I Hear Voices(33)
Dante stepped into the fading light. His soulless slate-gray eyes stared coldly at me from a badly battered face. “Not unless it’s necessary. I want Montezuma’s treasure and you will find it for me.”
“Not a chance. I will never work for you again.”
He laughed. “You don’t have a choice. I have your husband.”
“He does not,” Granny inserted.
“Derek and Fabian are okay?”
“Si, they are both unharmed.”
Relief flooded me and I let my gaze rove over Uncle Dante. Something was off about him but what? “God, you’re such a liar.”
A growl rumbled deep in Dante chest. “Am I?”
I frowned. His lips hadn’t moved. My uncle’s normally immaculate black hair stood out wildly and his scalp seemed to slide about unnaturally.
“Derek’s fine and you got your ass handed to you.”
Uncle Dante carefully straightened his blood soaked suit. “The battle has not yet been won and your insolence will be punished.”
My unease grew. There was way too much blood on his suit
“Step out of the circle,” my uncle commanded.
I could feel his rage beating at me. “No and if I were you, I’d put the gun down.”
A merciless smile pulled at Dante’s mouth.
“Your sniper is dead.”
“Granny?”
“I will check.”
“Step out of the circle.”
A cold prickling ran up my spine and I warily surveyed the mounds of bones. Had something survived?
I opened my mind’s eye and the breath froze in my lungs. Holy Mother of God, that wasn’t Uncle Dante. It was Asmoday. “Don’t you ever get tired of wearing other people’s skin?”
A bellow of fury broke from Asmoday. “Step out of the circle or I will send you straight to hell.”
“If I leave the circle, I die.”
“You’re dead either way.” Asmoday raised the pistol and fired.
Something slammed into my chest and hurled me back on the table. It toppled over and I fell to the cold, cold earth. Struggling to breathe, a terrible roaring filled my ears and everything faded to black.
Chapter Seventeen
“Welcome to hell,” a raspy voice gloated.
Welcome to hell, welcome to hell echoed over and over again in my head, shocking me back to consciousness.
I shot upright, groaned and clamped a hand to my chest. Sonvabitch! Getting shot hurt like a mother.
My eyes widened in horror as an unending blackness stared back. Had I gone blind? The only sound was an eerie moaning, like a chorus of lost souls wailing a dirge.
A light flared in the darkness, then another and another and another until I could make out a vast cavern. Strange contorted rocks reared from the floor. Some seemed to writhe in nameless agony, while others clawed at the air as if to escape some unspeakable horror.
Shit! What was I doing back in the Cavern of Damned? I never left the circle. Was I dead? I didn’t feel dead. Then again, I had met some ghosts who didn’t know they were dead either. If I was dead, I shouldn’t feel any pain, right? I wiped blood off my cut lip. Or bleed?
I rubbed my throbbing chest. Man it hurt. It felt like I had been kicked by a mule. A very angry mule. I pulled up my t-shirt and examined the
bullet lodged in my borrowed vest. Nope. The bullet hadn’t killed me. “So, what the freak am I doing here?”
“My master sent you here,” Aunt Sophie hissed with glee.
I was absofuckinglutely screwed. Climbing to my feet, I watched as she slithered towards me.
My aunt’s demon side had definitely taken over. Her body had transformed into a creepy half-human, half-snake monstrosity with yellow puss oozing from what was left of her face.
“Do you have antibiotics in hell? Cuz it looks like you need a whole shit load.”
Aunt Sophie’s tailed flicked out, cracking me across the shoulders and throwing me into a boulder.
Owie! Goddamn, that smarted a bit. I pulled myself upright.
“You’re insolence will no longer be tolerated.”
“Sorry, no need to get all menopausal on me.”
Her tail whipped out again and the next thing I knew I was smacking face first into another boulder.
Who knew there were so many rocks in hell? I swiped at the blood running from my nose. “I said I was sorry, I just figured you don’t have any mirrors in hell and you’d want to do something about your pitiful face.”
Sophie let out a roar and charged me.
I bolted and yelled over my shoulder, “At least you don’t have to worry about all those wrinkles anymore.”
“Quit provoking her,” Granny Annabel whispered in my head.
I whispered back, “I figured if I get her mad enough she might do something stupid.”
“Like kill you?”
“Good point.”
“You must get to the sword.”
“Sword? What sword? I don’t see any swords.”
“The sword in the wall.”
I glanced around wildly. “Where?”
“To your left.”
Geeze Louise there was a sword buried in the wall. Silver light pulsed and danced around the hilt.
“Who would have thunk it? Oh wait! King Arthur!”
“Quickly, you must claim Excalibur before she kills you.”
Say what? “I think I’ve been hit in the head way too many times because it sure sounded like you said Excalibur.”
“I did.”
“Huh? Okey-dokey. Just checking.” Go figure.
Excalibur in hell not Avalon? What were the chances of that happening?
Granny snapped, “Focus!”
“Hey, no need to yell. The trip to this dimension has left me a bit muzzy headed and kinda freaked out.”
“Do you wish to spend eternity in this place?”
“God, no.”
“Then get it together or you will.”
I took in the stony, eternally flat otherness dotted with monuments to the dead and the cold fist of reality shattered my daze. I could die in this place.
“You ruined everything,” Aunt Sophie screamed behind me. A loud crack sounded.
I did a fast tuck and roll and Sophie’s tail missed me by a scant inch.
Ducking behind a convenient boulder, I yelled, “News flash you psychotic bitch, I’m not dying so you can become some big mucky muck in the demon world.”
“You ruined everything,” she screamed again.
“Everything!
“Gee, I think my give a damn button is busted.”
“I signed a covenant to deliver you to Asmoday.
A covenant! Do you know what that means?”
“You shouldn’t sign a contract when you can’t deliver the goods?”
“Oh I delivered a virgin but Asmoday was not pleased with the old nun. She died too quickly.”
“You are one sick bitch.”
“It is my duty to fulfill my master’s need.”
“And it’s my duty to kill you.”
Aunt Sophie’s babbled on insanely, “You destroyed everything I’ve been working for. All you had to do was remain a virgin. How hard was that?
It’s not like men were beating down your door.
Once Asmoday devoured your untainted soul, he promised me I would rule at his side.”
“What are you, stupid? Demons don’t keep their promises.”
“He would have,” Aunt Sophie screamed. “Now all he promises is endless suffering.”
“That’s why they call it hell,” I muttered and darted behind a stone statue of a knight in medieval armor. Wow, the workmanship was incredible. I looked around. There must be dozens of them. Lifelike, frozen in mid-stride, weapons held ready and their faces.
Holy Mother of God their faces. I had never seen such utter terror and their mouths were forever frozen in agonized screams.
Aunt Sophie hissed nearby. “Do you like Asmoday’s shrine to human foolishness?”
“Or maybe it’s a shrine to human bravery,” I answered, ducking behind another knight.
My aunt slid between two statues and a forked tongue flicked from her ruined mouth as if testing the air.
Oh crap! Before I could move, her tail suddenly slashed across my back, sending me tumbling head over heels into the wall. Dazed, I sucked in a painful breath and struggled to my feet. Thank God for Derek’s vest or that blow would have cut me in half.
I wobbled unsteadily and grabbed a hold of the sword for balance. I looked down. Oh ick! I was
standing on a human skeleton wearing armor. A sword was still clutched in one bony hand.
Dear God, the entire floor was covered with armored clad skeletal warriors. My jaw tightened with determination. I would not die in this place.
Excalibur pulsed brightly beneath my hand and power surged up my arm. Yikes. I tried to yank my hand away but it was locked around the hilt. A healing energy filled my body and suddenly I felt great.
“My master has found another use for you,”
Aunt Sophie raved madly. “I’m not allowed to kill you just yet, but I will. I most assuredly will.”
Buzzed on power, I slid the sword out of the wall and turned to face my psychotic aunt.
She gaped at me. “Only the pure of heart can wield Excalibur.”
“And your point is?”
“You’re a slut.”
I held up my left hand. “Hey, I married the man I slept with. Not like some people I know who will fuck anything. Be it man, woman or demon. Ya know, I’m kinda curious, does Asmoday have a penis or just a really big tongue?”
“You will find out soon enough.”