Her Soul for Revenge (Souls Trilogy)

“Where did you take her? Where did you fucking take her?”

The Archdemon narrowed his eyes at me from the doorway. Black eyes, as dark as the empty expanses of the night sky. He picked a claw between his long teeth, as if he was already bored with the sight of me.

“Don’t growl at me, hellion. It’s rude.”

“Rude? Fucking rude? You took my human!”

Usually, I could reach out my mind and feel Juniper’s presence: like reaching toward a fire and feeling its warmth. Her soul’s tie to me was a silver thread when I closed my eyes, the brightest of all the threads from every soul I’d collected. But I couldn’t feel her here. It was like everything was muted; her soul hidden from me.

The realization was nothing short of terrifying. I wasn’t used to feeling out of control, to feeling so ripped by emotions that I couldn’t even think straight. But they’d taken her. They’d fucking taken her.

I thrashed against the chains he’d used to bind me to the floor, but they didn’t budge. The room was cold, with stone walls and a carved stone floor. The carvings were huge, but easily recognizable as a summoning circle. It was a powerful one, the kind of thing that would require a massive outpouring of magic to use.

The kind of magic that could summon an Archdemon.

Creatures like him had been alive so long and claimed so many souls that they had risen through all of Hell’s ranks to achieve something near royalty. Hell’s council was made up of Archdemons, but there were hundreds, if not thousands of them in existence.

They were rarely seen, let alone on Earth.

We were in deep fucking shit.

“I swear to Lucifer, if you hurt her —” I strained against the chains again, my veins bulging and blackening as I tried to break them. The damn things were ancient, the manacles worn smooth by time. They wouldn’t budge, they wouldn’t even bend. Whatever magic infused them was beyond my strength. “If she comes back with a single fucking scratch on her —”

The Archdemon crossed the room in a blink. He crouched over me, chin resting on his palm. “I hit her head so hard she fell unconscious,” he said coldly. “And I’d do it again if my lady wishes it. I’ll make you watch me tear her apart, piece by piece, if my lady wishes it.”

I wasn’t good at being at another creature’s mercy. I was a significant if not deadly threat to most things I met, so having the tables turned was nothing short of maddening. All the threats that wanted to spill out of me were useless. The more I sat there yelling at him, the more energy I expended that I should have been focusing toward healing the injuries he’d caused me.

I’d thought I was going to die. I still thought I was going to die. But fuck, the least I could do was hold out hope that this bastard’s “lady” wasn’t as merciless as he was. Relying on a witch to spare my life — and Juniper’s life — was a miserable predicament, but I wasn’t seeing another way out of this.

I sat back, letting the manacles fall limp, and the Archdemon grinned. “There’s a good boy. I really would’ve hated to have to restrain you further.” He paused for a moment, and snapped his fingers as if he’d suddenly remembered something important. “Ah, wait, no, I really wouldn’t have hated that. It’s so much more entertaining when you fight. Then I get to watch you fail again…and again…and again.”

Don’t take the bait, don’t fucking take the bait. He was tapping his claws impatiently on the floor, watching me with such hyper-focused, pent-up energy I was surprised he wasn’t literally vibrating. I sighed heavily.

“Just don’t hurt her,” I said. “Tell your lady…whoever the hell she is…not to hurt her.”

“Why?” He was conjuring a ball of aether in and out of existence, tossing the opalescent sphere between his hands. Damn, and here I’d felt special that I’d finally gained enough power to do that; it was nothing more than child’s play to this bastard. “You’ve got her soul, don’t you? I assume that’s why you’re following her around. The only life you should really be concerned about is your own.”

I wasn’t about to explain myself to this asshole. I tried not to look at him as he paced around the room, tossing that little ball back and forth. He was dressed in a fitted black suit, his shoes sleek, shining leather that tapped on the floor.

“Personally, I hope she wants you both dead.”

I hung my head down, clenching my jaw. It was bait, it was just fucking bait.

“It’s so much fun to kill the stubborn ones. I get to see how long it takes for you to cry.”

Nope. Don’t say a word, Zane. Mouth shut. Not worth it.

“Now that I know you’re soft for your little mortal woman, I have a feeling it won’t take you long at all.”

He’d paced closer — very close. Close enough that I knew it was just more bait, dangling tantalizingly in front of my face.

I took it anyway. Like a complete idiot.

I spent the next hour in even more pain, and it was my own damn fault. Squashed between the floor and his shoe was significantly worse than just being chained. He’d even pulled up a chair to make himself comfortable.

“You know, buddy, at this point I’ve just accepted that I’m not going to beat you in a fight,” I muttered, my mouth a little difficult to use considering I had a shoe pressed against my cheek. “Maybe you could remove the foot? Hm? It seems intentionally condescending.”

He laughed. It wasn’t a pleasant sound — it got a little too deep in my bones, and echoed off the stone walls. “I’m pretty damn comfortable with you as a footrest, actually. Can’t say I’m eager to move.”

He had music playing on an old gramophone in the corner, but the occasional snapping of his fingers wasn’t in tune with it. He was operating on some other timeline, some other reality, and it was frankly unnerving.

“You got a name?” I said. “I mean, since we’re just going to sit here and get to know each other…I figured…introduction might be nice.” I really should have shut up, but my energy was building up and my nerves with it. With every moment that passed without Juniper, I grew more restless. I had to distract myself. “So…uh…I’m Zane.”

Not even so much as a grunt in return. Alright, Captain Unpleasant. If you were going to torture someone, at least have the decency to have a little conversation. Take me to dinner first. I prefer to be courted properly prior to torture.

“Have you been here long? Odd place, Abelaum. A little Hellish, isn’t it?” Snap, snap, snap went his fingers. I rolled my eyes. “Where’s that witch of yours? I mean, I’m assuming she’s yours. I don’t think a witchling could have summoned a lovely being like you…” There was a shift, and although I couldn’t see, I could feel his glare on me. “You two have made a deal, eh? Lucky you, getting a witch’s soul. I’ve heard they’re sweet as Heaven —’

His shoe pressed a little harder — hard enough to make my bones protest. “You know nothing of witches, hellion. You talk too much.”

“I’ve been told that before. It’s a personal fault, I’ll admit. How old are you anyway? I’ve heard rumors some of you royal types have been around since before humans — is that true? Personally, I think the claim is bullshit, but —”

He stiffened suddenly, and for a moment, I thought I’d really pissed him off. Moving rapidly, he unlocked me from the manacles and hauled me to my feet, my body tingling everywhere he touched me.

Then, keeping a tight hold on my arm, he forced us to teleport.

I’d never liked teleporting; it made me queasy. Dismantling one’s heavy physical body, throwing one’s spiritual form through space, then hurriedly reassembling a physical form again? Highly unpleasant. But teleporting with someone else, dragged along with them, reached a whole new level of awful.

By the time we stopped, and my physical body was back together again, I doubled over and gagged.

“Let him go, Callum. They won’t harm us.”

The voice came from a tall, blurry figure nearby. My eyes didn’t want to focus, so I squeezed them shut for a moment. The sugary-sweet scent of magic rushed in my nose, but it wasn’t just the witch nearby.

Honeysuckle and pine. The scent of a wolf.

It was Juniper who touched me, without a doubt. The relief that rushed over me at the feeling of her hands on my back was so profound it made me laugh. She was alive. I could feel her mind’s pulsing uncertainty and worry. I could smell her sweet scent and feel her soft skin.

I leaned into her. Her arms tightened around me.

“What the fuck did you do to him?” Her voice was vicious. “You said he wouldn’t be hurt, Everly!”

“He’s fine.” I could hear the eyeroll in the Archdemon’s words. “He’s just being dramatic.”

I was being dramatic, yes. But I’d gotten Juniper to be all soft over me as a result, and that was immensely satisfying. The vicious little thing actually cared. If we lived, I’d be sure to tease her about it for the rest of eternity.

My vision was finally focusing. We were in a hallway, one side all large windows that looked out on the forest, the other wall lined with paintings. I got up, slowly, as my equilibrium returned. I dragged Juniper closer to me as I did, wrapping my arms around her. The cold tightness in my chest was fading just to have her close.

Damn, I had it bad. The bastards would have to kill me if they wanted to take her away again. I was lucky Juniper hated having vulnerable conversations, because I didn’t know how the hell I’d explain this in words.

No…that was wrong. I knew what words to say, I knew what I was feeling. But fuck, I wasn’t going to admit it.

“Are you hurt?” Her voice was muffled against my chest.

“Just a few cracks in the bones,” I said, giving her a careless grin. “No big deal.”

I let her go, but she stayed close. I could see the witch clearly now, although she was partially hidden behind Callum. She seemed timid, looking at me like she feared I would lunge at her at any second. The smell of her magic filled the room, and the air pulsed with every beat of her heart. It was a feral magic, chaotic, bursting at the seams.

“Then we have an understanding,” she said, her voice soft as she rested her head against Callum’s side. “Don’t we, Juniper?”

“I kill the Libiri, you kill the God,” she said, and my eyes nearly bugged out of my head. “And we stay the hell out of each other’s way.”

“A God-killer, eh?” I said, looking at Callum, who appeared painfully bored with our presence. “Were you in the wars?”

He smirked. “I was. I’ve killed my share of Gods.”

“But with an army at your back,” I said. “Still so confident when it’s just you and the witchling?”

Everly looked up at him, her eyes wide, and she laid her hand against his chest. It was a warning: a reminder. It was like the violence seeped out of him with one touch. He looked at her with those black eyes and laid a kiss on her forehead, and I very nearly laughed out loud.

No one in Hell would ever, ever believe I’d just witnessed an Archdemon chastely kiss a mortal. It was ludicrous.

“I don’t need an army, hellion,” he said simply. He nudged his head up against Everly, whispering softly, “Make them leave.”

She nodded. “I’m sure you’re both eager to go. Good luck to you…both of you. If we meet again, may it be in a better world.”