Vala Eminence (19 page)

Lucien laughed. “I never lied to her.”

“You told her you were the heir.”

“And I will be, once you're out of the picture.”

The demon lunged at Denver, knocking him to the ground. Denver rolled back and pressed his foot into Lucien's abdomen, sending the demon backward. Flipping onto his feet, Denver stalked over toward the demon, his fists glowing with blinding white fire. Lucien had a few tricks up his sleeve as well. He moved with an insane amount of speed and grabbed Cheyenne.

He held her with one hand around her neck and the other around her waist. “Come after me, and I'll snap her neck.”

“She's too important to your plans,” Denver said, moving toward them slowly.

“Are you sure about that? You'd risk her life on a whim?”

Denver nodded. “I'm pretty sure, yeah. Either way, I know she'd rather die than see you win.”
I can't be weak. I can't show fear.
That was the one piece of wisdom his father had given him. He had to call Lucien's bluff.

His plan seemed to be working, because the demon's slate gray eyes went wide before narrowing once more. Lucien even stumbled, which was not like his usual calm and collected self.

“Perhaps you're right. She may be vital to my plans”

“It's over, Lucien. I have my inheritance. I
am
Hades,” Denver said.

Laughing, Lucien relaxed his grip on Cheyenne, but only slightly. “Being Hades would have made things easier for me, but it is not a necessity. Any Divine will do, and thanks to some of your previous errands, I now know of how I can become Divine. My father Lucifer will be released from his cell, and we will rule all of the realms.” He smiled at Cheyenne. “As long as I'm around, she's still
my
wife.” And then he kissed her fully on the mouth.

Denver charged forward, his rage boiling over. He would rip Cheyenne free from Lucien's grasp and then kill him. Just as Denver's hand was about grab hold of her, both she and the demon disappeared into a puff of smoke. Anger rising beyond his control, he picked up one of the tables and threw it across the garden.

“Gonna throw a temper tantrum?” Zach asked from the entrance.

Shooting him a glare, Denver picked up another table and threw it at
him.
The young man easily deflected the flying furniture with a casual swipe from his sword.

“I made it this far and he got away. He took her!” Denver sat on his haunches and ran a hand through his hair.

Zach moved a little closer. “So get her back.”

“Do you know where they went? I sure don't,” he snapped.

“No,” Zach said, kneeling down so his gaze was level with Denver's. “You've got him scared of you. He can't hide forever. You control the majority of his minions now.”

The dead, dull, ice blue of Zach's gaze was unnerving. Denver had to look away. “I'll find her.”

“Yes.”

Denver clenched his fists. “He's going to wish he was never born.”

Denver returned to Vala hoping, even praying, that Cheyenne would be there as well upon his return. No calls or texts from her were on his phone, and she didn't answer hers when he called it. Desperate, he tried calling the room.

“Hello?” Halyn greeted from the other end.

Not the voice he'd been hoping to here. “Chey there?”

“Ugh, you mean you don't know?”

“Don't give me attitude right now. It's important that if she's there, you tell me. Something happened and I need to make sure she's safe,” he snapped.

Halyn grew quiet. “She's not here. What do you mean something happened? What did you do, now?”

He almost insisted that he hadn't done anything, but that would have been a lie. A lot of things that had happened to Cheyenne were his fault. Because of him, she couldn't be protected from the sins of his past. Everything had started when he had agreed to run all of Lucien's errands in exchange for his freedom. The curse upon Denver's soul allowed for him to do so many bad things with no remorse. Breaking the wards that kept the demons out of Vala was something he regretted most of all. The night the wards were stripped by his magic was the night Lucien had tricked Cheyenne into being his bride.

Everything was his fault.

“I tried to make things right,” Denver whispered.

There was a long, sad sounding sigh from the other end. “I can see how being with Cheyenne has changed you and made you a better person. She's good for you, but I've never seen you do anything good for her.”

It was true, what good had he done for the only person he'd ever loved?

You've loved her, and sometimes that's more than enough,
Hades said, deep inside of his heart.

Closing his eyes, Denver clenched his jaw. “Keep your eyes open, so you don't miss it, Halyn.”

He hung up the phone, not bothering to say goodbye. “She's really gone,” he whispered. Cheyenne was kidnapped.

Unsure of what to do next, Denver sat down on his bed and the reality of everything that had happened in such a short period of time finally hit home. Not only was the love of his life taken from him, but the last of his living relatives were now dead. Ceete annoyed him sometimes, but he missed her. He missed her much more than he thought he would.

Sitting in my room and moping isn't going to do anything. Snap out of it and buck up.
He couldn't sit. He couldn't take the time to mourn. Denver needed to start making a plan of action.

Hades chimed in again then.
You're not going to like this, but you need to rest. You need to breathe. You need to pool your resources together before you can make any kind of plans.

His spiritual companion was right, but Denver hated being so helpless. Standing up from his bed, he paced his room for a moment before leaving it all together. He needed to check on Teague. The kid was probably fine, but the good news, cheerful smile, and innocence would be a welcome sight. The cool air between the courtyard and the infirmary would also refresh him.

Denver found Teague in one of the small rooms lying in bed next to Jewl while Anj and Zes sat off to the side. It wasn't quite the perfect family picture. Anj looked bored. He'd probably only come to be polite. While Teague seemed more than content with snuggling in close to Jewl, she didn't appear all too comfortable with it. Her smile was a little too tight and forced. All the same, Denver was happy for his friend to be so close to his family — happy and a little jealous. Rather than interrupt the moment, he stayed off to the side, watching through the open doorway.

“I think you should leave them be,” Mr. Thantos said from behind him. His voice was soft but stern. If his goal was to not disturb Teague and his guests, Mr. Thantos failed at it. Everyone in the room glued their gazes to where Denver stood.

Denver nodded. “I'll come back later.”

“No, I think you should leave them be, forever.”

“Excuse me?” His eyes widened.

Mr. Thantos peered down at him. “I believe you have done enough. Miss Loveless is missing, and a man is dead because of your efforts. You should not have gotten involved until it was the right time.”

As soon as Mr. Thantos said that Cheyenne was missing, Zes was rising to his feet and walking toward the door. Denver had to suppress a groan, but he didn't hold back his eye roll.

He glared up at the angel. “I have every plan on getting her back. As for Mr. Orinda, don't act like it's such a bad thing.”

“Of course it is!”

“Right, don't worry, I won't tell anyone about how you've been lusting after his widow in the name of love.”

Mr. Thantos's jaw tightened, and he faced away. The angel's secret was a well-kept one, but Denver paid attention. Lucien had mentioned it a few times, and he also noticed how tender Mr. Thantos was with Mrs. Orinda. He wasn't tender with anyone.

“What do you mean Cheyenne is missing?” Zes asked, causing a nice distraction.

Denver hated that Zes cared so much; Cheyenne was not his girlfriend anymore. Rather than chew the guy out, Denver pushed past him to let Mr. Thantos answer all of the questions. Jewl took the hint and let out a soft sigh of what had to have been relief. She got out of bed and grabbed Anj gently by the arm to lead him out. Everyone was out of the room, just as Denver preferred it.

“Can you shut the door please?” Teague asked softly.

She nodded, and did as she was requested upon leaving the room. All for the better because Teague didn't need to be upset by the details of what happened in the underworld less than two hours ago. Denver was surprised Mr. Thantos even knew about what happened, but the dark angel always had a way of finding things out that weren't his business. Why wouldn't he know all about Denver's grand adventure too?

The door closed, Denver was much more comfortable with showing affection to Teague. He sat close and gave his arm a small pat.

“You feeling okay buddy?”

Teague nodded, smiling, but it soon faded. He swallowed and chewed on his lip for a moment. “Is it true? Cheyenne is gone? Someone… died?”

“Yeah, it's true.” Denver let out a long and heavy sigh.

“That never happened before,” Teague whispered.

Frowning, Denver sat back in his chair. “What do you mean, that never happened before?”

Teague closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. “I remember where I came from. I remember home. I remember everything that happened. I remember who they are.” He opened his eyes again and tilted his head toward the door.

“Oh boy…”

“Yeah, I'll say. I know that Jewl and Anj are my parents, that Zes is my uncle, and I know how this all originally went down. It's all different.”

Normally, Denver wasn't interested in hearing about the future. He liked to live in the moment and take each surprise as it came. But his curiosity was piqued all the same.

He shifted, unsure if he should ask what he wanted to, but he did anyway. “Good different, or bad?”

“I don't know. I didn't live the second outcome. All I know is what happened originally, and it wasn't this. Everything is different, but it might not be bad.” His blue eyes filled with tears and he smiled. “Because of you things might be better instead. You've done something to change Zes.”

“Yeah, he's more or less possessed by the darkness.”

“No! The darkness trapped in him has been cut open, that's all. Kind of like popping a blister. Maybe he can be saved after all.”

Denver shook his head and stood, beginning to pace by the window. “I don't want to know. It's not right for me to know. Right? Doesn't that break rules about time traveling or something?”

“How do you think I feel?” Teague chuckled. “All I want is a hug from my mom and she acts like I've got leprosy.”

“Don't take it personal. She's never been all that touchy feely. I'm surprised she even kisses in public.”

He nodded. “I guess being a parent changes you because that's not what she's like where I'm from.”

Denver gazed out the window, taking in the sunshine falling on the snow causing it to sparkle. A small smile formed on his lips. “So things are gonna change, huh?”

“I hope so.”

That was all the sign he needed that things in the future were not ideal. How bad everything truly was, Denver hoped he never had to know. Teague's words were a small reassurance that he'd done something right for a change. Denver had hope.

He touched the cool glass with his fingertips. “I'm coming, Chey.”

Prologue

Sir Oriol stared at Alan for a long time, walking in circles as though he were some kind of bird of prey waiting to make his kill. Alan had to try and hide how much it bothered him. The last thing he could be was weak in front of his superior.

“You're lucky, Junior. I don't know how you were able to find the Gelandrosimbol base, or how you made it out of there alive on your own. Careless as it was to go in by yourself, I do commend your findings and instincts. Perhaps you are not quite as useless as I originally thought, nor are your charges.” For a moment, Sir Oriol's speech made Alan feel proud, but he should have known better than to take the man's words as a compliment. “What I don't understand is how you lost eleven test subjects. Even more frustrating is your inability to locate them again after two weeks.”

Alan swallowed.
Don't let him intimidate you.
“My charges are gathering up information still through the gossip at their places of education. Thankfully none of the subjects have died as of yet from an improper reaction to the injection. Whether they are displaying abilities or not, is another story of course. With the way the Earth culture works in this area it isn't—”

“Excuses Alanmendiquixanimackle?”

“If you wish to see it that way, yes an excuse, but I thought I would provide you with some helpful insight on how the teenagers in this area function. I've found my results are a lot more positive when I stop forcing our culture onto them.” Hopefully he hadn't bit off more than he could chew. He'd been doing a great job of holding his tongue until then.