Where There's Smoke (31 page)

She shook her head, looking over her shoulder at LeAnn. A tender smile curved her lips. LeAnn was singing another ballad and everyone was on the edge of their seats, enthralled with her voice.

“How could I regret this? She has a chance at living a normal life.” Her gaze moved to Duncan, who was totally entranced with LeAnn’s performance. “She has a chance at having someone love her.”

“I loved
you
!” he ground out.

She met his fiery gaze. “That isn’t love.”

“I saved you!”

“Because you wanted my soul.”

Heat filled the space around her. She gasped as it singed her skin. The room grew dark. LeAnn’s voice faded.

A hot wind whipped around Destiny, tearing at her clothes. She shook with fear and tried to tell herself that she did the right thing, but it didn’t feel right when she was so scared.

Everything grew still, and she felt the ground beneath her feet once again. She kept her eyes tightly closed, unable to look at where Vetis had brought her.

“Any regrets now?” he taunted.

She drew in a deep breath, but the air burned her lungs.
Please
help
me
be
strong
, she silently prayed.

“No one will hear your prayers in Hell.” He grabbed her throat and squeezed. “Chance can’t save you now!”

Her eyes flew open. She was in a dark cave, flames licking up the sides of the walls. The horned monster she briefly thought she saw at the apartment stood in front of her. No skin covered the red, leathery muscle and ligament that stretched taut across his face. The creature’s eyes glowed piercing yellow.

She took a step back, screaming.

The creature threw back his head and laughed. “So now you fear me?” Vetis’s voice came out of the hideous monster. “This is my true form. That of a demon.” He turned in a circle and the Vetis she knew was back. “Or do you prefer the human body I stole? He no longer needed it. No, he’s still burning in Hell!” He shook his head. “A shame because I rather liked him. He made a great lover. Just as you did. But there will always be others.”

“Why are you doing this to me?”

“Not to you. To him. I want his soul and you were supposed to bring it to me! But he almost took yours! You failed!”

Destiny stared as Vetis began to pace the cave.

“It was never you. But I knew he would try to save you. The two of you were perfectly matched.”

“Why Chance?”

He tilted his head and stared at her, insanity shining from his eyes. “Everything played out as I planned,” he said as if he hadn’t heard her question. “You never once guessed how I orchestrated your life.”

“What do you mean?”

He tapped his head. “Think! Remember the man your mother left with?”

Destiny closed her eyes for a moment and let the years slip away. She’d moved to the window of the grocery store just as her mother climbed into the car. The man turned and looked directly at Destiny. It was as if a veil lifted and she looked right at Vetis. The man was different, but the eyes were the same.

Her eyes flew open. She took a step back. “It was you! You seduced my mother.”

Vetis smiled. “Your mother was a stupid slut. Sexy, though. It was a shame I had to kill her before she would give me her soul. She actually had second thoughts and wanted to return to her daughter. I couldn’t let that happen.”

Destiny flew at him. He only grabbed her arms before she could pummel his smiling face. “I hate you!” Through the tears, she saw his face distort and become the foster mother who beat her, then once again and she looked at Jack. She shook her head. “No, I killed you.”

“You would do anything for me, wouldn’t you? Anything I asked. I tossed you a few scraps of love and you were like putty in my hands.” He frowned. “I knew it wouldn’t last, though.”

“You let me shoot you.”

“It stung like a son of a bitch, too.”

“Why me?”

“I told you, so I could get to him.” He exhaled a deep breath. “But you failed to bring him to me. Stupid girl.”

He waved his arm and steel doors appeared behind him. The rusty hinges creaked open.

“Where’s your nephilim now? It would seem he has thrown you away, too.” His eyes narrowed. “In fact, no one ever really loved you, did they? Your mother certainly fell into my arms, and my bed quick enough.”

“Shut up!” He was wrong. Chance loved her. LeAnn loved her. And her mother would’ve come back for her.

“Come along. It’s time to face the tribunal.”

Fear kept her feet from moving forward. There was only one verdict they would give her and she knew it. They would find her guilty. She’d burn forever.

Oh, screw it!

She glared at Vetis, raising her chin. “Go to hell.” Even though she was pretty sure she was going to throw up, she walked toward the doors.

Screw him. Screw them all.

His mocking laughter followed behind her. “But didn’t you know? We’re already there.”

She didn’t care that he mocked her. She’d lost Chance, the only man she ever loved, and she’d lost the only friend she ever had, but at least they were safe. She’d done one good thing in her life: Destiny gave LeAnn an opportunity to succeed.

As they went into the chamber, fire licked at her feet. It felt as though she walked over hot coals, but she was determined not to cry out. She kept her head held high even though she shook on the inside. She refused to let them see her fear.

There was a long table that sat higher than she was tall, so that she had to tilt her head back to look at the five demons she faced. Vetis joined them.

They were just as ugly and scary as he was. Suddenly she didn’t feel quite so brave.

“One soul, that was all you had to take.” An ugly-ass demon stared down at her.

“But no, you felt pity for the mortal woman and you let the nephilim slip through your fingers,” another said.

“He would have been a rare prize to bring us,” one more said. “You let the half angel, half mortal seduce you,” he spat.

“You could have had it all,” Vetis told her.

She wanted to yell at him that what he offered wasn’t good enough. Not when it would have cost LeAnn her soul. And she was glad Chance escaped as well. Vetis lied.

But she kept quiet.

“Do we have a verdict?” one demon asked.

She cocked an eyebrow. “This is a trial?”

“Silence!” one screamed and his breath sent down waves of heat.

Destiny’s mouth snapped closed. The trial was a travesty of justice. Did she really think they might treat her fairly?

“Guilty.” The demon pointed a long bony finger down at her.

She flinched.

One after another, the demons pronounced their verdicts.

“You shall burn in the fires of Hell for all eternity,” one loudly proclaimed.

Destiny expected no less. She only hoped the knowledge that she prevented the same thing from happening to her friend would sustain her through the pain and agony.

Chance had spent his energy trying to break the bonds that held him. He knew it was no use trying to get loose, but the knowledge didn’t stop him from trying after the three nephilim had left him to vent his anguish on a silent room.

Ryder suddenly appeared. “It’s over.” He squared his shoulders as though he carried a heavy burden and he didn’t want to buckle under the weight. “She’s been found guilty by the tribunal.”

For a moment Chance couldn’t breathe. He felt as though all the air was sucked out of his lungs. Then his world began to crumble as the significance of Ryder’s words sank into his brain.

“The verdict?” Although Chance already knew Ryder’s answer, he had to ask. The demons never deviated from a guilty verdict. They loved to watch their victims squirm. Still, he had to hear Ryder say the words.

Ryder’s expression turned grim. “She will be cast into the fires of Hell.”

He clamped his lips together as anger burned through him. His information had to be wrong. Vetis had cared about Destiny. Chance saw it in his eyes.

“You know that for a fact?” Chance asked.

Vetis wouldn’t destroy her. Then why bring her in front of the tribunal? Vetis had to know what would happen. Maybe he knew how much Chance would be tortured by the news. For some reason the demon had always hated him. Over the centuries, they had too many confrontations, with neither one able to claim victory.

“I have it from a good source,” Ryder continued. “She went immediately before the judges.”

“No, it’s not true!” Chance struggled against the chains that bound him. “She took LeAnn. She made her quota. They wouldn’t completely destroy her. Vetis wouldn’t have gone that far.” Not even for some insane idea that he could exact revenge on Chance. He enjoyed the game they played too much to end it this way.

Ryder was silent for a moment before waving his arm. The silken chains that bound Chance disappeared. “You can’t save her. I’m sorry.”

If Ryder was lying, he wouldn’t have released him. He would have been afraid of what Chance might do to gain Destiny’s freedom.

Chance studied his friend. Ryder’s mouth was set in a grim line. He spoke the truth. Destiny was lost to him. Vetis would torture her for all eternity.

No! Chance wouldn’t let himself believe there was no hope. Ryder lied! He had to be lying.
Oh
God, let him be lying.

Chance grabbed Ryder by the shoulders and forced his friend to look him in the eyes. “Vetis wouldn’t bring her in front of the tribunal if she made her quota. What is it you’re not telling me?”

When Ryder hesitated, dread weaved its way through Chance. “She didn’t make her quota.” Pity shone in Ryder’s eyes.

Chance stumbled back as though he’d been hit with a sledgehammer. “LeAnn was an innocent. I saw how much she worshipped Destiny. The girl would have followed her anywhere. Even to Hell.”

“Destiny worked the situation so the girl would have a future. It happened tonight. At the bar where you met Destiny. LeAnn sang there. Destiny made sure a record producer got lost and ended up going inside the bar while LeAnn was singing. She was offered a contract. Destiny fixed everything so Vetis wouldn’t have an opportunity to steal her soul.”

“Idiot. Vetis would have been furious that she let two souls slip through her fingers. She would be condemned to burn for all eternity. Didn’t she know that?”

“I believe she did.”

“Why, then?”

He shrugged. “I think because she cared for the girl as much as the girl cared for her. It’s as you said, Destiny wasn’t given an opportunity in life to love. When she found a chance in death, she grabbed it.”

Chance dropped to the sofa, rubbing his forehead as though he could wipe away the vision of Destiny burning in Hell forever. The cost was too great. How could she have sacrificed everything?

“There’s nothing you can do,” Ryder quietly told him.

“Isn’t there?”

Ryder’s lips pressed together to form a thin line. “Damn it, Chance, you can’t do anything now and you know it.”

“And what do you think I would do?”

“We both know exactly what you were thinking. You would trade your soul for hers. The higher ups wouldn’t allow it. They would stop you before you stepped one foot in Hell.”

“No, they wouldn’t. They don’t care about us.” He snorted with disgust. “Our fathers have never cared.”

Chance regretted his words as soon as he saw the hurt on his friend’s face. Ryder was the more emotional of the four nephilim. Even though he liked to pretend he was cavalier about everything, Ryder was the one who could hurt the most.

Chance raked his fingers through his hair. “You’re right, of course. I would be stopped.” He didn’t believe his lies, and he had a feeling neither did Ryder, but Chance would pretend. He was good at pretending.

“There really is nothing you can do,” Ryder said.

Chance nodded. “I know. But damn, it hurts so much.”

“It always does when an assignment doesn’t go our way, but there’s still nothing we can do.”

“Knowing doesn’t make it easier.”

“Let’s go for a beer or something. Hunter and Dillon are waiting for us in the rec room back at the ranch. You can’t be alone right now.”

Yeah, Chance knew they wouldn’t be far away, and they wouldn’t want him to be alone to dwell on what happened. He did the same when they had a bad experience.

“No, yeah, okay. It might get my mind off losing Destiny. I need something to help me forget. I almost let this assignment destroy me.”

“I know, but we made a pact a long time ago that we would stick together. Help each other through the rough times. You’ll heal. We always do.”

“Sometimes I wish we didn’t,” Chance said.

“I know what you mean, buddy.”