Damned and Desirable (Eternally Yours Book 2) (8 page)

Callum hadn’t shown up to work that morning. Some of the other dock workers said they’d seen him heading back to Ritter’s with a bruise the size of Texas across his cheek.

Bastard though he was, I still worried for my brother. I didn’t want him to turn into a drunk.

After putting in only a few hours at the docks, Mr. Ball sent us all home. Unfortunately, the foul weather hadn’t abated. Ocean waves pushed freighters around like toy boats, and we could no longer work through blustering winds.

Mentally and physically exhausted, I thought to catch a few hours of sleep before retrieving the rest of my things from home. I’d already resolved to sell the house and bring Katherine back to her parents. If anyone could set her on the path to redemption, it was her mother and father, good, pious people who would hopefully instill the fear of God in her soul.

I had no idea what I’d do from there. Perhaps I’d head out West. Mar’s older brother had a thriving business in Seattle, and he’d already written offering me a job. Though I knew I no longer had a future in Galveston, I could hardly think of a life worth living without my brother by my side.

All my life Callum had been there for me through thick and thin. I tried to reconcile his deception, but I couldn’t let it go. Callum should have risen above Katherine’s temptation. He’d thrown away twenty-eight years of loyalty and brotherhood for a few moments between her thighs.

His betrayal had not only shattered my trust, he’d broken my spirit. How could he? And would I ever find it in my heart to forgive him?

Then there was Katherine. Though we’d been wed less than a year, our marriage had been tumultuous from the start. Her parents had told me she was wild, but like a fool, I refused to heed their warning. After all, she had the hair of an angel and her sister’s smile and vivid green eyes. The Murphy eyes. I’d thought I could tame her. I’d thought I could mold her into someone she wasn’t: Mar.

What a fool I had been. Mar was dead, and there would never be another woman like her.

I turned at a heavy rapping outside my room. Rolling off the cot, I opened my door to see my boss looking up at me.

“Mr. Ball. What is it?”

He held his hat in his hand, the creases framing his eyes bunched tight like crinkles in an old map. “I heard you were staying here. I’ve just come to see if you’re alive.”

I ran a hand through my hair, the haze from sleep still thick in my head. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

He pushed his way inside and motioned to my cot. “I think you’d better have a seat, son.”

My legs felt like lead weights as I trudged back to my cot. An uneasy feeling settled in my gut when I sat down. The wind whistled outside, and we both jumped as one of the shutters splintered before ripping off the window.

He flashed an apologetic smile as he clenched his hat in front of him with whitened knuckles. “I’m sorry; I need to make this quick. I must go secure my home, but I’m assuming you’ve not heard about Ritter’s?”

All the moisture in my mouth dried up as if I’d swallowed a wad of cotton. I clenched the sides of the bed, centering my gaze on Mr. Ball’s weary eyes. “No.”

He gestured above us, as I heard the screeching sound of slate tiles ripping off the roof. “The storm blew the top off the Galveston News building, and the whole thing collapsed on top of the saloon.”

I jumped to my feet. “What?”

“Several men were killed, crushed by the printing presses above. Aedan, I’m sorry. There’s a body at the morgue.” He turned his gaze to me, a well of sorrow reflected within his pale eyes. “The mortician said he looked like one of the O’Connor brothers.”

And just when I’d thought my life couldn’t sink any lower, it felt as if the floor had opened up beneath me, swallowing me whole as I fell into a pit of depression and despair. How could I go on living without my brother?

Ash

I huddled in a far corner, trying my best not to cry as Sasquatch Demon poked and prodded through the bars of my cell with a stick. He kept asking how I tasted, despite the fact that Shadow reassured him he hadn’t had a bite.

Shadow had brought me to a dank, dark room that looked like a dungeon from medieval times. It was lit by torches lining the walls and a stone fire pit in the center of the algae-covered floor. I was locked inside a cell with cave-like walls and an iron gate, watching Shadow and his demon friends from behind the temporary safety of my bars. Rusty chains with cuffs hung on the wall beside me.

Luckily, I was restrained with ropes instead. Although I wondered why he’d tied them around my shoulders. Probably to prevent me from raising my arms and channeling my wind. Sweat poured down my back as I leaned against the wall which seemed to radiate heat. My ass and bare feet were burning, too, because even the floor was hot.

What the hell had Shadow done with my shoes? Sure, they were ugly, and they still had a bit of Jack’s poop stuck between the treads, but they were mine. I secretly hoped Shadow had gotten poo on his hands when he stole them off my feet. I wondered what poo shoes went for in the demon black market.

Another big fat bead of sweat dripped down my ribcage, adding to the pool of moisture in my belly button.

Someone please turn down the furnace
!

The sweat caused an agonizing sting between my shoulder blades. I wondered if Shadow had hit me there when he’d attacked me. It felt like my spine had been cracked open by a whip.

I have to get out of here before infection set in. Scratch that. I just have to get out of here. Period.

I tried to wiggle out of the bonds around my wrists, but it was no use. Too bad, because I could feel energy itching my palms, which meant my powers worked in Hell, too. They would definitely come in handy as soon as I figured a way out. Except how was I supposed to escape? I doubted anyone knew Shadow had kidnapped me, and if they did know, how were they supposed to save me? When I’d first joined the ghosting squad, Aedan had made it clear he couldn’t come to Hell and rescue me if I got caught.

I choked on a sob when I realized he may have been right. Even if I found a way out of this sweat hole, I doubted I’d survive long enough to claw my way out. I was stuck, a gift for Shadow’s master.

A face full of razor sharp teeth pressed into the bars. It was attached to a head that was sitting in the palm of a headless body, presumably the head’s owner. “I know her. She’s that Grim’s woman.” The body pointed at me. “Dragon will be hotter than Hades when he knows you got her.”

I gasped when I recognized Piranha Demon from my last ghosting assignment. Aedan had chopped off its head, and then it rolled into a gaping maw, a portal to hell, followed by the rest of its body.

“Be gone, vermin!” Shadow sneered at the demon, and with a backhanded swipe, knocked the head out of his hand.

The demon’s screech echoed off the walls as it chased its head down the dark cavern. Sasquatch Demon didn’t seem fazed by his friend’s dilemma; he continued to stare into my cage, a long trail of drool hanging off his lip and running down his matted fur.

“Where is Master?” Shadow asked Sasquatch Demon.

The furry creature thumbed to somewhere beyond his shoulder. “He’s down at Kate’s.”

Shadow’s mouth tightened into a thin line, like a rubber band stretched too far and ready to snap. “When will he be back?”

Sasquatch Demon let out a low whistle. “Ain’t no tellin’ when Kate sinks her fangs into him.”

Shadow sat down on a warped wooden stool and crossed an ankle over his knee, steepling his fingers together like he was lost in thought as the flames from the fire lit his features in an eerie glow. “I need you to summon him.”

Sasquatch Demon shook his head. “No can do. I’m under strict orders to never disturb Master when he’s with his whore. Last guy who did still hasn’t found his head, and that was darn near ten years ago.”

The demon turned from Shadow, his red eyes once again focusing on me. “She sure looks purty.” He rubbed his furry hands together. “Tasty, too.”

Shadow arched a brow. “You take a bite or lay a finger on this girl, and you will lose more than your head. Understood?” He said this coolly, as if he was reminding his teenager to have the car home by midnight, but the look he shot the demon was threatening enough to make the hairs on my nape stand on end.

“Yessir.” The demon eagerly nodded.

“Good.” Shadow uncrossed his legs and stood. His face darkened, emphasizing the glowing red of his eyes. I sucked in a gasp as darkness stretched across the room, shrouding every inch in gloom and causing a cold numbness to settle in my heart.

His ominous gaze danced as he spoke. “I shall go to Kate’s and summon Master myself. You will guard my prisoner. If anything happens to her in my absence, I will pound your worthless fur into the thirteenth dimension.

Galveston, Texas

September 8, 1900

Aedan

I pushed my way through the frigid current, nearly losing my footing at every step as debris threatened to sweep me under. I’d already been struck across the back by a fence post, the nails tearing through my coat and flesh. The laceration burned but not as badly as the searing pain in my heart. I’d just come from the morgue where I’d identified Callum’s body.

Now there would be no chance for reconciliation, no chance for healing broken hearts, no chance to tell my brother I’d forgiven his betrayal.

I pushed against the current, holding onto posts and rails, making my way across a row of buildings that looked ready to capitulate into the flood. Rain pelted my face like stinging needles as the roar from the wind nearly drowned out my racing thoughts. The water rose to my waist as I made my way toward my home on Seventh Street, a home which I feared had already washed away. This storm had claimed the life of my brother. I needed to save my wife, Jezebel though she was, for she was the only family I had left in the world.

Navigating Eighth Street posed more of a problem, as the water had reached chest deep. Many buildings were crumbling, and their banisters were unsteady. Wading through the trash and waves proved nearly impossible, until I reached my neighbor’s brick home with a sturdy foundation. After climbing across the porch, I was amazed when I turned the corner to see my house still standing, a solitary beacon beneath the gloom of the dark sky.

The other homes nearby had been washed away. Mine rocked against the current, looking like a lone ship tossed about at sea by the gale. I wondered if Katherine was inside, or if she’d sought refuge on higher ground, perhaps with one of her gentlemen callers. Maybe my rescue attempt was all for naught, and I’d drown trying to save a woman who no longer waited for me. But I’d already come this far, and I couldn’t leave now. I’d sworn a vow to Marie, after all, and a vow to God, though Katherine had broken hers many times over.

I waded out into the current, and then was swept away, sucking in gulps of salty water, struggling to keep my head above the torrent. I struck a post, and held on with all my might. Though fatigue worked against me, I somehow found the strength to climb over the banister to the first floor, which was already half submerged. I leaned against the side of the house, stopping only for a moment to regain my strength. The pain in my back intensified, and I worried I would bleed out before I could get my wife to safety.

After expelling a deep breath, I kicked in the window and swam into my house. Katherine’s tea cups and fineries bobbed in the current before smashing against the walls. I swam to the stairs and dragged myself upward, weighted down by sodden boots and clothes, the pain in my back worsening with each step as I climbed into the blackness.

I found her sobbing face-down across our bed, the strength of her cries drowned out by the ominous howls outside. A candle flickered across the room, casting long shadows across walls that shook as the wind intensified. I felt a mixture of relief and apprehension at seeing her alive. I only hoped in her darkest hour she had begged for repentance and sworn to change her wicked ways.

“Katherine!” I screamed above the din, clenching my fists as pain shot across my spine. “We must leave!”

She looked up from our bed and screamed. “Oh, Aedan, you’ve come back for me!” Flinging herself into my arms, she cried against my chest.