Redemption (The Keepers of Hell Book 3) (13 page)

     Lacy held her gun steady at arm’s length. Could she? “Do you want to take that chance, Mister? I don’t think so. Let the boy go.”

     Jamie didn’t look scared. If anything, the child looked pissed. “Take the shot, Ms. B,” he told her.

     Lacy quickly weighed her options. If she fired, the man would kill Jamie. If she didn’t fire, he would kill him. It was a no win situation.

     Take the shot
, that weird voice said again. Could she? Did she dare? Lacy closed her eyes and prayed that her hand be steady and her aim be true. When she opened them, Jamie must have seen the resolution in her eyes because at the exact moment he needed to, Jamie dropped his large body down and Lacy pulled the trigger.

***

     “I can’t stop it,” Antonio said to Jake. He had just come from inspecting the bomb in the basement. Explosives was his area of expertise and he would know if one could be disarmed. “It’s got a double back trigger that will blow immediately if I try. It’s a solid bomb.”

     Jake didn’t question the angel. “Then we need to get these kids out of here,” he said.

     Antonio agreed. “We’re gonna be in deep shit for this when Ash finds out.”

     Jake nodded. “Yeah well, fuck it. I’m doing it anyway.”

     Shelly gripped his hand and they all flashed to the outside of the building. They rounded the corner and stopped at the huge exhaust fan that was the only barrier keeping the children inside the school. They made themselves visible just before coming in front of the fan. “We’re getting you out,” he told them.

     “Ms. B said to wait for her,” one of the girls said and another smacked her on the arm. “Ow.”

    “How do you know he’s not one of them?” the other girl whispered.

     Antonio smiled. “I am a friend of Ms. B. Lacy is a fine lady, and right now I am determined that you should all get out immediately. Stand back.”

    That was all the warning he gave them before gripping the grate in his hands, ripping it off, and tossing it to the ground. “Go!” he shouted. “Get all the way out to the football field. As fast as you can.”

     Antonio helped each student and teacher out of the duct and nodded to Jake. It was time to see to his charge. He flashed to the front of the school just in time to see Lacy and Jamie running for their lives. He smiled. They were going to make it.

     Until the last terrorist jumped down from the roof, landing on Lacy’s back. They both fell to the ground and Jamie rushed back to his teacher. “No, kid, no,” Jake whispered.

     The terrorist stood and pointed his gun at Jamie. “Not too smart are you?” he said to the boy.

     Jamie was frozen with fear. He couldn’t move, but he saw his teacher get to her feet to his side. Just as the man raised his gun, Lacy tackled him. Jake watched helplessly as the gunman let off a stream of bullets that ripped into Lacy’s body, causing her to jerk and scream out. She didn’t let him go, though. Lacy pushed at him, forcing him back into the building as he continued to spray bullets into her flesh. They crashed through the glass doors at the front and then, the building exploded.

EPILOGUE

     Lacy knew she was dead. She was floating freely down the infamous tunnel, watching glimpses of her life pass her by. It was like being in a moving, circular theater. She could see and hear her life as she lived it, one scene at a time. She saw her parents when she was only six, brushing her hair and tying it into a bun on her head before her first piano recital. She heard her mother’s comforting voice, telling her that she had all the confidence she needed. She saw her first boyfriend and had to smile at the way he looked at her. She saw the day she got married, how happy she had been.

     Lacy saw everything leading up to her identity change, including her husband’s dead and bloody body on their living room floor. She saw her students. She remembered each and every one of their faces on her first day.

     She saw the face of the students the day everything went to hell in a handbasket. Her heart pounded in her chest as she relived the fear they all felt.

     Lacy knew she was on the fast track to hell, so it didn’t surprise her when the movie of her life came to a close and she saw fire at the end of the tunnel. She had taken a life and she knew the price. She didn’t think it would come so soon, but she had known it was coming. Her body, or spirit, whatever she was now, moved faster through the tunnel.

     Faster and faster she flew, and she held her head high. She would take her punishment for her sins without regret. She would not beg and she would not plead for her soul. It had never been hers in the first place.

     She finally got to the end and she landed on her feet in front of a wall of fire. The heat poured off of it and her brow glistened with sweat. Did dead people sweat? Apparently so. She looked around her to realize that she was in a cave of some sort. What was she supposed to do now? She took two steps to her left and the wall of fire moved. It wrapped itself around her, blocking her path. Was she supposed to go into it?

     Lacy looked harder at the flames. If this was what she was meant to do, then she could do it. She tried to move her feet to accept her eternity, but it was as if someone cemented them to the floor. She couldn’t move. She could only stand there.

     That was when she saw a flicker of movement in the flames. Something was in there. Something that was not part of the fire. As it drew closer, Lacy could see it take the form of a man. He was tall with broad shoulders. There was something else though. Two identical things extended above his head on either side. They were too big to be horns, but all she could see was his outline. Demon, she thought. What else would she expect in hell?

     The demon man got closer until he broke through the flames and stood in front of her. She could now see him clearly. Dark hair over blue eyes that didn’t look evil to her, and those
things
? Those were huge black wings.

     “Lacy,” he said to her.

     Lacy held her head high and straightened her shoulders. “Yes.”

     “I have been waiting for you,” he said to her in a soft tone.

     Lacy didn’t know what to say, so she remained silent.

     “You have done some things in your life that were both incredible and sinful,” he continued. “I do not know if this is your final destination or not, but I would offer you a job here, if you would like.”

     A job?
A job
? What did he mean her final destination? And what kind of job? Did he want her to kill people for him and drag them to Hell? Did he want a housekeeper? And just, what?

     “You do not have to remain silent,” he told her. “You would like to know what kind of job I would be talking about, right?”

     Lacy regarded him through wary eyes. She nodded in response.

     “You have shown great courage and love in your human life,” the man said, walking back and forth in front of the fire. “You have done great things and I feel as if there are more great things for you to come. I am recruiting warriors to protect and serve down here.”

     Lacy finally found her voice. “Protect what, exactly?”

     The man turned to her. “Hell. Earth. Me. Take your pick.”

     “And if I refuse?” she asked.

     “You will go on to your soul’s rightful place, either here or in Heaven. I do not know which. You will not remember meeting me,” he said. She knew by the look in his eyes that he was telling the truth. She got the impression that this man did not bullshit about much of anything.

     “And if I say yes?” she asked.

     He smiled. “Then you become one of my Elite Guard. You will serve under me to protect the rules and keep us safe. You will keep earth safe.”

     “Why would I agree to work for the devil?” she asked with a sideways look.

     The man rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. “Why does everyone assume I am the devil?”

     “Um,” Lacy said softly, “you’re in hell? Standing in front of the biggest wall of fire I have ever seen?”

     The man got closer to her then turned his back on her. “These are wings. Wings!” He pointed over his shoulder.

     “The devil was once an angel,” she reminded him. “He had wings.”

     The man spun around to face her. “I am an angel. I serve and protect. Yes I am in Hell, but I am not evil. Nor do I think you are either.”

     Lacy considered her options. If what this angel was saying was true, she could do so much good by accepting his offer. “What if I change my mind?” she asked him.

     “And that is why I like you,” he said. “You consider all options before making a rash decision. If you change your mind, I will let you go.”

     Lacy didn’t know if she would be doing good or not, but the call to help others was strong in her. What if what he said was true? Even if it wasn’t, she knew she was hell-bound anyway. What could it hurt? “Is that a promise?”

     “It’s a deal,” he smiled and held out his hand.

     “I won’t hurt innocent people,” she told him. On that, she would not budge.

     “I would never ask you to,” he told her, still holding out his hand.

     Lacy looked at his eyes and then his offered hand. She expected to see deceit, but what she saw was sincerity. Honesty. She slowly brought her hand up and he clasped it in his own. He shook her hand firmly and said, “My name is Ash. Welcome to Hell.”