Genesis (The Legend of Glory Book 3) (20 page)

My mind reached out and tried to find Rory. Surprisingly, she was there.

Is that you, Glory?
Rory asked.

I took a deep breath and my mind responded.
Yes.

Is the baby still in the oven?

Barely.

Good. We’re working on a plan, but Lailah wanted me to ask you if you still have that rosary Carmela gave you?

I do.

Thank Gods. Listen, Kaia’s been through some stuff lately that knocked her on her ass, so we’re going to team up on the Nyx vanquish. Of the two demons there, she’s the bigger threat. If Jesse can be powered down long enough for us to do that and get you out of there, we’ll consider it a win.

I was so relieved they weren’t going for a Jesse vanquish.
How do we power him down?

Lailah says if you can wrap the rosary around his neck, that should zap his powers until he can get it off. Then there’ll be a delay before he completely powers up again.

Is it just going to be the two of you?

No, I’m working on gathering the troops. Not yet sure who all will step up, but I’ll let you know when we have an
ETA
. Tell Genesis to stay put, guard that rosary with your life, and figure out how to get the job done. Over and out.

I took off the rosary and hid it in the pocket of my jeans. Jesse either hadn’t ever noticed it or didn’t think it important, but I wasn’t going to take any risks now. Lailah had once said the rosary wouldn’t help me if I didn’t believe in it. But if she said it would help me now, I chose to believe in that.

I paced around the empty penthouse while my emotions rode the
Superman: Escape from Krypton
roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain. I was a mess. Maybe it really was Stockholm syndrome. Or demonic influence. Perhaps everything I’d been through had finally pushed me over the edge of sanity. Because, despite the absolute conviction that I needed to go through with this, I felt angst over how broken it would leave Jesse. Part of me would break, too.

I needed to get a grip before Jesse and Nyx returned, or they would surely know something was up.

Plopping into my easy chair, I closed my eyes and used my imagination to run plays. I figured that if I could get Jesse to the piano, he would zone out as he always did while making music, and I could perhaps get the rosary around his neck before he could stop me. I practiced the move over and over again in my mind. I practiced it again. Then, to push through the guilt that created, I thought of Dominic and how wonderful it would be to get home to him. Finally, I considered that if this worked, Gen could be born in the arms of angels instead of demons. I stayed with that one until my emotions came to rest.

*          *          *

I dozed off and Nyx’s giddy voice awakened me. “That was wicked!”

I opened my eyes to see that Nyx and Jesse had appeared in the middle of the living room, both coated with blood.

Startled, I stood. “Oh, my God.”

“God had nothing to do with it.” Nyx laughed and raised her hand to Jesse for a high-five, but instead of returning it, he shook his head. His expression was harsh and raw.

I scrambled to his side and reached out for him. “Are you hurt?”

He pushed me away. His icy glare froze me in place. “Not now.”

“Get over it, Jesse,” Nyx said. “We were freaking wicked.”

“What happened?” I asked.

“We raised some hell,” Nyx said, then issued a loud whoop and pumped her fist in the air.

I looked at Jesse. “What happened?”

“Bad things happened, Glory. Just leave me alone for a while.” His hand swiped blood off his face, then he paused to stare at it for a few moments before rubbing it onto the side of his jeans. He walked into our bedroom and closed the door.

Nyx was wild. Her eyes flashed, and she danced around like a crazy woman while blood and gore dripped from her hands and arms. “Brains splattered, Glory. They splattered all over.” She reached out to me.

I dodged.

Nyx twirled. “The screams were musical, and the humans begged. Oh, how I love it when they beg.” Giggling, she advanced as if to capture me in an embrace.

I evaded her. She was like an insane something out of a bad horror movie. “Back off, Nyx.”

She stopped and her glowing eyes captured mine. “Chaos is underrated. There’s such freedom in chaos. You must let me turn you.”

I stumbled but managed to put the couch between us. “Not now, Nyx. And when the time comes, I want Jesse to be the one who does it.”

Nyx looked at Jesse’s closed door. “He was amazing tonight. He’s so masterful.” Her glazed eyes returned to mine. “The air was perfumed by fear. It’s the most exquisite smell in the world.” Her arms waved about in the air, and chunks of bloody flesh flew. “Celebrate with me. I know you want to wait to open your legs to Jesse, but we can have all kinds of fun together in the meantime.”

Nyx was grotesque, like something reflected in a supernatural fun house mirror.

Terrified, I evaded her grasp and raced into our bedroom, slamming the door shut behind me.

I turned to see Jesse standing naked, a pile of bloody clothes at his feet. “I told you to leave me alone,” he said.

Our eyes met. I saw sudden hunger arise in his, and knew I had made a terrible mistake. He exuded a cool, forbidding air that scared me even more than Nyx’s wildness had. I turned to leave, but before I could open the door he grabbed my arm, swung me around, and pushed me toward the bed. I staggered, and he pushed me again. I tripped, struck the back of my head on the edge of the nightstand, and blinding pain ripped through me. Jesse caught me before I hit the floor, lifted me up, and threw me onto the bed.

Despite the shock and the pain, complete disbelief ruled. “Why are you doing this?”

“I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything. I want every inch of your body and every beat of your heart.” He knelt on the bed and ripped at my clothes.

I tried to fight him off, but he restrained me as easily as if I were a kitten.

I sobbed in terror and pain. “Don’t.”

His looked at my face, but it wasn’t the demonic Jesse I knew. I had only seen the fire. This glacial frost was much more sinister.

He straddled me, then bent and crushed my lips with his in a harsh kiss that hurt. I struggled to turn my head, but he grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked me back to face him. Pain from the head wound made me scream.

“Jesse, no. Please.”

“Please? Did you say please?”

“Please stop! I’m begging you to stop.”

His hand released my hair and then covered my mouth. “I told you before never to beg.”

His chilling eyes captured mine and I felt the immense threat behind them. I managed a small nod to let him know I would surrender. In that moment, I believed if I didn’t, he’d kill me.

He removed his hand from my mouth, leaving my lips sticky with the blood from my head. When he saw his blood-smeared hand, he froze and stared at it. Then his eyes turned to look at my lips. After a few moments he blinked, recoiled, and rolled away from me. His voice was hoarse. “Run, Glory. Get away from me.”

Dizzy, I scrambled off the bed and ran into the master bathroom. Gasping, panting, I locked the door behind me, leaned back against it, and slowly slid down to the floor. Then I crawled into a far corner and curled up in a ball, hugging my cramping belly. Moonlight through the window fell on the streak of blood my head had made on the door when I slid down. That was the last thing I saw before I passed out.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

*          *          *

I am fire and ice. As a human, I had loved too deeply. Men, family, friends. It was a ridiculous tendency that served to steal my personal power. Now that I am a demon, I no longer cave to that concept of love, but my passions are magnificent and my strength glorious.

Jesse and I are a team to reckon with. Most of our fellow demons steer clear of us and let us do our thing. Nyx is the exception. Word in the shadows is that she reports back to Lucifer himself about our antics. Rumor has it that we make him proud.

We demonize self-loathing humans—the ones who celebrate weakness and depression, who wallow in their misery and use it as an excuse to fail and to hurt others. Even the Gods are disgusted by weakness, so why shouldn’t we be? The whole system, from evolution onward, was created around the concept of survival of the fittest. We work with that system and make sure the weak survive by giving them strength. If they can’t shake it off themselves and rise above their narcissistic self-indulgence, we give them a reason to be strong, to stop whining, to push back the pain. We grant them no quarter to waste the life gifted them by squandering it in self-pity. Since coming to know Lucifer, I now understand that God is real and I imagine that even He gives us an occasional, “Way to go!” We turn humans by the droves. It’s our best thing. I like to look at myself as part of God’s hit squad, getting the really hard work done, fulfilling the undeclared will of Heaven. It’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it.

I often consider the fact that God allows evil and that my work might fit into His grand plan. Oddly, I never feel like I’m betraying Heaven. I figure I’m in service to creation in ways I can’t understand. How many remember that Lucifer is actually an angel—and God’s most beautiful and beloved one at that? The cosmic significance doesn’t escape me for a second. I also remember the religious belief that souls in Hell can be redeemed if God sees fit. So I perform my work with a strange type of honor and don’t think I burn any critical bridges along the way.

Of course, Jesse tells me I’m naive, deluded, and reminds me I can’t serve two masters. Admittedly, the longer I live in Hell, the more he’s starting to make sense.

I wonder why I resisted becoming a demon for so long. It is the greatest rush imaginable. I am fearless. Just like my former friends, the Goth Girls. There is nothing I can fail at now. No one I can let down.

And Jesse? Time and again I melt into his mastery over my body, and he takes me places I could never even have imagined. We are like one being riding a tidal wave of sensation so high it feels like it’ll never crash. We are consumed by each other. When I invite him inside me he whispers, “I don’t live on Earth or in Hell, I live in you.”

I can’t believe how romantic I used to be in my choices. Now the object of my heart has to earn my devotion. Strength, power, and excellence are what get my demonic juices flowing. Jesse is always up to the challenge. He is awesome. Always has been, always will be.

Besides being an amazing lover, Jesse also rocks at being a demon. His only weakness is his abhorrence of blood. I think it has something to do with when he was a human child, but I never ask him. And I don’t hold it against him—we’re family. So, when those kind of things come up in our line of work, I’m more than willing to take over. In turn, he’s always got my back when it’s needed. Admittedly, there are some things I still can’t bring myself to do, so he covers for me. We are Hell’s most impressive power couple.

Blood is easy for me. After all, it had been my blood that saved humanity. My blood saved Zane. Blood is vital. It is life.

Nyx appears and hands me a blade. “There’s someone that Dad wants you to kill.”

“I can do that.”

“I know you can.”

I am fire and ice. I am an iceberg with ninety percent of my essence hidden below sight. It buoys me up. It holds my power. And no matter how hot my passions become, they are never enough to melt that solid foundation of ice upon which I rest. I am invincible.

Nyx takes Jesse and me to a medical laboratory. There is a toddler in a cage. Blonde, blue-eyed, and beautiful, she looks up at me with innocence.

“They use her like a lab animal,” Nyx says. “She needs to be put out of her misery. She’s too young to turn, so the only solution is to take her out.”

“I’ll wait outside,” Jesse says and disappears.

“Why does Dad care about her?” I ask Nyx.

“He has his reasons.”

I look deep into the child’s eyes, and yes, I see the suffering. Why not just put her down? Surely, no one on either side of the cosmic veil would want this sweet child to suffer.

I snap my fingers and the lock pops. I open the door to the cage and reach in. The child clings to me and looks at me with hope.

“Sorry, kid. This is for the best.” I pick her up and she throws her arms around me. I push her head back and slice the blade across her neck. Blood spurts onto my face and I try not to recoil.
It’s a mercy killing. It’s for the best
, I remind myself as I watch the light fade from her trusting eyes. Startling blue eyes that I suddenly realize look exactly like Zane’s.

Nyx laughs. “This is your baby, Glory,” she says. “Why do you think I wanted her so badly? There’ll never be redemption for you now. You’re damned forever and ever, amen.”

I scream.

*          *          *

I screamed, the universe tipped on its side, and then I was screaming somewhere else. My shrieks echoed off the bathroom walls.

The door crashed open, and Jesse burst through. “Glory?”

Lying on the floor, I cowered and crossed my arms above myself in a defensive gesture. “I’m sorry I screamed. I had a nightmare. Don’t hurt us.”

He knelt and reached for me, but I tried to beat him off.

“Stop it, Glory,” he murmured. “It’s okay now.” He bore the storm of my fists and picked me up. “Come on. Let me take care of you.”

He carried me to the bed, laid me down, and peeled away what little remained of my clothing.

Terrified, I couldn’t catch my breath. Finally, I managed to say, “Don’t rape me, Jesse.”

“What?” He glanced down at himself. “No, I fell asleep without my pants and your scream woke me.” He tried for a smile, but failed. “This wasn’t how I pictured our first time naked together.” He grabbed a pair of clean jeans and put them on.

I watched him warily and tried to cover myself with a blanket, but before I could untangle the mess of bedding, he manifested a nightgown and helped me into it.

Then he snapped his fingers again, and a bowl of warm water and a washcloth appeared. Sitting down beside me, he wiped the dried blood from my lips and face.

“Any broken bones?” he asked.

I shook my head.

“How’s the baby?”

“I’m cramping.”

He dunked the cloth in the water and rinsed it. “How many fingers am I holding up?”

I was confused. “What? None.”

He nodded. “Now let me look at your head.”

I turned to show him the wound and winced at his prodding examination.

“Head wounds hurt a lot and bleed more, but this looks better than it probably should.” He gently cleaned it and manifested an ice pack for me to apply. Then he went to his dresser, poured from a decanter of wine, dumped a vial of something into the cup, and offered it to me. “Drink this.”

I pushed it away. “Don’t turn me tonight. Not tonight.”

“No, that’s not how it’s done.” He put the glass in my hand. “This is wine laced with opium. It’ll help your pain.”

“It’s not good for the baby.”

His jaw clenched. “Drink the damn wine, Glory.”

Scared he’d lash out at me again for disobeying, I drank it. It didn’t take long for me to start feeling the effects. “Why did you do this to me?”

“Like I said before, being demonized changes you.”

My nightmare remained vivid, filling me with horror. It had been so real, like I had actually lived it. “I don’t want to become a demon, Jesse. Please don’t make me.”

“Not an option, babe. You have to trust me. I’m not doing this to be mean.”

“I know you’re not, but it’s not worth the price. Being human is flawed, fragile, and uncertain, but it’s beautiful. Being demonic is only about pleasure and power. It’s ugly.”

“It’s about being
safe
.”

“I’d rather die than become a demon.”

He shook his head. “You’re confused. You’ll understand when I take you there. I’ll make sure of it.”

Rearranging the bedcovers, Jesse managed to tuck me inside the sheets, however when he caressed my cheek, I shuddered and pulled away.

He held his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “Fine. I can’t change what happened tonight, but I’ll back off. That’s the best I can do.”

I’d take what I could get.

)o(       )o(       )o(

Dawn was breaking when Rory and Kaia picked up Jinx and Jezebel at Denver International Airport.

“We left Jasmine and Jade behind to protect Joy,” Jinx said in greeting. She had a businesslike attitude, and Rory was grateful the volatile vamp had stowed her mysterious hostility. Rory had chosen not to psychically probe the underlying problem—she had zero patience for drama.

The four of them rendezvoused with Raven, who had rented them a hotel suite near the high-rise from Hell. Together, they studied the building schematics Barry had sent and formulated a plan.

*          *          *

I fought a whirlpool to find air. As I broke through the raging water, I heard Rory’s voice inside my head.
We’re coming, Glory. We’re coming this morning. Do you copy?

Help me,
were all the words my mind could manage.

Glory, can you hold up your end?

I’ll do my best, but get me out or let me die. Even if that means Gen does too. Hell isn’t an option.

Copy that. I’ll keep you updated with sitreps. Hold on, sweetie.

I opened my eyes and saw Jesse sitting on the bed next to me. Fully dressed, he just sat there watching me.

Startled, I gasped. “What are you doing?”

“You’ve slept a long time, and I was worried. You okay?”

“How could I be okay?”

“Still cramping?”

I assessed my body. “No.”

He nodded. “The opium settled things down. You’ll come to trust my judgment. Sooner rather than later.”

The implied message was clear—he was going to move up the demonizing timetable. A wave of dread washed over me.

“Today, I plan to stay home and take care of you,” he said.

But if he left, that would make the rescue much easier.

I narrowed my eyes and threw my anger at him. “You can’t make this better by suddenly being nice. Just get the hell away from me. Go. Do your precious demon thing.”

He bore my attack, and I saw deep regret in his eyes, but he said nothing. I suddenly realized that he had never once apologized to me for anything since going demon. I figured that, like begging, it went against demonic personal code.

He shook his head. “I’m not leaving you alone with Nyx right now. She’s not as crazed as last night, but she’s still riding a high from the slaughter.”

Well, that was definitely something to look forward to. “Get out of here so I can get dressed.”

He started to reach for me, but I flinched, and he drew back. “Don’t be afraid of me, Glory.”

How could I not be afraid of him?

“Soon you’ll have nothing to fear anymore,” he said and then left me alone.

Suddenly, I remembered the rosary. It had been in the pocket of my ripped jeans. I sat up and frantically looked around the room, but didn’t see them. I scrambled out of bed and searched everywhere, but they were gone. Jesse’s bloody clothes were gone, too. Panic threatened to toss me into the whirlpool once again.
No, no, no
. Despite my massive belly, I managed to get on my hands and knees and poke around. I found the rosary under the bed. Overpowering relief caused a brief squall of tears. Then a sense of urgency set in. I had to get ready to face the end, whatever that might be.

If we die, Gen, we die together. It’s the best I can do. Forgive me for not being a better mom.

)o(       )o(       )o(

The rescue team parked Kaia’s
BMW
and Raven’s Mustang around the corner from the high-rise, and they hiked to the back of the building. The snow had stopped falling, but the wind blew bitter and froze the marrow in Rory’s bones.
There is nothing to fear in life but not seeing clearly
, she reminded herself. Then she visualized the prize.

Glory
, her mind transmitted,
we’re almost there
.