Tirade (Heven and Hell #3)(42)
Author: Cambria Hebert

His grin fell away. “Yeah.”

“I wouldn’t give up just yet, though.” He lifted an eyebrow and I smiled. “Kiss her like that a few more times and then see.”

He smiled smugly. “I’m the man.”

I threw a pillow at his head, but he caught it and tucked it beneath his neck, leaning back and crossing his ankles over one another. When he closed his eyes, I let my face fall. Cole’s happiness was important to me, but there were other things that took priority right now. I glanced at the clock. I couldn’t wait another hour. I would just tell Gran I was having dinner at Kimber’s as part of our ‘make-up’ sleepover. That would give me a few more hours to get Sam out of hell.

I picked up my cell and dialed Riley. He picked up on the first ring. “Can you be here now?” I asked without saying hello.

“On my way,” he said, then abruptly hung up. I closed the phone and looked at Cole who was staring at me with his big blue eyes. I tossed him my phone and it landed in the center of his chest. “Can you get Gemma here?”

He dialed, spoke briefly, then hung up. “She’s coming.”

Seconds later, she was crawling through my window. Her eyes went first to Cole and lingered there for a second longer than they had to. He didn’t change his position on the bed or even acknowledge her presence. But his aura did. It reached out to her and some of the magenta wrapped around her hand.

She looked at me. “Tonight, then?”

“Right now.” I picked up my still-packed bag and tossed it on the bed.

“Riley’s not coming?” Gemma asked, not looking at Cole when she talked.

“He’s on his way. He doesn’t travel at angel speed.” It looked like everything I needed was in the bag and ready to go.

“Do you really trust him?” Gemma asked.

I stopped and turned to stare at her. “Yeah, I do. Can you give me a definite reason not to?”

She sighed. “I didn’t tell,” she began, but her words were interrupted when Logan came into the room.

“Logan, you’re up. I glanced in your room earlier, but you were still sleeping. Are you feeling any better?”

He nodded, but in truth, he didn’t really look any better. I glanced at Gemma who was frowning. “Well that’s great!” I said, trying to add some pep in my voice.

“I heard you talking about Sam,” Logan said.

“We are leaving for hell as soon as Riley gets here.”

“Be careful, okay?”

“Of course. Sam will be here before you know it. He’s going to be thrilled to see you.”

He glanced at Cole and Gemma, then back at me and took a step closer. “I… uh… I appreciate everything you have done for me. Letting me stay here and stuff. I know I don’t deserve it.”

“Logan! Of course you do. You’ve been through so much. We’ve loved having you here.”

His face was pale when he said, “I hope you still feel that way once Sam gets home.”

“Of course I will. You’re always welcome here.”

He nodded. “I’m going to go back to my room now.”

“Next time you see me, Sam will be with me.”

He nodded and left the room. I looked at Cole and Gemma. “I’m worried about him.”

“He’ll be okay once Sam gets home,” Cole said.

“I hope so,” I said as Riley came through the window.

His dark hair was disheveled and he shoved it back, leaving it carelessly tasseled and perfect. His very dark eyes apprised me as he stood to his full height and leaned backward, cracking his lower back.

“Good, you’re here. Let’s go,” I said, grabbing my bag.

“Should we go over the plan?” Cole asked, getting up from the bed.

I shook my head. “The plan is simple: get Sam and get out.”

“My favorite type of plan,” Riley said.

I ignored Gemma’s frown. “Let’s meet at the portal. I’m going to go say bye to Gran. Cole, come with me since she knows you’re up here. You can offer to give me a ride to Kimber’s.”

Everyone sprang into action. Riley and Gemma went out the window and Cole and I went down the stairs. Butterflies danced in my ribcage. I was finally going to see Sam! I sobered a bit when I thought about what we were going to have to go through while we were down there. But it didn’t matter.

I would do whatever it took to get Sam back, even if it meant stepping over that fine line between heaven and hell.

Chapter Thirteen

Heven

Riley led the way through the portal, and as soon as we hit the hard granite floor, we all began walking, with me leading the way. My photographic memory was the perfect map, showing me which way to go and never leading me wrong. As I turned and walked, the landscape around us remained the same: drab, depressing and colorless.

Riley fell into step beside. “How do you know where you’re going?”

I tapped my forehead and immediately felt a wave of homesickness for Sam. The small act made me think of all the times he tapped my head to reassure me we were never far apart. “I have a photographic memory,” I explained. “I’ve been this way before.”

“Right,” he said, his gaze sliding around as his steps slowed ever so slightly. Riley might not have an aura, but that didn’t mean I hadn’t gotten better at reading people without it. He seemed hesitant to be here, almost nervous.

“Is something wrong?”

His eyes shot to me. “No.”

“If you’re worried—”

“Please. Do I look like the kind of guy who gets worried?” His tone reflected his usual cocky self.

Well, he had. But I let it go because a flowing, black sludge-filled river came into view. “That’s it,” I said, fishing for some sort of reaction, wondering if his nerves would resurface.

“Looks refreshing,” he said, his voice dry.

“You’ll have to be careful because demons swim around in it.”

“Yeah, I know,” he replied, then cleared his throat. “I can handle it.”

“How do you know? I thought you hadn’t been here before.”

“I haven’t. You must have told me during one of the many times you never shut up.”

His rudeness was supposed to distract me from the fact that what he was saying wasn’t right. I hadn’t told him about the demons in the water. I opened my mouth to retort, but I lost my thought because he stripped off his shirt and stuffed it into my hands. I tried not to look. Really, I did. But I couldn’t not look. I don’t think he had any body fat at all. Every muscle on him was defined and cut. His skin wasn’t as tan as Sam’s and looked smoother, cooler to the touch. He had a sprinkling of black hair on his solid chest that tapered down his navel to disappear into his jeans, which he started to unzip.