Renegade (54 page)

And that was something I would never forget.

Maybe I would forgive her, especially knowing that Cole got his happy ending after all, but it wouldn’t be today. Today I no longer hated her; any feelings I had for Kimber pretty much were gone.

The ground under us began to crack and separate, widening apart until Sam and I were on one section and Riley and Kimber were on another.

“We’ve got to get out of here!” Sam said and behind us the Devourer made a sound.

The weakened dragon had pushed to his feet and was crouching down, waiting for us. Sam grabbed my hand and we ran over the unsteady ground toward the Devourer and climbed on his back. “Riley!” I yelled, looking at him and Kimber who were still trapped on the other side.

Riley said something to Kimber I couldn’t hear and then he shifted, his clothes shredding and eyes flashing. Kimber climbed onto his back and Riley backed up and then took a running leap across the divided ground, airborne over the black sludge.

I gasped when a demon leapt out of the water, grabbing for him, but he snapped his jaws and then landed on our side and ran toward the dragon. Kimber climbed off his back and Riley shifted back into his human form.

The Devourer made a sound at him, tossing his head in Riley’s direction. To my surprise, Riley smiled and patted its head. “I knew you’d wait for me, bud. Thanks.”

I glanced at Sam and his face mirrored my shock. Had Riley bonded with the dragon he used to refer to as an “overgrown bird?” I guess stranger things had happened.

“Red, how about some clothes?” Riley said, preparing to climb onto the dragon. Kimber waved her hand at him and he was covered by jeans, boots, and a black leather jacket. Then she turned her magic on Sam and covered him too.

The minute Riley was on the Devourer’s back, we took off up into the air, and I watched as the last of the dragon’s lair was swallowed by the black sludge. I was a slightly worried about the four of us on the dragon’s back, knowing he felt so weak, but he seemed to be handling our extra weight okay, and for a moment I allowed myself to take a deep breath.

“How’s your soul feel?” Sam said over the rushing wind as we flew. I did an inner check, making sure I didn’t feel any of the telltale signs that my soul was beginning to separate from my body. It wasn’t. I felt fine. In fact, nothing inside me even felt tempted to try to escape, to twist. Everything felt…
right.

Like I was finally being who I was meant to be all this time.

I felt myself smile. “I’m good.” I leaned forward so Riley could hear me from his position on the front of the dragon. “We need to find those souls.”

He nodded and leaned down over the Devourer. “If you know where those soul’s are, now is the time to show us,” he shouted.

The Devourer looked back, his eyes connecting with me, and I nodded. His wings snapped out and he glided in an arch through the ashy, sunless sky. We flew silently for a while over barren landscape, and then it started to change, to become…
populated?

“This must be one of the Princes’ land Riley was telling us about,” Sam said, leaning up and talking in my ear.

It was unlike anything I would have imagined. After seeing the wasteland that Beelzebub called home, I thought they would all have similar lands.

Well, I was totally wrong.

It kind of looked like the pictures I’d seen of Las Vegas. It was like a mini city with tall buildings made of silver steel, long strips of one-story buildings with gold lights lining the rooftops, and archways over the roads that blinked with many different colors. There were even a couple cars that drove beneath the archways, speeding along like they were out for a thrill ride.

And in the center of it all was… a castle. A golden castle, gaudy with all the bling all over it. It even had a giant fountain with alternating sprays of
real
water that would shoot out of the center and then dance with each other. I blinked, thinking I was seeing things, but when I opened my eyes again it was all still there.

“Why do I feel like I just stepped onto the set of a movie where the gangsters rule the city?” Sam said.

It did kind of look like a place only the mob would run.

Exactly the kind of place I didn’t care to visit.

Just as the thought entered my mind we seemed to drop about twenty feet out of the sky. Kimber let out a shriek and I looked up to see the Devourer trying to regain the height that we lost. He fumbled through the sky a bit, unable to take us any higher and the ride feeling like we were on the most turbulent airline flight in the history of the world. My stomach leapt into my throat and I swallowed, trying to push it back.

“He’s too weak,” Riley yelled over his shoulder and then hunched over the dragon’s head. We continued to sputter through the sky, lower and lower until I thought we might crash into one of the high-rises.

Sam grabbed me around the waist, locking his arms, bracing us for the impact.

With one great last heave, the dragon managed to throw out his wings to propel us gently onto the ground. The four of us scrambled off him and I ran up to his head where he looked at me with apology in his eyes.

“It’s okay, big guy,” I said, stroking his neck. “It’s been a long day and we’re a heavy load.”

His breath was warm when he blew it out, fluttering the ends of my hair.

“What do we do now?” Kimber asked from behind.

“Keep searching. The souls might be close. We’ve come a pretty long way. Maybe they’re just beyond this Prince’s land,” I said, turning to really look where the dragon brought us down.

This place was even more over the top from the ground. You practically needed sunglasses with all the lights and bling.

“Well,” I said, trying to be positive, “at least we don’t need a flashlight.”

Riley snorted. “This place looks like Vegas vomit.”

“We should probably put some distance between us and these buildings. We don’t really want anyone wondering what we’re doing.” Sam cautioned.

“What about the Devourer?” I looked back at the dragon lying on the ground, looking exhausted and gray.

“We’ll come back for him. No one’s gonna mess with a soul eater,” Riley said.

“We’ll be back,” I told him, hoping he understood.

The four of us moved away, trying to avoid the brightest of lights. But it didn’t matter, because we’d already been seen.

We barely got anywhere before a black limousine pulled up in front of us, blocking our path. We all stopped as the door to the long ride opened and a man unfolded himself from the back seat.

“Are these the renegades I’ve been hearing whisperings of?” he asked before he was even fully out of the limo. “Tell me which one of you exploded Beelzebub’s castle and stole a Harley from Leviathan?” He sounded almost like he was pleased to see us.

We all stood there, staring, not saying a word. I mean, really, what was there to say when you crash-land in the middle of a mobster paradise and then are greeted by a man who looked like he was probably a pimp?

He was dressed in black slacks, black dress shoes that had been shined so much I was sure I would be able to see my reflection in them, a white dress shirt that was open halfway down his chest (gag) and about ten different gold chains hanging around his neck. He had gold earrings in both his ears, rings on almost all his fingers, and a pair of aviator sunglasses with diamonds on the sides over his eyes (did someone forget to tell him there was no sun here in hell?).

His head was shaved completely bald, but he had a goatee that was made up of black hair.

Sam and Riley immediately angled themselves in front of Kimber and me and I didn’t bother trying to move around them. I didn’t really care to have a front row seat of this guy’s fashion show.

“No one wants to admit to the fun they’ve been having?” he said when we all continued to be silent.

“Who are you?” Sam asked.

I peaked around Sam to see the man smile. “Asmodeus, Prince of Lust.”

“Well, that explains that,” Kimber muttered.

“Pleased to meet you. Now if you’ll excuse us, we were just passing through,” Riley said, and we all moved forward as one unit.

Asmodeus laughed like we made a really funny joke and then the sound fell away abruptly. “I’m afraid that I cannot allow you to just leave.”

Of course not. Nothing is ever easy.

“We weren’t really asking.” Riley growled.

“Yes, well, you can image my dilemma. All the damage you have caused around hell, well, it would just be irresponsible of me to let you go and just destroy my beautiful home.”

“We won’t destroy anything,” I said, stepping out around Sam. “You have our word.”

His eyes snapped to me the minute I revealed myself. “Well,” he said, looking me over, “aren’t you positively lust-worthy?”

Sam stiffened.

I smiled. “Thank you. I can assure you we won’t cause any problems. We’re on our way out.”

“To where?” he asked, not taking his eyes off me. I wanted to squirm under his gaze, but I forced myself to remain still.

“To…” My voice trailed away when I realized I had no good cover story.

“To a place that is none of your business.” Riley snapped.

Annoyance flashed in Asmodeus’s eyes. “You’re the one Leviathan wants, aren’t you?” he said, finally looking away from me and to Riley. “He said the one he was after had a mouth.”

Riley grinned.

This was about to turn ugly. We were wasting precious time that could be spent searching for the souls. The longer we were down here, the greater the chance more things could go wrong.

And then Kimber stepped around Riley.

“You’ll have to forgive him. He has the manners of a toad,” she said, her voice all smooth and soft.

Asmodeus’s eyes about fell out of his head.

Kimber had changed her appearance so she no longer looked battle weary and dull into something that would rival a showgirl. Her red hair was down around her shoulders in big glossy waves, her makeup was flawless right down to her peachy lips, and her dress was gorgeous. It was all deep green silk, hugging every curve she had, and her thin waist was further accentuated by a thin black ribbon of silk with a diamond broach securing it.

She was wearing a necklace made completely of diamonds (or crystals) and it hung right down into the peak of cleavage showing.

“Who are you?” Asmodeus said, turning so he was facing Kimber.