Azrael's Light [Demon Runners of Unearth] (Siren Publishing Classic) (12 page)

No question, he knew why Diane had gone to such great lengths to leave this place. As much as he dreaded it, he’d prefer to go back to work for the Fates than wait here on the precipice of an unknown hell. Yes, he’d been in Luc’s palace many times before, but now it felt like he’d stepped into an alien world. How could he have been so unaware of what had been directly in front of him so long ago?

He thought back on the past and vaguely remembered a shadow of a woman he’d occasionally seen on this side of the gate. Though avoiding her hadn’t been necessary because she’d always kept to herself. He recalled her being some sort of relative of Lilith’s. Just that bit of knowledge had been enough to keep him far away from her. He’d wanted nothing to do with any woman even remotely related to Lilith.

But Diane was her polar opposite. He had met very few beings, especially immortals, who were so selfless. The sight of her jumping in front of him to shield him from the blast of battleflare would haunt him forever. Never had anyone thought to protect him. Why had she done so? Maybe because he’d froze like a deer in the headlights? Useless.

It was no wonder that she felt the need to live on Earth instead of any of the other immortal realms. If she was as kind and selfless as he believed, the constant scheming and plotting here probably made her sick with disgust.

He didn’t blame her one little bit.

“Do either of you have news of my daughter?” Luc angrily paced the stone floors of the great hall and barked his anger. Lit by torchlight, the dim hall was haunted by shadows dancing with gleeful mischief. The distant echoes of cackling and manic laughter went ignored. Luc took no notice of the everyday madness as he stopped his pacing to glare at him and Diane. Lucifer stood at least seven feet tall with auburn hair that fell to just below his very broad shoulders. His face was solid, with a square jaw and full lips. His dark eyes were full of frustration and impatience as she answered him.

“Luc, she was in my club just the other night. She was fine. We talked for just a few minutes before she left. If I had known what was happening, I would have never let her leave. I promise you I would have found a way to chain her to my side and get her to you.”

“I don’t doubt that for a minute, Diane. You have always been steadfast in your devotion to family, especially Alia. I have searched high and low for her myself. It’s not going to be pretty when I get my hands on her, or that motherfucker, Belial. Do either of you have any idea of where to look?”

Azrael watched Diane open her mouth to answer, but typical of Luc, he rode right over her, not bothering to wait for an answer to the question he’d asked of her.

“Az, I can count on your help, correct?” Even if he didn’t count Luc as one of his few friends, no sane being in all of Unearth would dare refuse Lucifer when his eyes flashed with the orange-and-white light of hellfire. It was too bad that, unfortunately, Belial wasn’t sane.

“Of course. As long as the Fates allow, I’ll do whatever I can. There is a rumor that I’d like to follow up on if you don’t mind.”

“Rumor?”

“We heard that an unexpected runaway appeared in the ninth circle. I’d like to check it out.” Luc visibly shuddered as Azrael said the last two words. Legend said Luc had spent a great deal of time trapped there. Could it be true? Luc looked to Lilith, who met his eyes. Her features softened, and she came to stand beside him. She placed her hand on his arm and stayed close.

“Of course. I trust your instincts.”

“If it was Belial who attacked us, he may have felt confident enough in his guess that we were headed to the ninth circle. Diane, does he know that you can realm jump without the use of a gate?”

“No. I don’t think so. I haven’t told anyone other than you about the gift. Sis? Have you told anyone?”

“No. I haven’t said a word to anyone. I’ve done my best to act as though you never existed.”

He wondered if Lilith had any clue how her words hurt Diane. The sadness in her eyes would be obvious if Lilith would only open her eyes and see her sister.

“If he was following Diane in the hopes that she would lead him to Alia, he may have guessed we were headed to the ninth circle when we went to the lake outside Capital City. As one of your generals, he’d know the only realm we’d need to use a water gate for would be the ninth circle. I’d like to follow up on that as soon as possible. With that knowledge he probably felt confident enough to take us out of the picture.”

“Belial has always been a cocky bastard, even before he went mad.”

“Can I ask if you know anything about the attacks on humans? I fear they might be related to this mess. The attacker is risking our discovery by the human authorities with his nastiness.”

“I think Belial must be responsible. He’s getting frustrated. If he doesn’t consummate the mating with my daughter before the last of the moonlight fades from the waning moon, the betrothal covenant will be worthless. The moon is fading fast, and he has very little time left. It would be just like him to take his frustrations out on the helpless mortals.

“I am trusting you with the most important part of our lives. I fear that you two alone know the importance of finding Alia safe and sound. I want you and Diane to continue the search while I take care of some business.” He knew that sinister look in Lucifer’s dark eyes. Even knowing Lucifer as well as he did, the sight of that hellfire flickering in the depths of his gaze sent chills pounding up his spine.

“Business?”

“While you two look for Alia, I’m going hunting.”

Luc leaned down and kissed Lilith on the cheek, patted her hip, and disappeared before his eyes. Azrael stepped closer to Diane, brushing his shoulder against hers.

“Are you ready to leave?” He was eager to finish this damnable chore, but Diane had been right. It would be best if they worked together. Mired in deceit, there was no one else he could trust.

“Give me five minutes? I’ll be ready then.”

He’d expected to see the same eagerness he felt or a touch of impatience in her eyes. What he saw looked like heartache as she turned from him.

“Don’t follow her.” He turned from watching Diane’s exit through a stony, arched doorway to find Lilith biting her thumbnail as if she were unsure of her place.

“Why?” He’d become accustomed to thinking of them as a team. He didn’t like the thought of her wandering off alone, even if this used to be her home.

“She’s going through to the shadow garden. Ages ago she insisted we make it a graveyard for the slaves. She’ll have to say good-bye to them before she leaves. It will take another chunk from her heart, but she won’t leave without doing it.”

“Why would she say good-bye to dead slaves?” He’d never condoned slavery. It was a commonplace practice in Hell and a few of the other realms, but even with the lowliest demon, it never had set well with him.

“She’s going to the farthest corner, where the demon children who don’t make it to adulthood are buried. No one else will grieve for them, so she does.”

And of course, Lilith and every other fucking moron in this place left her to do it alone. Fucking bastards.

He headed out the door and to the shadow gardens.

Dark, icy, its stony pathway led him through a thorny tunnel formed by the naked branches of overgrown roses. He hurried to its end, where he found her, kneeling in front of a small statue in a bare plot surrounded by the spindly branches of bare hedges. He stopped his approach when he heard her soft whisper. His heart cracked in two when she rose and turned to him, wiping her cheeks.

“I’m finished. We can go whenever you’re ready.”

“Are you okay? What is this?”

“I’ll be fine. I needed to say good-bye to an old friend.” She turned to look at the statue of a small, winged, demon, its childlike face frozen in eternal sleep.

She pressed a kiss to a fingertip and touched it to the statue’s forehead.

“Does your friend have a name?”

“She wasn’t given one at birth, but I called her Violet. She had the prettiest, sparkling violet eyes.”

“What happened?” He hadn’t meant to ask the question and knew he wasn’t going to like the answer.

“She was trained as a hall servant. One day a general of Luc’s bumped into her and knocked her to the ground. The tray of mead she’d been carrying spilled on his pants and boots. Without a second’s thought the general drew his sword and killed her. No one in the hall thought anything of it. More servants came, cleaned up the mess, and she was thrown out like garbage.

“No one even noticed she was missing.”

“Except you.”

“Yes, except me. I saw it happen but was too far away to stop it. When I realized there was no way she could have survived the blow, I was paralyzed by my grief and anger.” Hearing the waver in her voice gutted him. “It shouldn’t matter that they had no names. Someone should remember them. Someone should have loved them.”

“Their bodies may rest here, but I promise you their souls are in a better place. Remember, that’s what I do? They’re not suffering any longer.”

“I hate this place. Take me away, please.” She held out her hand for him to take. He took it and more as he pulled her into his arms.

“We’ll go to the circle now. Let’s finish this.”

* * * *

The knowledge that they were safe standing on the shores didn’t help dispel the feeling of dread snaking through her veins. The barren, rocky shores were visible for miles in both directions. In theory that meant no one or nothing could approach them without being seen. No matter how many times she tried telling her gut that, it wouldn’t listen.

She stopped and stood atop a large boulder and made yet another useless survey of the area. Gray skies, dark clouds, and murky water covered the landscape. The white sand consisted of little more than crushed bone. Large black boulders littered the beach, while small white ones blended with the sand. Skulls that hadn’t been crushed yet. “She’s gone. Damn it. I am so tired of being twenty minutes behind her.”

The still waters of the lake rippled, roiled, and then stilled, cementing her need to be away from this place.

“Do you want to head back to your place?”

As much as she appreciated the concern in Azrael’s gaze, she tired of seeing it aimed at her. She was fine. Or she would be. She’d make sure of it. She had no other option.

“Let’s make one more survey before we go. I’m looking forward to leaving but won’t be able to forgive myself if we miss something important.” His approval of her words showed in the softening of his features. She wasn’t sure she’d earned his respect. Old memories of this place haunted her, and it still terrified her, eons later. The beach might not look like a horror-fest, but the pure evil lurking in the water made her knees weak.

She hadn’t lied when she told Azrael she’d been here before. That didn’t mean it had been a pleasant experience. She shuddered. “I can’t shake the terrible feeling that something is watching and waiting for me to make a mistake. They say that the hatred, anger, and misery Luc experienced while trapped here eons ago lives on in his absence. I’m beginning to think there may be some truth to that.”

“It doesn’t help that there are dozens of monsters in the lake, waiting to take a chunk out of your hide if you step one foot in the water. There are more than a few that I wouldn’t want to tangle with. I’ll admit to releasing a big sigh of relief when you said you were able to gate jump. I did not look forward to swimming through those icy waters.”

Her gut twisted when she realized he’d been worried for her safety. Her presence had only added to his burden.

“Do you mean after your anger?” She stepped up on one taller rock and then down to the sand, dodging jagged shards of bone.

“Yes, after I got pissed at you. I’ll apologize for that. I don’t handle confusion well, and there’s no doubt you baffled me.”

“I should apologize to you as well. I wish we could have done things differently, but you have to admit, having Death stride into your bar like he owns the place would make anyone pause. And I’d do anything for my niece.”

“I know that now.” He walked beside her in an easy gait, as if to make up for her shorter stride. But even as he ambled with his hands in his pockets his eyes never strayed far from the shoreline. They were alert and ready.

The air’s damp heaviness seemed to intensify as they walked along the shore, looking for any sign Alia had been there. Tense anxiety begged her to leave, and the circle’s anger and sorrow threatened to swallow her whole.

“Okay. One thing Alia isn’t is careless. Even if she were here, she knows how to cover her tracks. She’s learned so much from her father over the years. I’m beginning to worry that we may not find her unless she wants to be found. Let’s go back to my place.” This hopelessness wasn’t like her, and it wouldn’t help bring Alia home.

“What do we do next? I think you know her better than anyone else.” Azrael’s deep rumbling voice, so close to her ear, warmed her from the inside out. They’d come back to her apartment, where it had seemed as good a place as any to regroup and decide their next move.

He’d kept her close since her powers had been released, but he was just as silent as always. He had to know that his body heat was unnecessary at this point, but he hadn’t left her side. She just couldn’t make herself pull away as he kept that warm hand on her hip while he scanned her home for trouble.