Katie's Hope (Book II, Rhyn Trilogy)

Chapter Two

In Hell, the Immortal Jade, formerly the most trusted lieutenant to the leader of the Council That Was Seven, looked around his new bedchamber with a shiver. It was a posh room for Hell, carved of smooth ebony stone that was characteristic of all the buildings in Hell. The room consisted of a massive bed with black bedding and white pillows, a wardrobe and trunks, and yawning windows to the sky that light never touched.

“This was Sasha’s bedchamber,” a demon said from the doorway. “You will be comfortable here. It has many Immortal comforts we care nothing for.”

I care nothing for this either, Jade thought. The demon closed the door—one of the Immortal comforts, for there were no doors in Hell—and left him to wonder how many men and women Sasha had in the bed before him. He’d only spent one night there last month before Sasha flung him to the side in favor of a demoness.

Like Kris had flung him aside to make way for a mortal. His sense of loss was so deep, he thought it’d kill him some nights. He’d done what anyone would do: he’d found a way to get even with one of the men who hurt him. He might even get rid of both of them!

A sound from a trunk in the corner drew Jade’s attention. Surprised, he crossed to it and opened it. The woman’s face was hidden behind a mass of blonde hair, but he recognized the hot pink fingernails instantly.

“Iliana?” he asked. She stilled. He pulled her gently from the trunk and untied her. She was shaking and bloodied, and the bindings left deep marks around her wrists. She pulled off the gag.

“Did Kris send you for me?” she whispered, her gaze darting around. “Did the demons see you?”

“I didn’t know you were gone,” he admitted. “What happened?”

“They caught me when I went through the shadow world and brought me here, to Sasha.” He didn’t have to ask what Sasha did to her when her pretty blue eyes flared with white rage and then filled with tears. “Where is he? I want to kill him!”

“He’s not—”

“No matter, we need to escape. Come on, Jade!”

He watched her stride to the door without following, heart heavy at what Kris’s lieutenant and his colleague of a few decades would soon discover. She stopped at the door and turned to him.

“Jade, come on!”

“I can’t go with you, Iliana,” he whispered. “I’m here by choice.”

Surprise, then disbelief, crossed her features. “Oh, God, Jade, what did you do?”

“I took care of Sasha,” he said somewhat defensively. “I deserve better than how he treated me. How Kris treated me.”

“You betrayed us.”

“No, I didn’t cross that line! I’m just here … there’s just two people who I want to avenge myself on!” he said. “I’m not going to hurt anyone else!”

“Anyone else? You can’t destroy Kris. It’s like beheading the Council!”

“You don’t understand. You wouldn’t understand.”

She crossed to him, furious. “You are a traitor of the worst kind. I will kill you now, before you hurt anyone!”

He blocked her first punch but not her second. Light exploded into his thoughts. He’d tried to reason with her, to tell her what happened. She didn’t listen. She was as cold as Kris! Maybe she wanted Kris, too. He’d seen the way Kris looked at her and had long suspected the Council leader had two lovers, not one.

“No!” he roared and picked her up. He threw her against the wall, blinded by pain and rage. She hit the wall hard and landed on the ground, unconscious. “Iliana!” He knelt beside her, horrified at what he’d done. She was alive, though the back of her head bled.