Renegade (11 page)

Where are we?

The buildings began to grow fewer and farther between, and then I noticed how a river also ran through this part of hell, bubbling and moving along at a snail’s pace. We followed it for a while and then I saw where it led.

To a castle.

The river surrounded the castle like a moat, and the residence jutting up from the center reminded me of the ice castle Superman lived in. It was all jagged edges and black stone. Some parts rose higher than the others, creating an uneven look. I wasn’t sure if there were windows, but we weren’t yet close enough for me to tell. There was an overly large drawbridge lying across the moat, creating a path to the humungous double doors that looked to be made of steel.

This must be the home of one of the seven Princes.

Each must have their own land that they dominate.

I wondered who dominated this part.

I dug my heels into the dragon and he gave a snort, dropping from the sky again until I thought he was going to plummet into the ground, leaving me broken and bloody. Just at the last possible second, he snapped out his wings and sank ever so gently to the ground.

“Showoff,” I muttered.

In response, a row of razor-sharp teeth were thrust in my face as I climbed off the bird. “If that’s your idea of a smile, let me inform you about this little thing called a dentist.”

I must have offended him because he flew away.

Whatever.

I began snooping around the land, looking for clues as to whose place this might be. Not that I would know the difference. We really needed to make a list of all these dudes. I knew a couple already. Let’s see… There was Leviathan, of course. One wouldn’t forget the backbreaker. Of course, Beelzebub, the bane of all our existences, and I had heard a few of the demons at my castle whispering about Mammon and some dude with a name that started with As… I just thought of him as Ass, because no doubt he was one.

There was no one moving around the castle, which irritated me because I couldn’t find out what I wanted to know. I decided to do what any good neighbor would do and just ring the doorbell.

I crossed the wide drawbridge, noting that the moat was stocked with demons, and then approached the front door. Shame there was no doorbell. I raised my hand to knock and the door swung open, revealing a demon in a suit and tie.

“Who are you?” the demon asked, looking me over.

“I was gonna ask you the same thing.”

“Do you have business with Leviathan?”

Figures.
It was the backbreaker’s castle. “Actually, I do.” I lied, looking past him into the castle, which was completely lit up—with lights.

I pushed past the demon and walked into the expansive foyer, noting the marble tiles on the floor, the huge black chandeliers hanging from the ceilings, and a staircase that had been carved out of granite and polished until I could see my reflection.

This place made my castle look like a dump.

“Wait here. I will tell the master you have arrived.” The demon took himself off into probably what was another fancy room.

Of course, I didn’t listen to him. I wandered through a large room with a fireplace, a desk, and paused beside a large flat-screen TV. I shook my head sadly. All this time I could’ve been watching football.

How had he pulled all this off? Electricity, nice furniture, television. Why didn’t Beelzebub have any of this?

There was a door off the room I was in so I opened it and looked inside. I think my jaw hit the floor. It was a showroom. For Harleys.

I rushed into the room, taking in every chrome and leather detail of fully restored Harley Davidson Motorcycles from just about every year. Man, they were sweet. I’d always wanted a motorcycle.

Heavy footfalls from behind had me looking over my shoulder as Leviathan entered the room. “It is you,” he said, narrowing his eyes. “What do you want?”

“Nice place you got here,” I said.

“You weren’t invited.”

“Sure I was. Your little demon there”—I motioned to the one who let me in and hovered at door watching—“told me to make myself at home.”

Leviathan’s eyes flared and he turned an accusing stare on the demon who shook his head profusely. “No, no, that’s—” He didn’t get a chance to finish because he was incinerated where he stood. I stared at the small pile of dust.

“That was harsh,” I said.

Leviathan swung back to me. “What do you want?”

“Well, really, I stumbled upon this place by accident, but now that I’m here, you can explain something to me.”

He arched an eyebrow.

“How in the hell do you have electricity and TV?”

He smiled. “Are you envious?” That idea seemed to please him. Then I remembered another little fact about the seven Princes. They each encompassed one of the seven deadly sins. Leviathan’s must be envy.

“Just because those things aren’t important to Beelzebub doesn’t mean the rest of us don’t enjoy such luxuries.”

“But how?”

“You just saw me incinerate my servant with the flick of my hand and you ask me how?”

“So you have all this through your power?”

He nodded.

I knew Beelzebub was collecting power. Leviathan said as much when he stormed my castle. He’d been greedy in collecting it. He must be saving it because his land was derelict and primitive. So what exactly was he planning to do with it all?

It all came back to the stolen souls and the power they generated.

“Where are the stolen souls?” I asked, gauging the Prince’s reaction.

His face snapped up to mine. “What do you know about the souls?” His voice was deadly quiet.

“I know they’re here, somewhere in hell, chained to the floor.”

His eyes narrowed and suspicion vibrated off him in waves. “Is that why you’re here? Do you seek the power of the souls for yourself?”

I would go with that. Better than him knowing I wanted to help set them free.

Then he turned thoughtful. “I’ve heard murmurings of the Soul Reaper being found.” He pinned me with an intense stare. “Are you him?”

So the others didn’t know about Heven. The only one who knew her identity was Beelzebub.
Interesting.

“Never heard of him.” I replied. “Well, I should be going,”

He stepped in my path. “I wondered why you were here. I wondered what a renegade like you would be doing picking a fight with someone like Beelzebub. Someone you have no chance of defeating.”

I titled my head. “You’re probably right. Now if you’ll excuse me, I better get on with being defeated and killed.”

I wanted out of there. I had to think. I had to talk to Heven and Sam.

He laughed, a great booming sound that echoed around the motorcycles. “I cannot let you leave. You shouldn’t have come here. You were smart not to show me your hand when we first met because I allowed you to live. I didn’t care when I thought your war with Beelzebub wouldn’t affect me, but I see now that it does. Those souls are very much my business, and I am sure whatever you are trying to do will not benefit me at all.”

“I don’t take it well when people try to kill me.” I warned, my voice coming out as half a growl.

His response was to send one of the large, ornate chandeliers hanging above hurtling down with a great arching sweep. I braced myself and, instead of running, leapt at it, stepping up and using my weight to send it swinging back toward him.

He leapt out of the way as the chain broke and I went flying with the fixture into the other room. I let go, pushing myself away from it as it plunged through a window on the far edge of the room. Tinted glass shattered everywhere and I slid across his desk, scattering everything and then landing on the floor with a thud.

He made an outraged sound as I wasted no time, shifting right there behind the desk and then lunging across the room, taking his feet out from under him and pinning him to the floor. He fought against me, of course, managing to avoid my snapping teeth and most of the swipes from my claws. I did manage to get him once, right in the chest, shredding his shirt and drawing blood.

I was flung off him then by some invisible force (
What is it with all these guys from hell and that stupid invisible force?
), but I landed steady on all fours and lunged at him again. His response was to throw me into the fireplace, which was raging with fire.

Silly Prince. Fires are for humans.

I stood up on my hind legs, inside the mouth of the fireplace as the flames licked around me. And then I kicked out a few burning logs, effectively catching his very fancy rug on fire. The fabric caught like bone-dry timber in a forest fire and immediately his study was blazing.

He looked at me then, pure hatred burning in his eyes, but there was also something more. He underestimated me.

I loved when people did that.

With a sharp growl, I left the fire and lunged again, right through the living flames he was trying to avoid. You think with all their power they’d somehow manage to get a body that was indestructible.

I guess he was too busy watching football.

Beneath me, the carpet slid, and I used it like a flaming skateboard to skid closer to him, watching as he backed away. He waved his hands using more of that invisible power and the flames went out. Smoke wafted through the room, making the air heavy and thick.

I shot to run past him, but he caught my tail, yanking me back, and I jerked around, sinking my teeth into the flesh of his hand. I’m pretty sure I cracked some bones. He released me, howling, and I knew it was time to leave.

I rushed into his showroom, shifting back into my human form, and jumped on one of the Harley’s with a skull and crossbones on the tank.

“Close the drawbridge!” Leviathan ordered from the other room.

The key was in the ignition and I grinned, gunning the engine. The purring sound it made was sweet. He appeared in the doorway, dripping blood, covered in soot and looking mighty deadly.

I drove forward, leaving skid marks on the marble and hunching forward over the handle bars. He jumped out of the way as I sped past and through the foyer, right out the open front door.

There was a surprised demon outside, trying to close up the drawbridge as fast as he could, but it was only half raised. I looked at him and grinned. Then I pulled back on the throttle and let loose, flying forward up the drawbridge and then shooting out across the moat into the open sky.