Angel's Curse (32 page)

“Goodnight,” I said and watched as he walked
through
the bolted door to his private corridor.

I was too hyped up to sleep. That tail had me worried. I was thinking things I didn’t want to think — subconsciously.

I walked over to the curtains hanging on the wall opposite the couch. I knew my room was meant to have a view, but hadn’t looked out the window before. I pulled aside the curtains and gasped at what I saw — a fiery inferno in a bottomless pit and millions of souls writhing in agony. This was the hell I’d been expecting to see and it didn’t disappoint me.

I closed the curtains and returned to the couch. I lay down and thought about my reason for being here, and as I did so it didn’t seem as important as it once had …

When I arrived for my training session with Rahab the next day I was full of questions about technique. He took the time to explain everything and was patient with my while I put into practice what he said. I didn’t bleed quite as badly as the day before, but it was still plenty.

“Rahab, do you know of any good hunting grounds topside?” I asked.

“Depends what yer huntin.”

“Vampire.”

“Ah, after a bit arv sport are yer?” I nodded. “Well, thar’s ther desert vamps in Africa en Australia, er ther mountain en forest vamps in Europe er Northern America.”

I produced a globe of the world, two metres in diameter and rotating slowly a metre off the ground.

“Show me,” I said. “Please.”

Rahab pointed to various areas on the globe and they flared as he touched them. I catalogued each one for future reference.

“But don’t yer be goin anywhere near ther Amazon,” Rahab cautioned me.

“Why not?” I asked.

“Even vampires en wolves know better than ter venture thar.”

“Why?” I asked again.

“Thar be thins even they are scared arv, en thart’s sayin somethin.”

“What could vampires and werewolves possibly be afraid of?”

“Thins,” Rahab said. “Leave it et thart en mark me words, don’t go thar. Satan will no be happy if he has ter send demons ter rescue his latest playthin.”

The plaything remark stung, though why it should I didn’t know.

“Hah! Demons rescue me? I think not,” I snorted.

“Yer still youn en naive, Helena. Take it from a demon who’s been around. Stay away from ther Amazon.”

It was pointless pressing him for more information. He wasn’t going to give it to me.

I bowed and said, “Thank you, Master Rahab. I shall see you tomorrow. Now, I hunt.”

“Don’t forget ter be back in time fer ther meal. Satan won’t be happy if yer late,” he warned me.

“I will. Don’t worry,” I said. “You’re worse than an old woman.”

“Hah! I just don’t want anythin happenin ter me star pupil,” he said.

I bowed again and disappeared to the savannahs of Africa, running alongside cheetahs for hours on end, watching them hunt and feed, and feeling the thrill of being topside again. When the cheetahs had their fill and were settling down for the night I ran again, until I was a blur — a dark streak through the darkness. I knew where I was headed and it wouldn’t take long — half an hour at most. As I neared my destination I slowed down and let my senses range, and my vision lose focus. There was an underground entrance nearby and four vamps had just disappeared beneath the surface. I transported myself to the entrance and followed, quickly catching up to the straggler, clamping my hand over her mouth and my lips to her neck. Her skin was black as night and silky smooth, and her blood was slightly tart.
Regional variation?
She certainly wasn’t drugged and her blood tasted clean.

I let the others go. I’d spent too much time running and hadn’t left enough time for hunting. I was probably already late for the evening meal and if I dallied any longer there’d be hell to pay, from Rahab as well as Satan.

My routine over the next few months was to train with Rahab for a while, watch conversions, indulge in a free feed every now and again, return topside to hunt vamps — as far away from Drake’s clan as possible — and make it back in time for whatever nightly function I was expected to attend.

I was still not reconciled to giving up my soul, yet in a way felt I’d already done so — I just hadn’t shaken hands on it. Satan had put no moves on me, though there was lots of innuendo. I was beginning to feel like I’d never find another way to get the blood I needed.

I’d heard on the grapevine — Asmodeus loved to gossip and Rahab always passed on anything he heard if I’d performed well in his training sessions — that Satan had been unsuccessful in trying to get a string of females to build up an immunity to the poison in his blood. Even the smallest drop was proving fatal and he was becoming extremely frustrated. If what Asmodeus said was true, Satan hid it well when he was around me. Maybe he thought that once he had my soul he could try the same with me.

The times of my training sessions with Rahab varied on a daily basis. He had other students he needed to teach. Even though Satan had told him to accommodate me I didn’t want to put anyone out. If my training session was to be in the afternoon I’d spend the rest of the morning — after breakfast — in the heart, watching conversions. If my training session was in the morning I’d spend part of the afternoon in the heart and part topside, hunting.

There were always a couple of attempted conversions going on. The demons’ strike rate was around fifty percent. The fifty percent that failed either died, or were thrown into the pit, never to see the light of day again.

I left Rahab early in the afternoon — I’d almost bested him today — opened a door to the heart and walked past a new arrival being carried along between two demons, in the opposite direction. He raised his head to look at me. He looked remarkably like Danny.

“Helena, save me,” he said, in Danny’s voice.

I ran to intercept the demons before they disappeared around a corner.

“Wait!” I yelled.

They stopped and I knelt down in front of the man they carried. I lifted his head. It wasn’t Danny’s face I saw. He opened his eyes — they were brown, not sapphire blue.

“Help me, save me,” he said.

I let his head drop and stood aside, watching the demons drag him away. I fled the heart and returned to my room, bolting the door and sitting not on the couch, but in a corner, rocking back and forth gently.

I was melancholy at dinner and after I’d provided a minimum of entertainment was allowed to leave early, alone. I felt somewhat better in the morning, even though I’d had a restless night, tossing and turning.

I headed to the small dining room for breakfast — to watch Satan eat — before visiting Rahab for some training. The little creature who usually accompanied me to and from the various rooms — when Satan was not with me — now only came to accompany me to dinner. I was free to come and go as I pleased, including on my topside visits. Satan was finishing reading the paper as I entered the room.

“I’m going to watch you train for a while. Rahab says you’re a good student. He’d like to teach you how to use other weapons, if you’re interested.”

“Maybe,” I said, shrugging my shoulders.

“You’re not having anything to eat?” He looked at the vamp that waited patiently in the corner.

“I ate my fill yesterday,” I said. “I’m not hungry.”

Satan waved the vampire away and he left, grateful to be alive for another day.

“Well, if you’re not eating let’s go. I have lots to do today. Business waits for no man or immortal, including me.”

We walked down the corridor in silence, which was very unusual. I’d found Satan to be quite chatty. Whether he enjoyed talking or the sound of his own voice I didn’t know. It was probably a bit of both. Before we reached the door to the training room he stopped. I kept on walking, not realising he was no longer there, until he coughed into his hand. I turned around and walked back to him. He had something on his mind that he could no longer keep to himself.

“Helena, you’ve been coming and going for months now. I think it’s time you paid a visit to The Cage,” he said.

“I have no desire to see The Cage. If it’s the same as the one topside, I’ve been there, done that,” I said dryly.

“There are subtle differences,” he said.

I folded my arms across my chest. “Not interested.”

He smiled. “Not even in the
dancing?
”

“What sort of dancing?” I asked.

He folded his arms across his chest, mirroring me, though his muscles rippled and expanded far more than mine.

There are some bad boys you must draw the line at, Helena, if you want a shot at getting into heaven!

“You’d need to go there to find out.” He grinned, and the fire in his eyes flickered and flared. “I’ll not spoil it for you.”

I gritted my teeth. Whatever happened to
no means no?
I could feel the anger building up inside me, a dangerous thing in even more dangerous company — I forgot who I was talking to.

“I said I’m not interested. Don’t push your luck
pal.
”

He grabbed my arms and lifted me off the ground, dangling me like a rag doll. He squeezed until I heard bones crunch, and he’d only applied the slightest amount of pressure. My bones may as well have been made from balsa wood.

Don’t show weakness,
I thought to myself.
Don’t cry out, don’t cringe, unclench your jaw. Stare him down and stand your ground, even if your feet are dangling.

“You’d do well to remember whom you’re talking to,” he hissed.

He let me go and I fell to the ground.

“I don’t
need
this shit!” I said, even angrier now. I was seeing red.

Satan crouched down so he was at my level, his eyes questioning. He waved his hand in front of my face, for what purpose I didn’t know.

“How are you doing that and why?” he growled.

“I’ve got no idea what you’re talking about,” I snorted.

“Your eyes,” he said. “How are you making them
mirror
mine?”

“I’m not,” I replied.

He produced a mirror from thin air and held it up to my face. The eyes I saw reflected in it were not mine — they did not belong to me. My mouth dropped open in disbelief. I pushed the mirror away and poked his shoulder.

“
What have you done to me you bastard?
” I yelled.

He shook his head. “It’s not my doing.”

“Am I corrupt?” He said nothing. “
Answer me!
”

“You don’t need me to tell you that, you know the answer already.”

I blinked and disappeared, back to my room at the La’miere. It had been a long time since I was last here, yet the room was as I left it, with the exception of a few dozen sealed envelopes neatly stacked on the coffee table.

I headed to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. My eyes were still a fiery red and I cried for what it might mean.

When was the last time I cried?
I asked myself.

It was here, at the La’miere,
the voice replied.

This time there were no salty tears. Instead, blood streamed down my face, freaking me out all the more.

I transported myself again, this time to Drake’s chambers. He wasn’t there. I opened the door and grabbed the first vampire I saw.

“Where’s Drake?”

“At the temple, nine-one-one,” the vampire replied.

Nine-one-one … Surely a year hasn’t passed already?

I transported myself to the temple, among a crowd of vamps, my eyes flaming, and tears of blood running down my cheeks. I must have looked a sight. As I looked around to find Drake I noticed the leaves on the trees, thicker than before the angels had devastated the area.

So, it must be true — another year has passed.

I spotted Drake at the back of the temple and pushed my way through the crowd. He had not seen me yet.

“What has he done to me, Drake?” I yelled.

He looked up surprised, and with a single gesture the vampires scattered, leaving him alone in the temple with me. He held out his arms and I ran to him, tears of blood streaking my face. His arms were cold, and after the heat of hell I shivered uncontrollably. He kissed the top of my head and rested his cheek on it.

“Nothing,” he said. “Satan has done nothing. I think you’ve done it to yourself. I think you stayed there too long.”

“I’ve only been gone a few months. Surely that’s not long enough.”

“Helena,
five years
to the day have passed since you left me.”

I pulled away from him, to look at his face. He didn’t look like he was lying, but perhaps he was pulling my leg. He occasionally enjoyed indulging in a prank or two.

“You’re joking, aren’t you?”

“No, Helena. I’d given up on you. I tried on many occasions to gain access to you, but the orders were that I was to leave you alone. As long as you stayed in hell, you were off limits. Now you’ve left, well, that
changes
everything.”