Genesis Queen (The Road to Hell Series) (32 page)

One mistake after another. No more
.

He’d been furious with her when she took off on the road with his son, hiding from him, as if they should be frightened of him. All he’d ever wanted was the best for them. Being the Queen of Hell made her powerful, feared by many, but where he craved authority, his bride did not. He’d learned that the hard way.

How was I to know when everyone wants power
?

Call him a pansy, brainwashed, what-the-fuck-ever, but he’d discovered his devotion to them weakened him only because it altered them into his Achilles’ heel. Otherwise, he was a better King because of them. He’d learned every step on this journey had made her stronger, turned her into a woman he craved more than he had in the beginning. Gone was the girl he’d cherished. In her place a very sexy woman had materialized. One gutsy enough to go toe to toe with him, demand
her
choice in her future. She’d stabbed him just to protect their child. Not only did he love her more, he respected her for that fortitude. Thought her sexier for her determination.

A mother willing to kill for her child…
not just sensual, but a woman worthy of her place in Hell
.

The King of Hell, felled by a woman. His brothers should put that on his tombstone…not that he would ever have a marker or a grave. He gave a mental chuckle. He’d officially become the worst example ever of a demon King. And he’d believed ripping Heaven apart would make him happy. He’d been naïve. All that’d ever been required to grant him happiness currently sat in his lap.

Madison is all that I have ever needed to find genuine peace
.

“I cannot tolerate this absurdity.” It seemed his sibling wasn’t finished spewing his thoughts on the matter. “You’ll destroy Hell with your weakness for this woman.”

“She’s no threat to Hell,
zkihtak
.”

“Right, because I have total faith in your ability to destroy her if she becomes one.”

He shot his brother a dangerous expression. Mentioning her demise on the heels of her recent death reanimated his turmoil from earlier. His anger spiked. “You tread on treacherous ground, Elias.”

“As does Hell, thanks to you.” They glared at one another. His twin sniffed and squared his shoulders. “Petra was on her second orgy when I left Hell. I won’t return with her to protect the delusional hellish princess.”

“She’s the Queen, not a princess.”

His brother paused, flashed his gaze to Madison. “Pardon?”

“She claimed her seat earlier.”

“But I didn’t feel—”

She thought she claimed it, but lacked the conviction of her ownership
. Micah explained to his sibling.
Proof she’s almost ready to accept her seat in Hell
.

“Fuck!” The hand Elias lifted to his forehead shook.
She either claims her position soon or I’ll consider her a failure
.

Micah felt his eyes flame.
Brother, do not threaten my wife
.

A Queen of Hell not claiming her position in Hell held huge ramifications for them all. He had just released her from her position, so he understood Eliel’s anger, but to consider Madison a failure indicated his twin intended to kill her, as he had the other Genesis children.

Do not jeopardize Hell’s stability for her
. “Before I pummel you to a goddamn bloody piece of dim-witted angel-flesh, I’m out of here. When you come to your fucking senses, Beliel, find me.”

No doubt the other kings would know of his folly in the next minute…or less. The four of them had agreed to Micah’s plan, while he single-handedly executed a disastrous choice for Hell. All for the love of a woman.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Elias transcended into Hell with his temper hotter than the healing waters of
Qugu Quta
. From conception to the present, they’d given half a century to the Genesis project. It appeared Madison was no closer to accepting her lineage than she had been five years ago. That denial made her a liability to their kingdom. The more time that passed without Madison claiming her station in Hell, the more convinced he became she should be axed.

Goddamn it
! As a child she’d shown stellar promise. As a mature woman, she had become a thorn in his side.

If she won’t claim her seat, then she needs to die
.

Not that he had any idea how to make that call without betraying his twin. Duplicity was Father’s way and would never be an option between brothers.

How can Beliel be so certain Madison will come around
? He saw no evidence of softening from her toward their hellish empire.

They wouldn’t have this dilemma if she’d been raised in Hell. Fault could be laid at the feet of Madison’s uptight, pretentious father and her unloving, demonic mother. Bruce was out of his reach, but Celeste…with a snap of his fingers he tugged Madison’s mother from her current locale.

Confused, Celeste peered about and grimaced when she spied him. She had every right to fear him since he had neglected to pay her back for her disregard of Madison as a child.

“On your knees, bitch.”

A second of hesitation, but whatever Celeste saw on his face made her prostrate without complaint even though she was Beliel’s demon. Submission from this particular succubus never mollified him.

“Micah’s not here to protect you.” Eliel buried his fingers in her hair and twisted until she whimpered. He jerked her upright, on her knees. “I said on your knees, not your face.”

Celeste flinched as he trailed a fingertip down her cheek. She quivered from his touch, her fear evident in the way she wouldn’t meet his gaze. “You and Madison could pass for twins. Amazing.”

“Have I dis—displeased you, my lord?”

“Every time you were in charge of something.” A shudder went through her regardless of his mild tenor.

His fingertip slid down her neckline and lingered on her rapid pulse. She trembled and her eyes slid closed.

He curled his palm around her neck. “Look at me.”

Celeste’s eyelids whipped upward. “How may I appease you, master?”

“Die.” He tightened his fingers until she gasped. “Die slowly.”

His grip constricted in minor increments. Even the unhurried pace of her death failed to curtail his irritation.

Elias brought Celeste back to life and flung her to the skin-stitched flooring. Collapsed in a heap of succubus flesh, she panted and watched him cautiously. He paced a small path in front of her.

Goddamn my twin
!

They’d all been damned by their father. He laughed, a sound so dark unseen things skittered into hiding. Celeste curled into a tight ball as if the action would protect her. He’d counted on Micah to bring them back to their homeland with Madison. Because of the bitch at his feet and his brother’s weakness toward a
woman
, his desires were crumbling apart.

He blew Celeste apart. Brought her back and blew her apart again. Taking a long inhale, he noted her bloody, scattered remains across the landscape.

Why isn’t this helping my mood
?

A growl rumbled deep in his chest. He brought her back once more.

Celeste wept. “Tell me how I can please you.”

“Kill your daughter.”
Because I should not be a part of it
. As soon as the words left his mouth, he knew how much he meant them, how desperately he cherished the thought of Madison’s demise.

Celeste’s blue eyes widened and her rapid breathing stuttered to a stop. “Micah will kill me if I try.”

Wrong reply.

A pounding in his head activated, halting his steps toward Celeste. Vision growing hazy, he gripped his skull between his hands.

Micah has betrayed me…us
…Hell!
First Father, now Micah. Is there no end to the dishonesty from those I love? Will everyone disappoint me
?

Madison had stolen his twin from him.

“Elias…you cry.” A statement from Celeste. Not a question.

He touched his cheek. Wetness coated his fingers. He had never shed a tear for anyone or anything.

My brother—my twin—has chosen his bride over me. Over Hell
.

Incomprehension over the failure of their Genesis project had him shaking his head. The prophecy had all but guaranteed success. How could it all have gone so wrong?

Anger and grief dried his tears. Celeste cowered. Demonic madness hooked into his psyche. Celeste was to blame. Celeste
and
Madison.

He couldn’t take his anger out on Madison, but Celeste….

“Fight me.” Chips of arctic ice weren’t as frigid as the coldness that settled into his heart. He shifted to angel and her eyes damn near bulged from their sockets. Their angel form was never revealed to demons.

Celeste screamed and scrambled to her feet. She fled. Eliel grinned and allowed her a head start.

Muscles going warm and buzzing with anticipation, he forced himself to wait. He could call her back when he tired of the chase. Not that she was a match for him anyway.

A smile relieved the taut skin on his face. With his talons ticking against one another, he strolled after her.

Two hours later, he caught Celeste by her hair and jerked her around. She fought back, raking her nails down his face and putting her knee into his crotch. Laughing, he retaliated by using his claws on her. Not until she was a bloody mess and he was coated in the fluid did he release his hold on her.

Celeste crumpled at his feet, the red liquid bright against her pale skin and blonde hair. Clothes in tatters, he noted the combination of deep and shallow cuts littering her body.

With his anger abated somewhat, he dragged his palm down his face to wipe away her blood. Kneeling beside her, he fingered her hair. For the better part of their altercation, he pretended Celeste was Madison.

Elias tapped a claw against her bare stomach, creating pinpricks of oozing blood. She flinched with each one, but offered no further struggle.

“Just finish it.” Sounding spent, she peered at him. The gory liquid surrounding her blue eyes showcased their stellar shade. Her eyes were swollen almost shut. Her lips were split and intermixed with the blood, and vicious purple bruises the size of coffee cans ran along her flesh. Cuts and gashes everywhere rounded out his handiwork. He’d worked her over fucking good. And enjoyed every second of the violence.

Succubus energy almost drained to completion, she’d die soon without a feeding. “You fear Micah more than me?”

“I’m dead either way.” She coughed up blood.

Huh
. Flexing his fist, he watched the tendons tense and inflate; he hadn’t realized he inflicted internal trauma. At least not enough to cause damage of this magnitude.

“Not if you assist me with your daughter.” He healed her belly and engraved his name into her flesh with the tip of a claw.

She grimaced, but endured his carving without complaint. “Micah has her under control.”

“Not even close.” Half a talon pierced her belly. “Oops.” Licking the succubus blood off his navy blue and yellow nail, he said, “She refuses her place in Hell.”

“She’ll come around, my king.” Celeste tried to sit up, but failed. She ended up choking on the fluid she spewed and wilted against the screaming skin-stitched floor. “She still loves Micah.”

“Not enough.”

She strangled on a laugh, fluid invading her lungs. Patiently he waited until the succubus could breathe enough to talk and was mollified marginally by her watery-sounding words. “She
will
claim her seat in Hell. My Azura stones have said so from the beginning. But….” She backhanded blood off her mouth. “It’ll take something desperate to force her to accept her status as Queen of Hell.”

“Micah chose Madison over Hell.” Fury clenched his heart like a vise, turning the simple act of breathing difficult.

“You’re a fool if you believe that.”

Wrong
.

“I heard it with my own ears.”

“He says what he must to win her later.”

He allowed some credence to that statement.

“What kind of desperate act?” Something along the lines of a mother’s attempt to murder her, maybe? Something bigger, more cataclysmic, like an attack against Phoenix or…Amos? Did he dare go after the child?

Whatever the event, I shouldn’t be involved
.
But I
want
to make Madison beg
. He desired her supplication as much as he craved his brother’s renewed commitment to Hell.

“I have no idea what act will push her into her seat. The stones never said.”

He and Micah had made a pact…
anything
to gain Madison’s submission. That’d been before his twin married her. Elias wouldn’t be a good brother if he didn’t uphold his end of the bargain.

Micah had utilized Celeste for Hell’s gain. Eliel could use her for his. Correction…he would use her for
Hell
’s benefit. Every action he took was for the sake of their empire.

“You’ll work with me to gain Madison’s compliance?” He scratched out the last of the words on her belly—
Eliel owns me
! He so fucking owned her.

“Micah can never find out.”

Success
!

He inclined his head, grinning as he stood, and relief washed over her face. She could take his gesture however she chose. He didn’t give a damn if Beliel discovered her involvement. The only goal that mattered was Madison’s claim to royalty.

His hands went to his belt buckle. The smooth rasp of leather on metal drew her attention. The clasp released, he quickly undid his pants and pushed them to the floor. He palmed his swollen dick and stroked the length from base to tip. The crown throbbed, eager to release in the bitch’s throat. With his other hand, he tangled his fingers in her hair and yanked her mouth to his erection. “Use me to heal yourself, bitch.”

Her bloody lips parted and covered the head of his cock. The swish of her tongue against his slit shot a ripple of pleasure through him.