Damned and Desperate (26 page)

Aedan O’Connor

We’d tried everything to cut through the web. First, Goliath attempted to turn it to stone, but the web seemed to be immune to his magic. Next, the giants attacked it with their clubs, which only resulted in them getting stuck. Anak transformed Boner back into a donkey-man, and he kicked the web, but then his hooves ended up trapped in the sticky substance and he was hanging upside-down, crying for us to free him. In the end, I remembered what Doc had said about silver being the strongest substance in Hell, so I wished for my hammer to be transformed back into a silver sword. Sure enough, it cut right through it, freeing Boner’s legs and the giants’ clubs, as I cut a path to the other side of the tunnel.

Just as Jack had picked up on a scent, we heard the scream.

I was not surprised to find Katherine had attacked Mar. Disappointed, but not surprised. What did surprise me was Ash and Mar’s sudden friendship. What transpired that had made them best friends? Had Mar let Ash in on her dirty little secret? A secret she so cleverly thought she’d been hiding from me all these years? Or did their new bond revolve around a mutual hatred of me? I’d made a lot of mistakes during my tenuous relationship with Ash, but I’d gone too far with this latest outburst over Boner. How could I have been so foolish?

Though I knew Ash wouldn’t believe me, it wasn’t jealousy that made me so angry. It was the fact I’d promised Mar’s dad I would look after her, and by allowing Boner to take advantage of her, I’d let Mar’s dad down. This wouldn’t have been the first time. After Mr. Murphy ascended to Heaven, and I had to explain why Katherine went to Hell, I’d never forget the look of agony in the older man’s eyes. Over the years, that look turned to one of disappointment, as if Katherine’s unfaithfulness and banishment was due to my neglect.

As soon as my own parents discovered Callum had gone to Hell, too, they’d drowned their sorrows in cheesecake, completely forgetting about their other son. Mar and her family, though, had refused to wipe out the memory of their child, clinging to the slim chance that one day they’d be able to save her. Now that I was finally able to afford them the slightest hope, I would do everything in my power to see this plan through, though I doubted God would allow Katherine to ascend. At least I’d tried my hardest, and they could no longer blame me for Katherine’s fate.

As for Mar, she was heading for a world of hurt if she got tangled up with Ash’s foolish friend. I’d seen him on ghosting missions, cowering behind his sergeant. That boy was hardly a man, parading naked around everyone. I knew if we ended up in a sticky situation, he’d be the first one to bolt, leaving Mar defenseless. No, a guy like that only wanted a girl for one thing and one thing only. I should have separated them last night. Because of that water, my own foolish lust had gotten the better of me, and I’d cared only for my needs. I would not let that happen again. Mar may not have been my fiancée any longer, but as long as we were in Hell, she was my responsibility.

My reaction over Mar’s lover, though, was unacceptable. I was even surprised by my behavior. Why had seeing him made me so angry? Could it have simply been the water? No, there was a deeper reason. My hatred of that man didn’t stem from jealousy. It stemmed from anger at Mar’s deception. If she had told me she’d had a lover and Katherine was her daughter, I knew without a doubt I would never have married the daughter of my dead fiancée. I would have regarded her as a daughter, nothing more. And if I had never married Katherine, then my whore ex-wife wouldn’t have betrayed me with my brother. Callum wouldn’t have spent a century in Hell, suffering for one stupid mistake.

My rage over seeing Mar’s lover didn’t mean I loved Mar. Far from it. I had hoped seeing him would force Mar to confess and finally apologize for withholding her secret. Ash was still the only woman for me. I only hoped I could make Ash understand.

After Anak healed Ash’s hands, we secured Katherine’s bindings and piled her on Boner’s back. The giants, each carrying a flaming torch, led the way through the tunnel, followed by Jack, Mar, and Boner. I had no idea what to expect on the other side of that web, but I feared it wouldn’t be pleasant. I pulled at Ash, knowing this might be my last chance to set things right.

“Ash.” I kept my tone firm yet soft, knowing how vulnerable she was at the moment. “I need to talk to you.”

“I don’t want to talk.”

She tried to pull away from me, but I refused to let go. “Please, Ash.” I spun her into me. “I don’t love her anymore.”

The pain I saw in her eyes was almost unbearable. “You could have fooled me.”

“I was an idiot back there.”

She rolled her eyes before looking away. “I know you were.”

“I’m sorry.” I cupped her chin, tilting her head up and forcing her to meet my gaze. “I love you and only you. What can I do to prove it?”

I felt like ten piles of dog shit when her eyes glazed over. “I don’t know, Aedan. Every time I think you’re over her, you do something stupid.”

“I’m over her. I can assure you of that. I have been for a very long time.” I looked beyond her shoulder to see the others had walked out of earshot. “You’ve probably figured out by now Mar isn’t Katherine’s sister.”

Her eyes nearly popped out of her head. “You knew?”

“Of course I did.” I released her. “It took me a few decades to figure it out, but I’ve known for a while.”

Her hand flew to her mouth, and she looked behind us at Mar’s retreating silhouette. “She doesn’t know you know,” she breathed in a strained whisper, as if Mar would be able to hear us. Again, strange how Ash cared about Mar’s feelings. I still didn’t know if I found their new friendship a welcome relief or an odd discomfort.

“I imagine she’d be humiliated if she knew I was onto her secret.” Although some part of me was so tempted to tell her I knew, not so I could see the shocked reaction in her eyes, but so I could force her to explain what had happened that she would have abandoned Katherine’s father so easily and come rushing into my arms.

Ash was gaping at me as if I’d grown a second head. “So you don’t think she’s perfect?”

I heaved a frustrated groan, raking my fingers through my hair. “I never said she was perfect.” Never. Not once. If Ash believed Mar to be the image of perfection in my eyes, then she was delusional. Had her jealousy consumed her so much that she would fail to see the obvious truth?

Ash’s shoulders caved inward, her wings drooping down her back. “Oh, I just got the impression that….” she trailed off, kicking the gravel beneath her feet.

“That I already have the most perfect, beautiful girl a man could want,” I finished for her.

A spark of anger flashed in her eyes. “You’re trying to distract me with flattery.” She leaned forward, jabbing a finger in my chest. “What about your reaction to Boner and Mar’s German lover?”

“She is the mother of my dead wife and the daughter of the man who saved me from starvation. Am I not supposed to look after her? I made a promise to her father I would do my best to keep her safe.” I looked over at the group. They had stopped a distance away and appeared to be waiting for us. Boner held Mar’s hand, whispering into her ear. “I fear Boner may be after only one thing.”

Ash shook her head as she stared at them. “I think he cares for her.”

“That remains to be seen. As far as her German lover, I admit I am still angry over him.” I clenched my teeth as I thought of Mar’s deception. “Had Mar told me she was Katherine’s mother, I would have never married Katherine. Imagine how much different mine and Callum’s lives would have been had Katherine and I never wed.”

“Katherine might have married Callum and betrayed him instead. Maybe he would have killed her in a jealous fit, and he would have still been sent to Hell.”

“True,” I said, and wondered, not for the first time, if our fates were predestined, if our futures were shaped by chance, or did our choices truly determine our destinies? Callum had been a good man, a hard worker, and a loyal brother. One brief encounter with Katherine had changed everything. Had Katherine not tempted him that day, would he have made it to Heaven?

As if Ash was reading my thoughts, she fluttered up until we were eye-to-eye, cupping my face in her hands. “If you hadn’t been betrayed by Katherine, you might have married someone else, eating cheesecake with her in Heaven while I was stuck on level two.”

Ash was right. If I’d married someone else, I might have very well been in Heaven with her instead of in Hell with Ash. I couldn’t imagine spending my afterlife without Ash. I’d take eternal damnation with Ash over a lifetime of paradise with another woman. “I suppose everything happens for a reason,” I said, realizing now my fate was most likely in the hands of a higher power.

“It does.” Ash smiled warmly, leaning her forehead against mine. “I’m sorry I was so jealous of Mar.”

“I’m sorry I was a fool.” My chest tightened with emotion as I looked deeply into her vivid green eyes. “I love you more than anything, more than my own soul.”

Her wings hummed as she wrapped her arms around my neck, breathing against my cheek. “I love you so very much.”

My mouth sought hers, and for one blissful second, we shared a kiss that rocked me to my very toes. I would have held her in my arms forever if it hadn’t been for Mar’s ear-piercing scream. We quickly pulled apart. Grasping her hand in mine, we raced down the tunnel, stopping when we came upon our party. I jerked Ash back when I saw our friends were surrounded by thousands of Black Widow spiders, each one as big as my palm.

“Help us!” Mar cried as she huddled against Boner.

Jack growled, crouching next to the giants while Anak and Boar tried waving away the spiders with their torches. Goliath aimed his club at a cluster of spiders. Even if he was able to turn some of them to stone, it wouldn’t have been enough. Others would descend upon him before he had a chance to destroy them all.

My main concern was getting Ash to safety. We slowly backed up, but then the spiders shifted, moving as one like a giant black storm cloud, encircling us in a flash. Ash screamed and tried to lift off the ground, but I pulled her back, pointing to the web-covered ceiling, which was carpeted in bugs as well.

As I looked at their bulbous black abdomens, each with the tell-tale gleaming red hourglass, I feared the poison from one bite could cast us down another dimension. What would millions of bites do? I had to think of a diversion.

The spiders stilled, just inches from our feet. What were they waiting for? And then what I thought had been a boulder rose up from the earth beside me, sprouting eight legs, a round abdomen covered in black armor, and a dark, fuzzy human head. Dear God, this had to have be the most hideous demon I’d ever seen. Ash froze, her face a mask of stone and her eyes bulging.

Not wanting to make any sudden moves, I slowly clutched the hilt of my sword. I thought about wishing for a flame-thrower, though what good would it do against so many?

The spider’s legs extended at least eight feet. Pinchers protruded from her human mouth, clacking as she let out a low hiss. “Welcome to the web of light, dear ones.”

Ash MacLeod

The demon spider made us follow her through a maze of caverns. I cringed as the little spiders she referred to as “demonlings” followed us on the webbed ceiling, the sound of their rustling legs like wind blowing through tall grass. Creepy. I would never look at grass the same way again, that was, if I ever escaped my current fate. After walking until my feet started to cramp, we arrived in a strange circular chamber covered in webs, but one web in the corner stood out among the rest. It glistened like thin strands of silver.

The giants and Jack huddled behind us, their backs against the wall. The ceiling of the circular chamber appeared to be lower in the center, and the giants barely had enough room to stand. Boner nervously pranced beside us, holding Mar’s hand. Katherine was still knocked out and draped across his back.

Those creepy little spiders didn’t come into the room with us, but I sensed them nearby. They were in the tunnel, no doubt, eagerly waiting for their mistress’s command to attack us.

The spider woman waved a long leg at Mar before settling her gaze on Aedan. “I have never had a visit from angels.” That thing in her mouth looked like black salad tongs, clacking as she spoke. It reminded me of my horrific junior high school headgear days. “I am the high priestess of the web of light, but you may call me Mother.”

Mother? Uhhh. She looked nothing like my image of a mother. Somehow, I wasn’t expecting any fresh-baked cookies or warm hugs from her.

She gave me a pointed look before nodding to the shimmery web. “Isn’t it beautiful?” she said with a dark hiss that sounded part cymbal, part gong.

“It is,” I answered honestly, focusing on the iridescent threads rather than gawking at her mouth.

Note to self: I’m so glad I was killed by a blow-dryer and not a spider. So very glad.

“It is the web of light.” One of her creepy long black legs stretched out and smoothed down the side of the web. “In it, I see truths. The web also gives my children gifts, rewards for their loyalty.”