Salvation (The Keepers of Hell Book 2) Read online

  Salvation

  ©copyright 2015, Danielle James

  Salvation is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are fiction. Any resemblance to any real person, place, or event is coincidental.

  Warning: Salvation contains explicit language, violence, and sex. It contains direct references to Heaven, Hell, Angels, Demons, and even God Himself, and not necessarily what is considered true and accepted. Some readers may be offended.

  A special thanks…

  I would like to thank my beta team for being on the ready to read each time I present them with a new book. Your opinions and input is invaluable and I cannot say thank you enough.

  I would like to thank Lisa for being available to unblock my brain whenever it needs it. I think she is just as responsible for this book as I am, although she would never take the credit. Therefore, I will thank her for editing for me and being my sounding board.

  Salvation

  By Danielle James

  Then…

  “You have worked hard and you shall have your reward,” the man told Ash. He closed his eyes and a slow smile spread across his beautiful face. Ash felt a tingling at his back, just between the shoulder blades, and then a sharp burn. “You are mine now, forevermore. You have proven yourself worthy of the position I grant to you this day,” the man continued. Ash tried to listen to each word, but the burning on his back was getting very intense. It was all he could do not to crumple over from it. “You shall lead where others have failed. You shall bring the wrongs of your predecessors to right. You shall reign beside me, not in the Kingdom of Heaven, but the Kingdom of Hell. You shall be the executioner of my judgment.”

  Ash felt his own head jerk up. What? The Kingdom of Hell? Did he just hear that right?

  “You did hear that right,” God answered for him. “And I have gifted you with all the power you will ever need to do the job right.”

  Ash had momentarily forgotten the pain in his back, which he now realized was gone. He jerked his head around and looked over his shoulder. He didn’t have to look hard. He had wings! Huge, shiny, sparkling, black as onyx, wings. In his mind, he thought for them to move and they obeyed without delay. The magnificent pair spread out from his back. They had to be at least ten feet across and as tall as he was. They shimmered with each slight movement, almost as if they were made of black liquid reflecting the sun. Ash had never seen anything so beautiful.

  “I, uh, I don’t know what to say,” Ash finally managed to mutter. What did one say when they were gifted with wings? Freaking. Wings, the likes of which any self-respecting angel would envy.

  “Say thank you,” He said.

  “Thank you,” Ash said sincerely. He wanted to tell Him that he was no good for this job, that he couldn’t do it. Why him? Surely, there were better prospects out there for the job. And what about Elizabeth? He had just triumphed over some serious evil. “Why me?” he asked aloud. “I was kind of hoping to have some kind of normal life. I was hoping to find Elizabeth and tell her the good news. Maybe celebrate a little?”

  “I have chosen you because you are strong enough. You are one of the most loving, honest people I ever created. You know the meaning of sacrifice. You know what it means to pay your penance.” God paused to search Ash’s face. “Would you refuse me this?”

  Ash’s mouth opened and closed a couple of times. He had envisioned his life playing out a million different ways, but none of them like this. He figured he would die at some point while battling a snarling demon, but definitely not leading them. But one does not argue with God, does one? No. Ash had committed enough sin for two lifetimes, and he was being given the opportunity to atone for that. And hell, he had wings! Ash shut his trap tight and willed the clouds from his head. “Lead Hell?” he asked.

  “Yes. I know you will do a fine job,” God said to him with a knowing smile.

  Ash turned to the man. “So you’re really Him?” he asked.

  “Yes, my son,” He answered. “And it is time for you to take your rightful place.”

  “Wait,” Ash said, grabbing Him by the elbow. He quickly released Him and apologized. “I’m sorry; I don’t know what got into me.”

  God smiled at him. “I assure you, it is quite all right. Now, what troubles you?”

  Ash didn’t want to say what was about to come out of his mouth. He didn’t want to, but he knew if he didn’t ask, things would always be dangerous. Elizabeth would never be safe. “I would ask something of you,” Ash began.

  God raised an expectant brow.

  “It’s Elizabeth.” Ash took a deep breath and steeled his courage. “I don’t want her to be a part of this life. I don’t want this for her. I want her to be happy and safe. I want her to be loved by someone who deserves her. I want her to be loved by someone who will be no danger to her and will hold her tight at night and love her with all the respect and happiness that she deserves.” Ash paused for a moment, doubting his courage, but finally continued. “I don’t want her to know me. I don’t want her to remember me or any of this.” He made an all-encompassing motion with his hand. He could already feel his heart breaking in his chest and had to choke back a sob. His heart was vehemently against the words that were about to leave his lips and it was making no secret of it. “And I don’t want to know her,” he finally added in a hoarse whisper.

  “Are you sure about this?” God asked him.

  Ash nodded. “As long as we know each other, we will never be able to stay away from each other. As long as Elizabeth is with me, she’ll always be in danger. This is the only way I know to keep her safe.”

  “As you wish,” God answered. “The truest of loves is the one that can let go.” He nodded once and then turned to walk away.

  Ash followed Him with a heavy heart, but no idea why he felt so empty.

  Now…

  The man’s stark white suit was in complete contrast to the dark red and black walls of the cavernous space of Hell. His inner light surrounded him, giving him a heavenly glow. All of Hell’s Keepers, the ones that oversaw the different sanctions of Hell, were gathered for a meeting. They weren’t really given a choice in the matter. What God wanted, He got. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

  “My children,” He said softly, but every ear heard His words. “There has been much to happen. The balance has been upset for too long. I have taken back my creations. The time of change is upon you, my will be done. The population on Earth has succeeded where others have failed. My child, my creation, Lucifer, is dead. In the wake of his loss, many of you have vied for his position, but I am taking Hell back. For too long this place has been allowed to run as Lucifer saw fit, but he ruled with anger and jealousy in his heart. He ruled with hate and sorrow. Now, Hell will be run as it was always meant to be, without corruption.”

  Murmurs and whispers spread throughout the cavern.

  “Hell is a necessity,” God continued. “As always, the punishment must fit the crime. Now, instead of being led by a fallen one with evil in his heart, you will be led by someone of my choosing. There will no longer be senseless killing for power or title in this place. You will be ruled by one who has proven himself worthy in my eyes. He will be fair and just, but don’t upset him too badly…he can be nasty.”

  A man appeared next to God. His short dark hair, dark eyes, and muscular body gave him the look of someone fitting for Hell’s throne. The long, black wings he sported on his back helped too. “He has earned his way to this seat and I trust him with the power it holds. He shall rule over you. You will grant him all the respect and authority due to him, as he is sanctioned by me.”

  All of the leaders fell to one knee in front of their new le
ader. He was nervous and still wasn’t too sure about this job God himself had given him, but he would do it. He would make God proud of him. A hand landed softly on his shoulder and words that were spoken to his heart rather than his ears came to him. “I am already proud of you.”

  Ash turned and looked over his shoulder to admire his wings once again. “Oh, I, um,” he started.

  God laughed. “They are truly some of my best work,” he offered. “The gift I give you is created in my love. They hold all the power you will ever need. Treat them well and they shall never fail you.” With that thought, he was gone, and Ash was left to admire his beautiful gift. He was a leader, an angel, and still, his heart was heavy. It was as if something was missing from his life, but he didn’t know what it was. Lele was going to be safe from now on. His parent’s murderer had been punished. He had a monumental task in front of him and he knew he would do his best, but he had a suspicion that the empty feeling in his heart wasn’t going to go away. He recognized it as loneliness. It was a part of his life that he had accepted long ago, and he knew it wasn’t about to change. However, this was different. He felt as if he were longing for something very specific, someone specific, however, he didn’t have a clue who or what; and that bothered him more than he cared to admit.

  CHAPTER ONE

  “Welcome to Hell, Sir,” a gnarly little man said to Ash. He dropped to one knee and bowed his head, and Ash could see the balding crown of the little thing’s head. “I am but your humble servant.” His joints were all twice the normal size for his small frame and the skin seemed to hang off his bones.

  Ash stared at the thing. He supposed at one point, it used to be a man. He wondered what this particular soul had done to land himself in Hell. And the whole bowing thing? That was just too much and was going to have to stop. Now. “Stand,” Ash said quietly. “You will no longer bow to me.”

  “I don’t understand,” the man said. “You are our king now. We must bow to you.”

  Ash shook his head. “I am no king. I am just your leader. The only person you will bow to from now on is God.”

  The little man rose shakily to his feet. “As you wish.”

  “What is your name?” Ash asked him.

  “Malicai,” he said.

  “Well, Mali,” Ash said with a sad smile, “how about we get started and you show me around?”

  The little man’s face lit up. Not only had his new leader asked for his help, but he had given him a nickname. That was already better than his previous employer. “It would be my honor,” he beamed. When he smiled, Ash saw that his teeth, what few he had, were rotted and falling apart. He resisted the urge to cringe.

  “Might as well get started,” Ash mumbled to no one in particular. He had been given a new job by the highest authority and he intended to do it to the best of his ability. On his many trips to Hell over his adult life, he had never wandered too far into it. He figured that if he was going to run it, he needed to see all of it.

  “Right this way,” Mali said, moving faster than Ash would have thought the little guy could. They walked through a dark corridor that twisted and turned several times. Ash palmed the amulet on his neck. It had been his way of transporting to and from Hell before he became a permanent resident. He hoped it would still work. He was nearly positive he was going to get lost, and that wouldn’t be a good thing. Not here. Not ever.

  Finally, after about ten minutes of walking, there was a light of sorts at the end of the tunnel. Ash steeled his will as they got closer. At the end of the corridor, the light was coming from a blazing fire. The same fire that he had seen when he had been shot and flat lined. His heart kicked up a notch or two. This was it. He was going to die.

  Or was he already dead? Dead men didn’t have heartbeats as far as he knew, and he sure as hell had one. It was thumping in his ears at a hundred miles an hour.

  “Do not fear the flames,” Mali told him. “They are just for show. They won’t hurt you.”

  Ash raised a skeptical brow. Those harmless flames sure felt hot. Hotter the closer they got to them. He watched as Mali walked right up to the flames and then into them. The little man just disappeared into the fire.

  “Well?” Mali’s voice asked. “Come on.”

  Ash took a deep breath. He forced his feet to move and stepped into the flames. He was surrounded by fiery orange and yellow light, but Mali had been right. It was hot, but he was unharmed. He walked further until the flames were behind him. In front of him was what looked like an ordinary elevator.

  “I hope you don’t mind, I already pushed the button,” Mali told him. Ash shook his head. It wasn’t as if he knew where he was going anyway.

  “Is that an elevator?” Ash asked him.

  “Yep. Sure beats taking the stairs,” Mali answered. An elevator. In Hell. And Stairs. Because… why wouldn’t there be?

  There was a ding and then the metal doors opened. Ash stepped in behind Mali. The top and sides were mirrored and for the first time, Ash got a good look at his wings. They moved as he did, flowing like black ink.

  “So where do you want to start?” Mali asked as the doors closed, shaking Ash out of his admiration.

  “I don’t know to be honest,” Ash told him. “I need to see it all.”

  “Ok, then,” the man said. “We can start at the top and work our way down.” He pushed the button for level one. Ash noticed that there were nine numbered buttons and one that just had an “O” on it.

  “What is on that floor?” Ash asked, pointing to the O.

  “Oh, that’s your office,” Mali said.

  “And the others?”

  “Well,” Mali turned to face Ash and looked up at him. “They really didn’t tell you anything, did they?”

  “No, not really,” Ash admitted.

  “Hell is constructed of ten levels. There is the administrative level where your office is and all the databases, plus your living quarters. Then there are levels one through nine. Each level houses a different breed of sinner and each one is unique to the crime committed.”

  “Like in Dante’s poem,” Ash mumbled.

  “Sort of,” Mali said. “You heard of the seven deadly sins?”

  “Yeah,” Ash said.

  “Well, seven levels are devoted to them. The other two are for murders and crimes against children.” Mali shook his head. “You’ll see.”

  Just then, the elevator dinged and the doors opened to a vast hallway. Ash thought it looked like an office waiting area. Hell was an office? Really?

  “Come,” Mali said, stepping out of the elevator.

  Ash followed him. They walked through the waiting area and came to a set of sturdy steel doors. There was an electrical panel on the wall beside them. “You gotta put your hand on the panel,” Mali told him. Ash did it. As soon as he placed his hand on the panel, there was a beep and then the doors clicked.

  “It’s palm recognition. Not just anyone can walk into each sanction,” Mali told him.

  “Right,” Ash said. He had to admit, Hell was far more hi-tech than he thought it would be. He pushed at the doors, which opened easily.

  Mali was on his right, and as soon as the doors were all the way open, he said, “This is Sloth.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  SLOTH

  Ash swallowed back the bile that threatened the back of his throat when he saw what was on the other side of the doors. It was as if he had stepped outside, but in a different world. The sky was black without a star to be seen, and the ground was dirt with sparse scatterings of grass and weeds. The weeds grew tall, but the trees had no leaves.

  On the ground, everywhere, were huge slugs. They lumbered in their movements, the slick slime their bodies produced doing nothing to aid in their journey. Ash had walked into the sanction before he realized it. He got close to one of the slug-things, only to realize that it had the face of a human woman.

  “What the fuck?” Ash grumbled out.

  “This is where the criminally lazy go after deat
h,” Mali told him. “These are the people who didn’t ever do anything for anyone, including themselves. Couch potatoes, Mamma’s boys, and chronic welfare people.”

  “I didn’t know welfare was a crime,” Ash said with a shake of his head.

  “It’s not,” Mali told him. “But for a person to believe they are entitled to it and never even try to provide for themselves or their families is. These are the people who wouldn’t get off their asses to save their own child from drowning.”

  “I see,” Ash said quietly. “And this is their punishment? To be a slug?”

  Mali chuckled. “Not exactly. Or rather, it isn’t the whole punishment. Let me see if I can get Rogue out here to talk to you.”

  “Who is Rogue?”

  “He is the Keeper of Sloth,” Mali said, as if Ash should have already known that bit of info. “Rogue!” he shouted into the realm, “Get your ass out here and meet our new leader!”

  There was a thunderous pounding of footsteps that got louder as he approached. Rogue was a huge, beast of a man. Ash had to will his feet to stay put, as the enormous man got closer. Rogue barreled at high speeds right for them, a huge cloud of dust kicking up in his wake.

  Just before he would have plowed into Ash and Mali, Rogue came to an instant halt mere inches from Ash. Immediately, the giant took a knee in front of Ash. Oh no, Ash thought, not again. He took a moment to look at the top of Rogue’s head, knowing he would likely never see it again. Rogue was bald on top, with skin that looked a bit like worn leather. It had a slightly brown tint to it. That wasn’t the interesting part. The pair of curled horns that sat atop either side of his head was. They were black as night and reminded Ash of ram horns.

  “It is an honor, my Liege,” Rogue said with his head bowed.

  Ash rolled his eyes. “Thanks, but please stand up. No bowing to me.”