Damned and Desperate (31 page)

By the time we left Heaven, the Nephilim were already lined up outside the Pearly Gates. Cam was with them, of course, as well as several other hunky angels who looked like him. Wow. The upper crust of Heaven was a virtual stud factory. I squeezed Aedan’s hand and shot him a sideways smile, reminding myself I already had eternity’s most perfect stud.

King Og was at the front of the line, as well as Garf, Goliath, Boar, and Anak. There were also two other Nephilim standing beside King Og looking sheepish and cowed. I recognized them as the prisoners from Doc’s quarry. I was happy and relieved to see all of them had made it to safety.

After exchanging hugs with our giant friends and nearly getting our guts squished out, Aedan and I pulled aside King Og.

“Did everyone make it out okay?” Aedan asked.

“Yah.” King Og drew a hand across his brow. “We dig tunnels for two days and then escape fourth dimension and come here.”

Two days? But Aedan and I had only been gone for about an hour. Time really did pass more slowly there. Or maybe it was faster. Ugh. I was in no mood to think math thoughts after what I’d been through.

I twisted my fingers together as I chewed on my lower lip. I sure hoped King Og hadn’t kicked out my friends after he discovered the devil woman in their midst. “And our friends are still in the pyramid?” I deliberately left off Katherine, since she wasn’t my friend, anyway.

“Yah, and new friends.” The king didn’t seem agitated. Maybe they’d just given Katherine the boot. The king’s heavy brow dipped low as his flaccid features seemed to transform to stone. “Devil woman make my son suffer in Hell for long time. She no deserve to leave Hell. She lucky she live in pyramid.”

Aedan worked a knot in his throat before he bowed his head. “I know it was hard for you to let her stay there, King Og. Thank you.”

“Yeah, thanks,” I squeaked. “And for the record, we don’t like her, either.”

The king chuckled before casting a glance at his kin behind him. “We going to Heaven now. Time to let go of anger.”

“You didn’t happen to find my scythe, did you?” Aedan’s shoulders bunched as he tried to strike a casual pose. He wasn’t fooling me.

The king frowned. “No, we turn every stone and no find it. Og think dragon burn it.”

I clutched my roiling stomach while latching onto Aedan’s arm.

Fuckity fuck fuck.
Well, it was nice knowing you, Heaven. See you in a hundred years or so.

Goliath stomped up to us, his normally dour face alight with a joy I’d never seen. “Pete ready for us, King.”

The king laid a hand on his shoulder. “Go. I be there soon.”

Goliath turned and whistled to the giants. I watched with pride and wonder as the Pearly Gates opened and the giants walked through. Well, now I understood why the gates needed to be so tall.

I pretended as if my world hadn’t just spun on its axis as I flashed a forced smile. “Goodbye, King Og. Have fun in Heaven.”

To my surprise, King Og bowed before me as if I was some deity. “Thank you, angels, for helping free Nephilim.”

Was he talking about our last trip to Hell, because we didn’t really free them. We’d gone down there to rescue the two giants and our friends, and we ended up getting three more giants trapped. Callum and Shadow had saved themselves. The only person we’d saved was Katherine, but I wasn’t about to remind King Og of that. Of course, there was that moment when Aedan had killed the dragon. Yeah, that had made the rescue mission a lot easier. Hey, maybe the Grim Union would take that into consideration when meting out Aedan’s punishment. But knowing how justice was served in Purgatory, I seriously doubted it.

“Come visit us soon, friends.”

We shook his outstretched hand. Actually, we shook his index finger, but it was sort of a handshake.

“I will as soon as I am able.” Aedan tapped the summons in his jeans pocket. Yeah, as soon as he was able meant a really fucking long time.

We descended to the pyramid through a secret, permanent elevator Cam had installed before he left. Yay! I sure hadn’t been looking forward to using the stairs.

A beautiful woman in a long grey robe jumped back as we walked off the elevator platform, the oversized bowl in her hands falling to the floor with a crash. “Oh, you startled me!”

Aedan and I helped her pick up the purple and pink melon-sized fruits that had toppled out of it.

This must be ambrosia.

“Who are you?” I asked her after I had set the last of the fruit in the bowl.

She pushed back a strand of wavy red hair before holding out a hand. “I am Melanie, a priestess of the web of light.” She frowned. “At least I was a priestess.”

One of the spider’s freaks? Hopefully they’d left their eight-legged friend back on level four. I shook her hand, offering her my warmest, please-don’t-murder-me smile. “I’m Ash. This is Aedan. We’re looking for our friends.”

Her eyes lit up as she pointed to Aedan. “You’re Callum’s brother.”

Oh, boy. Aedan’s twin was already a hit with the priestesses. Why was I not surprised?

“Yes.” Aedan stood, wiping fruit juices on his jeans. “Can you lead us to him?”

She bit her bottom lip as she stood, balancing the bowl on her hip. I could tell she was repressing a smile. “He is with Cara. Follow me.”

Cara? The pretty priestess who’d been knocked out by the spider? Oh, this was going to be interesting.

Aedan O’Connor

I found my brother in mine and Ash’s old chamber, wearing nothing but a rumpled toga and looking more satisfied than I’d seen him in a long while. When he saw us, his eyes widened before he strode up to me. I didn’t know if he was going to hug me or deck me.

He stopped a few feet away, looking as if he’d struck an invisible wall. “Brother.” He held up his arms. “May I hug you?”

Yeah, I’d heard all of that nonsense about grown men not crying, so I assumed the fogginess in my eyes was due to a change of seasons. In the middle of Hell. I wasn’t buying it, either, but it was the best I had. I took a step toward my twin, and he another toward me, until we held each other in a warm embrace. All my worry and frustration over the past century welled up in my eyes, and I couldn’t help the few tears that slipped out.

“I love you, brother.” Callum sounded as choked up as I felt.

“I love you, too,” I barely managed to say before my vision got even foggier.

We held each other for a long moment until Ash cleared her throat beside us.

Ash pointed beyond Callum’s shoulder. “We have company.”

Callum and I shared awkward looks as we both stepped back.

“I’m sorry.” Cara shifted from foot to foot. “Is this a bad time?”

“No.” Callum held out his hand to her. She came to him with a smile, and he wrapped an arm protectively around her shoulder.

“Cara, this is my brother, Aedan, and his girlfriend, Ash.” He swept a hand at us before smiling down at her. “Aedan and Ash, my girlfriend, Cara.”

His girlfriend? Wow. My twin wastes no time.

“Omigod!” Ash squealed, clapping her hands together. “You found a girlfriend!” She yanked Cara away from Callum, squeezing her so hard, I thought the girl was going to snap in two. “I remember you from the tunnel. You two must have fallen in love down there. Oh, how romantic. I can’t wait to hear all about it.” Ash turned to me with a pleading look in her eyes,

holding Cara’s arm against her. “Aedan, we must find a way to bring her to Purgatory with us. Do you remember her from the tunnel? Remember how concerned she was about Callum? She’s not evil like Katherine. I just know it!” She took a deep breath. “We must find Cam. He’ll help us.”

Though I was happy my brother had found someone, Cara presented a big problem. I didn’t know her sins, but if she was anywhere near as bad as Katherine, God would never allow her to ascend. Then again, I had to trust my brother knew better than to be fooled by another evil bitch. Whatever sins Cara had committed on Earth, she must have atoned for them by now.

Cara dipped her head and looked at us from beneath long lashes. “My place is here with the other priestesses.”

“Hang on. God said Callum could come to Purgatory. Did you know that, Callum? You get to come to Purgatory. Don’t you want to ascend with him?” Ash said this all without taking a breath, as if her mouth was trying to beat the clock.

Cara motioned to the opulent furnishing and tapestries. “I have more than what I need here.”

“Sorry, Ash.” Callum pulled his girl back to his side. “I’m staying with Cara.”

Ash pouted like a child. “But Purgatory won’t be fun without you.”

I wanted to tell her Purgatory wouldn’t be fun either way, not after The Grim Union confiscated my credits. I groaned, shaking my head. “Then I guess we’ll have to visit him on weekends.”

Ash looked at me as if I’d gone crazy. “But this is Hell.”

“Ash, this is paradise.” Callum pointed to the lush garden beyond their room. “Are you telling me Purgatory is better than this?”

He had a point.

Cara looked at Ash as if she’d lost her mind when she jabbed Callum hard in the chest.

“What if other demons attack you?” Ash’s voice became so loud, it echoed across the spacious chamber. “They’re bound to learn the Nephilim are gone.”

Callum shot me a pleading look before pushing her hand away. “Then I’ll attack back. I am a dragon in my demon form, remember? Besides, Cam and the other angels disguised the pyramid before they left. The demons won’t find it.”

Ash turned to me with a look, as if I was supposed to intervene. I had nothing. Honestly, if Katherine didn’t live here, I’d probably want to move in, too. The pyramid was almost as perfect as Heaven, maybe even more so since they didn’t need to depend on valets to obey their every whim. They grew their own food and reaped the benefits. It was by far more my kind of utopia.

Ash huffed. “But Katherine lives here.”

Ha! She must have been reading my mind. Either that, or we were becoming more attuned to each other’s thoughts.

A slow grin stretched across Callum’s face, reminding me of his devilish dragon form. “It’s a big pyramid. I’m sure we can avoid her.”

Ash glared at him and then me before stomping a foot. “Well, shit.”

As it turned out, Sarge and Shadow wanted to stay in the pyramid, too. It seemed pyramid life agreed with them, especially since Callum and Cara had brought with them twelve single priestesses. Boner refused to leave Mar, and Mar wasn’t about to abandon her daughter. Ash and I promised Mar we’d bring her parents for visits on weekends. Maybe Mr. and Mrs. Murphy could get my parents off cheesecake long enough to bring them down as well.

I said goodbye to our friends with a heavy heart, dreading my meeting with the union. What would they say when I told them the scythe had been lost, possibly even destroyed? Would they knock me all the way down to level two, and if so, how could I expect Ash to live with me in squalor?

No, the only option would be for her to reside in Heaven and visit me on weekends. I would work double-shifts, earning my way back up as fast as possible, but our eternity together would have to be put on hold. It was the only solution that made sense, so why did I get the feeling Ash would fight me on it?