The Devil You Need (18 page)

As I fired and ducked, fleeing while power exploded all
around me, I noticed that my energy was hotter than usual…more destructive than
I expected. I wondered if I was drawing energy, somehow, from the stones
themselves.

Another blast of blue hit the rock I was on and the top
sheared off, falling away. I fell forward and stopped ten feet from the ground,
mired in the sticky air inside the circle. I felt as if I’d fallen into a vat
of glue that was quickly drying around me. I struggled to free myself, watching
with horror as Astis raised the staff and pointed it in my direction.

A horrendous shriek split the air above me, too close, and I
hung helpless as something that felt like knives pierced my sides and yanked me
upward, lifting me toward the sky. As soon as I was wrenched free of the muck I
turned my head, looking at the dark brown, ragged underbelly of a dragon demon.

I drew my power forward and then stopped, realizing if I
blasted the thing and it let go I’d fall right back into the muck. But as the
deadly claws of the demon tightened, digging deep within my torso and cracking
ribs like toothpicks beneath them, I almost gave in and blasted the thing
anyway, just to get away from the pain.

The demon rose straight up in the air and shook me, hard,
like a dog trying to break the neck of its prey, and then loosened its grip and
dropped me.

The magic web didn’t catch me. It apparently only existed on
the perimeter of the circle. The ground rushed up to meet me and I hit it hard,
feeling the broken pieces of my ribs piercing through flesh. I cried out as
agony sliced, trying to roll away as Astis approached. But the pain was too
great and my limbs felt as if they were enclosed in lead. A moment later a
small pair of silk slippers stopped next to me and the base of the staff
slammed into my head.

The world blurred and darkened and blood ran from a new cut
on my forehead. I lifted my hands to blast her and she hit me again. Darkness
called to me, encroaching to pull my muzzy thoughts into sweet oblivion. I realized
I needed to do something or I would be dead within seconds.

I grabbed my power and thought about the space behind Astis,
praying she hadn’t extended the web to that side. The world slipped away,
locked in silence, and I lost the sensation of firmness beneath me.

I hung there, suspended in nothingness, unwilling to move
forward. Peace descended. A sense of safety in the silence. Pain razored
through me, even in the emptiness, and my mind tried to slip away, looking for
the blessed relief of unconsciousness. Somewhere in the back of my mind I
realized I would be forever lost in a nether realm if I didn’t stop my shift.
But I couldn’t get my mind to wrap around it. I floated in gray nothingness,
the absence of danger a siren song I could barely resist. But Dialle’s face
slipped across my mental screen and I sighed, realizing I’d have to go back.

With a monumental effort of will, I forced my mind to grab
hold of the image it needed to end the space-shift and the hard ground
re-emerged beneath me.

Agony made me suck in a breath as a rock jammed my ribs
where I’d landed.

“Astra, watch out!”

I looked up and saw the skeletal face of a dragon demon
dropping down from the sky, claws extended for another pain-filled trip. “Yeah,
I don’t think so, asshole.” I shot power in dual, dynamic streams that consumed
the creature in a wash of heat and power and turned it to ash within a breath.

Soft, gray cinders floated over me like dirty snow.

With the use of my power my body felt a bit stronger, so I
shoved myself off the ground and turned as Astis whipped around and pointed her
deadly staff in my direction. I jerked my hands up, palms outward, and gave her
everything I had. Her eyes widened as it hit her and I had a second to enjoy
the look of surprised pain in her large, gray eyes before she shot backward,
arms and legs akimbo, until she hit the invisible mesh of her web and stuck. I
yelled, “To Hades with you fool, for God hath tired of you.” The mesh holding
her ignited from the power sizzling over her skin and her slim body went up in
flame. She screamed, writhing with pleasure as she burned. Nausea roiled in my
gut. “Gods save me from pain junkies.”

When the witch’s scream finally drained away, I looked
around and saw Dialle battling his father with swords. I wasn’t too worried,
First would have to score a killing strike, Dialle would only need to graze his
father with the venom-drenched blade.

Gerch was across the circle, fighting dragon demons with his
venom-coated sword. He was covered in bloody slices and his uniform was torn in
several places, but the big soldier was surrounded by dragon bodies that looked
as if they’d been turned to stone.

Apparently Nestrada’s venom was working like a charm.
Speaking of which. I grabbed my long knives and looked around for my mother. A
dragon demon screeched and I turned, lifting my knives toward the creature
flying directly at me.

Danika Phelps sat astride the horrible creature, her
beautiful face calmly watching me as power spit in a large ball hovering over
her palm.

My dear mother, looking not at all concerned as she prepared
to murder her younger daughter. Pain flared in my breast. Pain that had nothing
to do with battle wounds. I’d always known my mother didn’t love me. I’d
thought I’d come to grips with that years earlier. It was probably one of the
reasons I killed dark worlders and felt no regret. My mother’s careless
disregard for me had turned something inside me dark…twisted me just a bit.

It was the thing that had worried me most when I’d been
fighting to keep my light side alive during my Settling. But I realized in that
moment that I would never really accept my mother’s hatred.

How does one accept that?

If I could leave it simply at that it would be bad enough.
But I would now have to end my own mother, permanently. Souls that are killed
in Hades did not return. When I removed my mother’s life force from her this
time, it would be for good. The pain that had moved into my chest spread to my
belly, twisting until I could barely breathe.

I said a prayer for strength and, as my mother lifted her
arm to fling the ball of energy at me, I leapt sideways and threw one of my
venom-painted knives.

The ground where I’d been standing spit upward, covering me
with dirt and grass. The dragon my mother was riding hit the ground with a roar
and skidded several feet before stopping in a cloud of dust, my knife jutting
from its shoulder.

I leapt to my feet, looking for Danika. She was half beneath
the dragon, struggling to climb out. I swallowed hard, realizing it was my
chance to finish her.

The ground erupted again. This time I felt the stinging heat
of the power behind it and looked up. Crisanne stood on top of one of the tall
rocks, her pretty face dark with rage. “You left me behind, you bitch. We had
an agreement.”

I briefly considered throwing my last remaining knife at her
but my mother had renewed her efforts to get free and seemed to be making
progress. I thought she’d be upright and dangerous again in seconds. “I told
you I had to do this first, Crisanne. I didn’t break my promise to you.”

“You left me holding that damn breech open by myself. Do you
have any idea how painful that was?”

I pressed my lips together to hold back a smile. I thought
that probably wouldn’t go over well. “Sorry about that. I figured you’d realize
we were gone…eventually.”

“You double-crossing bitch!” Crisanne lifted her hands and I
panicked, flinging my last knife in her direction. My mother stood up, turning
to me and I realized she was between me and Crisanne’s power. I started forward
just as Crisanne’s oily yellow energy hit my mother between the shoulder
blades.

Danika’s eyes widened and her mouth came open with surprise.
I stood there for a moment, torn, watching my mother’s expression turn to
horror as her magic was ripped away from her. My mind was screaming that I had
to stop it. My legs tightened with the need to leap between them and take
Crisanne’s power myself. I even took that first step. But I forced myself to
stop. Because something ugly had occurred to me. Something selfish, which would
make my life a tiny bit easier. And I just couldn’t bring myself to save the
evil Danika from her current fate.

Crisanne’s power sputtered and, for a moment I thought my
mother was fighting back. But Danika Phelps was on her knees in the grass, her
pretty face pale and twisted with pain.

I knew that pain intimately. That sense of having the most
precious part of yourself ripped away, leaving behind a black, empty hole that
you couldn’t fill with anything. Not knowledge, or hope, or even love. It was
an ending that was in many ways worse than death. I scrubbed the tears from my
face and forced myself to look away. Danika Phelps had made her own choices.
She’d created hell for too many people, and now she would live the rest of her
life miserable and empty.

I lifted a tear-drenched gaze to Crisanne and gasped. She
stood rigid upon the rock, her pretty brown gaze glazed and fixed, and her
hands straight out in front of her, power still trickling from her palms.

My knife stuck out from her left thigh. The venom had done
its work.

“Astra?”

I brushed tears from my cheeks and turned. Dialle was safe
and whole. In one hand he still clutched his bloodied sword. “I’m okay. Your
father?”

“I killed him.” Pain slid through his gaze and I reached
out, squeezing his hand in silent support. I hadn’t had to kill my mother but
Dialle hadn’t been so lucky. Still, seeing my mother groveling on the ground,
sobbing as her body still writhed in unaccustomed helplessness, I couldn’t help
thinking Dialle might have gotten the best of the bargain.

He wrapped an arm around me and kissed my forehead. “Let’s
go home, my love. We have a court to rebuild.”

I nodded, sniffling, and let him turn me away. It would be
good to be home again. It would be good to have something constructive to do.
It might even keep my heart from breaking totally apart in my chest.

Though at that moment I doubted it.

As it Ends…

So it Begins

I sat in Dialle’s court chair and looked out over the room.
The long, curved table was the only thing that still remained of the old
council chambers. We’d returned to the court a couple of months earlier and had
walked into carnage and destruction the likes of which I never wanted to
witness again.

Even during the bloody civil war between magic wielders and
humans, when the magic veil was making everyone crazy, things had never been as
bad as what Dialle and I found when we returned from Perdigo.

Things in the celestial realm were bad too, as The Big Guy
and the celestial army tried to deal with the uprising in the ranks of the dark
angels. They’d finally managed to batten the situation back down, but the
losses on both sides had been great.

Dialle and I had spent a full week trying to record all the
dead in the court and tend to the living. We’d emerged from the process changed.
The darkness that had stalked us both had found a permanent spot in both our
breasts, a small, unshakeable handhold that we’d forever need to control.

But it had also given us a stronger grip on the light.
Moments after we returned, the blood-covered walls had glowed with a silvery
light that preceded the arrival of hundreds of guardian angels, come to help us
deal with the aftermath.

Devil and angel worked side by side for weeks returning the
court to its former health and then Dialle and I had struggled to make it ours.
Now glossy wood floors replaced cold, hard stone in the court chambers and
hallways. Warm, soft carpets covered the floors in all the living chambers, and
the court had a brand new gathering place where the court’s inhabitants could lounge
on oversized couches and pillows to watch holographic films or play laser
games.

The court population was much smaller but growing every day.
Something else had changed. I’d talked Dialle into allowing Tweeners and other
species to apply for residence there. The diversity of Dialle’s new kingdom
sometimes made things more difficult…but it also made life more interesting.
And we were stronger for the change. Our magical abilities were more varied,
our reach into other worlds and dimensions more extensive, and our influence
nearly without limit.

The court of Dialle the Second was vastly different from
First’s rule, but that was exactly how we wanted it to be. This wasn’t his
father’s Royal Devil Court. It was his. And mine.

It was ours.

There was only one thing missing, and I fully intended to
see it remedied that night. I sighed, swiping a hand over the glossy surface of
the table before me. The double doors to the court chambers opened and I looked
up.

Gerch stuck his head inside. “My queen, the dark fairies are
cheating at laser bowling again.”

I frowned. Sometimes I felt like a babysitter for the
world’s most difficult children. “Gerch, I’ve already told you to handle it.”

“I’ve tried, my queen. They won’t listen to anyone but you.”

I sighed. “What did they do this time?”

“They have encased their opponents in fairy string and hung
them from the balcony railings. They are out of control.”

I shook my head and stood. “Did you ask the coven for that
potion I requested?”

“I did.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small,
clear bottle with a stopper.

I grinned. “Good. Mix up some cherry nectar and put that
into it, then offer it to the fairies with my compliments.”

“I hope it will kill them.”

“No. But they’ll probably wish they were dead. It will make
their wings limp for a week and remove their ability to create fairy string.
Once they’re subdued, gather them up and lock them in their garden for the
week. I will explain to them that we will keep neutering them until they
behave.”

Realizing how pissed they were going to be, Gerch finally
smiled. “Yes, my queen.”

I smacked him on the arm. “For god’s sake. Stop calling me
that.”

He chuckled and turned away. “Where will you be, m—” His
grin widened. “Astra, my dearest friend. In case I need to confer with you
again?”

“Out of range, Gerch my largest ass-pain. I’m going
to…erm…confer with the king.”

He waggled his eyebrows and then bowed low, dancing out of
range when I tried to smack him again. I watched him stride down the hall,
toward the kitchens. Then I took off in the opposite direction, admiring the
gilded mirrors and shiny wood consoles lining the halls. The changes had done a
lot to make the court feel more cozy, more like home.

Astra?

I cringed inwardly as my sister’s voice razored across my
mind.
What is it, Darma?

Where are you?

Where I’m supposed to be. Where are you?

Ha, ha. I need your help with something.

I frowned.
I’m kind of busy, Darma. Can’t you handle it?

Believe me, Astra, I wouldn’t have called you if I could
have thought of any way out of it. But Emo is out vanquishing a snake demon and
Slayer is up to his sexy eyebrows in gargoyles.

Feeling the promise of a long, leisurely romp under the
covers with my favorite devil sliding away, I was perhaps less patient with my
sister than I could have been.

Well shit! What’s the problem? When I gave you and the
guys Angel Network to run I expected you to actually run it. Not come whining
to me every time you had a tiny little problem.

There’s nothing tiny about this problem, Astra. And it’s
currently standing in my office, glaring at me through one, big, blood-shot
eye.

A troll?

Yeah. And I’m weak from the stench. I’ve never vanquished
a troll before. I don’t know what to do.

Are you sure you need to vanquish it? Maybe it just wants
to talk.

Um, I’m pretty sure the gore-covered claw currently
digging a hole in my throat is a negative on the conversational option.

Sighing, I told her I’d be right there and space-shifted to
my old office beneath Angel City. I landed just outside my old office door and lifted
an eyebrow at the mess. The troll hadn’t so much opened the office door as
crashed through it. What was left of the wood door hung at an odd angle from
bent hinges. Slivers of it were scattered across the floor.

I peered inside, and saw the broadest back and fattest ass
I’ve ever seen standing in the center of the room, obscuring Darma’s desk.
Sitting atop the wide body was a squarish head that looked small in comparison
to the rest of the troll, but was probably twice as big as mine. The narrow noggin
was sparsely decorated with wiry yellow hair, telling me it was a girl. Male
trolls were entirely bald.

“Hey?”

The thing turned slowly, lumbering around to the
accompaniment of a choking sound that I assumed came from my sister. Sure
enough, as it turned, it carried Darma with it, her toes dancing along the
floor and both hands digging at the thick, gray-skinned hand wrapped around her
throat. “Let her go, Venus. That’s my sister you’re choking.”

Darma’s eyes widened with surprise as the troll simply opened
her hand and dropped her like a piece of rotting meat. The troll’s forehead
wrinkled and her thick lips moved as she tried to form a thought. Finally words
emerged. “Where you been?”

I lifted my eyebrows. “You know I’ve been working at the
Royal Court, Venus. We just had this conversation a couple of hours ago. Why
did you come here? I told you to meet me at the court.”

The large, startlingly green eye in the center of her
forehead widened. “Where dat?”

I expelled a breath. “Good Him.” I strode across the room,
gagging at the eye-watering stench as I got closer. Darma had moved as far away
from the creature as she could. I’d thought it was fear that made her
backpedal. Now I knew she was probably just trying to get away from the smell.
I glanced at my sister. “Sorry. Venus is seeking asylum at the court.”

My sister’s pretty face folded into a very familiar scowl.
“She needs an asylum all right.”

“Be nice, Darma. Her king has been beating her because she’s
slow.”

“I thought they were all slow.”

I lifted an eyebrow, trying to instill some tact in my
sister. The irony of this did not escape me. “Some are more slow than others.”
I touched Venus’ arm, turning away to grimace at the oily prickliness. Darma
grinned. The troll felt like a greased elephant. “I’ll shift you to the court,
Venus. Okay?”

The big creature worked her lips, frowning. I waited, trying
to be patient with her, but as you know, patience isn’t one of my better
things.

Still, I got points for trying, right?

After a full minute of lip wobbling I gave up. “Frunk me.
See you later, Darma.” I pictured the welcome center at the court and shifted
the troll there. I got Venus settled in and got the hades out of there as soon
as I could, but as I hurried toward our rooms, I realized I hadn’t escaped nearly
fast enough. I had troll stench all over me.

I’d definitely need to clean up before seducing Dialle.

I was glad to see he wasn’t in our rooms when I entered. If
he smelled me in my current condition it would undeniably kill the mood.
Hurrying into the personal hygiene room, I pulled my clothes off quickly,
dumping them into the laundry cylinder before stepping into the shower tube.
“One hundred degrees. Forty-percent soap.”

The hot, soapy tentacles of water felt wonderful pounding
against my skin. I just stood there for a moment, letting it smooth the rough
edges of the day away, and wash the troll stink from my skin. Gradually I began
to feel overheated so I backed the heat of the water down. Still I felt too
warm, stiflingly so. “Seventy degrees, and clear,” I instructed the tube. I
rinsed quickly under the cooler, soap-free water. My skin still felt hot,
despite the much cooler water pinging against it, and my sexual core was
coiling with its own kind of heat. With a start, I realized what I was experiencing
was both familiar and devilish.

A dark shape shimmered into view on the other side of the
glass tube. My lips curved upward on a delightful sense of déjà vu. “Water
off.”

As I stepped out of the tube, Dialle raised one silky, black
eyebrow and let his gaze slide down my dripping flesh. “Very lovely. I shall
enjoy this very much.”

My grin widened, remembering all too well when he’d last
said that to me. “Why do I feel like we’ve been here before?”

Dialle lifted a small square of cloth and wiggled it enticingly.
I let my gaze slide to the towel he was holding for me, just out of reach of
course. “I do not know what you refer to, my love. Every moment with you is a
revelation for me. When we’re apart I think of nothing but you.”

I snorted. “You’re so full of shit, Dialle.” I reached for
the towel and he yanked it just out of my reach.

“I know you feel the same way, my queen. Why don’t you just
admit it?”

My devilish side couldn’t resist the chance to tease him.
Besides, his ego didn’t need a boost. It was already so big there was barely
space enough for all three of us in the personal hygiene room. “I don’t know
what you’re talking about, bud. I’m just going about my business here. I
haven’t even thought about you in at least an hour.”

His yummy lips parted in a wide smile, showing just the very
tips of his teeth. “Did you know that royals can smell lust, little Tweener?”

I blinked, trying to keep from smiling at the remembered
taunt. “Just give me the towel, Dialle.”

As he’d done the first time we’d acted out this little
scenario, he let his gaze slide slowly down my wet, naked form, and then held
the towel out, keeping it just far enough away that I would have to take a step
closer. Knowing exactly where we were headed, I took a step and tugged on the
towel. He yanked me close, wrapping a strong arm around my waist, and before I
could object the world dropped away and we were locked in a space shift.

* * * * *

“Surprise!”

My eyes shot open and I sucked in a breath.

The kitchen at Phelps castle was filled with people. Each
one of them was holding a glass of something alcoholic and wearing a happy
smile. The place looked a lot better than the last time I’d been there.

Instead of bodies and wounded strewn around the floors and
table, colorful air bubbles drifted around the space and a veritable bounty of
food covered the long, wooden table.

I suddenly thought about where I’d just been and gave a
little shriek, looking down. Thank Him! Dialle had dressed me before dumping me
at my father’s house among all my friends. The long, form-fitting black dress
was very pretty, in fact. And it looked kickin’ with the tall, leather boots.
“Nice job, bud.”

He grinned.

Aunt Myra handed me a glass of champagne. “Happy birthday,
Astra.”

I looked into her happy blue gaze and then to the man
standing with his arm around her shoulders. Aubrey reached for me, pulling me
into a one-armed hug. “Happy twenty-fifth, Astra. You made it.”

I blinked. He was right. I
had
made it. I’d been so
busy I hadn’t even had time to think about my Settling. “I did, didn’t I?”

“And you did it with style, boss.” Emo wrapped me in a tight
embrace and kissed my cheek. When he pulled away, tears filled my eyes.
“Thanks, partner.”

Gerch was standing behind Emo. We shared a look and he
lifted his glass, his wide, red face soft with emotion.

“Astra Q. Phelps.” I glanced around and laughed. Gus stood
with his arms out, silently demanding a hug. He was dressed in a white suit
with a white tie and white shoes. His hair was purple.

I walked over and hugged him tight. “Thank you for giving me
my life back.”

He shrugged, looking embarrassed. “I didn’t do anything
really. You just needed time to heal.”