Bittersweet Seraphim

  It looked the same as every other square inch of the hallway. She regarded it, squinting—wondering how it might be different, tempted to find out more, knowing only her body could be the test.

  She hugged her knees. The toe that had been warm was cleaner than the others now. A bit of glitter shone on the toenail. Emma tracked the path from God’s past cell to the gate, once, twice, three times before it hit her. God had walked here! God’s feet had touched this very floor. She put her other toe in the curious warmth. Greedily, her whole foot pushed its way into the spot. It could only be good. It could only be perfection. She scooted with as much control as she could muster, not wanting to slip into a plague now with a sliver of release in sight.

  Her legs fit, then her body, and finally her back and head. The release was confession, a warm bath, and a new life to engulf her. Comfort. She was satiated and warm, and the floor felt soft and soothing. The air around her held her body effortlessly, like a hammock. No more hunger, no more pain, no more thirst. She tried again, knowing now:

  “Our Father, which art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name.”

  Emma’s tears finally came, and she pushed forward so she could kneel properly.

  “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven.”

  Her voice became louder, echoing in the hallway.

  “Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses…”

  She stood then, proud, and spread her arms like wings.

  “…as we forgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever.”

  For the first time in mind-altering weeks, Emma smiled.

  “Amen.”

  She smiled so wide it hurt her cheeks because God loved her. And He would never leave her. Even if she was still trapped. After a few soul-rejuvenating moments, Emma took careful steps, exploring God’s path. Her muscles protested their use by cramping and twisting, but she pushed on. She found she could walk almost the entire length of the hallway—from just before God’s cell to the gate and back.

  Her horrible French maid’s costume was now clean, and her hair smelled fresh. It had been so knotted it felt like tangled rope before. But now? Just silk. The best was her heart. Its true, healthy beat sounded like a promise. The air around her became fresh and clean, and the smoke cleared from her lungs. This incredible oasis in Hell gave Emma wings on the inside. Maybe it was ludicrous, but she felt she and God had a special relationship. He must know how devoted her heart was.

  “Thank You. I really think I can endure forever, if need be, if I have You.” Emma looked to the ceiling of the hallway, sending her words straight up.

  “You can thank me after you’ve sucked my dick dry.” Everett’s voice broke her concentration. “What the Hell is going on here?”

  Emma turned to face him, but she refused to give him an answer.

  “If you can walk, move your ass over to the control panel. Open this gate. Now. Do it.”

  Everett looked dirty. He’d been doing a lot of the digging to get to her himself.

  “No, asshole.” Emma strolled as far away from him as she could get. She reached out to touch God’s door, the entrance to the cell where He’d spent a good chunk of time. Maybe she was greedy for more. Maybe she wanted to get even farther from Everett. Whatever her reason, she wasn’t expecting the heat. The white-hot force that had protected God’s door from her last time still remained. She yanked back her hand to the sound of Everett’s chilling laughter. She might be within God’s love, but she could still be hurt. She refused to turn around and see victory in the Devil’s eyes while her tears flowed from the pain.

  “When I get you—and have no fear, sweet Emma, I will have you—I’ve got all sorts of plans for you,” Everett ranted once he’d composed himself. “Can you imagine your worst fear? Picture it. Taste it. Smell it. Tell me what it looks like. No lying, ex-angel. Give me the satisfaction I crave.”

  Emma rubbed her hand. There were no obvious burns, though it felt raw. She was stronger now. Angrier now. She whirled and took the hallway like a furious runway model. Just out of his arm’s reach she snarled, “Fear? I have none. I’m not afraid of you.” She smiled when she realized it was true.

  Everett looked as if she’d punched him. His head reeled, and his eyes rolled. He growled, looking at her. “I’ll make you eat every word you just said. And I’ll build them out of barbed wire and cobra venom. I have power over you.”

  “Power is perceived. Power requires belief.” She shook her head, and her now-clean hair tumbled around her shoulders. “I don’t believe in you.”

  Everett’s neck was red and throbbing. “You will.” He crossed his filthy arms across his chest. “When I have you bent over—”

  “Stop. You don’t even know what you’re doing. Like right now? You’ve been trying to bust in this cell for how long?” Emma folded her arms the same way he had his. “Isn’t there anything else the ruler of Hell has to do with his day? I mean, surely the minions are laughing at you. Instead of taking care of business like a man, you’re here slamming yourself into this wall like a bird against a window.”

  Everett took deep breaths through his nose, expanding his nostrils like an attacking bull. “I do what I want, when I want.” His biceps tensed. “What do you expect? You think Jack’s going to save you? You think God cares about you?” He paused and obviously had a thought. An evil smile spread over his face. “You know what? You’re right. I should go check on things. Make sure and all that.”

  He spun on his heel and was gone, leaving Emma puzzled. Whatever he’d just drummed up had him excited, and that made her nervous, despite her newfound courage.

  “You can’t go in there without a plan.” Violent’s voice was quiet, but it echoed.

  Jack stopped in his tracks. “You’re right.” He turned and faced his companions. Everyone waited while he stood, thinking.

  “If this is going to take a while, maybe let someone else make the plan?” Jason suggested.

  Jack noted the half-breed still holding pretty Kate’s hand. It made his own feel more empty. “Hell? It’s like a dog. Anybody can feed it, but it knows who its master is. I may hate it here, but this place knows me. There’s no safe place for you. It’s been built to confuse, trap, and ensnare you—by me and plenty of other Devils just like me.” He kicked the ground with his motorcycle boot. “Violent, you stay here with Jason and fight the fucking army that comes through when that door opens. Dean, you—the half-breed with the sweet ass, and the new girl come with me.” Jack made a wind-it-up motion with his hand and headed off.

  “Wait, Jack.” Violent spoke again. “You know I’ll need more than one. And I’m keeping that.” She pointed at Dean.

  Kate cleared her throat. “Why do I have to go with you? I need to get to Nero.”

  “Truly?” Jack asked, incredulous. What was all this insubordination? Being human sucked. “I was going to lock you two ladies in a closet until I brought down Everett.” He ran his hands through his hair.

  “And if you failed?” Kate’s eyes were huge as she waited for a response.

  Jack stilled. “The closet? It’d be safe for a week. Then you’d succumb to the nerve gas. Seriana would lose her memory. She’d be alive, but she wouldn’t remember who she was.”

  Kate and Seriana’s mouths popped opened in surprise. Dean and Jason took threatening steps toward Jack.

  “That’s a good plan, boss,” Violent offered. She didn’t appear to be kidding.

  “He’s plotting to kill us, and you like that idea?” Kate gasped. Jack was pretty sure her eyes couldn’t open much wider.

  Violent shook her head. “This is Hell. The choices you make here are not…how would you put it? Normal. That’s Jack being one of the fairest Devils this place has ever seen. Because if you’re caught? And he’s dead or incapacitated?” She shook her head. “He’d be saving you both a millennium
of pain and torture your tiny little brains can’t even fathom. And because of his example, if things go wrong, I’ll end Dean and Jason if I can.”

  Kate pointed from Jack to Violent. “So if we don’t die, you people are going to murder us? And that’s you being nice?”

  Violent gave Jack a crooked smile of admiration. “Considerably so.”

  There was an awkward pause.

  “I’m not dying in a closet,” Kate declared and walked right up to Jack. “You promised me my father.”

  “If I live, and I’m the Devil, I’ll save you from the closet, and you and Papa can have a big, sloppy reunion. But there are a million steps between right now and that moment, and I don’t have time to waste.” He stepped closer to her—to intimidate her, of course.

  Kate tilted her head and put her hands on her hips. “I’m not all that attached to you, so for what’s it’s worth, I’m going to try to get to Nero on my own. You can go screw your death closet.” She stomped away into the darkness.

  The others waited, silently.

  Finally she returned, still mad. “Could you at least point me in the right direction?”

  “I’m not sending you in there.” Jack shook his head and folded his arms.

  In an instant, Violent flew to Jack’s side, apparently shocking everyone but him.

  He listened for a moment as she murmured in his ear, then shrugged. “Fine. Don’t say I didn’t warn you all. Seriana, Dean, and Violent, you’re to guard the fingery hole. Asshole and Kate, come with me, and I’ll send you in the right direction to meet a crazy, horrible end where you might get a glimpse of Nero.”

  Dean and Seriana hugged their brother.

  “Don’t die. That’s all I’m saying.” Dean pounded Jason on the back.

  “Same to you guys.” Jason kissed Seriana’s cheek.

  Jack walked into the dark, cursing under his breath. “Hard enough to save an angel, never mind all these damn hangers on…”

  Chapter 14

  Watching the fingers was a horrible job. Violent kept trying to snap them off while Dean and Seriana worked to figure out how exactly they were to stave off more than twenty half-breeds.

  “I guess we can just run deep into that place.” He gestured to the dark cave behind them.

  Seriana nodded but looked distant.

  “What’s up? I mean, besides being in Hell and all.” Dean tried to get his sister to make eye contact.

  “I think I saw something. After Violent grabbed us. I’m probably just crazy. There was a lot going on.” Seriana looked up at the gateway.

  “What? Spill it.” Dean wrapped an arm around her and pretended to give her a noogie.

  She didn’t react, just stared at the macabre wall. Dean put his hands on her shoulders.

  Seriana bit her lip before whispering, “I think I saw Mom. I mean, that’s impossible, right? But I think I saw her…and she was chained up by her neck. What if we just ran from our own mother?”

  Dean rubbed Seriana’s arms. “No, sweetheart. Mom would never try to hurt us. She would have called out or something.”

  Violent continued beating on the fingers while she added to the conversation she wasn’t supposed to hear. “Oh, there’s a woman in chains out there. She’s getting quite a beating right now. I can hear their fists.” She turned toward the half-breeds. “So, good news: maybe your mom wasn’t dead a few minutes ago. Bad news: now she’s probably dead. Good news: half-breeds make excellent fertilizer, and the tree out there looked like it could use a boost.”

  “What?” Dean ran to Violent and stilled her hammering with his hands. The remaining fingers continued wiggling.

  Violent smiled as Dean touched her. “Do you have a photo? I’ll confirm it for you.”

  Dean pulled out his wallet and presented her with a very worn picture of Rebecca.

  Violent nodded like she was agreeing about the weather. “Yes. That’s her. My condolences. Sounds like her death is getting brutal out there. I think I can still hear because of all these fingers breaking the seal.”

  Seriana shoved past Dean and Violent and positioned her hands in the center of the ring of phalanges. She pushed with all her might to open the gateway.

  “Looks like I have to kill your sister now, love.” Violent headed for Seriana.

  Dean stepped in front of her. “No. No, you don’t. Listen, just for a minute. Seri? Do you want to do this? Right now?”

  Seriana looked over her shoulder and snarled, “They’re killing my mother.”

  Violent cocked her head and spoke to Dean. “She does know she’ll never move it alone, doesn’t she?”

  There was the distinct sound of stone grating on stone.

  “Well, even if she manages to open it, I’ll take you far from here, and she’ll die too. But then she’s with her mother, which is nice. The more fertilizer the better.” Violent seemed conflicted. “But I have to follow Jack’s orders. Hmm…This is a tough one.”

  Dean looked her up and down. “Violent? If you help us save my mother I’ll kiss you with tongue and an ass grab.”

  “Done.” Violent stepped next to Seriana and put her shoulder into it as Dean joined in. The stone continued grinding and creaking as the minion and half-breeds dared to open the gateway from Hell. After a few moments the gateway groaned again and there was a discernible shift. The fingers were now doing their part to facilitate the opening, curling and pulling. But it took more effort than it should have, and Seriana realized Jack had waited for an exact moment before opening the hole.

  She put her ear against the stone and tried to listen, blocking out all other noise. She could almost hear screaming. It was part of the history of the stone. The screams of Hellish torture had been absorbed by this rock, and it hurt her soul to hear them, but still she listened. All at once it seemed the screaming souls took a breath.

  “Push now!” Seriana hollered, and then the rock really started to move. Violent grunted with the effort, and Seriana put every bit of hope she’d ever had for her mother into her shoulder and focused. The rock slid into the earth’s atmosphere, and its space was filled by flying fists and teeth and legs. Crunching bones and screams of agony punctuated the battle.

  Violent stepped through like a monster, clearing a way for Seriana and Dean. There were just so many half-breeds, and the ones missing fingers seemed the angriest. Some slinked into the now-open hole to Hell.

  Seriana got low and looked on the ground. She locked eyes with her mother who, sure enough, was enduring a beating. There was a flurry of fists and her mother’s body vibrated with someone else’s anger. Despite it all, when she saw Seriana, she smiled. Pure joy emanated from her as she saw her child after so many, many years.

  Seriana smiled back and took off. She evaded three different half-breeds aiming to decapitate her, then forward-rolled and landed near her mother’s head. Seriana saw her grandfather’s eyes go greedy and victorious as she began beating the ever-living shit out of him. But after a few moments Vittorio’s relentless laughter stilled her hands, and Seriana looked around. Violent had Dean pressed behind her and stood like a lioness as a good fifteen half-breeds surrounded her. Several other half-breeds were making for the hole to Hell, trying to move as stealthily as possible. Seriana moved to stand over her mother’s prone body.

  “Look at you! Such a spitfire,” her grandfather said. “You honestly opened that doorway to come back to me, child? I knew we were meant to be.” He laughed again, then whipped his head toward the escaping minions and stilled them with a low growl. “Halt.”

  “Where does that hole lead, my descendant?” He turned back to her and smiled.

  “Hell. Where you belong. Where I will put you.” She turned from him and helped her mother from the ground. She hugged her gently, afraid of hurting her wounds.

  “My baby.” Rebecca’s arms were chained, as were her legs, and Seriana’s efforts to break them were futile.

  “I love you, Mom.” She pointed at her brother. “Dean’s here too.??
?

  Dean had to offer a blown kiss because Violent would not let him move out from behind her.

  “Jason?” Rebecca’s voice was so slight.

  Vittorio started clapping before Seriana could answer. “This reunion is so touching. Of course, now I need you no longer, my weak daughter.” He raised his hand over Rebecca, but Seriana caught his arm on its descent.

  “No. If you hurt her again, I’ll never help you.” As soon as Seriana spoke, Rebecca and Dean began shouting their disapproval.

  The old half-breed paid them no mind, his gaze flickering with power. “Help me? After running from me for lifetimes? Why would you do that?”

  “Why doesn’t matter to you, does it? I’ll come with you and bear the offspring you so desperately want. My price is simple. My mother, Dean, Jason, and Kate are never sought again. For anything.” Seriana took a moment to look in Violent’s purple eyes, then made a decision. “And the minion is free from you as well.”

  She almost smiled at Violent’s quizzical look, and her mother gripped her arm with surprising strength.

  “Seriana Marie Parish, I have not endured all these years just to let him have you.” She slumped with the effort of speaking.

  Seriana caught her. “Mom, you’ve taken more than your share. I’m not afraid. I can do this. I want to go with…Grandfather.” It was such an obvious lie.

  “Seri, no. Please.” Her mother tried to reach out again with her bound hands. The cuffs she wore had rubbed her wrists to the bone.

  Seriana’s impulsive decision seemed like divine intervention. They were outnumbered, and more half-breeds were traipsing through the woods. Even with Violent, they weren’t getting out of here alive. She pulled her lips into a tight smile and turned to the man she’d been so frightened of. He was really rather small. He should have been a huge, looming troll for the fright he’d caused her.

  “Unlock my mother, and let me watch her get away with Violent and Dean. Then I’m all yours.” Seriana held her mother steady while her grandfather roughly removed her chains with his key. At times he pulled the metal away from skin where they’d melded as one.