Chapter 26
“Well, at least you stuck the landing,” Jasper quipped while wiping the hair and sweat away from his eyes. Traveling by a literal whirlwind with an angel—fallen or not—was never a pleasant experience. The fiend could’ve teleported them easily enough, but the gleam in Lucifer’s eyes let Jasper know the Devil enjoyed tormenting him this way. Even though it had been less than thirty seconds since they left Montana to God Only Knew Where, the violent wind gusts and temperature fluctuations made him a bit dizzy. He stumbled over his own feet for a few seconds before regaining his equilibrium. The world spun and it was looking more than probable he’d puke his lunch and coffee.
“I am glad you enjoyed the ride. I find it quite an exhilarating method of transportation.” Lucifer stood, using his hand to slick his hair back into perfect placement. His impeccable outfit was a stark contrast to the barren desert landscape. He wasn’t wobbling. Bastard! “I will give you a moment to adjust. It is just a short hike from here.”
Where the hell were they anyway? All he could see were blurs of brown and random rocky outcroppings scattered across the landscape. All he felt was suffocating heat. Had Lucifer dropped him off in the literal Hell? Had to be close.
“You must be thinking you have landed straight into Hell.”
Damn, he hoped the Devil couldn’t read his mind, or at least would do him the honor of not doing so.
“All right, I will hop out of your head. But really, you should have stronger mental defenses. I expected more from you. A guardian who has survived over six hundred years should be more than capable of blocking me, at least momentarily. You have allowed yourself to be distracted, and that makes you weak.”
Jasper glared at Lucifer. If looks could only kill.
“So where are we, if not Hell? Please tell me you didn’t stash Savannah and my child away in eternal torment.” He willed every ounce of aggression he could muster into his words but still heard his own fears echoed back to him.
“Well…”
Jasper lunged, grabbing Lucifer’s silk shirt with such force a few buttons popped off. “You damn well better…”
“I better what?” Lucifer vanished from Jasper’s grasp only to appear several feet away. “There is no safer place for them. No pesky angels to sneak in for the rescue. No humans to interfere.” He flicked imaginary specks of dust from his jacket. Somewhere along the way he’d done away with that ridiculous cowboy hat. “Stop worrying, I did not throw them into the pit. They are safe and secure, and quite well cared for, in my personal residence as my esteemed guests.”
“Then, please… let’s get going before my boots melt into the sand.” Truly, this place was hotter than a boiler room furnace.
A smile crept up Lucifer’s face, highlighting perfect white teeth that gave him the appearance of the Cheshire Cat from “Alice in Wonderland.” He bowed and waved his arms to the left toward an intimidating mountain in the distance. “This way, then.”
***
“And why exactly couldn’t we just teleport into here instead of trekking through the desert for thirty minutes?” Sweat poured off Jasper, soaked his clothes, and trickled an uncomfortable trail down his spine in between his butt cheeks. Of all days for him to forgo underwear!
The chill blast that welcomed him into the interior of the mountain was a welcome relief. He gulped in the icy air. It slid down his airways, down his parched throat, to flood to the rest of his body.
“I never said I would give you the easy path. You needed to earn your entrance.” Not a drop of sweat beaded on Lucifer’s brows despite the blistering sun baking the very air they breathed.
Damn bastard!
“Welcome to my humble abode!”
Jasper’s gaze took in the expansive and incredibly white room—white marble floors, white walls, even the furniture and scant decorations were stark white, including multiple orchids scattered about the room in frosted crystal vases. A fire blazed in the largest fireplace he’d ever witnessed. He blinked. Yes, the tips of the flames were also white. Soothing, classical music played in the background. He thought he recognized Beethoven’s Fifth.
“Not exactly what I expected.”
He guessed it made sense. The actual Devil wouldn’t actually live in Hell. Still, it churned resentment in his stomach.
“I just had it redecorated. What do you think?”
Jasper glared, unspeaking.
“Okay, no chit chat then. Can I interest you in some refreshments? A brandy, perhaps? Or are you more of a beer connoisseur?”
A growl seethed between Jasper’s teeth.
Lucifer only grinned. It was a game to him. Everything was a game to the Devil, Jasper supposed. Now that he had a firm grasp on his domain again, what worries could haunt his mind?
“Oh, all right, then. Such a kill joy!” He executed a sharp pivot, waved his hand, and a door appeared out of thin air. Lucifer looked over his shoulder. “Well, are you coming or not?”
The corridor was dimly lit by torches along the walls every ten feet or more. The walls and ground were still pristine white. Funny, Jasper had assumed Satan would prefer darker hues, or at least angry splashes of red. Maybe he was reminiscent of his days in Heaven or mocking it with the purity theme going on. He shrugged. He didn’t give a damn. Why should he?
More music played. This time Jasper didn’t recognize the composer, but it was heavy with violins and a lone flute.
“Just around the bend,” Lucifer announced after a good fifteen-minute stroll.
The hall dead ended. With another wave of his hand, a door appeared and slid open.
“Quite the prison you have here, Luci.” No doors would make it difficult, if not impossible, to escape. Savannah must’ve been going crazy all this time. She was not the type to enjoy being cooped up. Her free spirit needed the open air and nature to flourish. His stomach knotted at the thought of her locked up like this for the last several months.
Jasper slammed into Lucifer’s backside the moment he stepped into the room. “What the…”
His gaze searched the opulent room… a large bed with shiny silk sheets, white furniture like the first room, candles hanging high above from an ornate chandelier.
But no Savannah.
That knot in his gut twisted tighter, strangling the words he tried to speak. “Wh… where is…is she?”
“I will be damned if I know,” Lucifer wrung a hand through his hair. He spun around to face Jasper, his eyes wide with disbelief.
“What do you mean you don’t know?” Jasper growled, panic rising.
“I mean just that. I do not know. She should be here.” Instead of appearing angry at finding his prisoner gone, the Devil wore an expression of wonder. “How did she do that?”
Jasper shoved Lucifer until his back smashed into the far wall. “Where. Is. She?”
Unaffected by the show of violence, Lucifer shrugged. “I am telling you the truth. She should be here. There was no way for her to esca… I mean leave. She was not even conscious last time I checked on her.”
“And when was that, exactly?” Jasper’s blood pounded in his ears and behind his eyes.
“Mere moments before I showed up to snag you in Montana. I swear.”
“You are lying.” Even to Jasper, the words didn’t sound right. Lucifer was the devil incarnate but was notorious for never lying. Playing with words and phrases, innuendos, misdirections… yes. But not outright lying. His fingers released their iron hold on Lucifer’s jacket lapels.
Lucifer slid to the left, out of his reach and began pacing the room. He kneeled to peer under the bed. “Nope, not there.” He waved his hand to open another door that led to the most luxurious bathroom Jasper had ever seen. Together they scoured both rooms in silence. No sign of Savannah and no sign of how she was able to leave.
“Looks to me like you failed at your job.” Jasper accused Lucifer. “Our deal was I help Greylyn secure Hell for you, and you keep Savannah and our baby safe until I return.”
Lucifer clucked, his middle finger tapping his chin in speculation. “I assure you that I upheld our bargain. She was right here sleeping like an angel when I left,” his hand motioned toward the bed with crumpled sheets. “She has been asleep 24/7 since I brought her here. She has not woken, not once. I tried everything to wake her, but nothing worked.”
“But… she needs food, hydration, she’s friggin’ pregnant. She and the baby need nourishment!” Jasper railed, his temper rising.
“She got it, intravenously for a while until I noticed the baby seemed to be providing his own nutrition and hers. Or maybe it was Manea making sure she did not perish by feeding them both.”
The mention of the whack job Etruscan goddess sent a shock of fear up Jasper’s spine. She was Savannah’s mom… sort of. She’d possessed Savannah’s birth mom when she’d conceived, thus giving the child tremendous power. Manea had hoped to utilize that power to return from her own exile to wreak havoc on the world once again. They had thought she’d been defeated, but the bitch just wouldn’t die. Instead, the goddess had integrated with Savannah’s soul. He couldn’t imagine the hell she was going through spiritually. He’d held out hope that together they’d find a way to banish Manea once and for all, but that required keeping Savannah under guard until the child was born.
Jasper refused the possibility that he’d need to sacrifice either the woman he loved or his child.
An unwelcome thought nudged at the back of his brain… what if the child had been conceived when he’d unknowingly been with Manea when she’d had control over Savannah?
He shook his head. He couldn’t think about that now.
“So how was she able to find a way out of a room without doors? And where would she go? We must find her now!”
A chuckle reverberated through the room. “What is this we stuff? I did my good deed. It is not my fault she vanished. Although, I do not believe it’s for the best. She and that baby are forces of nature best not messed with. Good luck in your search. I will inform you if I hear of a catastrophe anywhere in the world. That is likely where you will find them.”
Jasper wasn’t known for keeping a cool head in normal circumstances, but the terror scorching through every vein like molten lava down the slopes of Pompeii blew his temper to the stratosphere. He swung at Lucifer’s smug face, then…
With a single snap of the devil’s fingers, Jasper was shot through a whirling portal. He crashed landed, butt-first, into the same truck he’d been working on fixing the trailer hitch. Lucifer was nowhere in sight.
“Hey, Jasper!” A familiar, gruff voice hollered from across the pasture. “That thing ready to go. We need to hit the road if we hope to make Cody, Wyoming by nightfall.”
Mere seconds had passed in the real world but had felt like hours to him. A trip to Hell and back, and without Savannah. She was lost to him. He should never have trusted the Devil. He should never have left her alone, not even for a second.
It was all his fault. Now the woman he loved and the child he never knew he wanted were out of his grasp. He couldn’t protect them. Most likely they… Well, his heart could not allow his mind to follow that path of thought. If he did, he’d go insane.
Jasper hung his head, slid to the dry ground, and wept.
***
Savannah stumbled through the pitch darkness for what seemed like hours. She couldn’t tell the passage of time in this place, had nothing to mark her progress. Her lips were parched, and she desperately needed to pee. But regardless how often she wished for water, light, or a bathroom… nothing emerged.
Guess the magic only worked back there. If she’d known, perhaps she would’ve stayed. Still a prisoner, but at least there were your basic creature comforts. Here was nothing but a black hole of smooth walls and ground.
No, she would’ve gone crazy in that room all alone, not knowing where she was. She wasn’t one to tolerate being trapped anywhere. Not after her childhood of being locked in trash-strewn rooms with no food or water by uncaring foster parents or her mom’s abusive drug-addled boyfriends. Even the tiny compartment in the truck pulling the horse trailer had seemed like an upgrade in her life. Still, she hated enclosed spaces.
Savannah needed open spaces to thrive. This was far from that, but at least she no longer felt trapped.
Or was she fooling herself? Had she cast herself from the frying pan into the fire?
Her hand absentmindedly rubbed her belly. “How are you doing in there, little one? I think Mama may have messed up.” A comforting thump hit against her palm. “Okay, I promise not to give up, but if you happen to know the way out, I’d appreciate a clue.”
Great balls of fire! What would Jasper say when he saw her like this? Would he reject her… them? Or would he leave them with the excuse that he was a guardian angel and had more important business? Or would he outright deny the child was his?
The baby was his… right?
Considering how far along the pregnancy appeared to be, and her lack of awareness of anything since last being with Jasper after defeating Manea, was it possible?
No, she wouldn’t allow any negative, scary thoughts to pummel her into a crying jag of uncertainty. The baby had to be Jasper’s. That was all the truth she could tolerate. What he did when he found out… well, that was on his conscience.
Another thump against her palm propelled her out of her own spiraling thoughts.
“First things, first. We must get out of here. Then I’ll worry about finding Jasper.” She chuckled. “Maybe after I find a bathroom, I’ll find your father.”
Savannah peered back the way she’d come. Nothing. It was all a giant abyss of blackness now. What little light had illuminated her steps at first had vanished. She turned around and squinted in the direction away from the prison she’d left behind. A dim, barely enough to qualify as a smidge of light, caught her attention immediately. It was the first sign of anything since she’d stepped into the tunnel.
“Well, here’s praying that’s not an oncoming train, little one.” She nudged one foot in front of the other, shuffling with one hand on the wall and one on her abdomen, until the light grew bright enough she could see where she was stepping.
When she reached the source of the light it was a large, swirling vortex of energy. The center of the light was the brightest white she’d ever witnessed, while around it danced an array of colors with iridescent sparkles. Behind her lay only darkness. But was this spectacular light display disguising a portal to Hell? Would it split her and her child into a billion particles of cosmic dust? Or would it take her home, like Dorothy with her magic ruby slippers? Should she choose the known—alone in an opulent prison—or should she bravely take a chance into the unknown that potentially could lead her to something much worse?
“Well, little one,”—her hand caressed her belly—“let’s find out what it’s like over the rainbow.”
Inhaling as much oxygen as her lungs could tolerate out of fear and hesitation, Savannah forced her right foot forward into the light. When her left foot joined the other, a bright searing light blinded her. Loud noises pounded her eardrums—the shouts of familiar voices, the frightened whinnies and neighs of a herd of horses mixed with deep moos of cattle. Red dust swirled in the air, caking her eye lashes, and choking her throat.
Her legs collapsed under her, but before her butt hit the ground strong arms caught her. Craning her neck to peer up at her savior, icy blue eyes with tears threatening to break free of lush, thick black lashes met her gaze.
Her lips opened to say his name, but darkness claimed her once again.