Hellbound Warrior: (Dark Warrior Alliance Book Five) (24 page)

She pointed to the boiling blood and fire. “I am not going to allow those things to pull me in. Do you see those flames? And, the blood? That is the last place I want to be trapped for the rest of time.” She shuddered and wrapped her arms across her chest protectively. Rhys had noticed she had a habit of doing that when she was frightened or nervous.

He rubbed soothing circles on her back and drew her to him. He was making progress with her, he thought, as she came to him willingly. “We will find a way that will keep you out of their reach. I’ll even carry you on my back. You trust me, don’t you?” he asked, kissing the top of her head.

She lifted her head off his chest and looked into his eyes. He had no idea what she saw there, but he meant what he said. He would keep her safe and not allow harm to come to her. “I trust you. I don’t trust them,” she asserted, glancing at the river and the writhing souls within.

The souls here appeared more corporeal and there weren’t as many as there had been in other sections. It was still eerie to see these barely dressed beings, some neck deep, some knee deep, in the boiling blood. The flames would burn their clothes away and their skin would bubble and melt and then they would heal and go back to normal, but it never lasted as the cycle was on endless repeat.

“We found something,” Dante called out, interrupting their conversation.

“Coming,” Rhys called back to Dante before cradling Illianna’s face in his hands. “I’ve got you. I promise nothing will touch you.”

Lowering his head, he placed his lips to hers, stalling whatever her response was going to be. The simple kiss of comfort quickly turned into something passionate and hungry.

He indulged in the sensation of her giving herself freely then forced himself to break the kiss. Leading her with a hand at the small of her back, they hurried to where Dante and Kellen stood about twenty feet away.

When they reached the other males, Rhys saw the boulders Kellen was pointing out. Souls were scrambling to get onto the surface, safe from the flames but they couldn’t get any traction to lift themselves out of the river.

“Those rocks don’t look very big…just look at them, they’re ready to fall apart. Are you sure there isn’t another way across?” Illianna asked, biting one of her thumbnails.

“There might be another way, but we can’t guarantee how long the minotaur will be occupied by the females. I’m not willing to risk your safety a minute longer. Climb on my back, I’ll carry you across,” Rhys instructed her.

Illianna dropped her hand and her mouth fell open. “You can’t be serious! Those rocks are so slippery those things can’t even climb on them and they’re right beside them.”

Rhys gripped her chin between his fingers and shook her gently. “Come on, Angel. Besides, I know you’re aching to wrap those sexy legs around me again,” he teased, trying to alleviate her fears.

Her lips twitched and she swatted him as a smile broke out over her face. A loud roar stole the moment and sent his heart racing. He was in motion before the conscious thought registered. He bent over and pressed his shoulder into her soft stomach, wrapping his arms around her legs as he lifted her off the ground. The ground rumbled as he turned and watched Dante run and jump from the bank to land on the boulder a few feet out in the river.

Dante easily maneuvered across the boulders dotted throughout the stream. Kellen was right behind him and Rhys didn’t stop to think as he ran toward the boiling blood and pushed off at the edge of the sand.

Illianna screamed and grabbed fistfuls of his shirt as they sailed through the air. Her hands let go of his clothing to swat at his ass and she was now screeching, “Go, go, go!” At the same time a loud crack echoed throughout the area. Pain blistered through the left side of his back as black splinters flew past his shoulder.

“Are you okay?” he called out, not stopping as he pushed off the first boulder and arrowed his body to the next.

“Just get across without dropping me,” she responded, her tone frantic as her lemon-powder scent intensified. It was tinged with copper that told him she had been hit with the shards of tree bark. He cursed himself for not protecting her, but he couldn’t have cradled her in his arms and jumped like he needed to.

“Is he following?” he asked, not able to lose his momentum. The last boulder was in sight, thank the Goddess, they were almost across. He couldn’t get there fast enough. The need to inspect her and see to her injuries pushed him along.

“No,” she panted, pushing on his lower back, to leverage herself for a better view. “He stopped at the edge and is pissed that we are getting away. The females aren’t having any luck recapturing his attention,” she chuckled, startling him so that he nearly lost his footing. He tottered for a second before he made the final leap.

“What?” he asked coming to a stop on the other bank. Sliding her to the ground, he gingerly grabbed hold of her arms, inspecting her.

“Apparently, Dante and Kellen showed them a really good time. Look,” she pointed across the way where two females with green skin and long straight black hair were waving and blowing kisses.

Kellen waved back and turned to Dante. “Tell me there aren’t any more demons like that in this circle.”

“Next is the middle ring where those who’ve committed suicide are punished and I heard it’s the hellhound nursery, so to speak,” Dante replied, clapping him on the back.

Rhys groaned as he looked over Illianna’s back. “Somehow, I doubt hellhound puppies are cute and playful. I need to get these splinters out,” he told Illianna. “There aren’t that many, but they can’t feel good.”

She glanced over her shoulder at him, but he couldn’t read the emotion he saw there. “It’s okay, I’ve suffered worse. I’m just glad you didn’t drop me,” she added, holding his gaze. He heard what she didn’t say. She had faith in him, which meant more to him than anything.

The part of her soul he carried fluttered in his chest like a bird taking flight. Rhys wasn’t going to survive losing her if she didn’t choose him and went back to heaven, but he would never tell her that. She deserved to be happy and if her place was in heaven without him, he would do everything in his power to ensure she had that choice.

He lifted the back of her shirt and rucked it on her shoulders. Her skin was silky-smooth, even though it was marred with projectiles and bleeding. Her wing stubs were more pronounced, but still barely more than bumps on her back. He ran a finger along the edge of one and enjoyed the goose bumps that rose across her skin. He focused on carefully pulling one piece of bark after another from her flesh, ignoring his desire for her. It told him a lot about what she had suffered that she didn’t even flinch under his ministrations. Knowing his father was responsible for her torture only added to Rhys’ hatred for the male. Nothing would give him more satisfaction than if he could end his father’s existence while he was in the Underworld.

Illianna lowered her shirt and turned when he was done. Even the dim lighting in the Seventh Circle of Hell recognized that she was an angel as it haloed perfectly around her head. The way the light hit her also highlighted the golden strands that were growing back on her head. “You are absolutely beautiful,” he breathed, the backs of his fingers lifting to stroke across her cheek.

She blushed and smiled brightly as she ran a hand over her head. “You really do need to get your eyes checked. Did that boiling blood splash onto your face?” she teased, but he could see the pleasure his words had brought her.

Rhys threw back his head and laughed, “Perfect vision over here. It’s in the genes. Come on, we’re almost to Lucifer.”

She twined her fingers with his as he held his hand out to her. For that blissful moment as they traveled over barren land everything was right in his world. Of course, reality was only a couple hundred feet away when they reached the middle ring of the Seventh Circle.

“So this is a hellhound daycare? Should have known it would smell like a sewer and be filled with noxious fluids,” Rhys quipped, taking in the sight before them.

Gnarled trees and bushes ranged as far as the eye could see. Rhys cocked his head and looked closely around him. It reminded him of a briar patch with no foliage until he realized the trees and shrubs were actually the damned. Note to self, he thought, do not kill yourself or you will be sent here to be fed upon by baby hellhounds. The sad part was that there were more suicides here than there had been murderers and plunderers in the river.

He didn’t understand why so many people had taken their own lives. Why would they want to? Rhys had been through some shit in his two hundred seventeen years, but he had never contemplated killing himself. He’d decided long ago to stop seeking the storms and focused on the sunshine and happiness.

“I have to help them,” Illianna cried out. Hurrying to the nearest suffering, Illianna knelt down and grabbed onto a branch that ended in a chewed-up hand. She sat there and cooed to the person, asking about their lives, families and friends before she moved on to their reason for giving up.

Rhys was amazed by her compassion and ability to heal souls. The way she helped those suffering see the good in life despite what they had been put through was nothing short of extraordinary. She was compelling when she spoke.

Rhys didn’t have the patience to talk through shit like Illianna did. He watched in awe as she helped one particular soul come to terms with its choice and ask for forgiveness. Personally, Rhys didn’t see the point in it. This soul was going to be chewed on by the baby demon dogs forever. What good would forgiveness do? It wasn’t going to change the fact that they were stuck in Hell and doomed to suffer for eternity.

He grabbed Illianna and forced her behind his body when a bright light flashed. Moments later, the gnarled little tree transformed into a female who smiled beautifully at his angel. Illianna patted his arm and stepped out from behind him.

Illianna and the female both glanced at the sky and the female closed her eyes in obvious bliss as her soul floated skyward before disappearing. Holy shit, Rhys thought, Illianna had just redeemed this soul and saved it from an eternity of being dog food.

“What the fuck?” Kellen and Dante exclaimed together. Both males stood there looking as dumbfounded as Rhys.

“That was unlike anything I have ever seen,” Dante said. “How did you do that? I didn’t think these people could be saved.”

Illianna brushed off her pants, heading further into the briar of the damned. “I’m getting some of my powers back with my hair and wings. It’s not much, but apparently, it was enough. These people lost all sight of joy and happiness. We try to reach them before they get to that point where they’ve given up, but we can’t be everywhere at once. God, how I’ve missed this,” she exclaimed, turning her attention to more souls.

This time she addressed a small group of four shrubs and talked to them for several minutes before they too were saved in a flash of light. By that time, her work had garnered the attention of the hellhounds. They began snarling and snapping their little jaws at her.

Rhys rushed to her side and slashed at one of the dogs. They were the size of a Great Dane, so by no means were they small, and they had very sharp fangs that could remove a hand with a couple quick chomps. He didn’t want them going anywhere near his angel. His weapon connected with a snout and black blood oozed from a wound as one of the pups yelped.

“Come on,” he urged Illianna. “I love that you saved those souls, but if you continue, the beasts will eat us. They don’t take kindly to their meals being removed and there aren’t enough of us to fight them off.”

She glanced around, tears in her eyes. “I hate leaving them here when I can do something. With a little joy, they can have a better afterlife,” she objected.

Rhys moved her along as the hounds watched their progress through the patch. “Send a warrior angel back with another angel of happiness. I don’t want you coming back here for any reason,” Rhys told her. “I don’t want you this close to my father ever again.”

“It’s not easy for an angel to enter Hell. In fact, unless they have chosen to give up their angelic status and turned their backs on the Light, they can only be summoned here by deed or kidnapped and forced here. I’m afraid there won’t be anyone coming back,” Illianna explained, clearly wanting to resume her work.

Rhys clasped her face in his palms and looked into her face. “You will not be able to save anyone ever again if you allow yourself to be consumed by these hellhounds. You need to save yourself so you can save more from this fate. Your role isn’t here in the Underworld, it’s in heaven, Angel,” he admitted the one thing he’d rather deny for eternity. She didn’t belong in Hell or with him. She belonged in the clouds where she could bring joy and happiness.

She stood on tiptoe and kissed him lightly. “You’re right. I need to get back to heaven,” she murmured as she turned and made her way, leaving Rhys to follow.

His chest ached like a blade had pierced his heart at hearing her words. There was a good chance she wouldn’t choose him, but as much as the thought hurt, it didn’t change his determination to help her.