Hard to Kill (Hell Hounds Harem Book 6) Read online

  “What’s it say?”

  Drake flipped his finger up, telling Bishop to hang on. Tilly popped up from the chair, went over to the printer, and pulled out a pretend piece of paper. She folded it up and went to where Valor kept a small box on his shelf.

  She grabbed his hidden key, unlocked the box, flipped the lid and tucked the paper inside. Then shut it and left the room. Drake opened the box and sure enough, there was a folded piece of paper in there.

  “What’s it fucking say?”

  “Follow her.”

  “What’s it say, damnit!”

  Tilly left and Drake went after her. She went back into Valor’s bedroom and climbed back into bed with him. Valor’s skin wasn’t grey anymore and his breathing was still deep and even. Tilly pressed her body against him, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you, Foxy Boy.” Then she was out like a light herself.

  Once they were sure The Haunting was done for the night, Drake unfolded the piece of paper and read it silently before handing it over to Bishop.

  I didn’t mean to do it. I swear. I had every intention of never going this far.

  Bishop’s ears started to ring and he gripped the paper harder while he continued reading…

  I’m a liar. I say I don’t care, but I do. I’m a cheat, because I don’t just want one, I want all and at this rate, I’m ready to do anything to get it. And I’m a thief. That’s the worst part. I’ve stolen things I should never have even touched. But know that I took because I needed to. Because I needed you. All of you.

  Know that wherever I am, I’m missing you. I told you, Valor, to not fall in love with me. Joke’s on me though. I’ve fallen in love with you instead. And not just you, Alpha. The whole pack. Crazy, huh? When the day comes and I stand at the pearly gates and want in… I hope I have the strength to make the right decision and let go. If not, I fear my misery will expand and swallow me up.

  Drake once accused me of breaking you all apart to play with your pieces. I think the opposite happened. Every night I’ve spent with you another piece of my heart chipped away and I’d leave it with you. With each of you.

  There is nothing left of me to save now.

  You asked me once if I would become a Hell Hound. I told you I didn’t want to damn my soul and that I didn’t want to trade it. It’s just another lie I’ll go to my grave with, I suppose. The truth is, I have no soul to trade because it already belongs to you. And to Bishop. And to Sebastian. And to Drake.

  If you’re reading this, then I’m already gone. It would take death to lift the spell I put on this note. So, now that I’m dead to you and the pack, I beg you, Valor. Find me. Please. If I don’t have the strength to accept what my heart is screaming every day and night… find me.

  I belong to you.

  Matilda Jane

  Bishop dropped down onto a chair in the corner of the bedroom. Swiping a hand over his mouth, he looked up at Drake. Neither had words, only instincts. They crawled into the bed and positioned themselves so they could touch her, hold her. Valor rolled over and draped his arm over his eyes and sighed.

  “Never thought we’d become a fucking puppy pile,” Drake frowned.

  “Me either, but… I gotta say, this is kinda nice.”

  “Grab my ass and I’ll throat punch you.”

  “Keep talking dirty like that and I’ll grab more than just your ass, Hound.” Bishop’s insides lit up when Drake laughed. “Fuck, it’s good to hear you be happy, man.”

  Drake leaned in and kissed the slope of Tilly’s hip. “I blame her.”

  “What do you think it means? This weird ass feeling we’ve all got going on?”

  “Don’t know, don’t care.”

  Bishop rested his arm over Tilly’s belly. “I want Baz back. I don’t like him gone without one of us with him as backup.”

  “He’ll be fine.” Drake’s twintuition was never wrong before, so no need to think differently now.

  Baz marched down the Halls of Hell and wished he had put on a t-shirt for this. His back was exposed, a vulnerability he really wished wouldn’t fuck with his self-esteem so much. Add to that the sensations rocking his body right now, Baz was a clusterfuck of worry and tension.

  He entered without knocking. Rude, yeah, but whatever. Sara was sitting on the throne reading a book with wireless headphones around her belly. It was such a strange sight, Baz stopped short for a second and nearly tripped on his own two feet.

  “Hey, Hound, you okay?” She put her book down and tugged the headphones off.

  He shook his head to rattle his brain back into working order. Something felt terrible all of a sudden. Ever since he entered Hell, there was a weird hunk of lead in his stomach. “I need to talk to Lucifer.”

  “He’s with his brothers right now. Left me in charge.”

  Baz wanted answers, theories, something that would explain what’s going on with them. If Lucifer wasn’t available, then Sara would do.

  “We’ve…” fuck he was going to sound stupid saying this, “We’ve got something happening to us. We… each of us in the pack have something going on inside. It’s not just me and Drake. It can’t be from what they did to us in the catacombs.” Sebastian felt comfortable talking about that shit with Sara because she’d been through something similar. It was easy to discuss with her, even if it wasn’t with anyone else.

  Sara sat up straighter. “Something happening like how?”

  “I feel pin-pricks. Drake’s got ice in his veins. Bishop says he’s on fire. And Val…” shit, he didn’t want to tell her that Valor was in seriously bad shape and drained entirely. “Val’s got something similar.” He didn’t know what Sara’s stress levels might do to the baby, but she would definitely worry about Valor and Baz didn’t want her to worry.

  “It all happened at once?”

  “I think so, yeah.”

  “What were you doing when it happened?”

  Saving our girl. “Tilly was in The Merging phase.”

  “And?”

  “And she wasn’t doing well. She was suffering too much. Valor pushed energy into her. Hell, we all did. We were fucking scared to death she wasn’t going to make it.”

  “Did she?” Now Sara was slowly standing up.

  “Yeah. She did.”

  “And then you all felt this craziness inside?”

  Baz nodded and tried to swallow around the boulder lodged in his throat. “I don’t think it’s good. I think we fucked something way up. I feel so sick and panicked I can’t even think straight.” Shit, he was so hot. Was it hotter than normal in here? “Is my back,” he turned around so she could see it, “Is my back dark? The wings I mean?” Fuck, he couldn’t think straight!

  Sara came over and ran her finger down his spine. Baz groaned. Fuck that felt phenomenal. His back arched and he sucked in a breath when she did it a second time. He was sensitive as fuck all of a sudden.

  “You’ve bonded, Hound. You’ve made a solid pack.”

  He tried to look where she was touching but couldn’t swing his head that far around. “What’s back there?”

  “Nothing, but… there can be, if you want.” When Baz faced her again, Sara turned around and pulled up the back of her shirt. “See my symbols? I have one for each of my Hounds. I can feel them through this. After we bonded, I needed something that was a little more tangible and visible. We use it as a form of communication with each other. Like a… thread we can pull on sometimes.”

  “Why on your spine?” If she wanted to see them, that was the only place she couldn’t fucking look.

  “I’m most sensitive there. I can pick up vibes better. Plus, symbolism. My pack forged my spine into steel.”

  “And we can get those?”

  “I’m sure Luce can mark you.”

  Baz wanted that. Now. “Why do I feel so sick? Am I tainted? Do you think whatever this spell is with the Dark Angel wing thing will ruin us?” His main concern was that he didn’t fuck up his pack. If they were really bonded, he didn’t know how far
this new curse could reach.

  “When did you start feeling uneasy, Sebastian?”

  “The minute I got here. I’m thinking it’s because I’m not supposed to be. Maybe my curse with this Dark Angel shit is forbidden here. Surely Lucifer would have some spell in place to keep enemies out, right? And I’m an enemy now.”

  “Are you?” She frowned. “Do you really feel like an enemy to your maker, Sebastian?”

  He didn’t know what he felt other than frenzied and nauseas. “Fuck… I don’t know,” he whispered.

  Sara grabbed his shoulders and shook him a little bit, “Now you look at me, Hound and listen up. You’re not the motherfucking enemy. Those wings only have power if you give them power. Whatever magic they put in you, you can beat it. If you can’t beat it, then use it, twist it, morph it so you own that shit, not the other way around.”

  Baz’s jaw locked and he swallowed hard. Fuck, Sara had some power behind her words. Was it because she had some of Satan’s soul in her or was she that powerful all by herself? Either way, Sara’s words shook the marrow in his bones.

  “You feel the way you do because you’ve just formed an unbreakable bond, Baz. And you’re detached from your pack at the moment. You’re in an entirely other realm down here in Hell. That puts strain on your bond. It makes you feel out of control, nervous, scared and panicked. You just gotta know that when you’re down here, expect the feeling to come with it. The minute you reunite with your pack, it’ll lift immediately.”

  “You sure?”

  “Go test it out.” Sara tipped her head towards the door.

  Baz was so desperate to find out if it was true or not, he didn’t say another word. He just booked it towards the exit door in search of his pack.

  “Instincts!” Sara called, “They’re about to rock your fucking worlds, Hound!”

  Chapter 29

  Lucifer stood in the shower, cold water doing damn little to counter balance the heat rolling off him. His stomach churned, his head ached so badly he saw stars. It had been a long time since something shook him to the point where he actually isolated himself even from his Darling Sara.

  A couple hours ago, he felt the energy drain right out of him like he was a sieve. He couldn’t stop it, control it, or hold onto it. And now, Lucifer was no longer in touch with his sensitivities. He couldn’t tell if it was a fellow Angel or a Hell Hound draining him. He was just… numb.

  That terrible truth was what most likely made him vomit earlier. He was losing touch with things that mattered. He could only hope it was a Hell Hound who had pulled from him somehow – but if that was the case, then it most likely meant another Hound was in grave danger.

  Was it one of the missing ones? Was it a badly wounded one? Was it someone else he couldn’t even remember right now?

  His skin sizzled under the spray of ice. Lucifer braced his hands on the marble wall and heaved again. Nothing came up. His stomach was totally empty. These fucking dry heaves only gave him an ab workout at this point. His throat felt raw. More stars burst in his vision. He needed to get a grip. Too much was starting to unravel again and Lucifer needed control so bad he could taste it. His brothers took the sketches and left again to go report back to the brotherhood with the promise that they would return soon with some meds, more water, and hopefully answers.

  Lucifer didn’t want answers as badly as he wanted out of this place.

  He needed to escape. Go hunting. Put a stop to this once and for all before it got to the point of no return.

  “It’s too late for that, the war has begun.”

  Lucifer looked up to see Gabriel standing by the sink with his arms crossed.

  “Too late for what?”

  “Whatever it is you’ve got cooking in your head right now, brother.” Gabe tapped his temple, “I can see the wheels turning from here. And steam is coming out of you. Literally.”

  Lucifer turned the water off and stepped out of the shower. He didn’t bother using a towel. Swiping his dark hair back with a shaky hand, he glared at Gabriel. Never in his fucking life did he feel more raw and humiliated than right now. There his brother stood, in full armor, wings bold and stark against the black marble, muscles bulging without Gabe even flexing, while Lucifer felt like a wet, beaten dog left to starve in an abandoned cave.

  He had no wings. He had no armor. He had no energy. His body was ripped with muscles, but without something to hit, what good were they to him right now? Besides, as drained as he felt, Lucifer doubted he could fight his way out of a wet paper bag.

  “You’re weakening.”

  “Tell me something I don’t already know.” Lucifer walked past Gabriel to get dressed. Fuck, he wanted out of here so bad, he could scream. He needed to be let off his motherfucking leash. For that to happen, someone else needed to nut-up and takeover Hell for a while. Someone like the asshole with wings who couldn’t stop staring at him with pity right fucking now.

  “Take more from me.”

  “I can’t,” Lucifer entered his bedchamber and snatched a fresh pair of pants. “You need your energy to hunt down this fucker.” Since I’m still stuck here.

  Gabriel growled, “My energy not good enough for you now?”

  He was too tired for this. “Do you hear that?” Lucifer cupped his ear to listen better, “That’s the sound of you shutting the fuck up. Sounds damned nice.” He went back to buttoning his fly, then grabbed a shirt.

  Gabe grew angrier. “Your martyr act is getting really fucking old, Satan.”

  “Not an act. And I’m not a martyr. I’m just trying to pick and choose my actions wisely from here on out. I’m not taking shit from you, Uri, or Constantine. I need at least some of us to be at full charge and it’s definitely not going to be me anytime soon.”

  “But you’ve been pulling from all of us for over a month. Today was the biggest draw. We all felt it.”

  Lucifer froze with his shirt half-buttoned. “I haven’t taken anything from any of you today.” But he’d felt the drain too. So it wasn’t a Hell Hound… not if Gabe and the others felt it as well. Or was it two separate entities, both pulling at the same time?

  The two Angels stared at one another, matching blue eyes growing harder and more furious. “It’s an Angel,” Gabriel growled. “It must be.”

  Only Angels had the capability of drawing power from another Angel. It would also explain so many other things – like the white blob Sara and the twins saw while in captivity and also about the book that’s gone missing.

  And Uriel’s symbol showing up all over the damn place.

  One might think it was an obvious deduction to make – at least regarding the stolen book – but considering Angels existed to protect life, it was a little hard to choke down the fact that one of them might be trying to end it all. It went against their nature. The very core of their being was all about protecting. So many other creatures might desire something far more devastating, but not Angels. Not anymore.

  “Either this is all the work of a rogue Angel, or whoever this is has an Angel in captivity and is using them.” Lucifer’s heart stopped, his mind immediately going to a particular creature he’d not seen in… “Get a head count. Make sure all of us are accounted for. Maybe if an Angel has gone missing, we can track them down and find them before things get too far.”

  “Things have already gone beyond too far, Lucifer.” Gabriel rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. “We’re already in the third phase.”

  Lucifer was going to puke. “You’re sure?”

  “Ninety percent sure.”

  “That’s not a hundred.”

  “You gonna put your blinders on before or after you finish buttoning that shirt, brother?” Gabriel took a step closer to him and spoke in low tones, “I know how hard this must be for you. I’m trying to help, Luce. But you’ve got to trust me.”

  Lucifer’s heart hammered in his chest and his blood swished in his ears. “I’ve got… I’ve got to get out of here.”

  “We’r
e working on it.”

  “Work faster.”

  Sara knocked before coming in. “Hey.”

  Gabriel leaned against the dresser while Lucifer sat on his bed to tie his boots. The Devil looked up and smiled, “How are you, Darling?”

  Any trace of worry or anger in Lucifer faded the second Sara came in. Gabriel couldn’t understand how the Devil could hide his truth so well. Nor could he understand how Lucifer would give away so much of himself to his creations. Hell Hounds were dogs. They might look like humans but they were animals, guards, protectors. They weren’t family for fuck’s sake. Yet Gabriel knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that Lucifer would give his last breath to one of them.

  It was infuriating.

  And now this one was pregnant and if Lucifer didn’t dote on her before, he sure as hell did now.

  “Have a seat,” Lucifer patted the mattress. “What’s got you so happy? Kalen and Jack back so soon?”

  “No, but I just saw Sebastian.”

  Lucifer tensed, “Is he okay?”

  “Better than okay. You were right about Tilly. They’ve bonded like my pack did.”

  Lucifer’s shoulders relaxed as he exhaled. “Good.” In the beginning, he’d planted a seed of doubt in that pack about Tilly. It was blown out of the solar system within a day… and since then, Valor’s pack had only fortified. “Thank. Fuck.”

  Gabe rolled his eyes and pushed off the dresser. “I’ve got to go meet the others,” he left Sara and Lucifer to have their little magical romance moment about the other pack. Gabriel opened the bedchamber door and slammed it shut behind him.

  Lucifer was pussy footing around the truth of his situation and that wasn’t going to do anyone any favors in the end. The end, which, by the way, was coming. Gabriel’s wings fanned out almost to their full limit and dragged along the walls as he marched down the hall. He was ready to fight.

  Busting into the throne room, he sat in the Devil’s large chair and rubbed his temples. There was commotion coming from the other side of the double doors and Kalen and Jack stepped in arguing about something. They both stopped when they saw it wasn’t their maker sitting in the chair.