'Tween Heaven and Hell (20 page)

I gulped as the first gargoyle left the floor and bounded
the eight feet that separated us in a single leap. His thick, heavy body hit my
protective wall and hung there, screeching and whining. As he hit three others
left their feet and joined him. I felt a tiny breach in the wall and fought the
panic. Not two inches from my face, a set of two inch long slimy green fangs
gnawed at my invisible barrier and spewed putrid breath into my air space.
Although the power was holding them away from me, it didn’t seem to keep their
smell out. A highly regrettable fact. I’d have to work on that.

The wall of power started to soften and give under their
onslaught. Panic threatened to close my throat as one of them managed to pierce
the barrier with a huge, curved claw and plunge it into my back. I screamed and
felt the barrier weaken even more. Now I could feel them against my body,
though I was still covered by a thick padding of power. The pack grew more
rabid as they sensed my magic giving way and their knife-like claws began to
pierce it all around me. The head ’goyle managed to sink one of his huge canine
teeth into the barrier just inches from my face. The razor-sharp fang grazed my
flesh, opening it like the skin of a ripe peach. I screamed again. Sensing my
panic, he began jerking his head back and forth like a dog with a small mammal
in its mouth, spraying foul-smelling spit in my face as he ripped the seriously
weakened barrier away from me in chunks and slivers. When his efforts had
succeeded in opening a space big enough to get both canine teeth through, I
decided I’d better do something.

I forced myself to calm down and closed my eyes to
concentrate. Another fang pierced the flesh of my arm but I willed myself to
ignore the pain and continued my efforts to build the power. I concentrated on
pushing it in an arc from my body and felt it hum for a moment before it
fizzled away. Something was blocking it. I hadn’t had the power long enough to
know what was wrong and how to fix it. But, as the power barrier I’d worked so
hard to build and hold broke away finally, I felt my flesh being ripped under
the knife-like teeth and claws of the gargoyles. Something broke in my mind too
and I lost it. As it hadn’t done since I’d been the tiniest of ball-busters, my
devil came out in a big way.

I opened my eyes and snarled into the ice-witch’s pale,
beautiful face. Then, as a bloody chunk of my back was ripped from my body, I
threw my head back in a scream of rage that shook the walls of the prison
around me. I felt the power build again as my rage and pain grew. I was dimly
aware that the gargoyles had flown away from me as I unleashed my rage. With
this emotional burst, the power shot out of my body and smashed into the nasty
cockroaches, driving them into the stone wall with a sickening thud.

The last thing I saw before the cross prison started to
tumble around me was a look of such anger on the ice princess’s face that it
managed the impossible. It made ugly a face that was much too pretty to be
real. The last thing I heard was her voice in my head.
You and I have many
scores to settle, insignificant Tweener. Royal or not, you will die before
you’ll take my place in his court.

The last thought I had as one of the enormous crosses landed
on my broken, bloody body was that I was creating another entry for the shitty
day book. Then I closed my eyes to die.

Chapter
Eighteen

Where Cranky Angels Go

Alas the maiden finds herself in perplexity again,

For death had pounded on her door, but had never been
let in.

I awoke in my own bed, with a blanket tucked up under my
chin. As I opened my eyes I looked around in confusion for a while, wondering
why I was still alive. As soon as I moved I realized that I was wrong, I must
be dead because I didn’t feel any pain.

Moving carefully because I couldn’t believe my entire body
wouldn’t be broken, I flipped the covers aside and climbed out of bed. The
first thing I noticed was that I was completely naked. The second thing I
noticed was that I was…completely frunkin’ naked!

This was not good.

I moved into the personal hygiene room and ordered the
shower jets on full at one hundred ten degrees. I climbed under the steaming
water and groaned with pleasure as it pounded my skin to a cherry red color.
When I emerged, I grabbed the towel I’d flung to the floor the day before and
pushed my face into it. A faint whisper of air warned me about half a second
before he appeared in front of me, a wicked grin on his gorgeous, golden face.

“Lovely, Astra. How perky you look this morning.”

I pulled the towel around my body with a scowl, trying not
to appear as embarrassed as I felt. “Is there something in the devil manual
that says you can only haunt your victims when they’re naked and wet?”

Dialle’s smile widened and his velvet eyes twinkled with
devilish delight. “Ahh, no my lovely Astra, that rule is one I came up with on
my own. It gives me a certain…edge, if you know what I mean.”

“Oh yeah. I know exactly what you mean. Get the Hades out of
here and wait for me in the living area. While you’re there, you can make me
some coffee. I had a rough night last night.”

He threw back his head and laughed good-naturedly. “I see
you and I are going to have to have a discussion about how you should show me
respect and cower before me.”

I turned my back on him, too tired and stressed-out to care
if he ate me. “Yeah, yeah, I’m terrified of you. Now go away.”

I continued to ignore him until I heard the whisper of air.
Then I let the tension leave my body and closed my eyes on a sigh of relief. “I
really need to start hanging out with a better crowd,” I muttered under my
breath.

I left the personal hygiene room and returned to my sleeping
chamber, hoping to get dressed. Silly me, I was totally
not
expecting to
be blasted off my feet as I entered the room. The force that hit my chest drove
me against the wall with an intensity that ripped the air right out of my
lungs. My shoulder came into painful contact with my favorite holographic
painting of a fake country scene and it fell off the wall, crashing into pieces
on the floor.

Before I could regain my breath on a foul curse, I felt
invisible hands grasp me around my waist and lift me three feet into the air,
where I promptly lost my towel and my last shred of dignity. Hanging there,
legs and arms flailing as I fought my invisible enemy, I heard his voice in my
head.

My dear Astra, though I find your company entertaining
and your lips quite inviting,it appears I need to remind you that I could kill
you more quickly than you can say my name. Do not ever forget it!

He lowered me so my feet could again touch the floor and,
shimmering into view with his hands still on my waist, pressed himself against
me and kissed me so deeply I thought he was going to eat me after all.

I was intensely aware of my nudity as he started to run his
hands over my body. I wanted to pull away and hit him. I really wanted to—in my
brain—but my body couldn’t get close enough to his body. My traitorous arms
wound themselves around his narrow waist and pulled him more tightly against
me, which wasn’t easy to do, let me tell you. He responded by removing his lips
from mine and running his tongue down my chin, where he suckled gently until I
thought I was gonna die from pleasure.

“Oh god,” I moaned, throwing back my head to give him free
rein of my neck. If he’d been a vampire or a werewolf I’d be dead right now.
Since I apparently had no control over my body, I realized it was up to my
brain to stop me from mounting him like a horny dog and riding him until I
keeled over from exhaustion.

It took only a few, lovely, minutes for my brain to kick in
and force my arms to push him away. His hands slid across my buttocks as he
moved away, leaving a tingly, warm trail where his fingers had been. He smiled
down at me. “Now about that coffee.”

I gasped hot, lust-charged air into my lungs and moved away
from him on wobbly legs. “I’ll get it. As soon as I get dressed.”

“Thanks, I like mine black, like my soul.”

“Har.”

* * * * *

Dialle and I sat across from each other at my small food
service area table. We sipped silently at our coffee for a while, sizing each
other up.

I needed to ask him a question but I was too embarrassed.
Finally I decided that nothing could be more embarrassing than being accosted,
dripping wet and naked from your hygiene unit and then throwing yourself at
your accoster like a brood mare in season.

Mentally I shrugged and spit out the question. “Did you put
me to bed last night?”

I really hated him when he raised that one, black eyebrow
and grinned. “Why lovely Astra, what a strange question to ask me. Don’t you
even know who you kept company with last night?”

I scowled at him and tried to remember how you killed devil
royalty. He was damned lucky I couldn’t think of anything. “Just answer the
question, Dialle.”

He laughed at me and took a sip of his coffee. I knew he was
deliberately taking his time answering to provoke me. Finally he set the mug
down and gave me his most innocent expression. “Alas, I’m sorry to say it
wasn’t me. But, if I might suggest, perhaps it would be best if you took more
care for how you spent your evenings.”

“Bite me.”

He shrugged. “If you insist.” He began to stand up. I really
had to stop saying that.

“What have you and your evil princess done with Prince
Nille?” That stopped him. He sat back down and fixed me with his piercing,
black eyes.

“He is not your concern.”

“I’ll decide who’s my concern and who isn’t.”

He became very still and stared at me until I felt the need
to say something to diffuse the tension. As usual, I resorted to being a smart
ass. “Do I need to kick your ass again?”

He laughed, successfully distracted from killing me. “Why
are you so interested in Prince Nille?”

I shrugged in what I hoped was a nonchalant manner. “I have
my reasons.”

“And what might they be?”

I sipped my coffee. Maybe if I ignored him he’d go away. No
such luck.

“I’m not leaving until you tell me why you’re interested in
Prince Nille.” He sat back and crossed his long legs and then looked up at me
expectantly.

I set my coffee down on the table with more force than was
necessary and blew out my breath in frustration. “Oh, okay, dammit, I’ll tell
you…”

Two quick chimes sounded before a disembodied voice
announced the name of my unexpected visitor. Smiling smugly I stood up, vowing
to kiss Kayla for her wonderful timing. “I believe that’s your cue to go.”

He didn’t even bother to stand up. Giving me a
spine-softening smile, he ran a spectral finger down my chin and trailed it the
length of my throat, stopping at the spot where my breasts started to curve. I
shivered under the whisper soft touch. “We haven’t finished this conversation,
lovely Astra, “ he said and then he shimmered off.

I opened the door to a smiling Kayla. I pulled her into the
room and gave her a hug. I was
really
glad to see her. She laughed as I
let her go.

“That was quite a greeting. I know we haven’t seen each
other for a while, Astra, but you seem
really
glad to see me.”

I laughed it off. “I’ve just missed you, that’s all. How’s
your love life?”

I knew that would distract her. She started into an
hour-long diatribe about the latest “crashin” guy who’d turned out, surprise
surprise, to be an asshole. While she explained to me with a bright smile how
his desertion had nearly
killed
her, I ran through my mental checklist
of things I needed to do in my search for Prince Nille.

Last on the list was to come up with a plausible story for
Dialle explaining why I cared. That was going to be the hardest task on my
list. Hence its location at the bottom. I’ve never been real good at tackling
things I don’t want to tackle.

I nodded my way through Kayla’s latest love saga and then
gave her a hug and pushed her out the door. I could only hope she didn’t notice
how distracted I was. She’d been my friend since I was old enough to have a
friend and we were like sisters, which was why I didn’t want her anywhere near
me right at that moment. It was bad enough I was volunteering to be a pig on
the spit for this particular spiritual hog roast, I didn’t want anyone I cared
about getting their porky-pies cooked with me.

As soon as Kayla left I grabbed my coat and headed for the
Viper. Finding Deaver’s assistant was my next obstacle. The best place to start
was at the Church of the Twined Hands. Maybe there was something in the office
that would help me with my search.

I suddenly remembered my missed appointment with DD Raoul
and realized he would either be pissed or concerned. The fact that he hadn’t
called me would indicate that he was pissed. Sighing over the complications of
my life, I touched the fingerprint pad on the Viper’s televisual and said,
“Transmission. DD Raoul.”

The screen filled with jagged lines as the transmission went
out and then his face swam into view. He looked tired. “Hey, pretty lady. You
stood me up last night.”

I felt the sharp pinch of relief in my gut. He wasn’t mad.
“Sorry Raoul, it couldn’t be helped. I got myself into a jam that involved
those things we were gonna talk about last night. I’m on my way to the Church
of the Twined Hands now. Do you think you could meet me there?”

DD Raoul looked down screen as if he were checking his solar
watch. He frowned. “I have a meeting in 10 minutes, it shouldn’t take long. Can
I meet you there in about 40 minutes?”

I nodded gratefully. “Thanks, DD. I owe ya one.”

His dark face split into a weary grin. “Oh, no Astra. You
owe me at least two. Lunch at my favorite restaurant might be the only way you
can pay off your debts.”