Hell Bound (Seventh Level Book 2) Read online

  Mark was about to breathe a sigh of relief when the house he was renting finally came within view, but then he spotted someone standing on his front porch. It seemed as if his night was going to be full of unexpected visitors. For a moment, he thought it might be Pamela again but the closer he came to the house, the harder his heart beat in his chest. His mind refused to accept the truth of what his eyes were showing him, but after a few more steps, he could no longer deny it.

  Mark froze at the sight of him. Clenching his hands into fists, he fought against the urge to rub his eyes in disbelief. He’d not seen Liam Stone since the accident, when the man had torn the door from Mark’s car as if it wasn’t made of metal while his eyes glowed red. His appearance on the heels of another unfortunate visit from Pamela didn’t bode well for Mark.

  Moving at a slow pace, he approached the house with caution. It was stupid, he knew it, but the fact remained Liam was not the man Mark believed him to be. Liam wasn’t a man at all, if his glowing eyes were any indication. A quick smile touched Liam’s lips as if he knew Mark’s thoughts.

  “It’s been a while,” he said when it became apparent Mark wasn’t going to roll out the welcome mat.

  At the sound of his voice, something inside of Mark shifted and memories of the years of friendship they shared flooded his mind. “Yeah man, it’s been a while,” Mark agreed as he jogged up the stairs and extended his hand to Liam.

  Liam’s uneasy smile bloomed into a genuine one of welcome as he accepted Mark’s hand. “I’m sorry to drop in on you like this, but it’s not like I could call.”

  “I guess not,” Mark agreed as he unlocked the door and waved Liam inside. Mark waited until they were both settled across from one another at his kitchen table and an uncomfortable silence had fallen between them, before asking, “What brings you here after all this time?”

  Liam shot a quick glance around the room, as if taking note of how far Mark had fallen since the last time they spoke. “You need a job.”

  A bark of laughter escaped Mark. “No shit. Did you come here to point out the obvious?” Without waiting for Liam to answer, Mark added, “Employers aren’t exactly beating down the doors of former police detectives suspected of illegal activity.”

  Liam dropped his gaze to his lap. “I’m sorry about that.” Mark almost told him it wasn’t his fault, but the words lodged in his throat as Liam tilted his head at an angle, and a hint of red tinted his eyes. Unable to look away, Mark watched half in fascination as Liam tilted his chin, as if acknowledging a voice only he could hear.

  “Tell me about Kylie,” Mark demanded, before he even knew what he intended to say. Liam blinked in surprise and the red disappeared, leaving behind only clear blue irises.

  “What do you want to know?”

  “Who was she to you?” Mark hated questioning if Liam had known Kylie before the moment they had found her body, but the DNA found in Liam’s home made the evidence against his former partner appear damning.

  “Kylie is my wife.”

  Not was, but is, the distinction between the two was not lost on Mark, and he scoffed at the statement. “Kylie is dead, Liam. Maybe I’ve seen a lot of things I can’t explain since the day we processed her murder scene, but that’s one point I never questioned.”

  Liam’s face remained expressionless even as Mark stopped just short of calling him a liar. “I don’t think we have any other choice,” Liam said, and Mark blinked in confusion over his statement. He didn’t think the words were meant for him, but as they were the only two people there, he made an attempt to puzzle them out.

  “What?”

  “Don’t freak out,” Liam said in a way of answer, as he reached over and locked Mark’s forearm in a manacle grip. The room spun and blurred in front of his eyes before snapping back into focus. The already white kitchen seemed a shade brighter while the oak cabinets were a hint darker than before. Those small changes were nothing in comparison to the appearance of a third person seated at the table. Nestled against Liam’s side, was a very alive Kylie looking unsure of her welcome.

  Mark moved to pull out a Liam’s hold, but Liam held onto him with the strength of ten men. “What the…? How…? I don’t understand,” Mark said, finally admitting defeat.

  “It’s nice to formally meet you, Mark,” Kylie said and panic slammed into his chest. Perhaps he was going crazy. As he hit the edge of hyperventilation, Kylie looked away and blinked back tears. Her show of vulnerability slowed his heart rate and calmed his panic faster than anything else could have. It seemed that even if he did lose his mind, his grandmother’s lessons in gentlemanly behavior would remain with him.

  “I’m sorry,” he said automatically, bringing her surprised gaze back to his, and a bright smile touched her lips. “You’re looking much better than the last time I saw you.”

  “I suppose I am,” she said with a giggle. It was Anne’s laugh. The sisters looked nothing alike but the laughter was the same, and Mark sucked in a pained breath. Sometimes the loss of her hit him as a physical blow when he least expected it. Dragging his mind away from a dangerous pitfall, he eyed the odd pair seated across from him. Liam had called her his wife and they did look united, in a way Mark couldn’t explain.

  “How is this possible?” he asked, giving voice to the confusion gnawing at him.

  “Wow, it’s a much bigger explanation than you’re ready for.” Kylie didn’t sound condescending, only as if she didn’t know where to start.

  “Is there a short version?”

  Liam snorted at Mark’s question. “For the sake of time and sanity, Kylie and I both were born with the ability to walk between realms.”

  “Realms?” Mark asked, interrupting Liam’s explanation. “As in heaven?”

  “That’s one realm,” Liam said noncommittally.

  “But not yours,” Mark surmised, and the slight tilt of Liam’s chin confirmed his suspicions. Unfortunately, it only raised more questions than answers as far as Mark was concerned.

  “But you both seem so good.” Even as the words left Mark’s mouth, he recognized how ridiculous they sounded, but hell was a place he’d always equated with evil.

  Liam and Kylie both smiled as if he’d earned a gold star for quick learning. “Exactly,” Kylie said at the same time as Liam said, “That’s why we need your help.”

  Mark’s heart fell. It was as he thought when he first saw Liam standing on his porch. Nothing good would come of this. “What do you need?”

  “Don’t look so disheartened,” Liam said. “As I said, you need a job, and it just so happens, this one pays well.”

  “You want to hire me?”

  “Not me, Wade Collins.”

  “Are you screwing with me?”

  “Not at all,” Liam answered as he used his free hand to pull a business card from his shirt pocket and set it on the table between them. “He’s searching for a new head of security, and I need you to fill the spot.”

  In spite of the surreal circumstances, Mark still made an attempt to bring a bit of reason to the situation. “Why would he hire me? In case you’ve forgotten, I’m not exactly star quality with a shining reputation at the moment.”

  “He’ll hire you,” Liam said without hesitation. “I have a man already in place to ensure it.”

  Mark scrubbed his hand over his eyes. “Why am I doing this?”

  Kylie was the one to answer. “We came to you because Liam knows you’re a good man and Wade Collins needs a good man in his corner. As you pointed out, we’re not where you would expect, and there are more people out there like us.” She motioned toward the business card on the table between them. “This man is an amazing person with a beautiful soul. Something horrible and unjust is going to happen to him if we can’t find a way to help him.”

  The officer inside Mark reared its head. Even if he never worked another day on the force, the strong sense of justice that drove him in his career choice would never leave him, and Liam knew it. “How can I help?” he a
sked sounding like a man doomed.

  “Just keep him and his family safe until we can find a way to set him free.”

  “Do I even want to know what he’s being set free from?”

  At his exaggerated defeated tone, Kylie laughed again. This time, he couldn’t stop his reaction to it. “You sound exactly like her when you laugh.”

  Kylie drew her brows together in a frown. “Who?”

  “Anne,” he explained. “The two of you have the same laugh.”

  Kylie glanced away. “I’d forgotten all about that. It’s been so long since I heard her laugh. I still can’t believe I’ll never get the chance to hear it again.”

  Mark rubbed at the spot in his chest aching at the mention of Anne’s name. “Could you not go see her? I mean, like you came to see me tonight?”

  Kylie stared down at the table and drew circles on it with the tip of her finger as she answered. “When Anne died, she passed into the light. I’m not allowed to go there.”

  For a moment, Mark was beyond thankful Liam was holding onto his arm. If he’d not had anything to hold him in place, Mark felt sure he would have flown into a rage. “When did she die?” Mark finally managed to ask past his rapidly swelling throat.

  Kylie shot Liam a panicked look before returning her gaze to his. Once again, her brow was drawn into a straight line, and her confusion couldn’t have been more evident. “Um,” she stammered. “I thought she was with you at the time.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Septem told us she passed into the light, and when Liam got there, he said it was too late to save her because the passenger side of your car was engulfed in flames, but he was able to pull you out of the car before it exploded.”

  Relief rushed through him. “Anne wasn’t in the car with me. We had a fight, and I was going after her when I was struck by the logging truck on the way.”

  “But there was a second person in the car,” Liam said, almost sounding panicked himself. “I saw the body.”

  Mark shook his head. “You saw the driver of the truck. He tried climbing into the window on the passenger side of the car and was caught in the blaze. I was trapped, and there was nothing I could do.”

  “Wait. Do you mean my sister is still out there somewhere?”

  Anne

  With both hands clenched around two of the metal bars of her cage, Anne watched in horror as Septem provocatively danced closer and closer, as if that would be enough to entice her to join him in his perverted sexual activity. Everything about the evil entity repulsed her, but she had agreed to sell herself to him in exchange for her sister, Kylie’s soul, so whatever she had to do to keep the deal, she would.

  In hope of distracting him from wanting her again, Anne motioned for him to draw in closer. When he was finally near enough to touch, she reached out and caressed the side of his arm, and whispered, “So what are you?” She tried not glancing toward the empty shell of Pamela’s body, which was lying only a few feet away, but did so anyway out of morbid curiosity. With each passing day, the stench of decay grew more pungent. It was another reminder that Hell wasn’t a nice place to be bound.

  Septem leaned in and pressed against the cage in an attempt to rub her in the most inappropriate of ways. He partially succeeded. “Don’t you think you should have asked me that before you agreed to our little arrangement?”

  His question made her look down at Pamela’s body again. At one time, the lifeless woman had been a stunning beauty, and would be so again, whenever Septem needed to use her to walk among the normal human population without scaring them off with his black form, seven horns and long cocks. Of course, if anyone really bothered to take a closer look whenever Pamela engaged in conversation with them, any observant person would immediately notice her lifeless eyes. But then most people were too busy and would only see what Septem wanted them to see, Pamela’s sex appeal and alluring, centerfold body.

  Meeting his eyes again, she purred, “But I’m asking now. A girl should know everything about her lover, shouldn’t she?”

  “You think I don’t see through all these coy questions?” He licked the side of her face and laughed. “Why not? Maybe it’s time you know who I am.” He lazily twirled, as if spinning on a fashion runway. After facing her again, he stroked himself making her stomach turn. “I’m ruler of the Seventh Level of Hell and Kieran’s right hand man. He trusts me in everything.”

  He strolled over and leaned forward until their noses touched. His breath was hot on her face. “You were mine long before you agreed to exchange your soul for your sister’s. You stupid bitch. I could have taken you any time I wanted you. You didn’t honestly think that weak male human by your side could have protected you once I decided you were mine.”

  Tears welled up in Anne’s eyes, thinking of Mark and how close they had become in such a short time. He had tried his best to help her figure out what had happened to Kylie those last few weeks leading up to her death. Something about the handsome police detective had made Anne fall hopelessly in love with him during the short time they had been together. Over her lifetime, she had many regrets, but not letting Mark know how she felt before leaving to strike her deal with Pamela was at the top of her regret list.

  Septem wiped away a tear that was running down the side of her face. “You dare cry for him after pledging yourself to me?” He let out an ear-deafening roar that rattled the bars of her cage.

  Anne shrank back in an attempt to get away from his rage, but in a matter of seconds he was ripping through the bars and reaching in to pull her out.

  * * * * *

  Mark wasn’t sure what to expect from someone as famous as Wade Collins. However, one thing was certain—he never expected the superstar would interview him personally for the open security position. The downtown apartment where he scheduled his appointment was located in the fancier part of town and looked expensive but not opulent. It was one of the many reasons he was caught off guard when Wade opened the door at his knock. As far as Mark could tell, there wasn’t anyone else home, much less the large staff he’d imagined stars having.

  His second surprise was the man himself. He seemed so normal. If Mark passed him on the street, he would never realize it. He was dressed in relaxed-fit jeans, ratty t-shirt, and he needed a shave. After a quick introduction, Wade led him into a small office with nothing more than a desk and two chairs inside. Oh, there were also a few golden records and awards sitting around, but they weren’t prominently displayed. It was almost as if they’d been set aside and forgotten. Mark waited until Wade took his seat behind the desk before claiming his own chair.

  “This is not what I expected,” Mark said without thinking.

  “What were you expecting?” Wade asked sounding curious.

  Mark shrugged. “I’m not sure. I guess a secretary or something.”

  Wade laughed before admitting, “I don’t like people, and I doubly don’t like people who take up unnecessary space in my home. I’m moody, quiet, and I don’t sleep at night. The last thing I need is someone underfoot making me feel as if I have to fake it.” That made sense to Mark and he found himself nodding along as Wade continued. “I also don’t like someone doing the hiring for me. I want to size people up for myself. I’ll be honest with you, Mr. Ledoux.”

  “Please call me Mark,” Mark said interrupting him and Wade nodded.

  “Okay Mark. My lawyer—who’s a snake by the way—thoroughly investigated you and has advised me not to hire you.”

  “I’m not surprised,” Mark admitted.

  “But what he thinks of as good character is a bit different from my own beliefs. As I said, he’s a snake, but while it’s a good quality in a lawyer, it doesn’t give me a lot of confidence in his people judging skills. Being as how it’s me who needs securing and not him, I’d prefer to decide for myself.”

  “That makes sense to me.” Especially since it gave him a better shot at getting hired, but Mark didn’t feel the need to add his thoughts on t
he matter.

  “I assume you’re aware of the reason why he advised against you?”

  “Yes sir,” Mark answered. “I was fired from the New Orleans’ Police Department under suspicion of withholding evidence pertinent to an ongoing murder investigation.”

  “Did you?”

  Mark held his gaze steadily refusing to back down. “It depends on who you ask.”

  “I’m asking you.”

  “Then yes. I did.”

  “Why?”

  There wasn’t a single hint of accusation in his voice so Mark decided to answer honestly. “My friend was accused of a crime he did not commit. I’m not saying that because he’s my friend. I know it to be a fact. He’s not guilty and I won’t cooperate with an investigation that condemns an innocent man.”

  Wade sat forward taking him by surprise. “Good. That’s the kind of loyalty I’m looking for. Now, how did you end up in Nashville?”

  “I followed a woman here,” Mark answered honestly causing Wade to chuckle.

  “This job would require you to relocate. Is that going to be a problem?”

  Mark continued holding his gaze while attempting to hide his emotions. “No sir. There is nothing holding me here any longer.”

  Glancing away, Wade stared at some point past Mark’s shoulder, but Mark didn’t think he was seeing anything other than whatever was inside his head. “I have to be honest,” Wade said after a moment. “I’ve been on the road for the better part of two years now. I’ve made a lot of smart investments and a lot of money. Most of all, I’ve figured a few things out. The biggest thing I’ve learned is, I don’t care much about the money. Now, I don’t say as much because I have it therefore I can. I say it because it’s true. My heart—in more ways than one—is and always will be in Texas. I love music, and I don’t reckon I’ll ever change, but I was happier singing for my supper. How do you feel about Texas?”