at me and I was helplessly drawn to him. I had enough sense to close the door before I crossed the room.

“I want to see your wounds,” he said then knelt in front of me. He drew my sweatpants up and took my calf in his hands. The bite marks from the grotesque hellrat were red and inflamed, but they weren’t as bad as they had been. “Are you injured anywhere else?” he asked me tightly.

I debated about lying, but remembered the tortured souls that had been sent to hell for their petty sins. “Yes,” I said instead.

“Show me,” he demanded. Already blushing, I lifted my sweater and t-shirt to show him my side. Sorrow flashed across his flawless face. He leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on the wound. It made my stomach flutter, but the contact didn’t fix the injury. He looked up and met my eyes and I was instantly enraptured. “Will you allow me to heal you?” he asked.

It wasn’t possible to deny him, not that I wanted to. I’d have done almost anything if it meant he would kiss me again. “Yes,” I repeated.

Standing up gracefully, he slid a hand around to the base of my neck and I tilted my head back. We stared at each other for a moment that seemed to last forever and I saw longing in his cobalt eyes. Then his mouth descended on mine and I knew what it felt like to be in heaven. Pure bliss filled me and I felt my flesh knitting back together.

I wanted the kiss to last forever, but Nathan pulled away with a regretful sigh. His fingertips trailed wistfully down my face, but when I opened my eyes, he was already gone.

I’d managed to defeat the master gate and had found the first piece of an unknown object of power, but my mission had only just begun. Even if I did collect all nine pieces and somehow put them back together, I had no idea what the object was or what it would do. Until someone had a better idea, I would just have to keep on this path and hope that it wouldn’t end in the destruction of the entire human race.

I knew that defeating the hordes of hell should have been paramount, but my fingers went to my tingling lips where I could still feel the touch of Nathan’s mouth on mine. I was in danger of losing more than just my life. I was in far greater peril of losing my heart to the angel who had been tasked with saving me from death.

Titles by J.C. Diem:

Mortis Series

Death Beckons

Death Embraces

Death Deceives

Death Devours

Death Betrays

Death Banishes

Death Returns

Death Conquers

Death Reigns

Shifter Squad Series

Seven Psychics

Zombie King

Dark Coven

Rogue Wolf

Corpse Thieves

Snake Charmer

Vampire Matriarch

Web Master

Hell Spawn

Hellscourge Series

Road To Hell

To Hell And Back, the second book in the Hellscourge series, is due to be released in June.

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