The Third Throne: Angel of Darkness (9 page)

“I’m sure you have many questions my darling Mistress.  I figured I would give you a break from your adventures to get to know you a little better,” Hades smiled and crossed his legs.  He looked at her condescendingly, the way someone would look at a small child.  He was waiting to see what silly things would come out her mouth.

Whenever Hades spoke, he always sounded polite, but she had the distinct image of a viper when she looked at him.  She didn’t trust him, though she didn’t trust anyone.  Granted, he was the only one who had let her come up for air and toweled her off.  He would go in the “maybe a friend, but maybe I should kill him” column, for now.  Caleb was firmly in the “kill” column.  Lucifer was in the “beat senseless” column.

“Where is Lucifer?” she demanded.  She wanted to know what was going on.  She was pissed that he hadn’t even bothered to make sure she was being taken care of in the realms and in complete misery.  She thought he would have gotten off on that.  Then again, she knew how he got off.  She thought he might, at the very least, come back to finish what they had started.

“He’s vacationing.  Scouting trip is more like it.  He’s looking for more, well…company,” Hades replied with a smirk.  “It gets very lonely down here and he is eternally fickle.  Sometimes he’s with a woman once, then kills her, and moves on to the next,” Hades waved his hand as if it were something beneath his concern.

“I see.  So he likes to get rid of them before he has sex with them?” Michelle put her hand on her hip.

She didn’t know why she was being so defensive.  She wanted to believe that Lucifer wouldn’t have much interest in kicking her to the curb, yet, since they hadn’t gotten very far.  If her sole purpose in this place was to be his mistress, which at this point she would take over being in the realms, she wanted to at least give it a try.  When she had a few moments of clarity between her pain sessions, she had thought about her experiences with Lucifer.  She was curious about him, but was more curious about sex.  She thought perhaps she could negotiate her way out of the torture.  “And I’m already dead, if you hadn’t noticed.  No fear there,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“He didn’t have sex with you?” he muttered the question more to himself than to her.  He appeared confused, but quickly regained his snarky composure.  “Well, like I said, he’s fickle.  Besides, there are things worse than mortal death.  You have seen the mark on your door, haven’t you?  That should be proof enough that you are nothing more than a passing fancy,” he said matter-of-factly.

“Yes, it’s a crescent moon with a sun and clouds above it.  What does it mean?” she still wasn’t convinced that he could be trusted, but she would rather keep him talking until she figured out where Lucifer was.

“It’s the mark of his harem.  He has so many women that he needs to mark their doors to keep track of them.  I’ve personally lost count over the years.  This week alone, he’s paraded at least thirty of them through here.  Some of them were even Playboy Bunnies.  Some he ships in from the Mortal Realm; others make deals with him and end up paying for their stupidity.  That dress is part and parcel.  Sorry peaches, Mistress, you’re not special around here,” he shrugged.

Michelle noticed that whenever Hades called her a sarcastic name it sounded as if he were forced to correct himself and call her Mistress.  He seemed annoyed when he had to correct himself.

“I’ve never seen anyone else wearing a dress like this,” Michelle was pissed.  If she had to wear the hideous thing, she wanted it to mean something.

“He gets bored with his lovers after a while.  You didn’t think you would be his pet forever, did you?” Hades burst out laughing.  “Oh, oh dear.  You thought this gig was for eternity.  Afraid not kitten…Mistress.  You are simply that, a mistress, disposable and replaceable.  You are one in hundreds of millions over the eons.  You don’t mind sharing, do you?  He wants women, we bring them here, or he goes out on the prowl.  That’s not going to change because he calls you his mistress.  Wait, you have been in orgies before, right?  Well, I’m sure you’ll figure it out.  Poor thing, you fell for the biggest line of all time.  Lucifer will never have anyone special; it’s not in his nature,” Hades’ eyes gleamed.  He was enjoying this.  He wanted her to know the truth and was delighted to be the one to share it with her.

“Wonderful.  It just gets better,” she sighed.  She was dejected by the thought that Lucifer didn’t care about her.

What was wrong with her?  She didn’t care about him.  She didn’t know anything about him.  He could have been lying when he said that he’d waited a long time for her.  Tears started to well up in her eyes at the thought of Lucifer with other women.  Why did she even care?

She cared because she was angry.  If he was going to use her and throw her away, then her death was for nothing.  She had died simply because he was bored and needed a plaything.  He confused her and tricked her into killing herself with the headaches and the hypnotic suggestions just so that he could have sex with her, torture her, and then what?  Kill her again?  What was the point of all that?

None of this seemed right.  She thought about the longing in his voice when he called to her.  She heard his anger when she didn’t join him.  She had started to believe that the voice had cared for her, at least enough to keep reaching out to her.

God, she was a stupid child.  She had fallen for his lies.  He didn’t care about her and she wasn’t special.  She was nothing more than a game to him.  She felt sick.  Her death was meaningless.  She was beyond depressed.

“Ah, pumpkin, Mistress, Lucifer invented the one night stand and you’re not the first one to fall for his deception.  It’s tragic, yes, but I’m here to tell you that I’ve had to give this speech so many times I have it memorized.  If I may, it goes a little like this:

‘Dear, insert name here, it seems that your services are no longer required by your master.  No, dear, it was nothing that you did.  I’m sure that you pleased him well enough.  It’s his fault, truly it is.  He’s terrible at relationships.  They never work out.  I know you did your best, insert name, a pat on her shoulder, but he is too self-involved.  Now, if you will kindly follow me, I will take you to where you need to go.  He thanks you for your time together, but it’s over.  Oh, dry your tears, this sadness won’t last forever.’  Then I take them to the Caves of Darkness and I end their suffering for eternity,” Hades’ face contorted into pure evil. His eyes narrowed and took on the appearance of a wolf on the hunt.

Michelle took a step back.  She felt like his prey and that he was about to pounce on her.

“End their suffering for eternity? How do you manage that?” she gulped and took another step back.

“You haven’t been to the Caves of Darkness yet, have you?  There’s a reason no one likes to go there.  There are creatures in there, hungry creatures that feast on the souls who try to escape through the old tunnels.  There is no going back to the Mortal Realm once a Bhakşaka gets hold them.  There is no more reincarnation, only oblivion.  The Bhakşakas feeds upon the soul and leaves behind the shell of a person that no longer feels anything beyond its basic instincts.  The shells are called Shades, mindless creatures that stalk wayward souls and devour their flesh.  It’s nice to know that you have options, either lose your soul and become a Shade or be eaten alive by them.

“As I said, Lucifer loves his women, breaks up with them, and then kills them.  Therefore, you have a choice.  Wait for Lucifer to decide that he no longer needs you and ends you himself, or you can decide to make it all go away right now and save yourself all the pain and worry,” Hades was off the throne in the blink of an eye and circling her.

“So you’re the hatchet man?  Lucifer doesn’t even have the guts to tell me this himself?”  Michelle remained perfectly still as Hades continued to circle her, waiting for his chance to escort her to her death.

While she was upset about falling for Lucifer’s lies, her instincts told her not to believe Hades.  A feeling of distrust grew inside of her.  She immediately understood not to trust Hades, under any circumstance and stood her ground.  She wasn’t going to let him convince her to end her life.

She felt something was burning her hand.  Looking down, she realized it was her ring.  It was digging into her finger, something that had only started happening since she arrived in Hell.  She put her hands behind her back and tried to wiggle the ring to ease the pressure.

“Lucifer has more important things to do than dump all of his lovers.  He’s a very busy man.  I, on the other hand, make sure that the poor things don’t suffer more than needed.  If Lucifer did it himself, it certainly would be a sight, not to the mention the cleanup.  It’s best this way, more, efficient,” Hades loomed over her with a look of malice.

“Yet you didn’t say that I was dumped, did you?  You said that when Lucifer was done with them, he kicked them out.  I have a feeling that he isn’t done with me yet,” she replied.  She tried to sound smug to call his bluff,but inside she was still reeling from the possibility of being betrayed by Lucifer.  She would rather speak directly to him and hear the words from his mouth.  Hades looked entirely too eager to whisk her away to her oblivion.

“No, but it will happen.  It’s only a matter of time.  I figured that after all you have suffered; you would prefer to be put out of your misery sooner rather than later.  Trust me; you don’t want to be Lucifer’s lover.  He’s not what they call, caring and compassionate.  He will take what he will from you and leave you barren.  I rescued you from drowning, now I’m trying to rescue you from being raked over the coals and having your heart plucked from your body.  Well, not literally, in this case.  Heartbreak is the worst torture one can endure.  You’re too young to have gone through it yourself, so I thought I would ease you into it,” Hades stood with his chin up, looking down his nose at her.

“You’re offering me the loaded gun to avoid all my future suffering?” she cocked her head.  She remembered how shocked Hades had been the first time they met and how he had bowed to her.  Something was rotten in Hell and it wasn’t the souls.

“Something like that.  You killed yourself once my dear, Mistress; I figured it was something you might want to do again.  You are definitely one of the sadder lots I’ve seen in recent years, so young, so naïve.  It’s painful to watch.  I wanted to give you an out.  So many beg for the end of their suffering here, yet they continue to suffer.  I’m offering you the golden ticket, a chance that not many receive.  Don’t throw it away without first considering it.  Do you really want to spend an eternity here, being stabbed, bitten, skewered, flambéed, frozen, and ripped apart?  It’s no way to live, I assure you.  I’m only offering this to you once, now or never.  You are Lucifer’s servant, so there is no reincarnation for you, no more lives as a mortal.  You will stay here forever and you will become miserable, bitter, and angry.  You will become a shadow of the person you once were.  Nothing will stop the agony.  You will never feel happiness again.  You are damned here and you will slowly lose your mind until you are rabid.  This is the end of the line precious…Mistress,” Hades was a hair’s breath away from her, his dark blue eyes boring into hers.  He was taunting her, wanting her to envision all the misery she would endure.

“I think I’ll take my chances.  It’s true, I killed myself once, but it wasn’t something I wanted to do.  Given a choice now, I certainly wouldn’t do it again.  While I appreciate that you want to help me and end my horrible existence, I think I will pass on your offer.  I want to see Lucifer,” she looked straight into his eyes and gained strength with every word.  He was deceiving her.  She could feel it down to her bones.

“Pity really, too stupid for your own good.  You will suffer unlike any other who has inhabited this place.  Mark my words; you will regret this decision tenfold, and don’t you dare come groveling back to me to ease you into death when you understand the mistake you have made.  This day will haunt you for a long time to come.  Remember that it was I who was trying to be merciful.  You will not find mercy again.  I promise you that,” Hades was seething as they stared at each other, unmoving, neither one backing down.

“I’ll remember that it was you who offered to kill me.  I’ll make a note of that,” Michelle smiled cruelly.

Before Hades could respond, the sound of footsteps on the bridge broke his gaze and he quickly looked up.

“Sounds like my three o’clock is here.  Now it’s time for your spa treatment, my dear Mistress.”  Hades looked past Michelle to watch someone enter.  She could hear multiple footsteps coming across the bridge, but she couldn’t see who they were.  “Caleb, bring Lucifer’s mistress to her room so that she can rest,” Hades quickly dismissed her and walked to the entrance.

Caleb appeared from the far right behind the dais, bowed to Hades, who wasn’t looking at him, and grabbed Michelle by the arm.

She pulled her arm from him, and glared at him.  “I remember how to walk,” she growled at Caleb.

Caleb ignored her outburst, latched onto her arm again, and dragged her back to the spiral staircase.

Michelle was being pulled through the doorway when she caught a glimpse of a man who was walking into the Throne Room, accompanied by Aganon.  She was surprised.  The man looked nothing like the other Fallen Angels.  He was breathtaking and immaculate in his appearance.  The only word that came to mind was, angelic. He wore a white suit and tie. He could have easily been a model with his boyish good looks.  He squinted at her, trying to get a better look at her before she was whisked away.