Hades

29 Sweet Revenge

I woke the next day feeling more like myself than I had in a long time. I stretched and arched my back, pleased to find the muscles feeling light and relaxed rather than as heavy as concrete. It was a relief to be back in the luxurious surroundings of Hotel Ambrosia even though I knew it could only be temporary.

I’d just thrown off the covers and slipped out of bed when I heard the sound of a key card in the door of the suite. I tensed up for a second expecting trouble, but it was only Hanna and Tuck poking their faces through the door. I assumed they were the only ones allowed to know about my return. Jake had ordered a lavish cooked breakfast and Hanna almost dropped the overladen tray in her enthusiasm to rush to my side.

“I’m so glad to see you,” she said, embracing me tightly. “I can’t believe you’re alive.” I breathed in her now-familiar smell of freshly baked bread.

Tuck, who was more guarded with his emotions, crossed the room to give my shoulder a fraternal shove.

“You had us worried for a while,” he said. “What happened back there in the arena?”

“I’m not actually sure,” I replied, accepting the glass of orange juice that Hanna thrust into my hand. “I didn’t do any of it on purpose, the fire just parted around me.”

“How did you manage to get out of the chambers?”

“Jake came last night and let me out. I’m guessing there’s going to be trouble.”

“He defied his father’s orders?” Hanna’s eyes bulged. “That’s a first.”

“I know,” I said. “I hope he knows what he’s doing.”

“Everyone’s been talkin’ bout you and your powers,” Tuck said. “They reckon Big Daddy was gonna let you out himself, see if he could cut a deal with you.”

“Maybe when Hell freezes over,” I said under my breath, but I couldn’t keep myself from feeling just a little bit hopeful. If Lucifer came up with terms I could agree to, then maybe there was a slim chance I wouldn’t have to return to my prison in the earth. On the other hand if Jake setting me free made Lucifer angry, I could end up in worse trouble. “I need to find something to wear,” I said, glancing at the dirty undergarments on the floor. I was still in the oyster silk pyjamas I’d found folded on the bed when I arrived.

I started riffling through the wardrobe, eager to change into clean clothes. Jake had added jeans and a sweater among the showy dresses and silk shirts. Perhaps he finally understood the importance of flying under the radar. I’d just slipped on the sweater and was tying my hair back in a ponytail when the door buzzed again and Jake waltzed in, forgetting to knock.

“Didn’t your mother teach you any manners?” I snapped. I expected him to be anxious after last night’s escapade, but he looked so unconcerned that I wondered what bargain he’d managed to negotiate overnight.

“Never had a mother,” Jake replied breezily, before waving a dismissive hand at Hanna and Tuck. “Get out.”

“I want them to stay,” I protested.

Jake gave an exaggerated sigh. “Come back in half an hour,” he instructed them in more pleasant tones before turning his attention back to me. “So, how are you feeling?”

“Much better,” I said truthfully.

“So I was right,” Jake crowed. “The solution was staring us in the face.”

“I guess,” I muttered. “What’s going to happen now? Should I be worried?”

“Relax, I’m working on it. My father prides himself on making sound business decisions and right now I’m plugging you as an asset rather than a liability. It’s got him thinking.” Jake looked at me, expecting a response, but I remained silent. “You can thank me anytime you’re ready.”

“Just because I might not have to go back to that infested hole doesn’t mean I’m any less miserable,” I explained.

“That’s a slight exaggeration,” he said flippantly.

“No, it’s not,” I said, annoyed by his attitude. “I may not be in pain anymore, but this place is still my worst nightmare.”

Jake spun around suddenly, his dark eyes on fire. “What’s it going to take with you, Bethany?” he said in a low voice. “It seems nothing I do for you is ever good enough. I’m all out of ideas.”

“What did you expect?”

“A little gratitude wouldn’t go astray.”

“For what? Did you really think rescuing me and then flying me like a kite would change anything? I’m still here and I still want to go home.”

“Get over it,” Jake snarled.

“I’ll never get over it.”

“Well, that proves you’re an idiot because I know for a fact that pretty boy is already over you.”

“He is not!” I retorted hotly. Jake could talk about whatever he wanted and most of the time it didn’t bother me, but Xavier was off-limits. Jake had no right to mention his name let alone presume to know what was happening in his life.

“Shows how little you know.” Jake was taunting me now. “Hormonal teenage boys don’t wait around forever. In fact, they’re short-term thinkers. Didn’t they teach you that in Sex Ed? It’s out of sight, out of mind with them.”

“You don’t know anything about Xavier,” I said, determined not to let him get to me. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“What if I told you I get regular updates about life on earth?” Jake smirked. “What if your brother and sister have given up looking for you and Xavier has moved on? He’s with another girl as we speak … the pretty redhead in fact. What’s her name again? I think you know her ….”

I could feel my temper growing. Did Jake honestly think he could trick me into doubting the people I loved? How naïve did he think I was?

“I’m telling the truth,” he added. “They’ve accepted they can’t help you. They tried and failed and sadly now they have to move on.”

“Then why are they going to Alabama to try and find a …” I swallowed my words immediately, realizing my mistake seconds too late. I bit my lip and watched as Jake’s brows lowered darkly and his eyes glittered with rage.

“How could you know that?” he said.

I hoped my face didn’t betray me as I tried desperately to repair the damage. “I don’t know. I’m just guessing.”

“You’re a very bad liar,” he observed, approaching with the slow stealth of a panther. “You spoke with total certainty just then. I’m betting you’ve seen them … maybe even communicated with them.”

“No … I haven’t …”

“Tell me the truth! Who showed you how?” Jake swept a crystal vase off a table so it smashed on the floor, scattering long-stemmed roses. I wished he would calm down. I wished he hadn’t dismissed Tuck and Hanna. I didn’t like being alone with him when he was this worked up.

“No one showed me anything. I figured it out by myself.”

“How many times have you done this?”

“Not many. A few.”

“And every time you were with him, right? It’s as if you never left! I should have known you were up to something. I was a fool to trust you!” He raised his hands and clawed at his temples like someone deranged.

“That’s priceless — you talking about trust.” But Jake was no longer listening.

“You’ve been playing me, making me think we were growing closer, trying to keep me in the dark about what was really going on. I thought if I gave you space and treated you like a queen you might forget about him. But you didn’t forget, did you?”

“That’s like asking me to forget who I am.”

“You still think like a schoolgirl. I thought Hades might help you mature a little, but I see now the experience has been wasted on you.”

“It’s an experience I never asked for.”

“You’ve had your last happy reunion — of that you may be sure.” He’d resumed his usual cynical tone, but the threat beneath it was real. I knew I should say something to dispel rather than exacerbate the tension between us.

“Why do we always have to fight?” I ventured. “For once can’t we try to understand each other?”

Jake shook his head and gave a rueful laugh.

“Well played, Bethany. You’re quite the actress, but you can stop now. The game’s up. You had me going for a while, though. I almost believed you were making an effort. I should have known better. I should have left you to rot in the chambers. You’ve put me in a very bad temper.”

“I don’t care,” I said. “Do whatever you like with me, send me back or hand me over to Lucifer.”

“Oh, you misunderstand me. I’m not going to harm a single hair on your head,” Jake leered. “But I will make you sorry you treated me with so little respect.”

The implication behind his words sent chills through me.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means travel plans of my own are in order. I think it’s time I saw firsthand what you’re missing so badly.”

ALTHOUGH Jake had been deliberately vague about his intentions I knew him well enough to know he didn’t waste time making idle threats. He was headed to Tennessee to get even with me. I didn’t know what he planned to do once he got there, but I knew he wouldn’t stop until he succeeded. Being passed over for Xavier just when he thought he stood a chance must have been a bitter pill for him to swallow. Anyone else would have accepted it with greater dignity. But exacting revenge was the only thing that was going to satisfy Jake and what better way was there than targeting the people I loved? There was no way Jake’s demonic strength was any match for my powerful siblings and there was little point in him going after Molly. So that just left Xavier. My Achilles’ heel. Exposed and vulnerable. Especially if Jake caught him alone. And that would be easy enough to achieve.

If Xavier was in danger there was no time to waste. I needed to get back to earth and warn him before Jake got there first.

I couldn’t project right away because my mind kept filling with images of Xavier in trouble and the agitation threw my focus. In the end I jumped in the shower and turned the cold water on full blast. The shock of it cleared my head and settled my thoughts long enough for me to focus my energies. The projection happened effortlessly after that.

A moment later I was outside Xavier and Molly’s room at the Easy Stay Inn. The window was open a crack so I slid in like a trail of smoke and hovered below the ceiling fan. All was silent apart from the sound of their regular breathing and the wind chasing some dead leaves around in the parking lot outside. Molly was sound asleep in her bed, the previous drama of the evening erased from her face. Her resilience never ceased to amaze me. Xavier was much less comfortable in his sleep. He kept changing position and even sat up once to thump the pillows. Before lying down again he rested on his elbows to check the time on the digital clock. It read 5:10 A.M. Xavier cast a look around the room, his turquoise eyes bright in the darkness. When he finally did drift off to sleep his face stayed troubled, as though he were fighting battles in his dreams.

I wished I could reach out to comfort him even though I knew I was the primary cause of his distress. I had turned his life upside down and now his safety was being threatened. So far Jake had not disturbed them and for a fraction of a second I entertained the hope that he might have been bluffing just to rattle me. But I’d seen the look in his eyes and I knew better.

The room turned suddenly cold and Molly pulled the covers up over her head. I could hear the sound of wolflike breathing. I saw it then: A shadow slid into the room with us. It crept across Molly’s sleeping form under the duvet and danced across Xavier’s features.

Sensing the presence, Xavier’s eyes snapped open, and he swung himself out of bed. His whole body was poised for a fight. I saw a vein throbbing in his neck and could almost hear his heart racing.

“Who are you?” he said through gritted teeth as a figure began to take shape before him. I recognized the curly hair and baby face even before he had fully appeared. It was Diego, dressed formally in a black suit and tie as though he were going to a funeral.

“Just an acquaintance,” Diego replied in a lazy voice. “Jake said you were pretty — he wasn’t lying.”

“What do you want?”

“You’re not very polite for someone I could kill with my little finger,” Diego said in his slimy, slightly effeminate voice.

“You do know there’s an archangel and a seraphim next door, right?” Xavier retorted. “Think maybe they can take you down?”

Diego gave an empty chuckle. “They were right about you, just like a lion cub. Killing you would be too easy.”

“So do it then,” Xavier hissed and I felt my stomach plummet to my feet.

Diego cocked his head to one side. “Oh, that’s not why I’m here. I’ve come to deliver a message.”

“Yeah?” Xavier said without a hint of fear. “Then go ahead and deliver it.”

“Our sources inform us that you and your angel squad are trying to pull off a rescue mission,” Diego said, a smirk in his voice. “I’m here to tell you not to waste your time. You might as well call off the chase. The angel you’re searching for is dead.”

There was a long silence. Xavier’s heart, which had been racing just minutes before, seemed to slow down and thud like a pound of concrete in his chest. But when he opened his mouth to speak, he didn’t betray a hint of emotion.

“I don’t believe you,” he said in a level voice.

“Had a feeling you might say that,” Diego replied, his smiling face framed by dark curls. He reached behind him and produced a rough burlap sack. “So I brought along some evidence.”

From the sack he withdrew something feathered and folded. When he shook it loose I saw it was a section of broken, blood-stained wings. My wings. “You can have this as a keepsake if you like,” he said. What he held up was twisted and bent and the blood had congealed in parts causing the feathers to stick together. Diego waved it like a fan and droplets of blood spattered onto the floor. I saw Xavier draw a sharp intake of breath and lean forward as if someone had punched him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. His turquoise eyes darkened, like clouds rolling across sky and blotting out the sun.

“Hellhounds,” said Diego, nodding his head in commiseration. “At least it was quick.”

“Don’t listen to him!” I cried, but my words were lost in the void that separated us. The desire to be with him filled me so strongly that I thought I would explode through the confines of my spectral form.

At that moment the door burst open and my brother and sister appeared. For the first time, a look of true fear flashed across Diego’s face. I guessed he hadn’t counted on running into them.

“Did you think we wouldn’t pick up your scent?” Gabriel asked, his voice drenched with anger. His eyes fell on Xavier’s face and then the mangled, bloody wings that Diego’s had dropped on the ground. Ivy saw them too and an expression of disgust settled on her face.

“You really are the lowest of the low,” she said.

“I try my best,” Diego said, chuckling.

“Tell me it isn’t true,” Xavier said, his voice choked.

“Nothing but cheap tricks,” Gabriel replied, kicking the wings aside, as though they were a theater prop.

Xavier let out a low moan of relief and pressed his back against the wall. I knew how he felt. When I thought Jake had run him down with the motorcycle, the grief had been crippling and the relief made me giddy.

“What are you doing here?” Gabriel demanded.

Diego stuck his bottom lip out in a mock pout. “Just trying to have a little fun. Humans are so gullible — dumb beasts.”

“Not as dumb as you,” Ivy said, while Gabriel moved to position himself on Diego’s right-hand side, pinning him between the wall and the doorway. “Looks like you’ve got yourself trapped.”

“A bit like that little angel of yours,” Diego snarled, though I could tell by the way he curled his fingers that he was nervous. “She’s trapped in the pit burning as we speak and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“We’ll see about that,” Gabriel said.

“We know you’re trying to find a portal.” Diego’s attempts to stall or distract them were poorly disguised. “You’ll never find it and if you do, good luck getting it open.”

“Do not underestimate the power of Heaven,” Ivy said.

“Oh, I think Heaven has forsaken Bethany by now. Have you considered that our daddy may be stronger than yours?”

Ivy looked up and a hot blue fire seemed to blaze in her usually cool gray eyes. She raised her chin to match her opponent. She opened her mouth and a language flowed out that sounded high and sweet like a hundred children singing or wind chimes in the summer breeze. The air around her started to shimmer, like heat rising off the pavement. Then, without speaking, she thrust her hand out toward him. To my shock, her hand disappeared straight into his chest, as though he were made of nothing but clay. Diego seemed just as surprised as I was and grunted loudly. Something began to glow in his chest and I realized that Ivy was literally gripping his heart. The light shone brighter, making his skin papery and transparent. I could see the outline of his rib cage and Ivy’s hand, encasing his heart in a scalding prison of light. Diego seemed to be completely paralyzed, but he managed to open his mouth and let out a strangled scream. Through the screen his chest had become, I saw the heart begin to swell and pulse in Ivy’s hand, as if it were going to rupture. Then with a pop, like a bursting balloon, it disintegrated and Diego vanished in a flash of light.

Ivy drew a deep, shuddering breath and then brushed her hands together as though she had touched something contaminated.

“Demons,” she muttered.

The noise of the explosion woke Molly, who sat upright, scrambling to smooth down her curls.

“Huh … what … what’s going on?” she mumbled, her voice slurry. I was amazed that she’d managed to sleep through the drama.

“Nothing,” Gabriel said quickly. “Go back to sleep. We just came in to check on you.”

“Oh.” Molly stared at him wistfully for a moment before remembering the events of the previous night. Then her face darkened and she turned her back, wriggling down under the covers.

Gabriel sighed and shrugged at Ivy while Xavier picked up the car keys on the bedside table.

“Uh … thanks for taking care of that,” he said. “If it’s all right I’m gonna go for a drive. I need to clear my head.”

I followed him, eager for us to spend some time alone, even if he didn’t know I was there.

“Hey, baby.” He patted the hood of the Chevy out in the parking lot and gave a sad smile. “Things are getting pretty crazy, hey?”

I slid into the passenger seat as Xavier started the familiar purring engine and pulled out onto the highway. His body seemed to relax behind the wheel of the car, flowing more easily. He looked so beautiful with the worry wiped from his face. I could stare at him for hours — his strong arms, the outline of his sculpted chest, his hair falling across his eyes, strands glowing golden in the predawn light. His brilliant turquoise eyes were half closed as he let the Chevy leach the tension from his body. His foot nudged the accelerator and the car responded with an obedient growl. Xavier never drove fast with me in the car; he was too conscious of my safety. But in this moment he was completely free and I knew he needed this time to himself in order to regroup. The car glided around a bend in the road, shadowed by the cedar trees that lined the highway. Up ahead the left side of the road fell away, with nothing but jagged cliffs below. Picking up speed on the open road, Xavier rolled down his window and flicked the radio on. The station was playing the biggest hits of the eighties and the chords of “Livin’ on a Prayer” rang out into the air. The song about a couple whose struggle to survive hard times was especially relevant to us.

We’ve got to hold on, ready or not

You live for the fight when it’s all that you’ve got.

Xavier’s mood seemed to lift a little as he mouthed the words and tapped the steering wheel in time with the beat. But outside, an unnatural wind was blowing up, scattering leaves across the highway and down the cliffs on the opposite side. I knew something was wrong — the presence of evil had followed us. I had to warn Xavier to go back. It wasn’t safe for him out here alone. He needed to be close to Ivy and Gabriel so they could protect him. But how could I let him know that?

When the song ended an idea suddenly hit me. I focused my energy and used it to interfere with the radio frequency. The sound broke up until it was just an irritating hum. Xavier frowned and fiddled with the dials, trying to tune the channel. I concentrated on gathering my strength and called out his name. Then out of the blue it was my voice he heard crackling through the speakers.

“Turn back, Xavier! You’re not safe out here. Find Ivy and Gabriel. Stay with them. Jake is coming.”

The shock of hearing my voice almost caused Xavier to swerve the car off the road. He recovered in time and slammed on the brakes. The Chevy screamed to a halt in the middle of the deserted road.

“Beth? Is that you? Where are you? Can you hear me?”

“Yes, it’s me. I want you to turn back.” My voice was insistent. “You have to trust me.”

“Okay,” Xavier said. “I do. Just keep talking.”

Xavier shifted the car into gear and made a U-turn. I breathed a little easier as I sat curled in the passenger seat with my knees up. Once he was back at the motel he would pass my message on to Ivy and Gabriel and they’d know what to do. As Xavier drove my attention was drawn to the discarded gum wrappers and an empty soda can on the car floor. It was so unlike him — he was usually obsessive about car maintenance. I remembered once how the new GPS he’d installed in the Chevy had left a ring on the windshield. It bothered him so much that he dragged us to the auto shop to find a plastic holder to stick on the dashboard. The memory made me smile.

“Beth, you still here?” Tapping into the radio waves had left me drained, but I summoned whatever remnants of energy I had left to create friction in my fingertips, which I ran lightly over his cheek, a feather-soft caress. I saw the hairs on his arms stand on end.

“Do that again.” Xavier smiled.

We weren’t far now from the Easy Stay Inn. The landscape was becoming more familiar and we had almost left the sharp cliffs behind. I had just given myself permission to breathe easy when something unexpected happened. The Chevy lurched and then accelerated straight past the turnoff, leaving the low rectangular façade of the motel behind.

“What the hell?” Xavier looked around. “Beth, what’s going on?”

The car seemed to take on a crazed purpose of its own. Xavier’s foot slammed repeatedly on the brakes, but they refused to respond. The steering wheel was locked. I slid over to the driver’s side to help him but my attempts to will the car to stop were in vain. Suddenly, I glanced up and saw in the rearview mirror two eyes like glowing embers staring from the backseat.

“Don’t do this, Jake!” I pleaded. The car was now veering crazily from one side of the road to the other. Xavier’s efforts to steer it back on course were futile. The car continued to crash forward, branches lashing out across the windshield, stones crunching under the wheels.

My heart stopped when I saw what we were heading for. Jake was maneuvering the car away from the woodland and toward the rocky escarpment. A couple of times the Chevy teetered so close to the edge I was sure it would tumble right over and smash against the cliffs. Dust rose in clouds impairing Xavier’s vision, but there wasn’t much he could do other than press his back against the seat and wrestle ineffectually with the wheel.

I turned and saw Jake sitting calmly in the back. He was smoking a French cigarette and blowing smoke rings out the window.

He was playing a game with us.