Renegade (Heven and Hell #4)(80)
Author: Cambria Hebert

Well, I was totally wrong.

It kind of looked like the pictures I’d seen of Las Vegas. It was like a mini city with tall buildings made of silver steel, long strips of one-story buildings with gold lights lining the rooftops, and archways over the roads that blinked with many different colors. There were even a couple cars that drove beneath the archways, speeding along like they were out for a thrill ride.

And in the center of it all was… a castle. A golden castle, gaudy with all the bling all over it. It even had a giant fountain with alternating sprays of real water that would shoot out of the center and then dance with each other. I blinked, thinking I was seeing things, but when I opened my eyes again it was all still there.

“Why do I feel like I just stepped onto the set of a movie where the gangsters rule the city?” Sam said.

It did kind of look like a place only the mob would run.

Exactly the kind of place I didn’t care to visit.

Just as the thought entered my mind we seemed to drop about twenty feet out of the sky. Kimber let out a shriek and I looked up to see the Devourer trying to regain the height that we lost. He fumbled through the sky a bit, unable to take us any higher and the ride feeling like we were on the most turbulent airline flight in the history of the world. My stomach leapt into my throat and I swallowed, trying to push it back.

“He’s too weak,” Riley yelled over his shoulder and then hunched over the dragon’s head. We continued to sputter through the sky, lower and lower until I thought we might crash into one of the high-rises.

Sam grabbed me around the waist, locking his arms, bracing us for the impact.

With one great last heave, the dragon managed to throw out his wings to propel us gently onto the ground. The four of us scrambled off him and I ran up to his head where he looked at me with apology in his eyes.

“It’s okay, big guy,” I said, stroking his neck. “It’s been a long day and we’re a heavy load.”

His breath was warm when he blew it out, fluttering the ends of my hair.

“What do we do now?” Kimber asked from behind.

“Keep searching. The souls might be close. We’ve come a pretty long way. Maybe they’re just beyond this Prince’s land,” I said, turning to really look where the dragon brought us down.

This place was even more over the top from the ground. You practically needed sunglasses with all the lights and bling.

“Well,” I said, trying to be positive, “at least we don’t need a flashlight.”

Riley snorted. “This place looks like Vegas vomit.”

“We should probably put some distance between us and these buildings. We don’t really want anyone wondering what we’re doing.” Sam cautioned.

“What about the Devourer?” I looked back at the dragon lying on the ground, looking exhausted and gray.

“We’ll come back for him. No one’s gonna mess with a soul eater,” Riley said.

“We’ll be back,” I told him, hoping he understood.

The four of us moved away, trying to avoid the brightest of lights. But it didn’t matter, because we’d already been seen.

We barely got anywhere before a black limousine pulled up in front of us, blocking our path. We all stopped as the door to the long ride opened and a man unfolded himself from the back seat.

“Are these the renegades I’ve been hearing whisperings of?” he asked before he was even fully out of the limo. “Tell me which one of you exploded Beelzebub’s castle and stole a Harley from Leviathan?” He sounded almost like he was pleased to see us.

We all stood there, staring, not saying a word. I mean, really, what was there to say when you crash-land in the middle of a mobster paradise and then are greeted by a man who looked like he was probably a pimp?

He was dressed in black slacks, black dress shoes that had been shined so much I was sure I would be able to see my reflection in them, a white dress shirt that was open halfway down his chest (gag) and about ten different gold chains hanging around his neck. He had gold earrings in both his ears, rings on almost all his fingers, and a pair of aviator sunglasses with diamonds on the sides over his eyes (did someone forget to tell him there was no sun here in hell?).

His head was shaved completely bald, but he had a goatee that was made up of black hair.

Sam and Riley immediately angled themselves in front of Kimber and me and I didn’t bother trying to move around them. I didn’t really care to have a front row seat of this guy’s fashion show.

“No one wants to admit to the fun they’ve been having?” he said when we all continued to be silent.

“Who are you?” Sam asked.

I peaked around Sam to see the man smile. “Asmodeus, Prince of Lust.”

“Well, that explains that,” Kimber muttered.

“Pleased to meet you. Now if you’ll excuse us, we were just passing through,” Riley said, and we all moved forward as one unit.

Asmodeus laughed like we made a really funny joke and then the sound fell away abruptly. “I’m afraid that I cannot allow you to just leave.”

Of course not. Nothing is ever easy.

“We weren’t really asking.” Riley growled.

“Yes, well, you can image my dilemma. All the damage you have caused around hell, well, it would just be irresponsible of me to let you go and just destroy my beautiful home.”

“We won’t destroy anything,” I said, stepping out around Sam. “You have our word.”

His eyes snapped to me the minute I revealed myself. “Well,” he said, looking me over, “aren’t you positively lust-worthy?”

Sam stiffened.

I smiled. “Thank you. I can assure you we won’t cause any problems. We’re on our way out.”

“To where?” he asked, not taking his eyes off me. I wanted to squirm under his gaze, but I forced myself to remain still.

“To…” My voice trailed away when I realized I had no good cover story.

“To a place that is none of your business.” Riley snapped.

Annoyance flashed in Asmodeus’s eyes. “You’re the one Leviathan wants, aren’t you?” he said, finally looking away from me and to Riley. “He said the one he was after had a mouth.”

Riley grinned.

This was about to turn ugly. We were wasting precious time that could be spent searching for the souls. The longer we were down here, the greater the chance more things could go wrong.

And then Kimber stepped around Riley.