Her Royal Holiness, Princess LaDressa, Daughter of Lucifer the IV
“YOUR Hol—LaDressa.” Masako entered my bed chamber with a large text in her hands. “I have located the information you requested.”
“In the human catalogs? They had our documents? Our histories?”
“Yes, although I do not believe they could even read the text. Those who distributed these among the humans had them locked in a room and treated as sacred.”
“How did you obtain them?”
“Years in your service have taught me to be invisible to the naked eye.”
“And yet never to me.”
“I have no reason to be, you are my goddess and light bearer. You are who I strive to appease and I could not do that if you could not see me.”
“Masako,” I began as I extended my hands to take the book. “Is there anything in this text that I should worry about?”
“There is one thing,” Masako said as she flipped to the page with the ritual. “You need the blood of an angel.”
“How would I obtain that? Gabriel would kill me before I stepped one foot toward him.”
“There are other angels.”
“Yes, the street is flooded with them.” I sighed. “Masako, is it foolish of me to want Damarion? I’ve killed for him.”
“And he for you, LaDressa.” She tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “I have been at your side since the day of your birth, your servant at the ready, but never had I seen you brought joy. That day when you caught Damarion watching you from below I saw a shift in you.”
“My mother says I have blood lust.”
“I would not dare speak ill of the Queen—”
“But you have an opinion.”
“If lust for blood runs in your veins it was put there in utero.”
I extended my arms and pushed up my sleeves. My skin was now ringed with a burnt orange coloring in vine-like formations from my wrist to my elbow. The vines were thin with more thorns than leaves on them.
“How did this happen?”
“You have the mark on your arms of Lucifer and the mark of God on your back.”
“It is tearing me apart,” I howled and scratched at my skin. “My back aches from the weighted burden upon it and my skin burns against itself. I want to be rid of this world and back in my tower. Is this a punishment sent by my brother to drive me into the locked chambers?”
“No,” Masako assured as she calmed me and took me to my bed. “This is the curse laid upon a family of fallen angels.”
“Against my mother.”
“Both of your parents.”
“The pain is more than I can bear. I want to tear at my flesh and discard it in hopes that will take away sensation. What should I do, Masako? I beseech you tell me.”
“What is in your heart?”
“I want everyone to suffer for punishing me for doing nothing.” Rage surged up my spine as Masako’s comment finally hit me. “I was locked away for fear of what I might breed. My love stripped from this world and the next. They all must suffer. I want the Heavens to fall and Hell to be torn asunder.”
My body shook as my wings emerged. Extended the black tips covered in blood, and I knew then this is the way they were. How they would always be. As is the way I would have to be in order to fly. Blood would run through the streets as I set forth on the night.
With a flick of my hand the glass in the wall of my chamber shattered and I flew through the opening. My mind muddled and my vision reddened as I flew over the city. In the darkness of night I was unsure if I blended into the sky or not. The town square had only small dots from the lights around its edge. I cut across the air with such speed that I quickly found myself at the edge of the town.
The freshness of the air that at one time had me gasping, now soothed the burning in my arms, but not my need to kill. I caught scent of something interesting and cut down toward the road. I found myself outside of a drinking establishment. Mixed within the smells of night and humans was something else…someone else. A smell I had occasionally found upon my mother.
“What the hell are you?” a man asked when my feet found ground.
Retracting my wings I walked up to the man who smelled of a toxin. A swish to my hip had him grinning like an animal at a saucer of milk. I let my eyes reflect an innocent lost soul and he stumbled toward me.
“Something tells me you’re hot without beer goggles. You lost, little lady? Need a ride?”
“Where, sir, would you want to take me?” My heart pounded as my mouth salivated with each heartbeat from the human. The sound of his blood swishing through his veins had my nails turning into claws once more.
“We could go anywhere you want. My truck’s over there.” He indicated the vehicle’s location with a nod of his head.
“No need, there is nothing over there that I want.”
His blood was no different than a demon's, at least in color and consistency. It was slick and a deep burgundy. Pooling around his body it trickled through the gravel parking lot, staining the rocks as it passed. His death did not calm me as killing a demon had. There was no purpose to his death. He was not in my way. He did not separate me from my love. My kills needed a direction. They needed to bring me one step closer to Damarion or my blood lust would not be squelched.
“I don’t know, Kiriana,” a voice from inside the building said. I could make out the voices of many although they were just a white noise I’d blocked, but the name pulled me. Her scent had to have been what drew me here. The scent of my family.
Closing my eyes I reached for the sky and called forth my coven. Nemesio and Cailean arrived first with my mother and Kanga not far behind.
“She is here,” I stated plainly.
“Yahweh, what of the human?” Kanga asked. I looked over my shoulder and reduced his flesh to ash.
The women’s eyes widened as I opened the door.
* * * *
Kiriana Kladshon George
Saddling up to the bar I could feel the weight in my stomach. Damn, this baby was getting big fast…well, babies according to Dr. Ashworth. Trisha hadn’t seen me yet and that was fine. She looked lost in her own world talking to a customer while pouring a drink. She turned to put the money in the cash register and her gaze caught my reflection in the mirrors behind the bar. I saw her breathe in deep then take the change to the guy she had just finished pouring for.
Grabbing a dish towel she polished the bar as she slowly made her way down to me.
“Got a Sprite?” I asked.
Flipping a coaster in front of me she smiled and placed the glass lightly down then rested her arms on the bar.
“He’s better,” I told her. “I know Gabriel warned about sealing before he was fully healed.” She kept her lips tight and her eyes down. “It’s not as crazy a life as it looks on the outside.” She nodded in understanding, but wasn’t going to comment. “He misses you.”
“I miss him.”
“Would you like to visit?”
“He was an escape that wasted precious time.”
“He was the lifesaver that kept you afloat.” Finally she looked at me, and I gently stroked her hand. “You needed someone to keep you balanced. How could you have ever known that your worst fear would come true? You never gave away Colin’s time. You gave away the time that was yours for sanity. Just like when you came to work or slept. You needed to work to pay for Colin’s care. You needed to sleep to be a hundred percent for him. And you needed Schmitty to take away the pain, if just for a minute.”
“You don’t know Jimmy.” She smiled.
“Not in the way you do. But I do know he could calm an F-5 tornado. He’s the balance you needed in your life.”
“Past tense.”
“What’s so great about tending bar?”
“Are you trying to tell me I have nothing to live for? I thought you counseled the Frozen.”
“I do. I had a life, but the second Nye asked me to be with him forever I was so sure in that moment of what I should do. Tell me truthfully, when Gabriel gave the options what was your initial thought?”
She stayed silent, that was all I needed to know.
“It was yes, wasn’t it?”
“He didn’t really give options…it was more of a command saying he wouldn’t allow us together. It’s not like Jimmy has a job he can walk away from.”
“That’s true, I thought Gabriel might have been more diplomatic.”
“No,” she mumbled then leaned against the back counter. “How’s his mental state?”
“You mean is he ready to eat his gun?”
A shudder went through her body as her arms wrapped around herself.
“He’s fine. Feeling a little sympathy for some of the girls he’s been with.”
“Why?”
“I guess some got attached, but you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”
“How can you not get attached to Jimmy?”
“He is adorable, but he’s never allowed himself to care about anyone before. Playing hard to get worked.”
“I wasn’t playing. Look, KK, I’ve made a lot of mistakes…”
“Not more than me, mine truly cost me my life.”
“I thought you loved Nye.”
“Nye saved my life. But I’m HIV positive. Years of dumb drunk sex with no purpose.”
“Did you marry Nye to live longer?”
“No. I actually called off our wedding when I thought he’d get it and die.”
“I don’t understand your world.”
“Hell, I’ve been living in it and I don’t understand it. Come on, you can come with me and help me learn.”
“I don’t know, Kiriana.”
“I’d love to have someone from this century that isn’t a party girl flake.”
“Still ready to kill Berlin?”
“If it wouldn’t send Nye and I to Hell it would already be…” I turned my head quickly and felt for my gun, only to realize it wasn’t there. Shit.
The princess is here, the strong smell of sulfur mixed with berries coated the air. Looking at the open door I tensed from the cool mid-October air blowing across the room.
“Can you shut that, please?” Trisha asked, not realizing what she was inviting in—the princess and two—no scratch that, four Deumos.
“Trisha, go in the back. Get your customers out of here.”
“Why?”
“There is no reason to clear the room.” The princess’ soft tones floated on the breeze, but I wasn’t about to back down. The worst part was I didn’t tell anyone where I was going. Fuck, I hate when Nye’s right. I take too many chances.
“Kiriana…” Trisha’s voice was strained knowing that something was wrong.
“Ressa, what do you want,” I snarled in an attempt to sound bored with the situation.
“Ressa?” one of the Deumos hissed. “You dare be so insolent.”
“It’s a trait. Gabe hates it too.”
“Gabriel is still in charge. Surprising. I thought he’d been killed years ago.”
The Deumos slid closer, surrounding the stool I was sitting at, and the whole room seemed to be staring.
“You stand out. Are you sure you don’t want to go somewhere more private?”
LaDressa looked around the room smiling at all the men staring in awe at the five women who looked like they'd walked out of a men’s magazine.
“Who is your friend?”
“She’s a bartender. That makes her everyone’s friend and no one of significance,” I said, trying to be nonchalant as I took a sip of my Sprite.
“I doubt that.” With a wave of her hand LaDressa put the whole room to sleep except Trisha and I. Great, now Schmitty’s gonna kill me too. “Is it just me or have you gained weight? I was under the impression that Frozen could not.”
“I eat a lot. We can still get fat.”
“All in the stomach? Or has your ass increased too? Wait, you have breasts now. When I last saw you, I almost thought you were a boy you were so flat. Are you with child?”
I kept my mouth shut and tried to keep myself under control.
“You promised me my ashes.”
“I told you that you would get him in pieces as long as you kept your Deumos home. I have an injured partner that lets me know you broke your part of the deal.”
“That was almost a month ago. Your partner was injured by a small disagreement with someone who is close to being put down. His incompetence should not cost me my Damarion.”
“What was the incompetent part? That he lived?”
The princess gave me a sly smile, then sighed. “That is between him and I.”
“You have rogue operatives, so do I.”
“Then maybe we need to keep them both under control.”
“How long before the Closing?”
“Is that what you really care about?”
“Yes.”
“Then my Deumos may go out and retrieve my dear bantlings. It will allow me some leniency since I have to keep my family focused on other areas of the world. If the Closing is what you are focused on so shall I be, but I want my love.”
“You’d compromise the Closing for DJ?”
“Again, you are being impertinent,” LaDressa warned.
“I told you I have a problem.”
“I’m done negotiating with you, for you have no worth or value when it comes to your word. What of her?” LaDressa’s long arm extended with her perfectly manicured nails and she pointed to Trisha.
“I told you, she is no one.”
“I do not believe you. Woman, tell me the truth.”
Trisha’s eyes glazed over and she started to wobble.
“Who are you to her?”
“No one.”
“To another?”
“Jimmy.” Her voice sounded lost in itself.
“Who is the Jimmy?”
“No one to me.” I interjected, only to be held tight against the bar by two of the Deumos. One stuck a rag in my mouth.
“Do you wish to carry this child to fruition? If so, I would silence thyself. Barmaid, again, who is Jimmy?”
“PFC James Marshall Schmitt, United States Army.”
“What is the soldier’s name?” LaDressa asked the one with the short black hair.
“We do not know their names, Your Holiness.”
“How old is Jimmy?”
Trisha laughed. “He says he’s eighty.”
“Take her with us. She’s the soldier’s, maybe he will get the ashes from this one.”
Fuck!
* * * *
Trisha O’Driscoll
The world seemed distant to me. Like I’d been drugged. Muffled voices came from down the hall, but I could not even tell if they were male or female. Was I still at the bar? Couldn’t be, the smell of stale beer and bleach were absent. Instead, I smelled…eggs? Spoiled food and fresh berries. How did that go together?
Cracking my eyelids open, I saw a man glaring at me. I reached up to see if I’d been struck from behind, but there wasn’t a bump.
“What happened?” I asked, hoping I wasn’t in a dangerous place. That maybe, just maybe, this person had been helping me.
“You fucked the wrong guy.”
“Excuse me?”
“You like your men suicidal and a popsicle?” he asked, crossing the room as I scooted back in the chair I was somehow suddenly strapped to. Hadn’t I just lifted my hand? Looking down I saw my arms stuck to the wood of the chair arms, but there were no bindings. “I was a little lax when you were waking. I won’t make that mistake again.”
“Where am I?”
“How much do you know about your soldier?”
Hair rose on my arms as a chill cut through me.
“He promises you eternity? Everlasting love?”
“No.”
“Really? Hmm…How do those Frozen get their women?” the man with the dark hair and pointy nose asked as his finger traced down my cheek down to between my breasts.
“They don’t tie them down.”
“Then you’re missing all the fun,” he snarled and licked the side of my face. “What ever shall I do with you?”
He went behind me and I could feel his hardness against my neck. His hands not only traveled down my chest but went underneath my shirt and bra. Gripping my breasts he moaned and rubbed himself against me.
“There are so many things I could think of. The princess has been denying me.”
“I’m sorry your girlfriend’s been holding out on you.”
A shot of pain drove through my right breast as he pinched my nipple and twisted.
“That whoring bastard is not mine, but you shall be.”
His breath curled around my neck like a snake. Heat rushed between my legs followed by the smell of urine as I began to sob.
“Delicious. The fear oozing from you.” He sucked on my ear and pulled my head away. “Please fight. Fight hard. I want to punish you.”
“You don’t want to do this.”
“Oh…yes, I do. I so want to do this.”
“Pivane, you are not to play with her,” a beautiful but short woman said as she entered the room. “The orders were explicit. Guard her. You’ve already hurt the soldier once so we know you can handle any attack from him.”
“You stabbed Jimmy?” I barely got the question past the hard lump in my throat.
“Is that his name?” Pivane cocked his head to the side. “I expected it to be Butch or Johnny. I suppose Jimmy is acceptable.”
“Now she’s soiled herself.” The woman groaned. “Why is it you humans do not understand foreplay?”
“It’s only foreplay if you want it.”
“Want?” the woman queried, then snapped at Pivane to remove his hands from my breasts. “Sex is a necessity.”
She circled me and her sharp nails scratched my arm.
“Much like pain.” She stopped in front of me and stood over me. “Maybe I should let Pivane play with you. He enjoys knife play. Do you?”
“Never took to it.”
“Looks like both of you need to learn the proper way to do it. He, so he can learn to give pleasure to his partner and you…well, we’re tired of being his learning ground. It should only take a few hours for him to learn the difference.”
* * * *
PFC James Schmitt
Doing crunches really hurt, but it kept my mind empty. Hanging upside down on a bar in the workout room had my face flushed as I curled into my legs. My gut wasn’t any better. Sure the infection was gone and considering the surgeries I’d endured, I was in good shape, but Gabriel wasn’t lying. I may never get my abs back…or my belly button. Funny how you could miss something as small and trifle as that.
Nye and Lars were working out on the treadmills, but I knew they were spotting me. Both KK and Nye cleared the infection eventually and they learned her child, or children since they’d learned they were having twins, had been protecting her from the toxins. Doc Ashworth was now making her check in every few days so she knew the babies would be fine.
“You’re going to bust your stitches.”
“No.” I curled up even though I thought Lars was right. “I won’t.”
A cold chill went through the room and I heard Nye speak.
“Kiri, you’re white as a sheet. What’s wrong? Is it the babies?” Nye was speaking a mile a minute as he rushed to her. I reached up and grabbed the bar so I could get down.
“Kiri, speak to me.” Kiriana was shaking and looking at the floor. “Kiri. I think she’s in shock.” Nye was inspecting her body for blood I assume.
“Partner, what’s up?” Now I was starting to get worried.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to.” Kiriana’s voice was missing from what she was saying. It was almost like a ventriloquist was speaking.
“Mean to what?”
“She took her.”
“Who took who?”
“Trisha. I didn’t mean to get her involved. I was going to let you go to her but I thought I knew what I was doing.”
“Who took Trish?” Fear was coursing through my body because KK could only be talking of one creature. “No. Not her. Please, KK, say you didn’t put her in danger like that.”
Pushing Nye aside I grabbed her and shook her, only to have Nye and Lars pull me off as I screamed, “You couldn’t just give her what she wanted. You fucking idiot. Who the hell do you think you are? How dare you?”
“I’m sorry.” KK’s hands twisted against each other. “I’ll do whatever I can to get her back. I swear.”
“The ashes. Give me the ashes now!”
“Okay. I’m…”
“What is going on?” Nye snapped. “Why does he want Damarion’s ashes?”
“I don’t, his fucking girlfriend does. KK’s been making deals.”
“What is he talking about?”
“The Princess LaDressa…she came up for Damarion’s ashes. I thought I could control the situation.” Kiriana looked into Nye’s eyes and trembled. “She’s been contacting Schmitty and I hoping to gain…she just wants his ashes. I’m sure she’ll give Trisha back unharmed.”
“Just like you were sure she was going to let us have the bantlings. Just like you were sure she’d never hurt us for fear of losing the ashes. Don’t talk to me. Ever! I’m done with you and your self-centered thinking. It’s all about you. Never about anyone but you.” Shaking off the guys I stormed out of the room and ran to gear up.
How could she do this? Trish has no idea what’s happening. How am I going to save her? Held by a member of the royal family! I’m going to kill Kiriana. I don’t care anymore. I’m saving Trish, then I’m killing KK.
“I can’t let you do that.”
Zarmina stood in my doorway.
“What are you going to do?” I sneered at Z. “Nothing.”
Suddenly a gun was pointed at the center of my forehead. “You’re upset and not thinking straight.”
“Z. Drop it. I don’t want to hurt you. You didn’t do anything.” Z cocked the gun, and the loud clap of the action echoed in the room. “Z.” I warned once more even though I had no idea if I could even think about stopping her.
“Schmitty, you will not touch Kiriana.”
“Zarmina?” KK’s voice, soft and metered, came from behind. “Give me the gun.”
“He can’t kill the baby.”
“He won’t.” Kiriana’s hand wrapped around Zarmina’s.
“He dreams of dead babies. All the time. Especially since you announced you were pregnant. He kills them. All of them. He shoots them, or drowns them. Or flips off machines. They all die. Everything dies around him.”
“He’s not going to hurt me.” Kiriana released the action and engaged the safety.
“He was thinking that he wanted to kill you.”
“I’m sure. He’s upset with me but Schmitty would never hurt me.”
Zarmina had tears running down her face while she kept her eyes locked on me. Even though she didn’t have the gun pointed at my head I was still afraid of her. Something I had never felt before. Zarmina is the sweetest, kindest person I’d ever met, but here she was ready to kill me to protect Kiriana. No, not Kiriana, the baby. She wanted KK to have her baby.
“That’s not the only reason,” she said, and I remembered she was a mind reader.
“I beg to differ. You just tried to kill me.”
“She’s not the only selfish one in the house.”
“Okay, Z, remember the conversation we had about not having conversations when one of the people in the room can’t hear all of it,” KK said.
“I thought that was about speaking Swedish and Arabic?”
“No,” KK said.
“I won’t let him do it.”
“He’s not going to.” Her hand slid into Zarmina’s and she placed it on her belly. Finally I was released from the cold glare of Zarmina as she turned to KK. “See, the baby’s not even upset.”
“They aren’t.” Z sighed.
“They aren’t.” KK shook her head. “Schmitty loves me like he loves everyone in this house. I did something very foolish and now I need to find a way to fix it.”
“You’re not going out. I’ll take Nye, but not you.”
“Nye is me. LaDressa will only speak to me. I need to go.”
“Then we’ll all go.” Lars came into the room and had Zarmina fall into his arms. Nye was behind him with Dilana and Kiyoshi who were still awake.
“I miss fighting at night anyway,” Dilana said.
“I miss you coming home after you’ve fought at night,” Kiyoshi added.
“I heard there was an issue,” Esther approached the door in full battle gear. “Can I be of assistance?”
“She might as well know too,” Nye added and Kiriana scowled at him. “My Other’s been in negotiations with Lucifer’s daughter.”
Esther audibly gasped, then steeled herself.
“What was the result?”
“She kidnapped Schmitty’s…” Kiriana stumbled to find the words.
“The woman I plan on sealing with.”
Kiriana jerked her neck toward me.
“What? Just because I let her walk out doesn’t mean I wasn’t going after her.”
“We’ll save her. I’ll get the ashes right now.”
“I will,” Nye growled. “You shouldn’t be wielding a shovel right now. Not in your condition.”
“Nye, wait…” Kiriana called, but he was already halfway down the hall.
They hadn’t reconciled yet, but I couldn’t concern myself with that. Instead I needed to figure out how to locate the coven and rescue Trish.
“Yosh and I have narrowed it down to three locations where the coven might be,” KK said when she turned back.
“We can’t let them have the ashes,” I conceded.
“I doubt having Damarion around is less important than Trisha’s life.”
“Trish could already be dead. Coming with our hat in hand will only result in us losing the ashes. We need to go in on the offensive.”
“Then you need to lead, soldier,” KK said. “I need you to come up with a strategy. Closing Hells Mouths is a long-term thing, but keep Trisha alive in your scenario.”
Flashes of Trish’s smile when she’d see me enter the bar hit me. The feel of her hands on me. I could hear the moans she made when I entered her and the way her core convulsed around me. Her smell filled my nose and I gripped the edge of my dresser for strength. The thought of never feeling her curves against my body sent a shot of pain straight through my heart.
A scream tore through my mind and Zarmina’s fingers dug into my arms.
“That was real,” she panted.
“What?”
Her eyes became frantic, looking left and right. “I can hear her screaming.”
“How? I thought the people had to be in close proximity to you.”
“Or really loud.” Tears streamed down Zarmina’s face.
“How can I hear it too?”
“Schmitty, you have to save her.”
The screams were pained and soon contained my name. She was crying for me to save her. The rest of the room was staring at Z and I.
“Give me a map with the locations,” I ordered and Kiyoshi pulled up an electronic tablet.
I listened to the screams in my head to get a direction. They weren’t just in my head; there was a location and I could hear it. Wiping wetness from my eyes I figured out the direction.
“Here,” I said with certainty. “We’ll start here.” I pointed to a street on the south east part of town. “Wait.” I held up my hand and searched for her voice, but there was nothing. No scream, no crying, just a deafening silence that made every nerve in my body go off in fear.