My Way to Hell (33 page)

Delaney gasped, her face pale, making Kellen search her eyes. “Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God. There’s a plane that no soul can ever leave. It’s desolate and barren and she’d be alone. She’d roam restlessly
alone
for eternity. Oh, Jesus. Catalina, is that the plane Armando means?”

She nodded sharply. “That’s the plane, and he’s got a band of ass lickers to help him get ahold of her.”

Kellen held up an impatient hand, his gut churning hot acid. “But he can’t even see her. We saw that for ourselves when we found him in Solana’s body in that bar,” he barked.

“But that’s only because he was
in
Solana’s body. When he ditches that body for his demonic form, and he will, because it’s no longer useful to him, it’s on.”

“But what about Solana? What happens to her?” Kellen asked, the bulk of his fury becoming a slow, simmering boil.

Catalina’s eyes cast downward. “Unfortunately, Solana’s dead.”

“Armando killed her?” Delaney squeaked, wide-eyed. “But I thought demons couldn’t actually take a life. I thought they could only conjure up frightening images and coerce you to take your own.”

Catalina nodded her head. “That’s true. But Solana’s death was merely coincidental. The problem is, it coincided with Carlos releasing Armando from that box. The rest was cake for him.”

“Jesus,” Kellen whispered with a harsh breath.

Delaney gripped Kellen’s arm, fear riddling her pretty features. “We have to find her. What Catalina says is true. The plane Marcella’s been on is nothing compared to what is in essence no-man’s-land. I’ve heard talk of it from some of the spirits I’ve dealt with in the past. If he gets her there, she can’t be summoned, Kellen. Not by any medium—ever. We have to find her and warn her.” Delaney searched his eyes. “Have you seen her since we left earlier?”

His nod was curt, the wound of her giving up on finding a way to keep her here still fresh. “Just after you and Clyde left. She gave me the big kiss-off. The afterlife’s version of ‘let’s be friends.’”

Catalina smacked her lips in time with Delaney. They cast each other knowing glances.

Both Clyde and Kellen shot the women confused looks.
“What?”
Kellen demanded.

Catalina ran her hand over the silver gun at her waist. “She’s going after Armando, and if her past is any indication, when she finds out what he’s planning, she’s going to offer herself up as a bargain to have Carlos returned to his grandparents, for all the good it’ll do her. Nothing will appease that prick, and why should it? He holds all the cards. He can have Carlos and see to it Marcella spends the rest of eternity alone and in the dark about Carlos’s safety. And as sure as I’m standing here, she dumped your ass because she didn’t want you to know what she was planning or have to worry about the risk of you getting yourself killed.”

Delaney nodded her agreement, her eyes wide with worry when they captured Kellen’s. “Because she loves you, too,” she whispered. “And she’d rather never see you again than take the chance you’d be hurt. But here’s what worries me. When you said Marcella summoned Armando’s soul, I got to thinking . . . So I read up on it . . . summoning souls. It’s in the books I left in that big box in the hutch . . .” Delaney stopped short, her face pale white, her hands trembling. “Oh, God! I know what she’s going to do. Oh, Jesus! She isn’t going to bargain with Armando—she’s going to bind with him!” She covered her mouth, her eyes wide with horror.

Clyde paled with her. “Honey, explain.”

“I’d bet my ovaries Marcella’s going to bind her soul with his so he can never be free of her. In fact, I’d bet all my vital organs on it. It’s a surefire way to keep Armando from ever getting away from her and hurting anyone else. She’d, in essence, be his keeper. We have to stop her.”

Kellen’s stomach jolted again, bile rising in his throat. “Where did you read this?”

Delaney shook her head. “I’ve got bunches of books, Kellen. On the afterlife. On witchcraft—all sorts of stuff because of my gift of sight. You know that.” She ran to the hutch, dragging out the box and pulling out a dusty, moth-eaten book, flipping through the yellow-stained pages. “Here!” She pointed to the page. “Second paragraph. Marcella can bind her soul with his, according to this. The hell I’m going to let her do that! The hell.”

Catalina moaned, rubbing her temples. “Jesus. This just keeps getting better and better. Souls, summonings, possession. It’s like a supernatural extravaganza.”

Kellen ripped the page from the worn book and shoved it in his shirt pocket and looked to Catalina. “So what’s next?”

“Next is,” Catalina said, grim determination all over her face, “I’m outta here. I have a rogue demon to cap, and if I don’t hurry it up, I’ll miss my informant. He knows where Armando’s headed with Carlos.”

Kellen stood in front of her, blocking her exit. “Not without me.” There was no way in hell he was going to let Catalina go into this alone. There was no way in hell he was going to let a small child suffer the wrath of vengeance gone beyond sick and twisted. There was no way in hell he was going to let Marcella leave this plane. No way.

Catalina glanced up at him with amusement flickering in her eyes. “You do know that’s ridiculous, right, human? You’ll only get in my way. So move, and let me do what I do.”

Kellen remained where he was—solid, unmovable, his resolve unshakable.

“Kellen? I’m not bullshitting you. Stay put,” she ordered, a vein in her neck becoming prominent with her anger.

“I’m going.”

Without warning, she let her head fall back on her slender shoulders and laughed, leaving a bitter resonance. “Love makes you do the stupidest shit. Trust me, I know. You could get yourself killed when you have a perfectly good demon to fight your battle for you. Yet still, you’re dipping those big size elevens in the deep end.”

Kellen narrowed his eyes. “If I have to, I’ll find out where he’s taking Carlos, some way, somehow. I’ll summon up the entire afterlife to do it, too. Either you let me go with you willingly, or I get there on my own steam. Your choice.”

Catalina pursed her lips, clearly giving thought to Kellen’s determination. “Here’s the deal. You stay behind me, and if I tell you to bail, you’d better damn well do it, or Satan will seem like your best friend compared to the kind of shit I’ll hurl at you. You’re human. I’m not. I can take a serious pounding. You, despite all that Neanderthal running through your veins, can’t. So let’s not lose perspective. Got it?”

“Got it,” Kellen confirmed through stiff lips.

She dug into her backpack on the floor, pulling out a silver gun with a long butt, and tossed it to him. “This won’t kill the bastards, but it’ll hold them off. Use it.”

Delaney rolled up her sleeves, with Clyde right behind her. “We’re in, too,” she stated as if there were no other option.

“Oh, hell no. One human is plenty to keep track of. I’m good, but I’m not that good,” Catalina crowed with the shake of a finger.

Kellen pulled Delaney into his embrace, giving her a hard hug. “Mrs. Ramirez will be calling. She’ll need you, D. Both of you.” He gave Clyde a man-signal with his eyes that said Delaney would need
him
. “I need someone to be here for her. I’ll bring them back. I promise. We’ll bring them back.”

Delaney tugged his sweater, swiping at a tear with her thumb. “You’d damned well better. Be safe. Keep Marcella and Carlos safe.
Please
.”

Kellen took the gun from Catalina and shook Clyde’s hand. Clyde pulled him in for a shoulder bump. “You keep her here with you
no matter what
,” Kellen murmured.

Clyde pushed his glasses up on his nose. “You worry about Marcella and Carlos. Go get your woman.” He slapped him affectionately on the back before drawing Delaney to his side.

Kellen followed Catalina’s lead to the front of the store, rage and fear and steadfast purpose creating a sour cocktail in his gut.

And then, just as Catalina had predicted—the phone rang.

“Where the hell is he, Darwin? It’s been longer than an hour!” Marcella whisper-yelled from her post behind the big maple tree. They hadn’t seen a single sign of Armando. The apartment building was silent but for the screeching wind, rocking a creaking swing on the huge playground to their left.

He shook his head, clearly bewildered. “Solana, I mean, Armando’s like clockwork. He should have been here by now.”

Pent-up frustration made her sigh. “Damn it, he’d better hurry it up. Rick’s getting antsy. He needs his eight or he’s just a bear in the morning, and he has a latte date with this cute guy Kevin from his office before work tomorrow. He wants to be fresh and rested,” she moaned, unable to stop Rick’s words coming from her mouth. Rick was turning out to be a stronger personality than anyone could have bargained for. And he didn’t like anything, or, more precisely, any
ghost
, toying with his finely tuned schedule.

“For the love of all that’s holy, Marcella! Tell Rick he should be grateful to you. This has to be the most excitement he’s experienced since they took
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy
off.”

Movement from the apartment’s entryway silenced Marcella and Darwin simultaneously. Her hands wrapped tighter around the bat, cold with Rick’s clammy sweat. The dome light above the stairwell that led to the apartments boasted a large shadow, lurking.

Darwin’s eyes were glued to the figure coming out of the entryway. Solana looked up toward the light. Marcella held her breath when Darwin caught a clear glimpse of her. She saw his surprise when his wild, confused eyes sought hers. Shit. She’d forgotten to tell him that she and Solana could be twins. She held a finger up with a quick press to her lips to keep Darwin from reacting.

Solana’s partially hidden form came into view, revealing she wasn’t alone. She had Carlos in her arms. Turning, she sniffed the air and scanned the street. Her eyes swept the shadows, then honed in on Marcella, stuck in Rick’s body crouched beneath the big maple.

And Armando smiled.

Sadistically.

The smile so much like her own made Marcella shiver.

Fuck. They’d been made. How could he know it was her?

Though he, too, was in someone else’s body, Marcella knew those hard eyes. Solana’s were green, but Armando’s black spiteful malevolence burned in them—fiery, angry. “Marcella,
mi corazón
,” he called into the harsh wind, his light accent sending a shiver of revulsion up her spine.

He held up Carlos like a sacrificial offering, limp in his arms, the light from the entryway shining down on them with the harsh reality. “Look, pet. Look what I have. Our great-grandson! Come out and we’ll have ourselves a reunion. Could we have hoped for a better-looking boy, Marcella? All this time I’ve waited and look at my reward! Oh, my beautiful, sassy wife—come count our blessings with me before I take him far, far away where you’ll never see him again!” he crowed.

Darwin shook his head with visible force at her, pressing his stubby finger to his thick lips. She knew what he was telling her. Not to take the bait.

What Darwin didn’t know was that
she
was the bait.

At all costs, she had to keep him from completely understanding what she was going to do or he’d try to stop it.

But at all costs, it had to be done.

 

 

 

Catalina slunk her way through the shadows on the playground, her mouth a thin line of fury. “That spineless
hijo de puta
,” she muttered, stopping short when she saw the movement at the front of Carlos’s apartment building.

Kellen followed her eyes to Solana and Carlos. Waves of anger attacked his better judgment, leaving all of Catalina’s warnings in a dusty heap of forgotten words. He bolted forward, wanting only to see the motherfucker dead.

Catalina lunged for him, tackling him with the force of any NFL linebacker. They crashed to the ground in a whoosh of dead leaves and cold dirt. Grabbing him by the hair, Catalina hissed her words in his ear with a harsh whisper. “Did I tell you to stay behind me? What about
this
is behind me?”

Rolling her, Kellen disentangled himself from her iron grip, but it wasn’t easy. “He’s got Carlos, God damn it,” he gritted out.

She gave him a sneer. “Yeaaah. That’s why we’re here. You listen to me. The shit you might see tonight is gonna be freakydeaky double Dutch. I don’t know if Delaney’s given you the low-down on what dealing with something like this is like, but it’s baboon-butt ugly.
This
is nothing. Now, if you want to help, aim for keeping the kid out of harm’s way when I get him away from that prick. But pay close attention; do not interfere or get cagey. Again, me demon. You? Not even remotely close, ghost whisperer. I know you want to be a hero and save your woman, but don’t be a dumb-ass hero. I can’t be taken out like you, Kell, and if you want to live to see Marcella again and keep Carlos safe, stop doing stupid shit! One wrong move, and we’re toast. Now, if you don’t knock it off, I’ll make sure you walk with a limp for a very long decade.”

From the bruise he was sure was forming on his right shoulder, he didn’t doubt it. He held up his hands. “Okay. I acted rashly. Seeing him, her, what the hell ever, with Carlos makes me insane.”

Catalina’s eyes squinted toward the apartment building, keeping a hawklike gaze on Solana and Carlos. “Do you see Marcella anywhere?”

Kellen’s heart shifted in his chest, his hands clenched in tight fists. He peered into the gloom of the night, scanning the front of the apartment building. Bitter wind whipped at his hair, seeping under his parka. “No. Damn it. Where the hell is she?”

Catalina rose from the ground, brushing the leaves from her jeans. “I don’t know, but you give me a heads-up if you get a glimpse of her. If we get lucky, maybe she’s been detained and she won’t show up at all.” Stooping, she pulled open her bag and dragged out the biggest gun Kellen had ever seen. Next came a flask she had attached to a rope. She threw it around her neck with a grunt.