Tirade (Heven and Hell #3)(75)
Author: Cambria Hebert

“I wanted to,” Sam began. Then he came to stand directly in front of me. “Beelzebub thinks you have a name, Heven, a name from the piece of the scroll that was destroyed.”

“But why would he think that?” I remembered when he demanded I tell him the name of the Soul Reaper. I shuddered. That person sounded creepy.

“Because Hecate told him you read it before it was destroyed.”

I had. My photographic memory stored that information in my brain automatically. But my photographic memory didn’t work that way. Sure, the information was there, but I didn’t know it. I would have to call the list up in my head and then look at it. “I might have seen that list, but I didn’t really see it.” I tried to explain to Sam.

“Could you recall the list, Heven? Could you see who is listed as this Soul Reaper?”

“Yes,” I said, my voice hoarse. Then I looked up at Sam. “Beelzebub will not rest until I give him that name.”

“Then give it to him.”

“What?” I said, shocked. I looked up into his whiskey-colored eyes and noted he was quite serious. “I can’t do that! I’ll pretty much be sealing that person’s death.”

“If you don’t, you’ll be sealing your death,” Sam said quietly.

“Maybe not,” I said.

Sam let out a frustrated breath. “He put a beast inside you, Heven. If we don’t get it out…” His words faded away until there was only silence between us.

“Airis told me every person on the Map was being protected now that Beelzebub read it. Maybe this Soul Reaper is safe.”

“She told you that?”

I nodded. “Right before she told me I wouldn’t see her again.”

“What if we find the Soul Reaper, tell him Beelzebub is looking for him? The person assigned to protect him can get him somewhere safe where Beelzebub can’t hurt him.”

“That’s a good idea,” I said as a wave of dizziness swept over me. I felt a sudden longing for hell.

“But first we have to get that thing out of you.”

“How?”

“Give Beelzebub a name. Make one up. Tell him something to get that thing out of you. Then he can go looking for someone who doesn’t exist.”

“But when he figures out I lied…” He would kill me. We were trying to avoid that.

“There has to be a way to take him out of the equation,” Sam reasoned. “We can’t kill him, but there has to be a way to stop him, to keep him away.”

“What if we trapped him like he did you?”

Sam looked up. “It would have to be a strong trap.”

I nodded. “We could find my mother and all the other stolen souls and set them free. Gemma says if we do that then a lot of the princes’ power will be lost.”

“So it would weaken Beelzebub?” Sam asked hopefully.

I smiled, real hope blooming in me. It was a good feeling. “I think this is what I was meant to do all along, Sam. We can’t destroy hell, but we can take away a lot of its power.”

“And then you would be safe.” There was genuine relief and longing in his voice.

“We would all be safe,” I corrected.

“Now all we need is a way to trap Beelzebub.”

From the bottom of the stairs, Logan called my name. “We’re supposed to have cookies.”

Sam smiled. “I heard. Thank you for understanding, for forgiving him.” He reached out and cupped my face in his palms. “You feel warm.” He frowned.

“Logan is my family. Of course I would forgive him. I’m warm because I’m happy.” I leaned up and kissed him.

I hoped the feeling lasted.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Heven

My feeling of happiness didn’t last very long at all. I felt like death. And because I had already died once and come close to dying several other times, I could say this with absolute knowledge. If I didn’t get this thing out of me soon, it was going to tear me apart from the inside out until I was nothing but a damaged shell.

Last night was so wonderful. We watched movies, ate cookies and drank soda. Sam and I held hands beneath the blanket and butterflies danced in my belly when he kissed me. It was everything we never got to have, and for the first time in forever I relaxed. I forgot about everything swirling around us and just focused on the present.

When I lay down to sleep, I wasn’t feeling as great physically as I was mentally. Every time I closed my eyes visions of hell overwhelmed me. The back of my head began to squeeze and I was terribly afraid that meant Beelzebub was planning on terrifying me in my sleep. I thought that maybe since he unleashed this thing inside me, he would leave me alone.

I should have known better.

If I had been scared to sleep before (for fear that whatever was inside me would drag me back to its lair), I was downright terrified now. Because of our Mindbond, I couldn’t fool Sam. He could feel my fear so I told him what was going on. He spent the rest of the night sitting vigilant, hunched over me while I lay huddled beneath the blankets, shaking in pain and forcing myself to stay awake.

Just before the sun started to rise, I began throwing up. I felt like the beast was using my stomach as a punching bag, and unfortunately, all the cookies and soda weren’t welcome. After the fourth time of running into the bathroom, I didn’t have the energy to walk back into my bedroom so instead, I lay on the cold tile floor and prayed it would stop. To make things worse, Sam couldn’t be in the bathroom with me because Gran kept coming in to make sure I was okay.

I had to keep a blanket wrapped around me even though I was burning up because I was positive I had new claw marks on my skin. I hadn’t yet looked, but I could feel them burning and stinging every time I moved. I was so exhausted from puking and lack of sleep that the hard floor began to feel comfortable and before I knew it, my eyes closed in surrender.

Hell was there waiting, calling out to me. It promised me relief from the pain. I found myself reaching out to it, wanting to be there. Then Beelzebub appeared, laughing.

“Give me the name.”

I told myself to wake up. I tried to get away.

“Does it hurt much? How anxious is that beast to get out? I promise you that this is nothing yet; your torment will get worse.”

I gasped as my eyes opened. The nightlight on the wall was bright and I squinted my eyes against it. I woke up. I got away. Then Sam was there, lifting me off the floor and carrying me back into my bedroom.

Gran will see you.