Kim Harrison - Hotter Than Hell

He stared at her for a long time and she tried to imagine never looking into his golden eyes again. “The Realm of the Dead.”

Ericka caught her breath. In her research books that place was a version of Hell. Where one burned for eternity. “No.” She shook her head as she tried to unscramble her thoughts, attempting to remember more of her research. “Isn’t there another place, a good place? An—An—”

“Annwn.” He gently took her hand from his and eased off the bed as she sat and faced him. “But I have failed in my last mission and my fate does not lie there any longer.”

“Stay, Aedan.” Her whole body felt like she was going to shatter. “Stay with me.” She knew her words were crazy. He was a demon. A demon .

“I have grown to love you.” He stroked her cheek with his fingertips. “Thoughts of you will carry me through my destiny.”

Tears burned in her eyes and she felt like she had already started breaking apart. He moved away from her and she scrambled out of bed and tried to follow him. “Wait!” Panic laced her voice. “Isn’t there something we can do?”

Aedan gave her an intense look of longing before cupping her cheeks with his hands and brushing his lips over hers. He whispered, “I love you, Ericka.”

The unreality of it all made her mind spin. “Aedan, please!” She tried to grab his arm to stop him.

He vanished.

“No, no, no.” She held her palm over her mouth as tears burned her eyes and her body shook. “That can’t be it,” she said as she let her hand drop away. “I won’t let it!”

Ericka grabbed her robe that was draped over a chair. She wrapped herself in it before running to the living room straight for her mountain of research books. There had to be a way to save him.

Aedan knew the escorts would be waiting. Hideous demons wearing cloaks that rippled like fire. Aedan didn’t bother dressing himself with his thoughts. The clothing would simply burn away even though he would not.

Jett and Kyne stood to the side. Jett’s eyes were wide and fear was on her features. Kyne clenched his fist so tightly his muscles bunched. “Give him another chance.” Kyne’s voice had a rough edge to it as the guards took Aedan by his upper arms.

“I will miss you,” Aedan said to Jett and Kyne as the guards started to take him away. “May you find much happiness in Annwn when you should go.”

Jett choked back a sob. “Aedan, why? Why throw your life to the fires for a human?”

Aedan shook his head then stared forward as the guards escorted him from the Chamber of Veils.

During the long walk down the Hall of the Lost, Aedan’s heart grew heavier. He pushed aside his fear with thoughts of Ericka and smiled knowing she would be safe.

When they reached the doorway to the Realm of the Dead, heat blasted Aedan. He closed his eyes for a moment. He opened them before he and the demons stepped through the rock entryway and down steps leading to another archway. Flames singed his cheeks even before the guards pushed him into fire and lava.

Hours flew as Ericka flipped through pages of book after book after book that she had piled beside the couch. Something had to be here. Hadn’t she read or heard that an Incubus could be kept from facing such a horrible fate? Or was it merely her desperate desire to save him that made her imagine things that couldn’t be?

After Aedan left, she put on a pot of coffee and even had to brew another batch as she pored over the books. Her eyes burned, her vision swam, and she was so jittery she spilled a few drops of coffee onto her robe.

She set the cup down and picked up another book, held it in her palms, and stared at the worn cover. It was merely a book of very old tales of faeries, elves, demons, and other fables.

As she opened the book to the table of contents, she blinked the tiredness from her eyes. She glanced at the table of contents and noted the section on demon fables before rifling through the pages until she reached the first tale. Disappointment tore at her gut as she saw a picture of a stereotypical demon with a hideous face, horns, and a forked tail.

Ericka bit the inside of her cheek, trying for control. She didn’t have time for tears. She flipped the next page and the next. She came to an abrupt stop when a few words caught her eyes.

Annwn. Realm of the Dead.

Butterflies batted her belly and she forced herself to slow down and read the passages. Annwn a place of beauty, almost Heaven, but not quite. The Realm of the Dead—it was Hell.

The butterflies dropped like lead as she read descriptions of each place in the afterlife.

A section brought her to a complete stop.

Stolen souls are taken to the Realm of the Dead where they serve the god of Death.

Surprisingly, Incubae and Succubae do not face the fate of the Realm of the Dead unless they fail in the tasks set forth to them by the gods and goddesses.

The only known way for a demon to escape the Realm is for a human to voluntarily release half of his or her soul and offer it to the demon. By doing so, the human will bind himself or herself to the demon. Because the demon shares the human’s spiritual essence, the demon neither fails nor completes his assignment.

Ericka’s heart raced and she could barely breathe. Half of her soul. Was she willing to give that much to save Aedan?

She closed her eyes tight. Imagined all the times he’d come to her and the bond she’d felt between them. He had sacrificed his own future for hers.

Am I willing to do it for him?

Yes. Yes!

Ericka sucked in another breath and released it, her skin tingling from the magnitude of her decision. She slowed and read the ritual carefully. She no longer felt tired. Instead, her body buzzed with energy, and it wasn’t just the caffeine.

She’d need three white candles, a lock of her hair, and three flat, water-smoothed rocks. After she gathered all of her supplies, she’d need to make up some kind of rhyming chant that expressed her desire to share her soul with Aedan. That would be the hard part.

Still in her robe, she dashed out of the condo to the beach and combed the line of kelp for smooth rocks. The salty air was moist and humid and wind tugged at her robe as waves slapped the shore. Over and over in her mind she worked on the words for a chant.

The sun peeked over the horizon, the faint morning light just enough to see by. When she’d found the rocks, she hurried back into the condo and grabbed three candles from her bedroom, along with a black marker, a lighter, and a pair of scissors. Slightly out of breath from rushing, she knelt on the kitchen’s tiled floor as she snipped a lock of her hair, then lit the candles. She tossed the scissors aside, along with the lighter and they clattered across the floor.

She grabbed the marker. Her hand shook as she drew a circle on the kitchen tile, around herself and the items beside her.

Ericka eased onto her haunches and stared at the candles. The flames danced, almost mesmerizing her. She swallowed then picked up the lock of hair.

God, she hoped the chant would work.

As she draped a third of her hair over each flame, the strands hissed and curled as they caught fire. The smell of burning hair overpowered scents of the vanilla candles.

Her heart pounded in a harsh rhythm and she chanted as she placed the hair on the candle flames.

All my love and half my soul,

I give to Aedan the Incubae.

With that gift, I demand his return this day.

Free him now, to find his true fate.

Gods and goddesses, I claim him as my mate.

Forever halved, twins sharing a soul,

Heart to heart, we will both be whole.