Red Blooded

“But that explains it, right?” I said. “Neither Selene can survive with half a soul. When the demons make a clone, I bet they take the whole soul. But Selene’s immortality must have torn it in two somehow.” Her godhood had tried to save her. My bet was that Selene had been the first goddess to ever make a deal with Hell, and that the demons had had no idea a goddess couldn’t die.

Now they did.

Ray angled his nose in the air again, sensing something else. His head turned back and forth like a bloodhound on the scent. He leaped up and rushed over to the clone and lowered his mouth over hers and inhaled.

I rose and took a step back.

Tyler and Rourke gathered behind me and Lili stood off to the side, all of us waiting to see what would happen next.

After a moment Ray lifted his head up, his eyes cascading to full black as his incisors snapped down. His vampire and reaper sides together as one. It was a bit chilling to see. He was a formidable supernatural who was currently on a mission. And his mission was to save Selene. It was the unlikeliest scenario I would’ve ever guessed would happen during my trip to the Underworld.

My wolf howled in my mind, urging us to stop whatever him. I’m not getting involved, I told her. It’s not up to us any longer. If her immortality tried to save her soul, there has to be a damn good reason behind it. We’re going to have to wait this out. If she lives and comes back from this at full strength, out for revenge, we’ll deal with it then. My wolf clacked her jaws at my foolishness. I know you disagree, but eradicating a proposed threat is not the answer. Clearly something else going on here.

Ray staggered over to the real Selene, who had stopped struggling and appeared to be unconscious. Ray placed his lips over hers and blew.

Her chest heaved once, twice, and by the third time she coughed and sputtered, bringing her arms over her head. She blinked her eyes open as she gasped, recoiling away from Ray. “What are you doing? Get away from me!” She shoved him back hard enough for him to lose his balance.

He thumped onto his backside and took in a few breaths of his own, resting his elbows on his knees, clearly worn out from his efforts. “Lady, I just saved your life,” he panted. “Don’t ask me how it happened, because by all rights that piece of your soul shouldn’t have lingered so long. But it did. And I wasn’t sure your body would take it back”—he paused—“but it did. I don’t know what the hell’s going on, but you have a powerful force working for you. And honestly, for the life of me, I have no idea why, because you’re a royal pain in the ass most of the time.” He rose, shaking his arms out. “And next time, a simple thank-you would suffice.”

Selene sat up, clearly bewildered.

I half expected her to start healing from all the previous demon torture immediately. But we all waited and nothing happened. Her hands flew to her hair and ran over her face. She leaped up and ran to a huge mirror mounted on a nearby wall. “It’s not working,” she wailed. “I feel more like myself, but my magic is not returning.”

I pushed my senses out to check for myself, but she was right, her signature hadn’t changed at all. I sighed. “Why don’t you give it more than seven seconds. You just got your soul back together and it may need some time to mend before anything starts regenerating.” I cleared my throat to put emphasis on the next part. “But I’m warning you, Selene, if your magic does come back, and you decide to pick up where you left off back at the arena, I will not hesitate to have Ray suck your soul right back out like that.” I snapped my fingers. “And once he does, it’s all over for good.”

She glared at me in the mirror, but kept her mouth shut. I took that as her accepting my mandate. At least for a few minutes.

I turned and addressed Lili, saying, “How long before you can get word to the Princess?” I was bone-tired, but there was no time to rest. “We need to let her know what’s going on. We will aid her, and once we do that, we leave this world behind for good.”

“The Prince will likely be by the Princess’s side for the rest of the day, as our rules dictate. Once she dismisses him, he will call a meeting with the Council of High Demon Lords to figure out what is to be done about you. He will not come back to his quarters until daybreak. Demons need very little sleep, so we do not use our homes like you do.” Her voice held a wistful note. “But I have the Princess’s private number and will try it now.”

Rourke stood next to me. “Where does the Prince keep his important information, demoness?” We were all standing in a foyer of sorts. It had tall, vaulted ceilings and was very clean. There were very few personal items scattered about, save some knickknacks on various tables. Some of the items looked as though they’d been collected from different planes, set around to remind the Prince of his travels.

My eyes narrowed for a moment as I spotted something perched on the table under the mirror where Selene had just stood. “Is that a shrunken head?” I pointed to what looked like a withered pygmy head. “From our plane?”

“Yes,” Lili replied, not even bothering to glance where I gestured. “Before he was the Prince of Hell, and was only a high-ranking demon, he was summoned to your plane often, by many. He brought back… a souvenir each time.”

“That head doesn’t look like it was given freely.”

She shook her head. “No, unfortunately for some summoners, most of his trinkets were not. The Prince has always been a very fierce, very proud demon. He was meant to rule, not to be called upon like a slave.” She turned abruptly and started walking through an entryway. “His personal rooms are this way.”

We all followed, including a pensive Selene, who kept running her hands over her hair and face, hoping for a miracle. Keep an eye on her, I told my wolf. I want to know if she suddenly generates a lot of power. My wolf gave me a “no shit” look and shook her head. Well, lately we’ve been on opposite sides of the argument. I’m just trying to keep it real. She huffed at me and turned her back. My wolf was such a good sport.

We strode through a huge living area decorated in straight lines and smooth textures. There were several long black couches made out of some kind of demon material. It was all very orderly. I didn’t see a kitchen or any place to prepare food. “Where does the Prince eat?” I asked, thinking about the horrid gazebos. I knew for a fact that the Prince of Hell did not eat with the common demons.