'Tween Heaven and Hell (38 page)

Emo’s eyes flashed with something that made me all tingly.
“I’ll take you.”

Dialle, whose hand I’d shaken off once already, moved closer
to me. “Astra, we must speak before you go.”

I arched an eyebrow at him. “Must we?”

Dialle’s lovely lips tipped up. He dropped his head to kiss
me before I could bolt away. Despite myself my heart took up the beat that was
playing itself out in my lower regions. Heat, sharp and molten ran through my
body at the touch of those lips and I closed my eyes and leaned into him before
I realized what I was doing. When I opened my eyes a moment later we were standing
in Dialle’s chambers and Emo wasn’t.

I also became aware that Dialle had climbed up my shirt and
was making himself very familiar with the geography of a part of my body that
is not considered a public access area by the Astra Q. Phelps dating committee
of one—
that’s me
. I cursed and pushed his hands away just as the door
crashed back against the wall and spat Gerch at us.

“My Prince. I’m sorry to…interrupt…” I glared at him and saw
just the tiniest tipping up of one side of his wide, craggy lips. “But the king
has requested your presence in his rooms.”

I grinned. Saved again. Dialle cursed. “Tell him to go to
Heaven.”

Gerch’s lips twitched but, soldier-like, he managed to hold
the smile in check. “My Prince, do you think that’s wise?”

Dialle’s answering glare very nearly succeeded in banishing
the smile into the shadows to be seen nevermore. Gerch lowered his head and
body in the tiniest bow. “As you wish.” But he didn’t leave the room.

Dialle cursed again and paced away from me. I found his
response to his father’s summons singularly interesting. Despite my extreme
weariness I couldn’t help the spark of interest that gave me new energy. It
might be fun to meet this Dialle the First, if he could make
my
Dialle
this nervous and pissed off.

After a moment Dialle’s eyes shot toward the waiting Gerch
and he sighed. “Oh hell! All right, Gerch. Wait outside the door for a minute
while Astra and I finish our…business.”

Yikes! That wasn’t what I had in mind. My eyes went round
and my mouth opened to argue but I didn’t get the chance. Dialle was on me like
bristle hairs on an elephant before I could say diddly-squat.

My traitorous body melted against him almost as soon as his
lips met mine. My world suddenly became a small bubble of musky heat and shared
air that caused my limbs to tighten with need even as they turned to warm,
flexible rubber.

Dialle’s eyes, blue again, burned into me as he pulled those
incredibly soft lips from mine and trailed his hot, red tongue across my lips.
I gasped. I could have sworn the touch sizzled against my tender, swollen lips.
“I’m damned.” I said on a need-charged sigh.

Dialle chuckled, his tongue having worked its way down my
chin into that tender spot on my neck where my daemon hickey throbbed. When his
teeth replaced his tongue I was beyond caring. He could have ripped my throat
out right there and then and I wouldn’t have even noticed. My body was a flame
that flickered to his gentle breeze, my mind was a melted pool of pleasure,
totally devoid of will or coherent thought.

But he didn’t bite me. At least not hard enough to draw
blood. He only teased my tender flesh until I thought I would scream. And then
released me.

“Unfortunately we’ll have to finish this later, my Love. The
great Dialle awaits.”

“Huh…Wha?” Taking a deep, cooling breath I stuck my nose in
the air and glared at him. “It’s a good thing you stopped. I was getting ready
to kick your ass.”

Dialle chuckled and touched the tip of my nose with his
lips. “Of course you were, lovely Tweener.” He grabbed my arm and started to
steer me toward the door but, despite my earlier curiosity about King Dialle
the First, I suddenly found myself reluctant to be taken to him. “Wait just a
minute, Dialle.” I jerked my arm out of his grasp.

He turned an amused expression with an arched, black eyebrow
toward me but didn’t say anything.

“I want the whole story about Nille and Nerul. You haven’t
told me anything.”

He cocked his head and grinned. “I thought you were the
great detective, little Tweener, haven’t you figured it out?”

I knew he was trying to draw me into an argument. I knew it.
But dammit I couldn’t stop myself from responding. “I never said I was some
frunkin’ great detective. That’s not my job. I vanquish demons and gargoyles
and cocky damn devils.” I really didn’t like the way my voice was squeakin’ and
squawkin’. I took another deep breath and let it out on a sigh. “Now stop
baiting me and tell me about Nille.”

I pushed away from him and moved to sit on the beautiful,
mohair divan that sat beneath the wall of windows, which looked out over the
city. I crossed my arms and legs and sat back. This was my not so subtle clue
that I wasn’t going anywhere until he filled me in.

Before I could blink, a whisper of wind and a lowering of
the cushions next to me announced his presence on the divan. I turned my head
and found his deep blue gaze just inches from mine. I felt his gaze pulling at
me, the colored part shifting and swirling like a holographic representation of
atmospheric changes over the Earth. I smiled and used my power to push him to
the other end of the divan.

He sighed and sat back, crossing his arms and his legs.
“Okay, my lovely victim, what exactly do you want to know?”

“Tell me how Nille was taken captive and who did it. Was it
Nerul?”

Dialle shook his head, dislodging a few silky strands of
hair and causing them to curl, just a tiny bit, around his square jaw. I had to
force myself to swallow.

“Rayanne and I brought him here, on my father’s orders. We
kept him in our deepest, sturdiest chambers with armed guards and constant
surveillance. Despite all that, however, he disappeared one day.”

“How?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know the details, but I know Rayanne
was involved. She and Nerul intended to drain Nille of his power and had a plan
to use ancient Black Magic to do it.”

I nodded, “That’s where I came in.”

“Yes. They didn’t realize Nille would turn the tables on
them and increase his own power as a result of their magic tricks.” His voice
was a deep, silken caress that tightened my stomach. His beautiful lips turned
up, displaying those startlingly white teeth. As my gaze was drawn to that
scrumptious mouth, his tongue snuck out and waggled at me, bringing liquid fire
into my lower regions and causing my heart to speed up. I laughed to cover up
my response. “Stop it. You’re such a child, Dialle.”

The grin widened but the tongue retreated. “They took young
Prince Nille to the tower room and kept him there by magic.”

“What about Deaver?”

Dialle shook his head and frowned. “He made a deal with the
devil and lost his soul. Shit happens.”

I laughed. “You’ve been hanging around me too much.”

“Ah no, lovely Astra, not nearly enough.”

“Yeah, yeah. Go on.”

“They kept Nille at the church, torturing him just for the
fun of it. I had searched the tower of course, but they kept moving him to
avoid my finding him. I think they moved him back and forth from the shadows.”

I nodded thoughtfully. I wanted to ask him a question but I
knew it would make me sound impossibly naïve. Finally though, I had to ask,
“Why did Nerul kidnap and abuse his own son?”

“Nerul hated Nille because he was so powerful. He wanted
that power for himself but Nille had always stood apart from his father. He
appeared to be above influence. I think Nerul really believed that his
independent son was the long-awaited one.”

“He wasn’t?”

Dialle stood up and went to stand in front of the wall of
windows. I couldn’t see his face but I read in the set of his shoulders and the
rigidity of his body that he was uncomfortable about something. “To tell you
the truth, Astra, I’m not sure.” He turned toward me then and I saw something
flicker across his midnight black gaze that made me uncomfortable.

“How can that be?”

He had turned away again. “The great texts actually
prophesied two powerful devils. One was expected to be the great unifier, the
other, sort of an anti-prophet whose task would be to stop what had been
prophesied from happening.”

“If that’s true how is it possible that we vanquished Nille
so easily?”

He turned to me then, his eyes pulsing with the uncertainty
and despair that I’d only glimpsed earlier, “Did we?” he asked.

“Oh shit!”

He nodded. “Yes, Astra. Oh shit.” He thought about that for
a while and then turned back to me. “Anyway. When Nille disappeared I
encouraged my father to enlist your help. I had, of course, heard of you…”

“Of course.” We grinned at each other.

“As you might expect, Rayanne was against it. But once my
father made up his mind Rayanne could not stop me from bringing you here. I
think you know the rest of it.”

My raised eyebrows were all the answer I believed he needed.

Dialle kept my gaze for a moment, a thoughtful expression on
his gorgeous face and then was suddenly standing over me. He lowered a hand to
me. “Shall we go now, my Princess?”

I stood up and scowled at him. “Don’t call me that.”

“Why not, my Princess?”

“Because I said.”

We moved toward the door, me looking grumpy and him looking
amused.

“But I care not what you say, little Princess. I am your
Prince.”

“Kiss my ass.”

He pulled open the door and nodded to Gerch, who proceeded
to lead the way toward Dialle the First and the next episode in the hell that
is my life.

“It would be my pleasure to kiss your ass, my Princess.”

Gerch’s shoulders tensed when I growled low in my throat
but, to his credit, he didn’t turn around.

“I swear, Dialle, you’re lucky I’m outnumbered.”

Dialle grinned at me, the tip of his hot, red tongue
waggling suggestively. “I think I could best you, my Princess.”

“Oh, you’ll get a chance to try.”

If my feet hit the floor a little harder than was exactly
necessary I think you’ll understand. Such is the frustration and complexity of
my life. Sigh. Oh well. At least I still had my health. At least until after my
audience with the King of the Devils. Where I’m sure I’ll piss somebody off and
have to be saved again.

Stay tuned. I promise it will be interesting.

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