Hard to Kill (Hell Hounds Harem Book 6) Page 31

  His woman was reaching down into the hole, yanking and pulling Valor’s arm. “Come on!” she strained to pull the big Scot up. The twins joined in and they finally got Valor out of there.

  Jack closed the hole and collapsed on his knees. “Bloody fucking hell.”

  Whatever he said after that fell on deaf ears. Bishop checked out.

  Valor struggled to climb out of his rage-filled haze. He felt drunk with it. More animal than man, his mind couldn’t connect with humanity. At least the urge to kill everything in sight had dissipated enough to become controllable.

  It took all he had to not kill Bishop just now. When his teeth sank down in that Hound’s neck, Valor could feel Bishop’s pulse on his tongue. Taste his terror when blood seeped into Valor’s mouth. But the scent was what held him back. Bishop was home for Valor. Bishop was pack. On some level, the beast inside knew that and curled back in its cage. The leash reconnected and shortened once more.

  Thank the Gods they all got out of there alive.

  Valor rolled over and looked at Jack. Holy Hell, the Hound looked like death. “How?” Val’s voice cracked, his throat too sore for him to swallow properly. “How did ye ken to do that?”

  Jack coughed, “After we lost Sara, I studied echoing spells. If a portal is opened somewhere, there’s a slight chance it can be reopened if not too much time has passed. It takes a lot energy though. I had to pull from every direction, including Sara.”

  “Shit, we gotta check on her.” Tanner hopped up first and helped Jack to his feet.

  The rest of them all rose and left, one by one.

  “Bishop,” Tilly wrapped her arms around his middle. “Bishop, can you hear me?”

  The Hound was unresponsive. He just walked forward. Tilly laced her fingers with his and he squeezed her hand. That was something at least. Valor felt like shit for him. How many times would that Hound be tested? How many times was Bishop going to have to face his fears?

  As many as it took to overcome them, Valor thought.

  “Go ahead, we’ll meet ye there,” Valor said to Jack. Jack and Tanner took off down the steps and out the front door. They’d want to get to Sara as soon as possible. The Paris Pack only lived a few blocks away, and from there they could enter Hell without risking the shortcut of the prison route.

  “Bishop, wait.”

  The Hound obeyed and stopped walking.

  Valor got in front of him and dipped his head down in the Hound’s face. Words failed him. Damn but he didn’t know what to say at a moment like this. Instead, Valor pressed his forehead to Bishop’s and squeezed the nape of his neck. It took a few heartbeats, but Bishop finally returned the gesture.

  “I love ye, Hound.”

  “I know.”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  “I know.”

  “Forgive me.”

  “Nothing to forgive, Alpha. Really.”

  Yeah, tell that to the teeth marks still trying to heal on your jugular.

  They broke apart and started walking again.

  “Holy Hell, if that situation sucked any harder,” Sebastian shook his head while they marched down the street.

  Drake stepped in line with Tilly and the pack flanked her while she stayed by Bishop’s side.

  “He’s using souls and putting them in dead bodies. That’s why they’re harder to kill. He’s using binding spells on them,” Tilly turned to look at Baz, “Like the one I put on you. He’s tying malanum to the dead and using a rejuvenation spell or something too. He had my mother and sister.”

  “Explain,” Drake commanded.

  “He offered me immortality if I helped him. He wants the things I stole and wanted my knowledge. He knows I have a good memory.”

  “But he doesn’t know you’re a Hound.”

  Tilly shook her head. “Nope. I stayed in ghost form while he was there.”

  “Did ye get a good look at him, mo leannan?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Good,” Valor clenched his jaw and walked faster. The sun was rising. Paris was waking up. By the time they got to Paris Pack’s house, Jack and Tanner were already back in Hell. Valor held the door for everyone and came in last.

  Hell was rumbling. He looked over at Bishop again, double-checking his status. “Ye okay?” Hell was just as cavernous and tunneled as the catacombs in a sense, yet Bishop never cringed or panicked down here.

  “I’m fine.” He blew out a breath. “Hell doesn’t affect me like that.”

  Valor nodded and they walked into the main room just in time to see Jack holding Sara. She was bawling her eyes out.

  “You scared me to death!” she hiccupped. With her face buried in Jack’s chest, Sara reached out and snatched Tanner like she didn’t need eyes to see where he was. She dragged him in and made herself the center of a Hound sandwich. Kalen and Eli stood behind them, both looking furious and relieved.

  “We had no choice, love,” Jack kissed her head. “I didn’t think I’d pull so much. Are you hurt? Is the baby okay?”

  “I’m fine. We’re fine.” She pushed away and swiped the tears from her cheeks. “Lucifer’s the one that took most of it I think. And Wolf and Eli.” She sniffled and stepped back, then came forward again to hug them some more. “I was so scared. I could fucking kill you both, damnit! I love you.” Her emotional roller coaster took all of them for a ride.

  “Where’s Lucifer, Sara?”

  “In his room.”

  Valor broke away from the packs to search for him. He knocked while opening the Devil’s bedchamber door. Lucifer was on the floor, his back pressed against the footboard, his head in his hands. Vomit puddled between his feet.

  He looked up at Valor for a second before dropping his head down again. “What?” Lucifer’s voice was barely recognizable.

  “I’ve come to check on ye.” Valor approached cautiously. He wasn’t an idiot, he knew whatever spell Jack spun to get that hole to open would cost someone dearly and Lucifer would absolutely take the hit. A hit that the Devil couldn’t afford right now on top of everything else. Fuck.

  If Jack and Tanner pulled too much from him, what would happen? Did they even realize they were pulling from Lucifer? Valor certainly never thought about it before when he drew in energy to make something happen – like giving back a life. The instinct came naturally – Need energy, pull. Need air, inhale. Simple.

  The Devil’s blue irises were almost completely black. He moved sluggishly. “What happened?”

  “Tilly went for revenge on her murderer. Things went verra wrong. She was taken and we had to find her. Ran into my brother Mackenzie while we were crammed in some kind of labyrinth.”

  “Impossible.”

  Valor’s eyebrow lifted, “Which part, sire?”

  “Mackenzie.”

  It would be a lie to say Valor didn’t feel nervous having this conversation. With his pack all safe in Hell right now, he’d allowed his mind to latch onto other fears – like that of his brother never having been put in his place after death.

  “I saw him. I tore him to pieces, sire. My crest was tattooed on his arm along with seven blades piercing it. He bore the marks we had inked on us when we were younger - The bands of honor.”

  Val turned when he heard someone in the corner say, “Then you saw only his body, Hound.” Gabriel stepped out of the shadows, his arms crossed, wings tucked, and a deep scowl etching his face. “What else did you see in there?”

  “Red, mostly,” Valor dropped his head, “I lost myself to wrath again. The place was crawling with malanum. They were controlled, obeyed someone else, and they have the power to infect. The last thing I remember was getting spat in the face again and wrath flooded me.”

  “But you pulled yourself out of it again?”

  Valor nodded. “Aye, it wasna easy though.”

  “Was Tilly there?” Lucifer leaned back and rested his head on the wooden base of his bed.

  “Aye, but it was Bishop who pulled me out of it this time. Tilly had alread
y escaped.”

  “Unscathed?”

  “Aye.”

  “Are you sure?” Gabriel asked.

  “Aye. She walked out of there on her own two feet with all wounds completely healed before she was out of Pascale’s building.”

  With a groan and a curse, Lucifer got to his feet. Gabriel and Valor both reached for him at the same time to catch and steady him. “Gods, sire. Ye canna stay like this.”

  “Not much choice right now, Hound.” Lucifer moved slowly towards the door. “I’ll be alright, it’ll just take a minute.”

  Why did that feel not entirely true?

  “Come, Hound.”

  Gabriel stayed close to Lucifer like a shadow. Or guardian. They went into the prisons, no one saying a word, and as Valor passed Reggie, then Brock, he merely nodded hello and kept his mouth shut. As they passed Kalen, who had returned to his post, Lucifer ordered the Wolf to follow them too.

  He hung a left at some point and hit a stone that opened a small door Valor never knew was there. The silence was eerie as fuck. Valor’s heart started beating faster the deeper they went into the caverns. Then his mouth got the better of him and opened, “Where are we, sire?”

  “Ever heard of that special place in Hell?”

  “Aye, it’s where the worst of the worst go.”

  “Welcome to the VIP section, Hounds.” Flashes of light glowed ahead of them like lightning striking and then everything would plunge into darkness again. There were no sconces to light the way. They stayed on the narrow path that spiraled down many levels. It took a minute for Valor’s eyes to adjust because the red haze hadn’t completely faded from his wrath attack, but when they finally stopped in front of a set of iron bars, Valor peered in.

  Dear…Gods…

  Bile rose in Valor’s throat. Kalen’s eyes hardened, too. They both watched as a twisted, huge malanum chained to a wall was blasted over and over with Hellfire. It didn’t make a sound. It didn’t move. It didn’t blink.

  “What is that?” Kalen asked.

  “Eternal Damnation,” Lucifer smiled. He dragged his tongue over his bottom lip and his grin grew wider. “That, Hounds, is Mackenzie.”

  Valor gripped the bars harder if only to hold himself up. “Maiden, Mother, and Crone.”

  The Devil tilted his head as he regarded the rusty haired Hound, “You didn’t think that was the real Mackenzie up there, did you?”

  “I wasna sure. I never asked what happened to him. I put my faith in ye that when he died he’d get what he deserved. But…” Valor swallowed the lump in his throat, “I also thought there was a good possibility he might have escaped when the walls cracked. Like Jack’s brother Riley had.”

  Riley, who was redeemable and, at the moment, locked away in the Time Out Zone.

  “There’s no escaping Eternal Damnation,” Lucifer growled.

  “Why doesn’t he scream?” Kalen’s voice was low, cautious. “Surely that hurts like a motherfucker.”

  “Oh it does,” the Devil smiled. “And he’s suffering, trust me. Part of his punishment includes endurance for all he did to the two of you and my Darling Sara. He cannot scream. Cannot shut his eyes. Cannot move at all. There is absolutely no escape or release for him in any manner. He must endure without anything to break the agony.”

  Valor’s stomach dropped and he stepped away. He couldn’t bear to look at Mackenzie anymore. To see anyone in such a condition was hard to handle. And after having just seen his brother move and talk and laugh and fight just a few hours ago – and knowing now it was all a farce – this reality was hard to process.

  Did he want his brother to suffer like that? He wasn’t sure. Valor had died and never looked back. He put his faith in Lucifer that when Mackenzie died, he’d get what he deserved but… did he deserve this?

  It wasn’t Valor’s place to say. Lucifer did what he thought was fitting for the crime. Valor should have known that given Mackenzie was the cause of Sara’s terrible death, he’d get the maximum punishment for it.

  “Satisfied?” Lucifer asked.

  Valor nodded. He needed to get out of here. He wanted to rejoin his pack and get a battle plan going. But first, before they could move forward at all, Lucifer needed to get right.

  “Ye need to find some kind of balance, sire,” Valor said as they left the VIP section of prison. “Ye have to unfuck yourself. We canna move forward without ye having all your strength.”

  “My brothers will pick up the slack where my energy is concerned.”

  Not good enough. A growl of disapproval slipped from Val’s lips.

  Gabriel growled back.

  The two stared at each other, and neither backed off. “You better get used to it, Hound. Soon you’ll have a new master down here.”

  “I’ll only ever have one master, Gabriel. And he’s in need of balance right now. Ye can sit on that throne all ye like, but my allegiance is to Lucifer and Lucifer only. Any man can be the Devil, but there is only one Master of Hounds and it’s not ye.”

  “Ladies, ladies, let’s leave that convo for another day. Right now I want to call a pack meeting.” Lucifer grabbed Kalen by the neck and shook him playfully, “Come back with us, Wolf. Brock can handle the Gates until Finley gets here.”

  “What about you?” Kalen asked. “You need something, Luce. You seriously look like shit.”

  “I’ll be fine.”

  Was “fine” code for fucked six ways to Sunday? Must be. Valor kept his mouth shut and stormed out of Hell’s prisons with Kalen by his side, the Devil leading the way, and Gabriel at his back.

  Chapter 40

  Vivian chewed her nails and tapped her foot nervously.

  “Stop that. Eating your body isn’t going to do either of us any favors.”

  “Sorry, habit.”

  He’d found a ghost of a young woman walking around the cemetery Vivian’s body was buried in. It seemed convenient to use what was available at the time, but the ghost was a twitchy little thing. Easy to coerce but squirrelly as hell.

  Vivian’s body was no use to him now. He’d allowed that entire shit show to go down with the Hell Hounds and malanum to see what their priorities were. What their fighting was like. It was a shame to lose Mack in the process, but it was just a big body with a malanum mind. He could dig up another.

  Timing was everything was it not? And Master’s timing had been shit with Matilda Jane. He needed those items she’d stolen. And if he couldn’t have them, then she would have to do. After all, he knew she had a photographic memory. Knowing how thoroughly desperate that bitch would be to find a cure, she’d have devoured every book, every spell, every lesson in magic she could. If Master could have bound her to him, all this would go so much easier.

  She was dead. She was a ghost. It should have been simple. Ghosts were wary creatures, but incredibly dependent. They need to latch onto things. Anchor themselves to this world somehow if they wanted to stay.

  She had no anchor, damnit!

  His gaze flicked to Vivian again. The tattoo of the anchor and words scrolled across her collar bone was sexy and made his dick hard. He wasn’t about to fuck a dead woman though. Necromancy he could do. Necrophilia, hell no.

  He rubbed his temples and exhaled slowly. “Come here,” he cooed. When she came closer, he untucked her shirt and lifted it up to expose her flat belly. Such a waste, he thought. He pulled out a small knife from his back pocket and carved into the skin, releasing the soul binding spell and spirit.

  “Get out of the body,” he commanded.

  The ghost girl obeyed, but whined about it. “I liked that one.”

  Bet she did. “You want another body, earn it. I need you to recruit all the spirits you can and bring them to me.” He dismissed her with a flick of his wrist. Once she was gone, Master summoned the twins. They came in together, their faces stoic, expressions unreadable. “I hate that you choose this form.”

  Silently, they looked at each other, then back to him.

  It was hard to
tell the twins apart. He cut the one’s tongue out, but it grew back. Any marks he gave them to distinguish one from the other kept disappearing. It was infuriating.

  “I want to fuck,” he announced. “So pick.”

  They looked at each other again and one said, “Both of us, Master?”

  “One at a time. You choose who first.”

  The one to the left nodded and turned into a woman, the one to the right changed next. That was the beauty of these two. They could switch their forms from child to woman to old hag in a blink. They chose the child form most of the time, but he didn’t know why. Didn’t care to ask. So long as they remained under his thumb and did what he wanted, they could dress and be whatever they were most comfortable with. But when he wanted to fuck them, they better be in their woman form.

  These two were older than dirt. They knew their place and the rules of this game better than most he encountered since his return. As a matter of fact, they were the first things he brought into his fold.

  Twins had a special bond – that power couldn’t be replicated, but it could be bottled. And these were burning witches. They had a rejuvenating property in them, which made the necromancy part of his plan go better than expected. They also were tied together, so he got double the pleasure and double the power because they wouldn’t leave each other. Never even tried.

  He crooked a finger at the one to the left. She was naked and luscious. As she straddled him, he looked over at her sister and narrowed his eyes, “You, stay where I can see you.”

  He fucked one, then the other, and felt a world better for it a few hours later. Slapping their asses and dismissing them, he got started on his next project. If all goes according to plan, Lucifer wouldn’t know what hit him.

  And that’s when the fun would really start.

  Lucifer entered the main room and took a seat on his throne. He stared at the amount of shit scattered across his table. “Stealing is a sin,” he teased Tilly.

  “Never claimed to be a saint,” she shrugged.

  While Valor and Lucifer had gone to the prisons, the twins went back to their house and grabbed everything they’d dug up from Tilly’s old backyard.