Angel's Messiah (11 page)

I let Satan think on that for a while. I wasn’t sure if I could kill him if he intended to harm me, though it was nice to sow the seed of doubt in his mind.

Satan stood up and headed towards his private exit.

“Bolt your doors,” he warned, “and do not try to leave your room. You are to stay here until after the birth.”

I quickly bolted the doors when he left and sat on the couch, crying. The baby was quiet. Perhaps it knew how desperate our situation was, even more so if we couldn’t escape. I had no choice but to try and summon help.

“
Danizriel, I need you,
” I called out to the ceiling.

I waited for him to appear.

“Danizriel, I need you,
now,
” I called out.

He didn’t come. I rubbed my belly and cried again. How long would it take for my eyes to change colour, to cry tears of blood? What effect would being in hell have on the baby? What if we couldn’t escape?

I wasn’t sure how long I’d been crying when there was a knock at the door.
Oh, god, I hope I’m not expected to provide entertainment at dinner.

I unbolted and opened the door. A man was standing there, solemn-faced. I felt something rub my thigh and looked down to see Creature. He smiled at me.

“Master sends a snack to keep you strong,” Creature said.

“I only eat werewolf now,” I said.

“Master knows,” Creature said.

He pushed the man into my room and followed him. When the air stirred I smelled wet dog. It was a wolf in human form.

“I don’t eat them like that,” I said in disgust.

“Change,” Creature told the man.

“No,” he said.

“Master will not be happy,” Creature told the man.

“He already has my
soul,
what more can he do to me?” the man asked.

“You don’t want to know,” I said. “I’ve
seen
what they’re capable of and believe me, dying by my hand is the
easy
option.”

“You know he’ll do the same to you,” the man said, “when your time comes.”

“I know,” I replied, “but for now he can’t touch me.”

“
Change,
” Creature said angrily, stomping his feet.

“Don’t be too upset, Creature, I’ll have him like this if I have to. It’ll make a change not been clawed and bitten while eating.”

“Who said I
don’t
bite?” the man snarled.

I stood up straighter, with my shoulders back and my belly sticking out. If he wanted to take a bite out of me, he could give it his best shot.

I laughed. “Go on, I dare you.”

I knew what part of me he would go for — the throat. It stood to reason. The rest of me was clothed and the chance to rip out my throat would be most appealing.

Creature grabbed at the man’s leg as he lunged, resulting in the two of us falling down hard, with him latching onto my throat as we fell.

“Master will not be happy,” Creature yelled, trying to pull the man off me.

The pain in my back as I hit the ground was like a shockwave and I gasped. The baby kicked ferociously and I thought it would break free of my womb. The pain was horrendous. As I gasped Creature continued to pull at the man.

“What’s all this noise?” Satan bellowed, pulling Creature back.

It was too late for the man. His life was over the moment his teeth broke my skin and his life force pulsed through my veins. My body, however, was in shock.

Satan knelt down beside me, wrinkling his nose. “What’s happening here?”

Creature was cowering in the corner, his hands wrapped around his knees. “Not Creature’s fault, Master, not Creature’s fault. Bad wolf attacked. Creature tried to get him off.”

“Shut up you pathetic little beast,” Satan said. “I was
not
talking to you.”

I was seeing lots of small silvery-white shooting stars before my eyes and my teeth were on edge, as if I’d chewed on some aluminium foil.

Satan clapped his hands and two demons entered the room.

“Get that thing off her and put her on the bed,” he said.

I gasped again as the man’s teeth came free of my throat. I felt rough hands pick me up and toss me on the bed like a sack of potatoes.

“This is very interesting,” Satan said.

He poked the rock-hard mummified man. I was glad that defensive mechanism still worked. Nothing else seemed to. At least now Satan knew I wasn’t bluffing about being deadly.

“How did you do that?” he asked.

“I don’t know. It just
happens,
” I said, not looking at him.

The baby gave a savage kick under my ribs and I gave out a cry and curled up in pain.

“Is it time?” he asked with great interest.

I was suddenly no longer keen for the pregnancy to be over with and the baby born. “No,” I said through gritted teeth. “The baby didn’t like being manhandled and is letting me know, in no uncertain terms.”

“It’s punishing you?’” he asked. This was something he could understand and relate to.

“No. It doesn’t mean to hurt me, but there’s not much room. Even small movements hurt to some degree.”

Satan grinned. “At least
something
can hurt you. There’s an upside to every situation, is there not?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“I’ll make sure your next meal is suitably restrained. Sleep well, Helena,
if you can
.”

Creature was still in the corner when Satan left and I’d almost forgotten he was there.

“He won’t punish you, Creature, it wasn’t your fault,” I said. I felt sorry for the little letch. It mustn’t be easy being him.

Creature walked over to the bed and leaned his head near my shoulder. At least he didn’t seem to mind my present condition.

“Your food will behave tomorrow. Creature will make sure of it.”

“Thanks, Creature.”

I wondered how much Creature liked me. Would he be willing to risk his life for me? I scratched behind his ear, as if he were a dog. His eyes glazed over and he grinned.

“Creature, can I ask you something?”

“Yes, yes, anything,” he said.

“How do vampires and werewolves travel to and from hell? They can’t transport like demons.”

“Tunnels,” Creature said.

“Could you show me the tunnels?”

He pulled away from me, shocked that I would even ask such a thing.

“
No.
”

He scurried to the door and left as quickly as he could. I’d obviously asked about something that he’d been expressly forbidden to discuss. At least I knew there was a way out. I only had to find it.

I bolted the door and headed to the bathroom. It was hot in my room and felt like it was getting hotter. I needed a cool bath to bring my temperature down. I let the bath fill up with hot water — in hell the options were
hot
and
hotter
— and blew on it a couple of times to cool it down. I couldn’t ice it over — ice in hell, that was unheard of — but at least it was cool to the touch.

“Danizriel, if you can hear me, I need help. I don’t know if I can get out on my own. I can’t transport.”

I eased myself into the bath and the baby settled down, my stomach buoyed by the water. When I felt my eyelids getting heavy I climbed out of the bath. Clad in only my lingerie I laid down on the bed to get some sleep.

Satan was sitting in the armchair when I woke.

“He won’t come, you know,” he said.

I played dumb. “Who?”

“The angel. He
can’t
come here.”

“Why not?” I asked.

“This is not heaven or earth. He does not have the right
credentials
to travel here, though it seems he has a penchant for those who can.”

Satan was trying to upset me. He must have known I’d know about Danny’s association with Amy.

“He has
powerful
friends,” I said, “anything is possible.”

“Yes,
anything
is possible, though most things are highly improbable.”

“Just like my pregnancy,” I countered.

Chew on that,
I thought.

He laughed. “You will be feisty to your dying breath, I think. Apart from your
flowers
and wolves, is there anything else you require?”

“My freedom,” I said.

“Helena, you are free to transport yourself topside whenever you wish.”

“You know I can’t do that at the moment,” I said bitterly.

“That’s
your
problem, not mine. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

I sighed. “Something to help pass the time.”

“It’s only fair that hell entertains you when you entertained it so well,” he said. “Someone will come along later in the day to take care of your
needs.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have business to attend to.”

The Book of Drake

8.
An Unusual Request

Danny heard Helena call. He had returned to the cottage with Michael and found her gone. Her call distressed him.

“Michael, we have a problem.”

“What is it, Danizriel? Where is your lovely wife?”

“She’s calling for me.”

“Then why do you not go to her?”

Danny shook his head. “She is in a place where angels cannot tread.”

Michael looked shocked. “You mean to say she has returned to hell?”

“I don’t think she returned there willingly. Something must have happened. She’s calling me for help.”

“Does she not know there are certain places that are out of bounds to us, just as there are places out of bounds to demons?” Michael asked.

“Not necessarily. I don’t think she has perused all of my memories.”

“Really, Danizriel, she needs to be educated about such things,” Michael chided him.

“Michael, that’s a moot point at the moment. She needs
help
. Is there nothing we can do?”

“Why does she not transport herself away?”

“She can’t for some reason. The pregnancy has resulted in unusual things happening to her. I’m afraid this must be one of them.”

“Danizriel, there is
nothing
we can do for her. It’s out of our hands now. Unless you can find a demon willing to rescue her she’s on her own. I am sorry, truly I am.”

“Go then, I will find another way.”

“God be with you, Danizriel.”

“He always is Michael, He always is.”

Michael walked in the garden admiring the flowers before returning back to his place in heaven, leaving Danizriel alone to his thoughts.

“There must be something I can do. Think, Danny. What would Helena do in this situation?”

He sat on the swing in the garden with his head in his hands, trying to figure out what he could do. Helena was still calling to him, though not as frequently, and her messages seemed weaker. If he were to do something he’d need to do it soon.

What would Helena do?

Ask Drake, he knows her as well as you.

Danny sat up. “Drake. Yes, that’s it.”

He called to one of his eyes and ears — a young hawk that knew the area surrounding the temple. When the bird alighted on the garden swing Danny gave it a message to relay to Drake, and Drake only. The bird tilted its head while it listened to the message. It did not need to know why Danny wanted to meet with Drake. It only knew that it had to pass on the message. It was a dangerous mission. Any dealings with the creatures of darkness carried certain risk. The hawk knew the angel would not ask for this unless it was of the utmost importance.

Danny watched as the hawk flapped its wings and flew away. He wished it God’s speed on its journey, hoping it did not meet the fate of the last bird he had sent on a mission in the forest.

The hawk flew swiftly in the direction of the temple. It spied a mouse scurrying on the forest floor and resisted the urge to swoop down and catch it. The message must be delivered and an answer returned before it could hunt. It flew straight into the empty temple and settled on the branch of a tree to wait until the vampires convened. They met here regularly, and the hawk hoped it had not just missed a meeting.

When the vampires eventually arrived the hawk remained watchful. It knew who it had to deliver the message to and waited until the one called Drake, the oldest of the vampires in this part of the world, appeared. When Drake stood at the back of the temple, as he usually did, the hawk glided down to him silently — it did not want to alarm anyone. Drake had seen the hawk take flight from the corner of his eye, and extended his arm for the bird to land on.