Hells gate box set, p.23
Hell's Gate Box Set, page 23
part #1 of Hell's Gate Series
Sitting up, I swung my legs off the edge of the bed and stood. The room didn’t spin or sway and I actually felt normal. But I also felt changed.
“Thank you,” I said. Levi had stood with me, and I placed a hand against his cheek. “For saving me.”
“My pleasure.” His grin was warm and inviting, and I was tempted, so tempted, to toss him down on the bed and ravish him. But Ashliel was keeping Hell safe. She’d known the realm was in danger with me out of action. So rather than toss Levi onto the bed, I laced my fingers with his and tugged him after me.
“No reward then?” he teased as I led him out of my bedroom and toward the elevator.
“Oh, there’ll be a reward.” I winked, stepping into the elevator and pulling him into my arms for a kiss as it sped us to Hell HQ. It took all of one second, so the kiss was far from satisfying, but each touch of Levi’s skin fueled my magic. The feeling was sinfully delicious.
“Good, you’re up.” Ashliel was standing in front of the multi-screen display of Earth, her eyes darting from one to the next, monitoring the situation.
“I am. What’s happening?”
“Well, your dad bailed.” She pouted, arms folded across her chest, clearly affronted. “I mean we found him, and you almost died saving him, and he couldn’t be bothered with a thank-you. He didn’t even hang around to check that you were okay. He just left.” She snapped her fingers, indicating he’d disappeared into thin air.
“Levi told me.” I tried not to let my hurt filter through into my voice, but I suspected it was there, anyway, from the glance Ashliel gave me.
“He said her name,” she replied.
I nodded. “Lilith.”
“Who’s Lilith?” Levi asked.
“My mom.”
“Your mom is Lilith? Isn’t she…evil?”
“You’ve been reading the wrong books,” I told him, shaking my head. “So many crazy stories were made up about my mother. She isn’t evil. She was just…lonely. She and Dad fell in love, then Dad got obsessed with his creations, and…well, he neglected her. Ignored her for long periods of time. Eventually, her love died and she took off.”
“Without her children.” It wasn’t a question.
I shrugged. “I don’t know why she didn’t take us. Maybe she thought we’d be happier in Heaven. Or maybe she had nowhere to go and no way to provide for us. I’m not judging her, and neither should you.”
He heard it. The tone in my voice. The one that said I would kick his ass if he dissed my mother. It was a touchy subject. I barely remembered her. She’d left when I was four years old. And yes, I’d missed her, had cried myself to sleep more often than I wanted to admit, but that wasn’t to say I grew up without love. Dad loved me, I had no doubt about that. The one thing that concerned me right now, though, was why he had left so suddenly. And why did he say Mom’s name?
“We’ve got incoming,” Ashliel said.
“Who?” Standing by her side, I examined the monitors. Then I spotted him. “Dacian,” we said in unison.
“Let him in,” I told her, pacing as I waited for the Seraph angel to arrive. I didn’t have to wait long.
“He’s back, God’s back!” Dacian said as he entered the room.
“We know,” Levi drawled from his position on the sofa.
“What? How?” Dacian seemed disappointed we hadn’t been all over him for details. I bit my lip, not knowing how to feel. I thought I’d be brimming with excitement that we’d found Dad, but his behavior—well, his immediate departure, to be precise—had me puzzled and not a little bit hurt.
“Because we found him here and rescued him.”
“Oh.” Deflated, Dacian lowered himself onto the sofa, taking the corner opposite Levi.
I recommenced my pacing. “What did he say? Did he tell you what happened?” I asked.
“No. But word spread quickly through Heaven that he’d returned. The streets were packed. I couldn’t get near Angel Towers.” He shrugged. “So I came here instead. The new zone looks great, by the way.”
I knew Dacian was trying to soothe my ruffled feathers and distract me from the sting of what I’d taken to be my fathers’ rejection. It kind of worked.
“Yeah, I’m really pleased with how it turned out. Too bad I have to change it, though.”
“Oh?”
“Well, sinners aren’t going to get five-star luxury and beach-front views.” Crossing to the window, I looked out at the stunning white buildings I'd created. It wouldn’t take much to modify them. A thought occurred to me. “Are the Pearly Gates open?”
“Yeah, and Heaven is healing. Everywhere God walked looks good as new.”
“Good. That’s good.” All those lost souls were no longer lost, and Dacian had taken care of the ones that had fallen. Now the only problem we had left was the white horseman we’d unleashed on Earth.
“Any sign of the horseman?” I asked Ashliel, not taking my attention from the window.
“Nope. I went back over the seconds when we broke the seal to see if I could identify any activity, but so far, nothing.”
“Maybe it isn’t true. Maybe the horsemen don’t exist,” I suggested hopefully.
“Maybe, but why put them in the book?”
“I don’t know. None of this is making sense.” Then another thought hit me. “Fuck!” I exclaimed. “Mr. Meow. We’ve left Mr. Meow alone.”
“Relax,” Ashliel said. “Time moves differently, remember? To that cat, you’ve only been gone a little while. He’ll be fine.”
She had a point. He would be fine. He was most likely asleep and hadn’t even noticed Levi’s absence. But still, I felt like we’d abandoned Levi’s life on Earth. His shop. His home. His pet. A strong hand wrapped around the nape of my neck and squeezed, making me jump.
“Why are you worried about my cat?” Levi murmured in my ear.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I just…I like your cat. It makes me sad to think of him there alone.”
“Let’s go back, then. All of this mess—” He waved his hand around. “—seems to have been resolved. God has returned, Heaven is open for business, and it appears the four horsemen are a myth. How about a little vacation Earth-side?”
Oh, it sounded appealing. So, so appealing. I was tired, and time out relaxing with Levi in his home was the perfect solution.
“Go!” Ashliel instructed. “I’ve got everything under control here. I’ll see to the alterations of the new zone, keep an eye out for any horsemen, and will let you know if anything changes.”
“See? Ash has it all in hand. What do you say?” Levi snuggled in behind me and nuzzled my ear, making me giggle.
“Okay, fine.” I gave in, but it hadn’t been much of a battle.
“Let me know if anything changes, though, okay?” I glanced at Ashliel.
She nodded. “Of course. Now go. You need to finish healing. I can feel your energy and it’s all off.”
“Is that what that is?” Dacian spoke up. I’d forgotten he was there, still sprawled on the sofa.
“God drained her to save himself,” Levi growled, his annoyance apparent. “I gave her some of my magic before she fucking died.”
“You have magic now?” Dacian was clearly confused.
“He’s a fire demon!” Ashliel supplied, her voice once more edged with excitement at this turn of events.
“What the hell?”
“Exactly!” She practically clapped her hands in glee.
“How did you become a fire demon?”
“She bit him!” Ashliel jumped in before either of us could answer, and I threw a smile at Levi, who shrugged as if to say “Let her have it.”
“What?”
“You know, claimed him as her mate? Surely you’ve heard of it, Dacian? I know your mind was wiped, but Lucy fixed all that.”
“Yes, I’ve heard of it. I just didn’t realize…”
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing.” Dacian shook his head. “So, you marked him. And he…changed?”
“So now they’re compatible,” Ashliel said. “More compatible, I should say. Since he was human, he wouldn’t have been able to stay in this dimension indefinitely. Now he can.”
“And who decided he’d be a fire demon?”
“Fate or Destiny,” Ashliel supplied. “Either one of the sisters. Man, they are amazing! I so want to meet them someday.”
Shaking his head, Dacian looked at me intently. “She’s right, though. Your energy is all…different.”
I shrugged. “Probably because of Levi’s magic, like he said. I’m not sure how it works. Maybe his magic will stay combined with mine and I’ll have a different energy signature forever, or maybe once my magic has fully returned, I’ll be back to my old self.”
“Speaking of, let’s go.” Levi gave me a squeeze, reminding me we had some R&R to catch up on.
“Call me if anything changes. Anything at all,” I told them, before taking Levi’s hand and transporting us back to Earth.
Chapter Fifteen
We had three blissful, uninterrupted days on Earth—nights full of love and days spent hanging out in Levi’s apartment, watching daytime TV and snuggling with Mr. Meow. He was fine, and Ashliel had been right. To him, our absence had been momentary. It was our fourth evening on Earth, and we were in the diner enjoying a late lunch when the storm started to roll in.
“Check out those clouds!” Levi pressed his face against the window and looked first one way, then the other. Dark, heavy clouds laden with rain were rolling in from every direction.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed a storm.” The atmosphere in Hell was consistent. We didn’t have weather, just purple skies that never changed.
The bell above the door jangled as a man rushed in, bringing a gust of wind with him. Turning, he pushed with both hands to get the door closed again.
“Man, this one is going to be a doozy!” he exclaimed, running his hands over his hair to smooth down the strands. “Sophie, turn the radio on, would you, love? This came out of nowhere. I want to check the forecast.”
Sophie, our ever so friendly waitress, picked up a remote and turned off the jukebox, then flipped on the small radio behind the counter. She slid it toward the man who’d just come in and said, “Tune it to what you want, Carl.” Seemingly disinterested, she returned to fussing behind the counter.
Carl played with the radio, and I returned my attention to Levi just as a loud rumble of thunder shook the café.
“Wow.” Levi’s eyes grew huge. “That was kinda loud, huh?”
“Yeah.” I agreed, but didn’t have a lot to go on, since I hadn’t experienced storms before. Whenever I was on Earth and the weather turned bad, I’d just return to Hell. But now I had Levi and his cat to consider.
“Levi,” I began, but was interrupted by a loud clap of thunder and a fork of lightning that pierced the sky.
“Did you see that?” Levi jumped to his feet and cupped his hands around his eyes as he pressed his face against the window to get a better look at the darkness that had crept over Shadow Falls. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
“What? A storm?” I was surprised. He’d been born on Earth, so surely he’d experienced weather variations before.
“No. The thunder clapped before the lightning strike. Thunder is the sound lightning makes, so how could the thunder come before the lightning?”
I shrugged, watching as fat raindrops began to fall from the sky, just a few at first before it became a heavy deluge. Lightning continued to light up the sky, and the roll and rumble of thunder was never-ending.
“Think this will last long?” I yelled over the noise.
“It rolled in so quickly, I’d expect it to leave quickly, too. Must be some fast-moving weather front. Hey, Carl, any news on this storm?” Levi raised his voice to call out to the man at the counter, who had his ear pressed to the radio.
Carl lifted his head and looked at us. “Nah, it’s the weirdest thing. Not a single weather report is saying we’re having a storm.”
“What? That can’t be right.”
Levi went to listen to the radio reports himself while I stayed near the window, watching. The sunny afternoon of moments ago had turned into early nightfall with the arrival of the storm clouds, and now, with the rain hammering down, visibility was near zero. From what I could see, the drains could no longer cope with the torrential downpour, and water was filling the street. Before my eyes, it rose to curb level, then began lapping onto the sidewalk.
“Sophie?” I called, keeping my eye on the rising water outside. “Do you have anything to block the door?”
“Block the door?” she repeated. Quickly casting a glance her way, I could see the confusion on her face, and sighed. So not helpful, Sophie.
“What’s up?” Carl asked.
“I think we might flood.” I nodded outside, indicating the water creeping across the sidewalk toward the café doors.
“What? Oh my God! This can’t be happening!” Sophie screeched, hysterical, rushing from one end of the counter to the other.
Ignoring the hysterical waitress, Carl and Levi hurried to the doors to look outside. What once was the street was now a lake.
“It’s rising fast,” Carl muttered.
“Too damn fast. A few tea towels shoved under the door aren’t going to stop it. If we’re going to get out of here, we need to go now.” Levi was as calm as ever, and I loved him for it.
“Where do we go? The roads are impassable.” Carl tried to match Levi’s level of calm and almost convinced me he wasn’t shit scared.
“We’ll go to my place. It’s around the corner, walking distance. My apartment is on the first floor. We’ll be safe there.”
“Right. Good. Yes.” Carl stood, nodding, and I bit back a grin.
“Sophie, turn everything off and come with us.”
She looked at him, wild-eyed, but obeyed, flicking off switches, snatching up her bag, and flinging it over her shoulder before joining us by the front door. With the lights out, it was dark, and I briefly considered lighting the way. But I figured I’d hold off on exposing the humans to my magic until I absolutely had to.
“Ready?” Levi asked. We all nodded. Stepping forward, he pulled open the door, and the water lapped at the toe of his boot. “Looks like we’re in luck. The water isn’t that high yet. Got your keys, Sophie? We can lock up behind us.”
By the time we’d exited the café and locked the doors, the water was around our ankles.
“Does it always rise this fast?” I asked, curious.
“It’s never done this. Never rained this hard and never flooded,” Levi told me over the roar of the falling rain. We were soaked to the bone, and our usual stroll to Levi’s apartment took twice as long as we battled the wind that seemed intent on blowing us backward.
The water was up to our knees by the time we reached the fire escape at the rear of Levi’s building. Pulling down the ladder, he helped everyone up, shouting encouragement as cold fingers slipped on the wet rungs. As we burst into Levi’s apartment, leaving wet trails on the carpet, the lights began to flicker.
“Power’s about to go out,” Carl observed.
“Guys, bathroom is in here,” Levi said, pushing open the door and flicking the light switch. “Grab some towels, dry off. Put the coffee pot on now if you want to try and beat the power outage. Lucy, can you come help me in the store? We’ll grab some candles and see if we can’t sandbag the front door with something.”
“Sure.”
Leaving Sophie and Carl in the apartment, I followed Levi downstairs to his shop. The water had seeped beneath the door and was continuing to trickle in. I could see it lapping about a foot high on the glass. With a quick burst of magic, I sealed the door, preventing any further water from entering.
“Want me to fix this?” I asked, indicating the ankle-deep water inside.
“Nah. It would look strange if my place was the only one that stayed dry. But I see you fixed the door?” He nodded his head at the water-tight seal I’d placed over the front of his shop.
“Yeah, I did.”
“Let’s put some stuff against the doors to make it look like we actually put an effort into stopping the water and magic wasn’t involved.”
I blew out a sigh. “If you insist.” Following Levi’s lead, I grabbed a roll of tape and began covering up the gaps while he piled up tapestries he’d pulled down from the walls.
“Does it really matter?” I asked, tearing the tape with my teeth.
“Does what matter?”
“This place. Hiding our magic. I mean, I get that this is your store, but are you going to return here…to this life?” It was a subject I’d been reluctant to broach, but since we’d bound ourselves to each other, we needed to act like semi-responsible adults and sort out our living arrangements.
Levi stopped and looked at me. “You’re right.” He laughed, the sound harsh, making me frown. “Why am I bothering? Remove your magic. Let the water in.” He dropped the tapestry he was holding, and it splashed on the floor.
“Levi,” I began, seeing he was upset.
He cut me off. “No, you’re right. Why am I holding on to this life? This is the old me, the human me. This is what I built up with my grandmother. It has no standing now.”
“Stop!” Rushing to him, I grabbed his wrists to prevent him from sweeping the contents of the counter onto the floor. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything. My timing is lousy and I was wrong! This place is important. You built it with your grandmother. With love. Of course that matters. I’m sorry.”
Dripping wet and standing in ankle-deep water in his shop, we looked at each other. The storm continued to rage outside, wild and unabated, and I was pretty sure Levi’s emotions were in similar turmoil.
“We’ll work it out,” I whispered, cupping his face in my hands and standing on tip-toes to kiss him. “For now, let’s keep this place as safe as we can.”
