Hellbound Warrior: (Dark Warrior Alliance Book Five) (9 page)

Illianna looked up when a large palm landed on her shoulder. She didn’t even realize she had her head buried in her hands and was sobbing.

“What’s wrong? Aren’t you happy about being free?” Dante asked.

“Yes, I’m ecstatic to be free of those bonds, but it came at such a high price. I know he didn’t want to do this. And, truth be told, I didn’t want him to,” she admitted, wiping her eyes with the hem of the t-shirt Rhys had given her to wear.

Understanding dawned on Dante’s face. “We don’t have to wait here while he does this. Let’s go outside,” he offered, holding out his hand.

Illianna considered that, but wasn’t sure that was the best idea. “No, I’m safer inside. I am easily recognizable,” she explained, running her hand over her bare scalp. “I don’t want to throw away the gift he has sacrificed so much to give me. I know if he gives this woman a child he will fight heaven and hell to free that child. He will never be free if that happens and it will all be my fault.”

Kellen joined them and patted her on the back. “Hey now, don’t worry about that. Rhys knows what he’s doing. Besides, his mention of the Goddess was strategic and a plea for her help. He was asking her to intervene on his behalf,” Kellen informed her. It was an olive branch that she very much wanted to believe was real.

Illianna wondered if their Goddess could hear a plea from the Underworld. She didn’t think any of the Gods or Goddesses could. Heaven knew she’d prayed to her God countless times to no avail. She knew better than to believe that meant there was no hope. There were some issues her God couldn’t affect, and she knew the collar acted as a barrier between her and him.

“For all of our sakes, I hope you are right, Kellen,” she replied, standing up to pace across the dusty floor.

“Do you know the way to the Third Circle?” Dante asked.

She stopped suddenly, kicking up a plume of dust, making them cough. “Why would you want to go to the Third Circle? Aren’t you leaving with us?” she asked, cocking her head.

“We aren’t leaving yet. Didn’t Rhys explain that?” Dante clarified as he leaned against one of the worn wooden posts.

“No, he didn’t mention that,” she replied, hesitantly. Where was he going with this?

“He told you we were on a mission for the Goddess,” Kellen clarified.

“Yes, he did. I just assumed we were leaving after I was freed.”

“No, we have to get the Triskele Amulet before Lucifer manages to free himself from Lake Cocytus. The amulet is the Goddess’ talisman and has the power to disable his bonds to the lake,” Dante told her, standing to take up his own bout of pacing.

She rubbed her thumb and forefinger between her eyes. “Why didn’t I realize it wasn’t going to be so easy?” she grumbled, more to herself than the men with her.

“You don’t have to go with us. You can head to Limbo and try to free yourself,” Dante offered. The demon didn’t want her to go, that much was obvious, but she agreed with Rhys. Their paths had crossed for a reason.

“No, I’m going with you guys—”

“Of course she’s going with us,” Rhys cut her off. She looked over her shoulder and saw him stalking out of the back, tugging his shirt down his torso. He was pissed and didn’t look like a sex demon that had just fed. In fact, he looked far worse than before he’d gone to the back with the practitioner.

“That was fast,” Kellen quipped, obviously trying to lighten the mood.

“Not fast enough,” Rhys practically snarled. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.” She had never seen him more miserable nor had he ever sounded so irritated. Surely, he should be in a better mood after feeding his demon, she thought sourly. Part of her was shouting
serves you right
, but the rest of her felt badly that he’d clearly done something he didn’t want in order to free her.

He grabbed her hand on his way past, dragging her behind him. She tugged and tried to get free, but he tightened his grip. She had no desire to touch any part of the demon, but he refused to let her go. She ignored it for the time being, needing to focus on keeping up with him. The slight tremor in his grasp told her more than words what this experience had been for him.

The wind slammed into her the moment they stepped outside, but for the first time in a century it didn’t chafe her skin. And, that was because these demons had taken the effort to give her not only clothing, but a bit of dignity, as well.

Going back to the previous conversation she’d had with Dante, she had a decision to make. Go with Rhys or try and make it on her own? She wasn’t able to get herself out of Hell on her own, as much as she wanted to.

“The exit to the Third Circle is to the left,” she informed them.

Rhys followed her directions and maneuvered them to the alley that led to the land of gluttony. It was difficult to keep up with him as focused as he was. He had yet to calm down and hadn’t said more than a few words to her. Would he hate her for what he’d been forced to do? No one had ever disliked her and the idea that this demon might didn’t sit well with her. She vowed to try and make it up to him, if at all possible.

They turned down a dark passage when shouts echoed from behind them. Turning her head, her heart plummeted when she saw Asmodeus and Lemuel chasing after them with at least six of their minions.

Asmodeus was a cruel, three-headed creature with a mishmash of body parts. One of his heads was human, another was a ram and the last was a bull. She never knew where to look when he was talking because even though he sounded human at times, all three mouths moved at once. It was very disconcerting. And then there was his body. He had a bit of each creature mixed together with flesh and fur. All she could recall was the feel of his hands, paws and claws all over her skin. He had been abhorrent in his treatment of her and the perpetrator of her worst moments.

Lemuel called out to Rhys who didn’t respond. Instead, Rhys picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, running full speed toward the portal.

Arrows flew past her head and bounced off the buildings. Rhys grunted and staggered, but kept going. The second they entered the veil, it felt as if everything slowed as she was being torn apart. Lifting her arms to shield her face that felt like it was on fire, she saw flames lick across her skin, but didn’t burn her clothing. Looking down, she noticed Rhys was covered in flames, as well. The fire disappeared as soon as they made it through the veil. She was relieved to see that her skin hadn’t burned like she’d feared.

“Pema gave us a blocking spell. Use it on the portal, now!” Rhys yelled over his shoulder. He set her down and she watched Kellen toss a small glass bottle at the veil. Upon impact, it exploded and bright white light flashed, momentarily blinding her.

When her vision cleared, she saw Lemuel pounding against an invisible barrier. “You will never get away with this Rhys. The angel is mine. I went to great lengths to take her from you, and you will not have her!!” Lemuel cursed, bloodying his hands as he continued battering at the obstruction.

Since meeting Rhys, she hadn’t considered how similar, or not, as she believed was the case, he was to his father. Lemuel had the same multicolored hair as his son, but that was where the similarities ended. Their personalities were night and day. She thought Rhys’ best features were his kaleidoscopic eyes, which she assumed came from his mother, and then there was his smile. His father had not smiled once in a hundred years and his eyes were black pits of evil.

Finally free of their clutches, she sagged with relief. They could no longer harm her or force her to act against her will. She was still trapped in the Underworld, but she had a new surge of hope with Rhys by her side. Lemuel’s parting words about taking her from Rhys played through her mind. What did he mean? Something told her that the answer to that question was going to alter the course of her life forever.

*****

Santiago Reyes glared at his friend and partner. Orlando was an obnoxious asshole sometimes. They had been partners for a long time, as Dark Warriors and detectives with the Seattle Police Department, but at the moment, the feline shifter wouldn’t get off his ass.

“Seriously, bro. You’ve been MIA a lot lately, and I know you haven’t been with me. And, before you say you’ve been at Kill’s place, think again. He said you haven’t been to Confetti Too for weeks. What the fuck is up with you?” Orlando challenged, anger sparking in his emerald green eyes as he ran his hand through his spiky, white-blonde hair.

“When did I have to start clocking in with you anyway? We all have our private lives. I’ve never asked you where you go when we aren’t working,” Santi snapped.

Orlando’s eyes narrowed. “You aren’t the one being hounded by Zander, either. He’s on my ass about where you are when we can’t reach you. You know the rules. We have to be accessible, especially right now with Rhys gone. And, you know how the others are distracted by their mates,” Orlando pointed out.

“Fuck the mates and fuck Rhys. I will do what I want when I want. No one tells me what to do,” Santi countered, chest heaving with his emotions.

Santiago was tired of the same old bullshit. Everybody needing to know every single little thing about what happened in the compound. Not one of them thought for themselves and took their position of power to the level they needed to. It wasn’t only demons they needed to worry about.

Orlando reeled back, mouth agape. “Why are you so fucking defensive? Do you have something to hide?”

“What would I have to hide? It’s not like I’m the one pining after Elsie, or anything. Now, that would be something to hide. I mean what would Zander think if he knew his pet wanted to fuck his mate?” Santi countered, enjoying the hurt that crossed Orlando’s face.

Santiago knew it wasn’t what he’d said that bothered Orlando, but the deliberation behind the words. As an empath, Orlando was constantly bombarded by emotions, particularly negative ones, and Santi had some pretty negative fucking feeling towards his partner right now.

“That was a low blow, dickhead. I don’t know what’s crawled up your ass, but you’d better remove it before someone does it for you. You can finish this patrol on your own,” his friend warned before stalking off into the night.

Santiago cursed, turning in the opposite direction. Boots pounded the pavement, echoing his anger. He was glad to see him go. He didn’t need Orlando’s help on patrol. With Orlando there, he’d have to ignore half of what should be dealt with. The male could be such a kiss-ass, stickler for the rules.

Santiago cared for all of the Dark Warriors, and had a good relationship with Orlando, but he was tired of all the unnecessary laws and restrictions. There were more rules than there were supernaturals in the Tehrex Realm and he didn’t see the reason for half of them.

Zander and Hayden banned shit like the fight clubs, which was ridiculous. Fighting was an outlet for all who participated. For him, it allowed him to demonstrate how strong and powerful he was, and told others they had better toe the line or they’d have to answer to him. He took his vows to the Goddess seriously and didn’t believe it stopped at saving people from the demons. He believed people most often needed saving from themselves. It also gave him a place to gather information about the realm’s criminal element. Both needed to be stopped at any cost.

The scent of blood teased his nostrils. He paused and inhaled deeply, not recognizing who the blood belonged to. It wasn’t a lot and was clearly tainted by chemicals. The scent of the city overpowered the trail, forcing him to partially shift into his wolf. It was this form that fed the human myths about werewolves and what they looked like. In reality, this wasn’t one of his natural forms and took a lot of concentration to maintain a mid-shift.

Nose to the air, he picked up the trail again, following it to an alley near Pike Place market. He snarled when he saw a vampire selling drugs to a strung-out shifter. The bear shifter startled and spun when he heard Santiago approach. He growled low in his throat and took off running. Santiago considered chasing after him, but decided the vampire was more important. He was the one dealing drugs.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” Santi asked, pacing a circle around the vampire.

“None of your business, wolf. Get the fuck out of my territory or I’ll report you for walking around mid-shift. My offense is minor compared to yours. I believe Hayden deems that a death sentence,” the scumbag threatened.

Santi grabbed the male by the throat and shoved him against a brick wall and lowered his face. The male didn’t have the same chemical smell as the bear, so Santi assumed he wasn’t using the product he was pushing. “Do you know who you are threatening? This whole fucking realm is my territory and I protect what is mine. You like selling this shit to people and ruining their lives. Don’t think I don’t know this is
Angel’s Kiss
. What do you think Zander would say to hear you are selling this shit on his streets? Your accusation that I’m walking around partially shifted won’t mean shit in the face of that fact,” Santi barked.

Another stupid rule Santiago didn’t understand. The male was correct when he said Santi would be put to death if it was discovered he’d run around partially shifted. How was it right that this idiot could sell drugs but he couldn’t take action to protect the unsuspecting population from this poison?

A light rain began to fall, cleansing the streets. Rain was ever present in Seattle, especially in the middle of winter. This time it quickly turned into a harder rain and pelted Santi’s head. The vampire shivered in his grasp as the temperature dropped with the rain. He didn’t know if it was from fear or the lightweight clothing he wore. T-shirt and jeans, no jacket, no gloves, no hat. It was fair to say this male wasn’t the sharpest tack in the box.

“Who the fuck are you? You’re not realm police. Do you know who my boss is? Von’ll skewer your wolf and eat you for dinner,” the dealer countered with narrowed eyes.

Yeah, Santi knew the piece of shit and that was why this guy wasn’t easily intimidated. He wouldn’t stop selling just because Santiago threatened him. He faced far worse if he betrayed Von. Santi would have to do something more to ensure he stopped distributing.