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  “Now’s as good a time as any,” the demon said with a sinister sneer.

  “No!” I said, backing away and trying to disentangle myself from his hold, but his claws dug in and his hold tightened.

  “Hurry up and seal this damned thing,” John said, but he stopped when he saw how close I was to the edge.

  Demons flew by me and the situation suddenly seemed hopeless. How could I get Braxton and Moore out without unleashing an uncontrollable number of demons onto the world?

  “Wait, John!” I cried as I tried once more to peer inside.

  “They’re waiting for you,” the demon gurgled into my ear as he pulled me through the portal.

  “Lux!” John called out. He ran to the edge of the portal, his face contorted with fear. “Hector,” he called over his shoulder. “Hurry! We have to get her out and close this thing.”

  Within seconds, Hector was at his side, but his face registered dismay and regret. He raised his water gun and prepared to close the portal.

  “No!” John said. “We can’t close her up in there.”

  “We have no choice, John. It’s too late for any other option.”

  “No. I won’t let her go down there alone.” He took a step closer, but Hector stopped him.

  “Then I’m going in with you.”

  Asher pushed between both of them and threw himself in, steadily making his way toward me.

  “Someone has to stay behind to close the portal,” John told Hector. “Whether we make it back or not, this portal must be closed.”

  John was suddenly pushed forward and looked behind him. Over his shoulder I saw a woman’s face, partially concealed by dark shadows. John turned to face her, and while I couldn’t make out her features, he obviously knew who she was.

  “What are you doing here?” he said. “How could this be? But you’re… You’ve been… You’ve been in a coma for years.”

  “Mom?” I whispered, suddenly recognizing my biological mother’s face.

  “It’s time we all awaken,” she said solemnly as the wind whipped her hair around her face. “The war has begun, John, and every soldier, young or old, small or large, expert or novice, must do all they can to get ready and fight.” She put her hand to John’s shoulder. “Go help her, John. Lux needs you now, more than ever. Go and bring our daughter back.”

  Gordon was at her side as well as a dozen demon slayers, all busy with the demons that continued to pour through the portal. Smiling John nodded at the men and women. “You guys came all the way from Italy?” he said, obviously touched by their presence. “I couldn’t have asked for better back up team. You’re all among the top slayers in the world. Now, I’m confident the portal is in good hands.”

  “Then go take care of our daughter.”

  As I continued to fall, their voices faded away and while I was thrilled at the sight of my mother, I feared for the lives of Asher, John and Hector as they fell in behind me.

  Asher forced his way down by tightening his body into an aerodynamic bullet that quickly reached my side.

  “Asher,” I cried out as I toppled head over heels in a dizzying fall.

  “Take my hand!” he shouted, his hand extended to me.

  The twirling air of the portal sent me spinning away from him and despite my every attempt, I couldn’t get a hold of Asher’s hand. He dove for me, fighting the swirling air and finally got a hold of my hand.

  “Don’t let go,” I called out. I would have never imagined feeling such relief at the touch of another human being, but in that moment, Asher’s touch brought me much needed strength and reassurance.

  The portal was unknown to all mortals and there was no way of knowing what we’d gotten ourselves into. Being alone would have added to the fear of the unknown.

  “Prepare for impact,” Asher shouted. “I think we’re in for a hard landing. This could be rough.”

  The swirling air suddenly ceased and it seemed that nothing would break our fall. A frigid wind pushed us down, adding to the velocity with which we fell, while the searing heat from the rising canyon of fire below burned the hairs off our skin. I shot a prayer to the angels above, prayed that we survived the landing, then prepared for the bone crushing impact.

  With a numbing thud we finally made contact with the hard rocky canyon floor and for a long and confused moment all was silent. I opened my eyes and saw Asher lying beside me. His lips moved, but I couldn’t hear anything.

  “You okay?” Asher’s silent lips seemed to say as he struggled to sit up.

  The hush of fire slowly filtered through my eardrums.

  “Are you okay?” I heard Asher say.

  Nodding, I got to my feet. “I thought I’d gone deaf there for a second, but I’m okay. I don’t think that anything is broken.” I pulled my shoulders back to crack my back. “A little sore, but I’ll survive.”

  Asher stood to face me then he looked up. “I don’t understand. Hector and John were right behind us. They should have landed by now.”

  I followed his gaze and looked up through the whirl of icy wind and red hot flames. “Those currents of air seemed tricky and unpredictable. Maybe they’re caught in updraft.”

  I brought my concentration to the odd and unworldly surroundings. Plumes of black, brown and red smoke rose from hundreds of cracks on the canyon floor. In the distance, the sun seemed to shine in the narrowing canyon.

  “Don’t be drawn to the light,” Asher warned. “We have to beware of everything down here. Things are not what they seem.”

  “You’re right.” I continued to look around then suddenly gasped. “Look over there.” I slapped Asher’s arm and pointed to our right. “That light might have been a distraction, but I know what I see now.” Without saying more I made my way to the lone figure standing on the edge of a smoky crevice. “Braxton?”

  My breath caught in my throat. It seemed inconceivable that I would find him so easily. I took a few more steps closer and realized he wasn’t alone. His back to me, his arms were wrapped around a sinfully curvaceous body. “Shayne?” I whispered, not wanting to believe my eyes.

  Throughout the planning process of this endeavor, never had I considered the possibility of running into Moore’s sister. And the possibility of catching her in Braxton’s arms was an even larger improbability.

  “What is she doing here?” I muttered to Asher.

  “From the looks of it, I think she’s swallowing Braxton’s tonsils.”

  While I wanted to look away and ignore the couple’s passionate embrace, I couldn’t tear my eyes off the endless and profound kiss the pair shared. They were oblivious to everything around them.

  The embrace heated up further, and Shayne brought her hand between their bodies and grab Braxton’s private parts. I couldn’t stand anymore and coughed lightly in an attempt to break them up.

  The cough was just enough to get Braxton’s attention, and when he opened his eyes and saw me, he tried to pry himself away from Shayne. But she would have none of it. She tightened her hold, and pressed her lips to his with increased ardor. Her fingers dug into his skin, pulled him closer to her while her other hand continued to work up his arousal.

  “Shayne,” Braxton muttered, and she finally relented and looked up.

  “Oh,” she grunted with obvious disdain when she saw me, but her eyes retained a good measure of the passion she’d just shared with Braxton. Still she managed a disgruntled, “You.”

  Still clinging to Braxton, she took a small step back and struck a sexy and provocative pose. Her body was smoking hot, and she knew it. Wrapped in skin tight black latex that left nothing to the imagination, she was undeniably sexy.

  I felt suddenly frumpy and messed up in my mother’s angelic white dress until I looked down and realized the pure white fabric of the dress now hung on my body in shreds. My breasts were partially exposed and most of the skirt had been torn off, revealing the tight black pants that clung to my legs and ass like a second skin.

  And judging by the
look in Shayne’s eyes, she knew I looked good and wasn’t too pleased with that. She ran a long tapered red fingernail along her moist lips and glared at me, her displeasure quickly taking over her features that had been in erotic rapture just moments before. Her eyes narrowed, and her sultry lips lost their passionate pout and formed a tight line. “What the hell is she doing here?”

  Braxton shrugged Shayne off him and turned to face me, but as he did, the light hit his face and I had to gasp in horror.

  “Braxton?” I said softly, unsure who he was or what he was.

  His dark sunken eyes and hollow cheekbones gave him an unearthly appearance, but not quite the demonic features I was so familiar with. He was dead, but alive; in hell, but not quite a demon.

  Where was the beautiful, sexy man I’d fallen for?

  “What do we have here?” he growled, his voice unrecognizable. A devilish grin curved his lips; lips I’d once kissed, once coveted; lips that were now thin and dry and so unappealing; lips that did little to cover the rotting and blackened teeth in his dark blood-soaked mouth.

  Despite my desire to stay strong, my hand went over my mouth in a feeble attempt to hide just how horrified I truly was.

  “I thought you were smarter than that, Lux,” Braxton said with an odd snicker.

  Her hand on her hips, Shayne clucked her tongue, amused by the whole thing. “Smart? I don’t know what could have ever given you the impression she was smart.”

  Braxton approached me and my heart sank. “You fell for it,” he murmured in a semblance of the voice I once knew, but distorted and vile. “Hook, line and sinker. You fell for it.”

  Shaking my head, I tried to deny having been duped. I quickly went over the events prior to his disappearance with Moore. No. I couldn’t have been so blind. I couldn’t have been so in love with him that I didn’t see what he was really up to. Gagging, I cast my gaze to the ground. I could deny it all I wanted to, but the truth remained. I had been duped. He’d played me for a fool and I’d allowed him to. I shot an apologetic glance at Asher.

  I’d brought him to this hellish inferno for nothing.

  “Oh, yes,” Braxton said as he clasped his gnarled hands in victory. “We have the incomparable, the undefeated world class demon slayer right here in our midst. Fancy that.” He flicked a lock of hair over my shoulder. “Tell me, Lux. Who is guarding your precious human race now? Who is watching over the souls of those fallible, yet delectable humans?” He leaned in close and whispered, “You’ve let down hundreds of thousands of innocents, Lux.”

  Chapter 10

  I felt a burning sensation on my arm and looked down at the glowing Angel Mark. I looked at Asher who glanced suspiciously at Braxton and Shayne.

  “Trust yourself,” Asher said. “Trust that you have the capacity to fight this. But know that the creature in front of you is not Brax.”

  Brax looked at me, his eyes soft and warm, and so welcoming. “I am Brax, Lux. For heaven’s sake, I went to school with you. You know me.”

  I stared at him, wanting him. I’d been so worried about him, and now to finally have him right there, right in front of me.

  “Be careful, Lux,” Asher said. He came to my side and took a firm hold of my wrist as I took a step toward Brax. “Listen to me. He is not what you think. Nothing down here is what it seems.”

  “Lux,” Brax called to me. “Come to me, Lux.”

  Moore appeared out of nowhere, so beautiful, so sexy and so strong. His smoldering gaze captivated me as he beckoned me with a searing and seductive smile. “We’ve been waiting for you, Lux.”

  “I’ve been waiting for you, Lux,” Brax said.

  “Lux,” Moore said.

  “Look at me, Lux,” Brax said.

  Their voices bombarded me with their desire to be recognized, and through my guilt and anguish, I wanted to give in to their desire. I wanted to run to them, hold them, kiss them. I wanted to save them and reassure them that everything would be all right.

  “Moore,” I whispered, my lips already parted in the hopes of kissing him. I took a step closer. “Moore.”

  Asher pulled me back, while Shayne laughed hysterically.

  I pulled my arm free of Asher’s hold. “Stop keeping me away from them!”

  Asher grabbed mw again, pulling w to him. “I can’t let you go to them, Lux. By God, you have to snap out of this.”

  Ignoring him, I struggled to break free of his hold, but his grip was tight and unrelenting. “Shit, Asher,” I spat at him. “I know why you’re doing this. You’re just jealous. You’ve always been jealous.”

  “That’s not true,” Asher said.

  “Fuck you,” I said, hitting his hand in an attempt to make his let go. “You just want me to go back with you and only you. You want me to leave them behind.”

  “Lux, I love you,” Asher said. “You know that. Would I prefer to have you all to myself? Of course, I would. But does that mean that I would lie and allow you to leave the people that you love behind? No. Never. Open your eyes, Lux. They’re demons. They are not Brax and Moore. It’s just a trick.”

  I didn’t believe him. I couldn’t believe him. Determined to break from his hold, I brought his hand up and bit him all while kicking him in the shin. With an anguished cry, he let me go.

  “No!” he cried out as I ran towards Moore’s open arms.

  I heard him and heard the anguish in that simple cry, but knew I had to see Moore, to feel him, but just as I opened my arms to embrace him, just as my body prepared to feel his muscular body against me, the warm, welcoming eyes changed.

  A burning hatred suddenly filled them. Within seconds the face of the man I loved turned black, charred and ugly; no longer human, the demon now showed himself. The creatures posing as Brax and Shayne also dropped their human disguises.

  I’d fought so many of them and knew what they were capable of. They closed in on me, surrounding mw, and for a terrified and shocked moment, I froze.

  Suddenly too many hands were on mw, pulling me out of the closing circle of demons. I fought them, no longer certain of what was good and what was evil. In my struggles, I lost my footing and fell back, caught in someone’s arms.

  I passed out for a brief moment, then looked up to see Lothario. Smiling, I looked into his eyes and knew that everything would be all right. “What are you doing here?” I said, confused and searching for something that made sense. “How did you know where I was?”

  He grasped my wrist and held my arm up. “I think it was your Angel Mark,” he said with a heated grin. “It called out to me. Called out for help.”

  “And you came,” I whispered.

  “Of course, I came.” He chuckled softly then glanced up at the others who were fighting off the demons. “Asher and I put a lot of angelic powers into the forming of that Angel Mark. It wasn’t just for show, you know?”

  I laughed. “I did think it looked like a pretty cool tattoo.”

  As Lothario stood me up, I looked at the fighting going on nearby. For a startled moment, I watched Asher, my father, John, and his friend, Hector battle with the small band of demons.

  My father broke free and came to me.

  “You guys are here, too?” I looked at Hector. “Even a former gang member came down here?”

  “Did you really think I would let you come down here alone?” my father said, his breathing hard and strained.

  Hector and Asher, came and, with John, surrounded Lux and Lothario. They crowded in close.

  “What’s going on?” I said

  “Now!” Lothario shouted as he pulled me tightly into his arms.

  Asher, John and Hector suddenly tightened the circle as Lothario loomed large and bright against the dismal darkness of fire and brimstone. In a sudden flash of light, the men and I were transported out and back in time.

  The light was too bright. It was blinding. I tried to open my eyes. “Where are we?” I muttered.

  “Open your eyes,” Lothario said gently. The droning sounds of th
e underworld had disappeared, and all was quiet.

  I forced my eyes open, surprised to find myself in a large classroom. I looked at the chalkboard and noted the date was that of a few weeks ago. The teacher’s desk was piled high with books while the students’ desks and the chairs were set in a semi-circle around the teacher’s desk. Looking at my surroundings, I tried to make sense of what had just happened.

  I read the lesson on the board; something about the abstract soul and its resurgence.

  “What’s going on?” I said, still a little groggy.

  “You’ve awakened from quite a nap,” Lothario said. “You know, just because you have the Angel Mark doesn’t mean you don’t have to take care of yourself.”

  Frowning, I looked up at him. “I do take care of myself.”

  “Not in this case,” John said. Sitting atop a desk, he looked lovingly at his daughter.

  “Great, Dad. Take his side,” I muttered.

  “Your physical being was too taxed for you to go through that portal to Hades. Being brought back to life, your emotions were still too raw.”

  “You know, we had to summon all of our combined strengths to get you out of there,” John said.

  “If not, we would have lost you, too,” Asher added.

  I shook her head. “I could have fought them off,” Lux argued.

  Asher chuckled. “No,” he said. “Clearly you couldn’t.”

  “What are you saying?” I snapped at him.

  “I’m saying that you were way too quick to trust the very first demon who showed up looking like Brax. And when another demon came forward looking like Moore, you were ready to jump into his arms. Does that sound like someone who could have fought them off? You can’t even recognize them when they’re right there in front of you.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest and huffed.

  “Huff all you like, Lux,” Lothario said. “Asher is right. For the time being, you simply lack judgement. You’re not ready for this; not physically, psychologically or emotionally.”

  “Don’t take it so hard, sweetie,” John said. “We’ve all been there. I mean, you don’t just wake up one day and, boom, you can deal with these creatures. If we would have left you there to deal with it on your own, the battle would be over before you could even begin.”