Damned and Desperate (18 page)

“Silver, you say?” Aedan puffed up his chest while waving the blade in Doc’s face. He then bumped into me, which I assumed was a sign to get the hell out of there.

Aedan didn’t need to tell me twice. I quickly backed up several steps, Mar and Boner following my lead. Jack began dancing on all four paws, frantically barking at us as if to make us hurry.

Doc narrowed his eyes at Aedan’s sword. “Where did you get that?”

“None of your damned business,” Aedan growled.

We were almost to the swinging saloon doors, but when I saw demon shadows slink into my peripheral vision, I decided I’d had enough. My inner-bitch was so ready to come out and play, and I had no qualms releasing her on Plant Face and his friends. I raised both hands and started zapping snarling creatures on both sides. I gagged on the smell of burnt flesh as it filled the room, but better them than me. That was the smell of demons getting their asses waxed.

My eyes widened in shock when Boner raised his back legs and kicked a demon so hard, he flew through several walls, leaving a line of gaping, steaming holes through the clapboards of the adjacent buildings.

Well, I’ll be damned. Boner’s demonic kick puts Jackie Chan’s ball-busting skills to shame.

Just when our backs were against the exit, Mar broke left and made a wide run around me.

“Get back here!” I yelled, but when I saw her plowing toward Katherine like a runaway steam-roller, I knew she was hell-bent on one stupid purpose. Damn her for being an idiot, and damn me for chasing after her, clearing a path and zapping demons in her wake. Boner clomped behind me, kicking demons that dared chase after us.

It was no surprise when her ungrateful, crazy bitch-sister’s pet snake tried to attack Mar. I zapped the snake and then Katherine with just enough strength to knock them out. Katherine fell into her sister’s arms, her chest painted in a big red bulls-eye from my burn. I’d intentionally aimed for the heart, since I knew I couldn’t permanently damage an empty organ. The smell of her burnt flesh and lace gave me a rush of satisfaction as I helped Mar pile her onto Boner’s back. We raced to the saloon entrance, where Aedan was busy fending off demons. Oops. Guess we kind of left him hanging. Served him right for allowing Mar to come with us. I shot him an “I told you so” look as we backed out the swinging doors.

Doc and a handful of his demons followed, malice in their eyes as their claws hovered over the big guns in their holsters. Well, shit. I had a hunch a shootout at the O.K. Corral would be anything but okay.

Sweat dripped down my brow and tension stiffened my wings as we cautiously stepped off the porch and onto the dusty street. Jack was already waiting for us, impatiently barking as if we were running out of time. A tremor wracked me as the roar of the dragon sounded in the distance. We needed to dust these demons and fast, or we’d be easy pickings out in the open.

Aedan aimed the tip of his gleaming blade at Doc. “Now we’ll be on our way, after we find the rest of our friends.”

“You’ve been fortunate so far, but you’ll need a whole lot more than luck to find them,” Doc said with a sneer as he turned his menacing gaze toward the sky.

Mar turned up her chin. “We’ve got more than luck on our side. We’ve been blessed by the one true Almighty God.”

Doc tossed back his head and laughed. “Your God is as good as dead here.”

Mar planted her hands on her hips. “Oh, we’ll see about that.”

“Shut up, Mar,” I hissed, distinctly remembering God refusing to offer us any help. Basically, if we got into any trouble in Hell, we’d be up shit creek without a prayer. Because Mar was an incapable idiot, I was already forced to paddle for the two of us. I didn’t think I could row any faster.

“Zahaka is the only God here.” Doc’s smile faded as he solemnly pointed to the sky.

I took a chance and looked up. Holy fuck!

Since the only other dragon I’d ever met was Callum, I was kind of expecting the thing to be somewhat smallish, you know, like a mini-van or an ice cream truck, but this beast hovering above us and casting a shadow of gloom across the entire road was like a jumbo jetliner. Needless to say, her inflight movie probably didn’t involve ginger ale and peanuts, but rather razor-sharp fangs and a whole lot of bone crunching, my bones to be exact.

The monster landed with a thud, rattling my body from the inside out. I fell against Aedan as my eardrums banged like gongs. The dragon was the most horrific creature I’d ever seen, with shimmery black scales, a long, wide neck, and claws as thick as lances. Odd that all her claws were black except one, gleaming silver like a blade. Venom dripped off her fangs, sizzling as it hit the ground. A deep growl sounded from her chest, the vibration like the rumbling of a hundred semi-trucks. When I looked up into her glossy black eyes, and saw the apparitions of demons, hands pressed against her reflective pupils as they screamed to break free, I nearly pissed my pants. Hang on. I actually did piss my pants a little. Thank God for makeshift maxi-pads, although I suspected by the time this dragon was through with us, there wouldn’t be enough adult diapers in all of eternity to contain my bladder.

Jack frantically barked at the dragon. Steam poured out of her nose as she glared at him. I so didn’t want my doggie getting turned into a roasted canine. Even as a two-headed beast, he was no match for Zahaka. He continued to bark while dancing at her feet. He looked like a Chihuahua trying to attack a Mastiff.

I looked up at him with a plea in my voice. “Easy, boy. She’ll slaughter you.”

Jack whimpered, tucking his tail between his legs as he finally backed down. I ducked beneath his slobbery mouth and patted him on the chest. “Good boy.”

If I’d thought Mar was crazy before, that was nothing compared to the certifiably demon-shit insane look in her eyes now. She jumped in front of us, pointing a finger at the beast’s long snout. “Get thee behind me, demon!”

Aww, fuck. Mar picked a Hell of a bad time to go holy-roller.

When Mar stomped her foot, a sonic boom rent the air, and the ground rippled around us, turning the road into a sea of dust. Each wave grew as it fanned out, causing the demons to land on their asses and the dragon to fall over backward with a roar.

Whoa. Maybe Miss Priss wasn’t entirely useless. And just when I started to feel the slightest spark of hope that we’d get out of here with our necks intact, an angry buzzing filled the air, and a cloud of black rose up from behind the saloon.

“Now you’ve gone and done it,” Doc laughed. “You’ve angered the hornets.”

The first one came flying at me so fast, I barely had time to zap him. Aedan swatted another with his sword, and the thing fell at our feet with a thump. Good God, he was as big as a rodent, and his stinger was as long as my finger! More and more bugs swarmed us, and I screamed when one struck my shoulder. Holy shit! I’d never been shot before, but I swear it was like a bullet had splintered my collarbone in two. Mar pounded the ground again, the sonic boom blasting the bugs back as they splattered against the buildings and shattered windows. Then the ground began to shake. I tried to fly, but the earth engulfed my feet like quicksand. Panic seized my brain, and I looked up at Aedan with wide eyes before the ground opened up beneath us. I screamed in a gulp of dust as we disappeared into a swirling black hole.

Callum O’Connor

I had no idea how much time had passed since the spider had taken my nettle, as the jug of wine had dulled my senses. Cara had stayed with me, scolding me for drinking too much. She’d made a good companion, though, despite the fact she refused to refill my jug. She hummed softly as she tidied my room and then forced me to lie down while she checked my bandage. Her presence here made me question, and not for the first time, what this angel had done to get sent to Hell. Surely, God had to have made a mistake in judgment.

She continued to hum while she pulled back the gauze on my wound. I vaguely remembered the tune
Amazing Grace
, surprised to be hearing it in Hell. Didn’t this girl realize there was no grace for her? For any of us?

I leaned back, gazing into her soft brown eyes. She smelled of the spicy sweet ambrosia fruit, and the warmth radiating off her skin was like a beam of sunshine. I wondered what those full lips of hers would feel like pressed against mine. What it would feel like to take her in my arms and roll her over on the bed. I must have been drunk, really drunk, because for the first time in a century, I was seriously contemplating bedding a woman. Not that it would have worked. I was too much a dragon, and she had no outward appearances of a demon at all. My scales would chafe her smooth skin, and she would choke on my breath. I did my best to push back the rising tide of desire. It would do me no good to pine over a woman I could never have. Besides, I had every intention of leaving her cult far behind me once I recovered enough to escape.

“What is the matter, Callum?” She frowned as she rewrapped the gauze around my shoulder.

“What are you doing here?” I rasped, trying not to scorch her with the heat from my breath.

She shook her head, smiling. “Looking after you.”

“I mean what are you doing in Hell?”

Her smile faded, the skin around her full lips tightening as if being pulled by an invisible tether. “I killed my three best friends.” Her voice cracked like splintering ice.

I should have taken her verbal cues as a sign to drop the subject, but a nagging curiosity urged me forward. “Forgive me, but you don’t strike me as a killer.”

She leaned against the stone wall, resting her cheek on the surface. “I was driving drunk. They were my passengers. The car exploded, and we all burned to death.”

Dear God, what a horrible way to die, burned to death like a witch at the stake.

When a tear slid down her cheek, I berated myself for pushing her too far. Though it did give me a small degree of comfort, knowing she was still capable of grief. Proof this hellish existence hadn’t stripped away her humanity. Because if she could grieve, she could love. And damn me for wishing Cara could love me. I mentally berated myself. What was wrong with me that I wanted to see her suffer?

“Then it was an accident,” I said with an ache in my heart. Though I’d not lived to witness the invention of the automobile, I’d seen enough of modern society during my visits to Earth. I knew those steel traps were capable of wreaking destruction, but this woman was no killer.

She turned her gaze down. “No, not an accident.” Her shoulders stiffened. “I knew better than to get behind the wheel. I could have called my parents to pick us up.”

One foolish mistake and she was banished to Hell forever? “How old were you?”

“Nineteen.”

Nineteen? She was hardly a woman. “When was this?”

“1989.”

Nearly thirty years she’d suffered. Why? Had she intentionally meant to kill her friends, I could have understood, but an eternal fate of misery? Such a harsh hand for one so young. My chest swelled with rage at the injustice, and the bitterness from my anger left a foul taste on my tongue. Worse, Cara didn’t appear to be a demon. The only marking I’d seen on her body was a shoulder tattoo, but a tattoo didn’t make her a demon. How did God expect her to survive her punishment without any magical defenses?

“So you got sent to the fourth dimension with rapists and murderers?”

“No, I was assigned to the first dimension, but I was cast down here by the gatekeeper when I refused to sign his blood oath. That’s when Mother saved me.”

“You don’t deserve to be in Hell.” A knife twisted in my heart, stirring the embers of anger until I felt the need to scorch the walls.

“Callum, let it go. I’ve already resigned myself to my fate.” She looked away, unable to make eye contact with me.

Damn. I’d pushed her too far. What the Hell was the matter with me? Why couldn’t I let it go? She grabbed an empty basin and extra gauze, and headed toward the narrow exit.

I shot up, tossing my legs over the bed. “Where are you going?”

She turned, the soft features of her profile illuminated by a flickering light. “Mother will be expecting me.” She ducked beneath the doorway and quickly padded down the hall.

I released a steamy breath of frustration as smoke rings filled my cramped chamber. I’d driven her away and doubted she’d want to see me again. I supposed I deserved it for my intrusiveness. It was just as well I hadn’t formed an attachment to the girl. Loving her would only bring us both heartache, for nothing good could ever last in this wretched pit.