The Devil You Need (17 page)

“No touching.”

His smile only widened. “Oh, I’m afraid there will be
touching. You see, that’s my payment. The only thing I will accept for helping
you. I want you to come to my bed—”

“No frunkin’ way.”

“Oh, I am not done. It gets much, much better.”

I was shaking my head before he finished speaking. Looking
at Gerch, I asked, “How do I send him back? This was a mistake.”

“I would have told you that if you’d let me in on your
plans.”

Nerul was suddenly pressed full-length against me. I could
feel his rigid cock pushing against my belly, and my stomach churned with
revulsion. He pinned my arms against my sides, holding me helpless. Gerch
grabbed his arm and was sent flying on a wave of oily power. He hit the rocky
ground several feet away and skidded, his head smacking hard on a rock.

I struggled against Nerul’s grip. “Let go of me, evil turd!”

He lowered his head and licked my cheek as I tried to pull
away. Déjà vu bit my ass with razor-sharp teeth. It seemed I was forever
destined to find myself fighting off the debauched royal. “Get the hell away
from me.”

Nerul laughed. “Again, I would remind you that you summoned
me. But I’m pleased that you have. You and I have unfinished business.”

“We have nothing of the kind.” I lifted my knee and smashed
it hard into his thigh, missing my target when he twisted away.

“Now, now, pretty Tweener. That’s no way to behave.” He
lowered his head, his tongue swiping over my chin and across my lips. “Mmm. You
taste delightful. Sweet and a little smoky.”

I stopped struggling, forcing myself to take a deep breath
and look for my power, nestled deep within me. I felt the spark and pulled it
forward until it sizzled just beneath my skin. Then I opened my eyes and
smiled. “To Hades with thee fool, for I hath tired of you.” I let the energy
I’d gathered blast away from me in an unfocused wave that sent Nerul flying. My
last impression of his face before he flew away was a look of surprise that I’d
been able to move beyond his dampening hold on me.

I was a bit surprised too. Maybe my powers had returned stronger
than I’d thought.

Nerul disappeared with a pop and I glanced toward Gerch.
“You okay?”

He glared at me, shoving to his feet. “Stop asking me that.”

I smiled at his crankiness. Gerch didn’t like it when he
couldn’t protect me. I pictured his sword in my mind and it appeared in my
hand. ”Here. Sorry. If I’d been thinking I’d have done that sooner. It’s a
newly acquired skill.”

He took the sword. “Are you done screwing around now,
Astra?”

I blinked at him, surprised by his outburst. When he glared
back at me I lost it. His implication that I wasn’t serious about saving Dialle
was the long straw in the short cup that set my temper on edge. “Oh, I’m sorry,
Gerch. I was under the impression that I
was
trying to get Dialle back.
But it seems you have a better idea how to do it. So let’s hear it. I’m all
ears.”

He glared back at me. “I say we just wait until dark and
sneak down there.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “Then what?”

He held my gaze for a beat and then shrugged. “Kick ass and
blow shit up.”

I tried to hold onto my temper but my lips twitched.
“Martian swamp leech.”

He grinned. “It’s my favorite plan.”

I finally gave in to my laugh. “Yeah. Mine too. But I don’t
think that’s gonna work this time.”

“So what are we going to do?”

I glanced up at the quickly darkening sky. The area where we
stood had grown more quiet as night fell, like everything living had gone to
ground in anticipation of the big uglies that would be emerging with the dark.
“Plan B. I was really hoping not to have to do this. You’re not gonna like this
guest as well as you liked the last one.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah. Get ready to run for your life. ‘Cause our next
visitor is about twelve times more dangerous than Nerul.” I crouched on the
ground and gathered the firewood back into a pile, hitting it with a jolt of
power to ignite a new fire.

“Don’t do it, Astra.”

I ignored him, slicing a new wound in my finger. My
expulsion of power had healed the last one. Squeezing the wound, I threw Gerch
a look and lifted an eyebrow. “If she gets close to me, hit her on the head
with a rock.”

He sighed, stepping away to give himself more room.

Holding my bleeding finger over the fire, I squeezed it and
watched a crimson drop hit the flame, creating a small explosion. As flames
roared upward, I said the name of the woman I hated most in the whole world.

Two drops later the fire exploded upward again and the evil
bitch was standing before me, grinning as I stepped backward. I kept energy
dancing on my fingertips as a barrier between us.

She cocked her head. “Interesting. I see you’ve managed to
regain your power.”

“Better than ever, devil skank.”

She pursed her lips, frowning slightly. “Well, I guess I’ll
just need to do a more thorough job this time.”

I amped the power, surrounding myself with a protective
bubble. “Just stay the hell back, Crisanne. I’ll cook your black heart in your
chest. In fact, don’t tempt me. I’d really enjoy doing it.”

She stared at me through exotic, light-brown eyes that
masked a monumentally evil soul. “It’s clear you haven’t put our differences
aside, Astra. And yet you summoned me here. I have to wonder why.”

I certainly hadn’t wanted to summon her. In fact I’d
struggled with the idea for hours. But I needed an impressive amount of power
to do what I wanted to do, and she was the most powerful person I knew who
lived in the Hell environs. Aside from the three people we were hunting of
course. “I need your help.”

She laughed, then sobered as she realized I wasn’t joking.
“You can’t be serious.”

“Unfortunately I am. I need to rescue Dialle from Nestrada
and I can’t do it alone.”

Her brown gaze widened. “Nestrada? Ouch. He’s probably
already gone.”

I realized she was probably playing with me, but I couldn’t
help myself. She’d voiced my greatest concern. “What do you mean?”

“You don’t know about Nestrada?” Crisanne laughed. “This is
priceless. Nestrada loves beautiful things. She’s wanted to get her hands on
Dialle for centuries. Now that she has him she’ll waste no time.”

“Waste no time doing what?”

“Creating her work of art, of course. She’ll inject him with
her venom and turn him into a living statue so she can enjoy him forever.”

Ice filled my chest as her words sank in. Panic trickled
down my spine and made the hairs on my neck rise in horror. My magic sputtered
on my fingertips as my legs threatened to buckle out from under me. I’d thought
we had more time. I’d thought she would keep Dialle around. I’d had no idea…

“Shit.”

Crisanne grimaced. “Yeah. It’s even horrible to me. But if
you were planning on rescuing him I’d recommend you do it quickly. Once the
moon is full in the sky she’ll sink her fangs into his belly and fill him up
with venom. I’m told the venom locks your muscles into place so you die
beautiful, but it fries your brain and insides so that death is excruciating.”

All the blood left my face. I staggered backward, leaning
against the tree. Turning my head I retched helplessly, feeling as if my
insides were climbing into my mouth. My magic died on my fingertips and
Crisanne moved. Gerch suddenly appeared, holding his blade to Crisanne’s
throat. She stilled under the threat.

I forced my knees to straighten and dragged my power forward
again, wiping the back of my hand over my mouth. “You need to help me save him,
Crisanne. I’ll do anything.”

She lifted a finely shaped black eyebrow. “When you first
summoned me I was determined to deny you. But knowing what’s at stake I find
I’m intrigued. So I’ll tell you what. I will help you save the king.”

Relief flooded me, even as a sense of dread rose in response
to her words. The evil bitch wouldn’t help me out of the kindness of her heart.
And I had no doubt I was going to hate what she required in return. I inclined
my chin, frowning. “Okay. What do you want for helping me?”

She smiled and it was like a fist to my stomach.

“What I’ve always wanted. I want Dialle. I want to be his
queen.”

Pain sheared through me, followed by a wave of white-hot
anger. “Dialle isn’t a boon to be passed from person to person. It’s up to him
if he wants to make you his queen.”

“Not entirely. You and I both know that if you want him
he’ll cling to you. For whatever reason you have some kind of hold over him. I
want you to walk away. Tell him you don’t love him. I will be there to pick up
the pieces when you go.”

It was my worst nightmare. Made worse by the fact that I
thought it would probably work. With me gone, Dialle would be inclined to mate
for the health of the court. Or to keep from succumbing to madness again.

I wanted to blast the evil bitch between her pretty eyes and
send her flying. But I knew I couldn’t save Dialle without her. And he would be
dead…or worse…if I didn’t get him away from Nestrada. I couldn’t let the fate
Crisanne described happen to the man I loved.

Then I had a sudden thought. “You can’t rule with Dialle.
You’re a class four. You can’t leave Hell.”

“Not without a powerful sponsor, no. I think the king of the
earthbound royals would count. Don’t you?”

I blinked back tears and nodded, realizing I was beaten.
“I’ll walk away. But first I need to help Dialle destroy his father and my
mother. They’re trying to take over the court.”

Crisanne thought about this for a moment and then nodded.
“I’ll allow you to tie up your loose ends. But then I want you to leave and
never return. I don’t care where you go. I just want you gone.”

Feeling as if my heart was being wrenched from my chest, I
took a shaky breath. “Okay, here’s what I have in mind…”

Fate Worse than Death?

Foes abound beneath the moons of Hell, and difficult
challenges thrive,

Alas young miss just cannot tell, if her loved ones
will survive.

I stood on top of the ridge surrounding Nestrada’s hidey
hole. Darkness had fallen over Perdigo, settling around me like a heated
blanket. The silence that throbbed over the landscape beyond Nestrada’s lair
created an ominous sense of expectation that made my palms tingle with unease.
The heavy sound of slithering was a constant, terrifying resonance within the
rocky walls of the night-blackened hole where Dialle awaited a horrific death.

I assumed the monster’s movements meant she was preparing
her killing ritual. I glanced toward Crisanne. She stood twenty yards away, her
gaze fixed inside the hole as if she could see through the velvet blackness.
Maybe she could. She
was
a resident of the Hell environs.

“Are you ready?” Though spoken softly to avoid being
overheard down below, my voice seemed to echo around us, pinging off the
darkness and throbbing against my skin. I trembled against the unfamiliar feel
of the night. It was thick with menace.

Crisanne turned her head slowly, her eyes seeming to gleam
through the darkness. She dipped her chin slightly. I lifted my hand over my
head and signaled Gerch. The soft sound of his footfalls on the rock told me
he’d started down.

Pulling my power forward, I gazed at the mountainside across
from us, knowing we’d have to move quickly. Once Nestrada saw our power marking
the sky, she would be able to kill Dialle fast, before we could get to him.

That was why I needed Crisanne.

“Now.” My strained whisper pinged off the mountain walls,
breaking the silence as effectively as a shout. I lifted my hands and shot
power into the rocky wall directly across from us, my mind grabbing a picture
of Olympus from my memories and transposing it with the picture my energy
illuminated in the distance.

Crisanne’s power flared thick and bright, joining mine and
overwhelming it in yellow light as the wall beyond began to tremble and crack.
I fought against the desire to look downward, needing to focus everything I had
into my task, but it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.

Dialle could be dying at that moment.

I shook off the thought and focused harder on my goal. The
wall across from us began to fall away, flinging deadly chunks of rock into the
monster’s lair—a brand new danger for Gerch and Dialle to navigate.

The wall split in two and blue sky showed through, bright
ribbons of white rippling across its surface. A blast of arctic air gusted
through the fracture, hitting me with the force of a slap across the face.

I widened my stance and leaned into the brisk wind, praying
I could hold out longer than the monster.

The world suddenly crashed around me and I stumbled, my toes
hanging over the edge. It crashed again and my power slipped downward, scoring
the wall beneath our breech and sending debris flying to the ground.

“She’s flinging herself against the walls!” Crisanne
screamed.

I dropped to my knees so I’d have a more stable base and
renewed my efforts at cutting through the mountain.

The crack widened, showing a distant range of white-capped
mountains, and the frigid air thickened, smelling of snow.

The air before me shimmered and a massive set of fangs
snapped at my face, missing me by mere inches. I screamed and jumped back,
rolling away from Nestrada as she struck again.

A razor-sharp fang opened the flesh of my forearm. I leapt
into the air and landed on her back, just behind her head, barely managing to
send a jolt of energy into her flesh before she snapped sideways and sent me
flying.

I smacked against a tree and slid to the ground, leaping to
my feet as soon as my butt hit the dirt. “Keep it open!” I screamed to
Crisanne, and ran toward the monster as she turned to look at my partner in
crime. Already her movements were slowing, as the dense, arctic air replaced
the warmth her body needed.

I leapt onto her head and slid down to her back, wrapping
myself around her thick body as best I could. Nestrada reared up, flinging her
head from side to side in an effort to repel me. I used my power to enhance my
grip and held on. I’d had lots of practice holding onto Glynus as she rolled
and tumbled in the sky and I thought I could hold onto the meaty monster
between my thighs, long enough for her to begin to falter from the cold.

Her tail came up and snapped sideways, barely missing
Crisanne. But the other Tweener had been ready for the attack. She leapt into
the air and landed several feet away, barely missing a beat in her efforts to
hold the breech open.

Snow swirled over us and frost had begun to form along the
ground.

Nestrada’s movements had slowed but the constant thrashing
was keeping her body warm enough to avoid tightening up.

I shot another jolt of power into the spot at the back of
her head where I suspected her important parts had to be. She reared up,
screaming, and shot a dual stream of black liquid from her fangs.

The venom hit the icy ground and sizzled, burning its way
past the ice and rock.

Nestrada gave a final, desperate thrash that sent me flying
over her head and then crashed to the ground and went still.

I rolled as I hit the ground and landed on my feet, turning
to look at the monster.

Her long form was locked in immobility, the bottom half
draped over the edge of the hole. Her tiny wings seemed frozen in mid-flutter,
standing upright from her body, and her bright-blue gaze stared straight ahead,
rigid and blank. Snow swirled over her form, settling in a lacy blanket.

I glanced at Crisanne. She was on her knees, looking as if
she were about to collapse onto her face. “We need to keep it open until I’m
sure Dialle is safe,” I told her.

“You’d better hurry then, bitch. This isn’t easy.”

I ran toward the rocky steps cut into the mountainside and
started down, praying we weren’t too late. Halfway down I saw movement ahead
and lifted my hand, letting an illuminating ball of energy dance in my palm.

Gerch was half carrying Dialle up the mountainside. They
slipped on the ice-covered steps, nearly falling to their knees, but Gerch
caught them with a hand on the rocky wall before they fell.

Dialle was covered in blood, his silky, dark hair crusty
with it, but he looked up at me and smiled. “It’s never boring around you,
Astra.”

I grinned. “Yeah, I know. It’s one of my better things.” I
positioned myself under Dialle’s other arm. “Do you think you can shift us out
of here?”

He nodded. A heartbeat later we were locked beyond sight and
sound. And the evil bitch Crisanne was left holding the bag.

I didn’t feel even a little bit bad about that.

* * * * *

We landed in a grassy field, flat and green as far as the
eye could see. Except for the circle of arrow-shaped rocks in the distance.

I squinted toward the strange landmark. “What the hell is
that?”

Dialle handed Gerch a sword he’d pulled from the ether.
“That is our destination.” He looked at me, his gaze unreadable in the
darkness. “Do you still have that venom?”

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the cloth-wrapped
vial. Dialle took it from me and trickled some over Gerch’s blade. “Don’t touch
this blade, old friend.”

Gerch nodded.

Dialle handed me a set of long knives and I held them out as
he did the same to them.

Once he’d treated his own sword he glanced up at the moons
overhead. “It is almost time.”

“What are we waiting for?”

He jerked his head toward the rocks. “At midnight the twin
moons will be directly overhead. That is when we will attack.”

Gerch’s wide brow lowered over his black eyes in a frown.
“Won’t their magics be strongest then?”

“Yes. But so will ours and the light will help against the
dragon demons. They don’t see as well in light.”

A chill crept down my spine and my voice squeaked a little
when I said, “Dragon demons?” I’d never seen one but I remembered them from
stories my mother told me when I was a little ballbuster sitting on her knee.
Mother dearest Danika never told sweet, soothing stories to her offspring. The
world’s worst mother liked to send us off to bed with nightmares already
dancing in our heads.

I looked toward the rock formation again and realized the
tops of many of the rocks were now longer and misshapen. The dark shapes looked
huge with the moon’s aura behind them. Several pairs of glowing red eyes peered
at us through the darkness. “They know we’re here.”

Dialle slipped his sword into its scabbard. “Yes.” He
started forward. “Let’s go, I have a score to settle.”

The moons were directly overhead by the time we neared the
rock formation. The dragon demons that had been watching in immobile silence as
we approached, finally lifted off the rocks when we got close. The dragons sent
fiery blasts into the sky from between bony beaks as they spread their long,
black-feathered wings. I stopped in my tracks, not knowing what they would do.
But they simply soared upward and began to circle the stones like vultures,
their skeletal heads furthering the impression that they were enormous carrion
eaters.

I only hoped Gerch, Dialle and I didn’t provide them with a
meal anytime soon.

I moved forward, keeping one eye trained on the circling
nightmare in the sky. We stopped at the edge of the circle, arrayed in a tight
triangle between two of the huge rocks. Up close, the stones that made up the
formation were much larger than I’d thought. Their pointed tops towered a dozen
yards above my head. The rocks gave off heat and vibration, like living things,
and their surface sparked orange and red in the moonlight. I resisted the urge
to reach out and touch one of them, figuring nothing good could come of it.

The evil musketeers had chosen that spot for a reason.
Whatever it was, I was sure it didn’t bode well for the good guys.

Inside the circle, said musketeers stood waiting, looking
much calmer than I, and that was annoying as hell. Dialle the First, my
Dialle’s devilish dad, smiled. “Welcome to my favorite spot in Hades.”

First was tall and slim like his son, with a thick mane of
silky black hair that was combed straight back from a perfect widow’s peak on
his forehead and hung all the way to his waist. As usual he had it tied back in
a low tail, probably gathered together with a leather string, though I couldn’t
tell from where I stood. His shoulders were broad, his biceps well-developed,
and he had a tat of a pitchfork on one of them. I loved that pitchfork. He
cocked his head as he addressed his son, his sexy eyes narrowing. “I’m pleased
we finally have a chance to settle things. I grow weary of your usurpation and
wish an end to it.”

I glanced at my Dialle. His eyes had blackened, not a good
thing, and his sexy jaw was taut, but he seemed calm, obviously fighting the
urge to rise to his father’s bait. “I would have preferred we settle this
without you murdering my entire court.”

Dialle the First shrugged. “They can be replaced. And it
made quite a statement, did it not? Particularly since the light ones believe
you have shed your sanity and gone rogue.”

Someone growled and I realized it was me. I stepped forward.
“I’m just curious, how did you naughty children manage to escape the Hell
environs? You were banished here for a reason.”

My mother laughed, the sound scraping across my last nerve.
“We had some help from our friends. Even Hell can be breeched if you have a
strong enough advocate in the Earthly plane.”

The evil Danika glanced toward Astis. The ethereal beauty
had situated herself at the farthest point in the circle away from us. She
stood behind Dialle and Danika, her too-pretty face alight with anticipation.
The witch wore a long dress with a silvery sheen and clutched a tall, black
staff in one small hand. A tiny flame burned atop the staff. Astis gave me a
mean smile. “We meet again, ugly Tweener. I can taste your death in my mouth
and it is so sweet.”

I shrugged. “Death and I have an arrangement, I give him
lots of other playmates and he leaves me alone. It’s worked out fine so far.”

Astis frowned. “Bring it, bitch!”

I just smiled.

Without warning the witch whipped the staff around, pointing
it directly at me, and blue light shot from its tip. I jumped to the side,
rolling behind a rock as the ground where I’d been standing exploded upward.
Dialle and Gerch started forward and I leapt to my feet, intending to follow.

They ran two strides into the circle and stopped, their arms
and legs caught in a parody of running as they hung, seemingly in midair. I
stopped, watching as Dialle tried to move his arms, the strain of his effort
clear on his face.

What’s wrong?
I asked him.

A magic web. I can slough it off but it will take a
minute. Can you keep them busy in the interim?

I glanced toward my mother and saw that she and First were
already moving toward Dialle.
Got it. But you’d better hurry, bud. I have no
idea how long I’ll be able to hold them off.

Working on it, Astra.

I leapt upward, aiming for the top of the nearest stone. My
feet hit rock and I wrapped my arms around the narrow tip to steady myself,
nearly falling as a jolt of something powerful seared through me. I held on,
letting it sizzle through my system and, after a few beats, it settled down to
a low-level hum that I could stand.

Almost immediately the rock I clung to exploded under a
stream of blue light. I looked up.

Astis.

I flung my hand out and sent magic shooting in her
direction, then leapt onto the next rock, and fired again. I kept on the same
way over several more of the power-drenched stones, getting more and more
acclimated to the low-level vibrations with every move. I alternated my blasts
to keep all three of the evil musketeers busy while Dialle worked to free
himself and Gerch.