Hellbound Warrior: (Dark Warrior Alliance Book Five) (10 page)

Patting the guy down, Santi discovered his drugs in his front pocket. “I’m very familiar with Von and have plans to deal with him personally. But first, let’s give you a taste of your own medicine,” he said, twisting the top off two small vials.
Angel’s Kiss
mixed hallucinogens with angel’s blood and was said to give the user increased strength along with an incredible high that lasted days. It was fatal to humans who used it and instantly addicted supernaturals. It was incredibly difficult to make, and required the magic of a witch or sorcerer to bind the ingredients.

He lightened his hold around the male’s throat and used his hand to squeeze his cheeks, prying his mouth open. The dealer immediately began thrashing his head from side to side, fear permeating Santi’s nose. Yeah, he should be afraid, he knew what one dose of this meant for him. Lifelong addiction.

“Not so pleasant now, is it? Von would be nothing without scum like you selling his product,” Santi said, no remorse for what the male was now experiencing.

“Please, don’t. I only give people what they ask for. Without me they’d find someone else to buy from,” the vampire begged.

“So you think that makes it okay to ruin their lives. I don’t fucking think so. My punishment for you is to become reliant upon the very drug you sell. How quickly will you get into trouble with Von when you use the product he gives you instead of selling it?” Santi asked as he poured the liquid from both vials down his throat.

He clamped his hand over the male’s mouth and forced him to swallow the drug. Santiago stepped back when moments later the vampire began convulsing. He dropped to the ground and began flopping around like a fish out of water.

“Hey, what’s going on down there?” a stranger called from the mouth of the alley. Santiago ducked into the shadows and watched as the male, a human, crouched next to the dealer who was now foaming at the mouth. That wasn’t supposed to happen, Santi thought in a moment of panic, wondering if he had given him too much. Sweat darkened the dealer’s red t-shirt and his eyes rolled back in his head. With his sharp hearing, Santi heard the male’s heart slow and his breathing become labored.

When the human was distracted with calling 911, Santi slipped away. As much as he didn’t want the vampire to die, at least it was one more drug pusher off the streets. Santiago was saving countless from a life of addiction, or death in the case of humans. These dealers didn’t care who they sold to or who they harmed. As far as Santi was concerned, that was what the Goddess called on him to do.

Rhys was already over the Underworld. They were only in the Third Circle where the gluttonous were punished and he was tired of the doom and gloom and running. The one benefit was the angel at his side. She was pure goodness and light in this Goddess-forsaken place. She shuddered at that moment, bringing his attention to the freezing temperature. Pulling her close, he tucked her into his side as the icy rains and freezing temperatures beat against their bodies.

Thank the Goddess Dante and Kellen had stolen pants and shoes for Illianna or Rhys would be naked and barefoot. There was no way he was going to allow his angel to suffer any more if he could help it. He’d already done the unspeakable for her when he had sex with the voodoo priestess. He still didn’t feel clean even though he’d used a bottle of demon brew and scrubbed himself as much as possible.

It was in Rhys’ nature to feed his inner beast with any type of sexual encounter. That had been proven to him when he’d climaxed while raping males during his captivity in Hell. Rhys had been against forcing the males, but his inner beast had taken over and relished in the sport to the point that he had orgasmed against his will. This time, however, was vastly different. Not even his inner beast could conjure any amount of enjoyment in this act.

For the first time in his life he was unable to achieve orgasm while having sex. It wasn’t solely from worry of giving her the child she wanted. He had prayed to the Goddess asking intervention, but it was more than that. He kept thinking about Illianna, sitting in the other room, and the stricken look that had crossed her face. She hadn’t wanted him to be with the female and he didn’t want it, either.

He had been unable to tolerate any touching or kissing from the female and had to picture Illianna to get hard. The process was rote and the voodoo practitioner had been pissed he hadn’t had an orgasm. She had peaked early and tried everything she could to make him release his seed. It wasn’t going to happen. No way would he ever leave a child of his in that place.

“What do we know about this circle?” Kellen asked, breaking into the awful memories. The male was shielding his eyes from the icy drops as they walked along the muddy road.

Beside Rhys, Illianna sagged against him, shivering. He wrapped his arm around her tighter, wiling more of his body heat towards her. “The souls and demons here suffer from a life of overindulgence,’ she replied weakly.

He ran a hand over her cheek, worried how cold she was. Her full lips were tinged blue from the cold and she couldn’t seem to stop shaking. “You need to get warm, Luscious.”

“What I need is food…but, I don’t want to eat that stuff,” she said, pointing in the distance. Rhys followed her gesture and saw souls hunched over the ground, shoving handfuls of icy sludge into their mouths.

The sight was disgusting as countless human souls shoveled mouthful after mouthful of the smelly mud into their faces. It was obvious they were unable to stop as they continued eating in frenzy. They were incorporeal so the mixture went right through them and landed in a heap at their feet.

“I have a couple protein bars and a bottle of water. Let’s rest under that tree so you can eat,” he murmured, picking up his pace as much as possible. It was difficult to traverse the muck. His feet kept getting stuck in the mud and made a loud sucking sound each time he took a step to pull a boot free. As a group, they were making enough noise that he was afraid they’d alert Beelzebub to their presence.

The last thing he wanted was for the demonic-looking cow that ruled this circle to discover their presence and hunt them down. From what Rhys learned before leaving the Tehrex Realm, Beelzebub was a ruthless being. He had been the highest-ranking angel to fall from heaven all those millennia ago. He wondered if Illianna was disturbed by the fact that Beelzebub and so many of the other leaders in Hell had once been brethren angels. He couldn’t imagine how he would feel if any of his fellow Dark Warriors went to the dark side.

Scanning the horizon for danger, Rhys didn’t detect anything but the individuals hunched over the ground. The rain pelted the poor victims and was highlighted by the faint light in such a way that Rhys thought the drops were seeking the suffering.

He lengthened his stride, trying to ignore the way his leathers were frozen stiff and rubbing his inner thighs raw. At least his shit-kickers provided a measure of protection against the icy ground. He didn’t know which was worse, the winds of the last circle or this miserable shit.

When they finally reached a tree, he noted it was typical for that region. All black, everything from the limbs to the trunk and leaves. Limbo was the only level where anything green grew. Somehow, Rhys expected this tree to be sparse, if not completely bare from the icy conditions, but the dark canopy was thick enough to offer some shelter from the freezing rain.

“Are those claw marks?” Illianna asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

He followed her gaze, leaning down to examine the marks in the bark. “Fuck, yes they are. Question is…what’s been using this as a scratching post?”

Kellen and Dante went on instant alert while Illianna remained close to his side. He could smell her fear, but he was happy to see that she was holding it together. He couldn’t handle an unknown danger and worry about her emotional state at the same time.

Pulling a protein bar from his backpack, he handed it to Illianna. “It’s not a hamburger, but it’ll fill your stomach.”

“Compared to what I’ve had this is a filet mignon. Thank you,” she murmured, tearing open the wrapper. He nearly lost his mind when she took a big bite and moaned her pleasure. The sound reverberated in his bones, barreling straight to the tip of his cock. That fast, he was hard as steel and ready to fuck her. He didn’t know how much more of this he could take.

“Oh. My. God,” she exclaimed around another mouthful. “This is beyond delicious and I want to savor it, but I can’t seem to shove it in my mouth fast enough. This is the first real food I’ve eaten since I was brought here.”

Anger at his father’s treatment of this delicate creature had Rhys clenching his teeth. She should never be treated in such a manner and it was incredibly satisfying to have given her sustenance. Especially watching her enjoy it so thoroughly.

He had to remind himself that they weren’t in a safe location and that he couldn’t afford the distraction of watching her eat. He forced his gaze away and looked at the tree they were sitting under. Whatever made those marks had huge claws and wasn’t something he wanted to face. Truth was, he’d rather spend some alone-time with Illianna.

He was making progress with her, but not where he wanted to be. It was obvious with the way she let her guard down and had leaned into him that she trusted he would keep her safe. That was something he never would have guessed after their first conversation. Despite the progress he’d made with her, she hated all demons and saw them as creatures bent on cruelty and destruction.

His incubus heritage had never been more to his detriment. More than one time he had opened his mouth to tell Illianna about his mother’s lineage, but had stopped, wanting to know that anything they shared was based on her acceptance of who he was, not what she hoped he could be. Most had expectations about him when they heard about where his mother came from. Expectation he never lived up to.

A loud screech caught his attention, setting his heart off like a racehorse from the starting gate. Removing his
sgian dubh
from the sheath at his belt, he gripped it tightly as his skin prickled and adrenaline dumped into his system.

Beside him, Illianna audibly swallowed and asked the question running through his mind, “You don’t think whatever just made that noise made these marks, do you?”

Rhys crossed to her side and wrapped his arm around her waist, placing a kiss on the top of her head. “Unfortunately, my best guess is yes, but don’t worry, we will protect you. Besides, I’m known as the best swordsman in the realm,” he boasted with a wink.

She looked at him then at Dante and Kellen. “That’s not all that comforting. Those aren’t swords. Are those three little knives the only weapons you have?” she asked, doubt in her tone.

He took offense at her lack of faith in his ability to keep her safe and it stung his pride, but he had to admit she wasn’t far off the mark. He had no idea what they were about to face. “These may be our only weapon, but I have other talents. Have faith, Angel. Surely, you’re familiar with the concept,” he teased, tweaking the end of her nose.

She graced him with a hint of a smile. “I’m familiar with the concept. I just don’t like feeling defenseless.”

“I have a feeling we will be facing a
dagon
so we will have an edge if that’s the case. Those one-eyed fuckers have limited visibility, so remember that and use their blinds spots,” Dante said, edging a few steps toward them, his eyes trained on their surroundings.

Rhys nodded and searched for sight of the creature. “What else can you tell us about them? Is there any other creature we may face?” he asked.

“I’m sure there are countless demons we could face here, but I read about the
dagons
being bound to these swamplands. And, watch out for their claws. They are venomous and I have no idea how it will affect any of us,” Dante replied, adjusting his grip on his blade.

The ground rumbled beneath them, and all of a sudden, a dozen of the oddest creatures Rhys had ever seen surged out of the muck. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. They had the torso and arms of a human, but its head reminded him of an octopus with one eye in the middle of the gray flesh. Hundreds of tentacles waved about on top of its head and its mouth was open in a call, displaying countless razor-sharp teeth.

“How the fuck did they pop out of that shit like daisies? Guess we need to watch where we step while fighting,” Kellen shouted as he carelessly jumped toward one of the creatures. So much for watching where they stepped, Rhys thought, shaking his head.

Rhys turned to Illianna and grasped her shoulders, “Stay in the tree while we take care of this.”

The frustration and fear warred on her lovely face. “I hate being a burden and I hate not having my wings. I could fly you out of here if I had them.”

“I understand how you feel, and, trust me, you will have your wings again, but right now I can’t fight unless I know you are safe,” he admitted. She was silent for several long seconds before she nodded. Sighing in relief, he lifted her until she grabbed a branch. With a hand to her ass, he shoved her as she heaved herself the rest of the way up.