With a vehement curse, Azagar gestured at the circle, trying to break it. When nothing happened, he threw himself against the barrier, then fell away, his armor scorched in many places. As the words continued to hammer against the fiend, the other demons retreated, some climbing over others to escape the power of the sacramental. Through it all, the Prince sat on his throne, doing nothing to stop the exorcism.

  As Simon reached the final portion of the prayer, his voice rose, gaining even more strength, as if the entire Universe spoke through him. His body vibrating and his mind ablaze, he sent the sacred words against their enemy. Smaller demons perished around them, their death cries filling the chamber.

  And still, the Prince did nothing to stop him.

  “Come to me, the three mortals!” Azagar ordered.

  “They are free of you. They are safe now!” Simon called out. God, he prayed that was the case.

  When the boys didn’t instantly appear in chains at his feet, the demon bellowed again as more Hellspawn fled the chamber. “COME. TO. ME!”

  Sweat flowed down Simon’s face now, his fingers gripping his cross so tight they ached. It was as if only his strength of will was keeping the boys safe.

  With a furious bellow, Azagar leapt at the circle once again, his sword blazing in an attempt to destroy it. The instant he hit the sacred space his arm burst into bright blue flames, the armor and flesh melting away at the heat. The fiend staggered backward, screaming in agony, beating at the fire.

  “I will kill you!” he cried.

  “You will try,” Simon replied evenly.

  Once the flames were extinguished Azagar pointed at the circle. “Destroy it.” The fiends nearest them, the ones who owed him allegiance, backed away. “I order you to destroy it!” None of them obeyed.

  “Dude, your leadership skills suck,” Katia said, shaking her head.

  Lucifer agreed. “Enough,” he said. “This is pathetic. You are the best of my realm? I have seen worms more powerful than you.”

  With one final ear-splitting bellow, Azagar leapt at the circle, only to have it catapult him across the chamber where he landed in a burned heap.

  “Bring him to me.”

  Two of the biggest demons took hold of the Four, dragging him across the cavern floor to the feet of his master. Lucifer looked down at Azagar as if observing an insignificant insect. “You are the strongest in my realm?” The fiend whimpered in response. “Those you command have fled, they have abandoned you. They see you are nothing, Azagar, as do I.”

  Spitting black blood, the fiend struggled to his feet, clutching his flame-ravaged arm to his chest. “I will defeat them all. I cannot fail!”

  “Of course, you’ll fail. You never had a chance. Your hubris was mightier than your cunning. That was your first mistake, the first of many. Be off with you.” The Four abruptly disappeared.

  Now that the exorcism had ended, smaller Hellspawn began to creep out of niches and from under rocks. Some glowered or hissed at the intruders, others seemed pleased that Azagar was gone. There were even a few cheers.

  That celebration abruptly ended when the Prince rose from his throne, sword in hand. His expression gave no hint of what would happen next as he slowly walked toward the circle.

  “Simon? What do we do?” Katia whispered, moving closer to him now.

  “Nothing. It is no longer in our hands.” As it had been since the moment they’d arrived in Hell.

  Lucifer paused at roughly the same spot where Azagar had once stood, close enough for Simon to study him. He might be considered handsome if you didn’t know him and his reign of terror. The Fallen’s black hair held some silver. Those dark blue, bottomless eyes were impossible to ignore. One of Heaven’s Divines until he wasn’t. What kind of angel decided to rebel against the Almighty? And why him, of all of God’s creations?

  “Because I was the only one willing to risk it all,” Lucifer replied.

  Once again, he’d heard Simon’s thoughts. “Yet other Divines followed you into exile.”

  “They did, and in so doing they learned what that meant once they were here. And now you are here as well.” Lucifer studied him thoughtfully. “I have watched you for many years, Simon Michael David Adler. You do not cower in fear even though you are in my realm.” He cocked his head. “Why is that?”

  “You may rule in Hell, but I am of the Light.” He looked over at Katia. “We are of the Light. We have no place in your world.”

  Lucifer walked around the perimeter of their sacred circle, assessing it. “No, you don’t, at least not yet. Someday, perhaps you will.”

  “We have won against Azagar. The boys’ souls are free.”

  “Azagar was stupid and you exploited that weakness.”

  “And yet, we still defeated him.”

  The Prince sighed. “So, you did.” A furious growl came from inside Simon’s trapping bag, signaling that Azagar was now imprisoned inside the metal box.

  “The fiend is your problem, not mine. Ensure that he troubles me no more or I will collect those three mortals’ souls as payment for your failure, and both of your souls as well. Do you understand?”

  “I will not bargain with you,” Simon replied. That was what had gotten them here in the first place. “Azagar failed. Those souls are free no matter what.”

  Lucifer sent him a searing glare, one that almost made him fall to his knees and beg for his life. Such was the power of the Prince.

  “You have bargained with me for a lot longer than you know. The demon must be destroyed by you, do you understand?”

  “Simon . . . ” Katia began in warning.

  If they wanted to leave this place alive, he had no choice but to agree, though it grated against his very soul. “I will destroy the fiend.”

  “Then depart, for I have no further time to waste on this matter.”

  With a dismissive wave of the Prince’s hand, and a legion of demons shouting their derisive farewell, the blackness descended once again.

  TWENTY

  The furious howling continued. Where they still in Hell? Would they be able to find their way out?

  “Simon?”

  Riley’s voice seemed to come from a great distance. Was she down there with them? No.

  The spawn of Hell kept up their complaints as Simon slowly became aware of something fuzzy touching his nose. Something fuzzy with brown and cream stripes. His eyes were taking their time to focus properly, so he blinked to help them along.

  Carpet? Hell’s was molten lava, so he was nose deep in some place that wasn’t Lucifer’s living room. That perverse thought made him chuckle.

  The effort it took to raise his head felt nearly impossible, but he did it. Katia was by his side, on her knees, staring at him in complete bewilderment, the tracks of her dried tears still visible. Riley paced outside the protective circle, which had miraculously remained in force during their trip to the Pit, and back.

  “The boys . . . ” he began. Then he saw them, all three, huddled near Serrah the angel inside their own circle of protection.

  “You did it?” Riley asked.

  Simon slowly nodded, as sheer astonishment flooded him.

  “They did it!” she called out, a broad smile blooming. “They really did it!”

  Beck hooted and shot a fist in the air. “Way to go!”

  “Hot damn, do you guys rock or what?” Jackson said from somewhere behind them.

  A menacing growl came from the trapping bag. Azagar. Simon ignored it. Instead, he pushed himself up to his knees, took a deep breath, and then whispered, “All Glory to God.” He crossed himself and added, “Thank you for Your mercy.”

  Katia. He turned to her. “Your brother—”

  Tears rolled down her cheeks, falling onto her shirt. Her hair was tangled and her body hunched.

  “He’s gone. I could have done what that damned fiend wanted, but Kevin still would have died. It’s, it’s not—oh God.”

  Tears began to fall harder now, and Simon reached out to hold her as her body heaved in grief. He had no idea what to say, how to comfort her. She had chosen him, and the boys, over her own brother. As she wept, something vibrated between them, followed by a ringing sound. It took him a moment to realize what it was.

  “Is that your phone?”

  Blinking away tears, she pulled away from him to check, then removed it from her belt. After a swipe, an image appeared on the screen. She stared at it for a few seconds, then her mouth dropped open.

  Shoving the phone at Simon, she cried, “He’s alive! He’s awake!”

  The image was of the same young man he’d seen earlier, except this time Kevin’s eyes were open. It was who was standing next to him that caused Simon to laugh in sheer joy, a figure with wings and a stern expression.

  While they’d been in Hell, Ori had gone to Kansas to protect Katia’s brother.

  She reclaimed the phone, hugging it like it was the most priceless thing in the whole world. When tears fell on the screen, she wiped them away. “My brother is alive. He’s alive!”

  Outside their circle, the other trappers celebrated Katia’s good news with big smiles and cheers. The only one who wasn’t in on that celebration was Serrah as she continued to talk to the boys. Simon swore he could feel her healing energy from across the room.

  Katia blinked over at him, then wiped away more tears. “If I had to go to Hell with someone, I’m thankful it was with you. But only once. No more of that crap, you understand?”

  “Only once,” he replied, praying that was the case. “You were incredible, Katia. You stood up to that fiend and you recited the prayers right along with me. You know a lot more Latin than you said. Why didn’t you tell me?”

  She shook her head. “No, I don’t.”

  “You did down there.” He hesitated, then for some reason his eyes moved to Serrah again. She nodded at both of them before turning back to the boys.

  “It was her, wasn’t it?” Katia asked in a near whisper.

  “Looks like it. Heaven watched over all of us.”

  Behind them, Azagar growled again, reminding Simon of just how much he hated the damned thing. It was a visceral hate, one that could have easily seen him killing the fiend now, rather than hauling it all the way to the monastery. The anger didn’t surface that often, but when it did it was hard to control. He’d never been that way before that night at the Tabernacle.

  “Leave the demon inside the circle for now.” Katia gave him a puzzled look but didn’t argue.

  Once they were free of the glowing space, Simon received a fierce hug from Riley and a solid back slap from Beck. Katia got hugs from both. The snarls he’d heard came not only from Azagar, but from two bait boxes along the far wall, the trappers’ low-tech way to secure Grade Four demons. Once they were inside, the special witchy charms attached to the boxes kept the Hellspawn imprisoned.

  “You guys had some trouble?” he asked.

  Riley nodded. “I put the boys inside a circle in case . . . ”

  In case neither he nor Katia survived. Though still pale and frightened, the teens seemed to be responding to the angel. Jackson was on his phone, and as he spoke, he gestured toward one of the boys, then nodded.

  “They were camping out this weekend, just the three of them. One minute they’re roasting hot dogs and swapping stories and then this big demon carries them off,” Riley said. “Jackson’s calling the parents. The families were freaking because the kids’ phones were all going to voicemail.”

  Simon nodded, then glanced back at the bag inside the circle. Azagar had fallen silent again, but he could still feel the demon’s presence. Riley gave him a smile and then headed toward Katia.

  “You know, if I was you,” Beck began, “I’d be a whole lot happier about survivin’ Hell than yer actin’. That tells me you think somethin’ isn’t right. Care to share what that might be?”

  Fortunately, Riley had gone over to talk to Katia at this point. “You sound just like Stewart, you know that? Well, except you don’t have a Scottish accent.”

  “My lovely wife would agree with you.”

  Beck waited him out.

  “The circle held while we were down there.” To anyone else Simon might need to explain what Hell was like, but not to this man. “Azagar threw himself against it a few times, but couldn’t get through. He ordered his lesser fiends to attack us—didn’t work—and he tried a few mind games.” Simon shook his head at the memory. “Lucifer just sat on his throne and did nothing.”

  “I thought the Mezmer was more powerful than that.”

  “Me too. We were surrounded by hundreds, maybe thousands of demons, and we should have had to fight our way out of there. Even if he couldn’t break it, Lucifer could have trapped us in that circle for eternity. It’s not like someone was going to deliver us a pizza when we got hungry. But none of that happened.”

  “You think somethin’ else is goin’ on?”

  Simon reluctantly nodded. “Maybe I’m just paranoid, but before we were sent back here Lucifer insisted that I had to destroy Azagar, and if I didn’t then all our souls are his, the kids’ too. I honestly think the fiend was just a part of something way bigger.”

  The grand master rubbed a hand across his face. “You want me to go with you to the monastery? Ride shotgun?”

  He really appreciated the offer, but Simon shook his head. “No, we’ll do it. I don’t want the Prince to claim we didn’t honor his infernal bargain. I had no choice but to agree or we wouldn’t have been allowed to leave Hell.”

  “He really is a total bastard,” Beck said, shaking his head in dismay. “Okay, then let us know when you get the deed done so we can stop worryin’. Because have no doubt, we’ll be doin’ just that.”

  “I will. God, I just want this night to be over.”

  “Same here.” Beck gave him a less aggressive pat on the back and went to join Jackson.

  Simon looked back at his trapping bag and the outline of the box within. Once again, the Prince had maneuvered them into playing his infernal game.

  As Simon talked to Grand Master Beck, Katia’s phone rang. The area code was from and her heart double beat. “Hello?”

  “Kat? It’s . . . it’s . . . Kev,” a gravelly voice said.

  “Kevin!” she cried, then nearly choked on all the emotions tearing through her. She’d prayed for this day and now it was here.

  “The angel said . . . ” There was a lengthy pause while he cleared his throat. “I can’t mess . . . with demons . . . anymore.”

  “You listen to that angel. He’s really wise, okay?”

  “I will. You come . . . see me?”

  Her heart broke. He had no idea she’d left town.

  “I’m not in Lawrence, bro. I’m in Atlanta now. Mom and Dad, well, Mom was really angry about what happened to you. She thought it was because I was a trapper.”

  “Not your fault,” her brother said, his voice remarkably strong for someone who’d been in a coma for so long. Was that because of Ori?

  “They needed someone to blame.”

  “Then blame . . . me.” He cleared his throat again which led to a very long yawn. “Call me . . . tomorrow?”

  “I will. Love you, Kev. Welcome back!”

  There was a muttered “Love you” in return. She spent the next few minutes talking to a night nurse who wasn’t buying her brother’s claim that an angel had woken him.

  “Probably a dream,” the woman suggested.

  “Yeah, probably a dream.”

  One named Ori. A Fallen. It hadn’t been one of Heaven’s angels who had saved her brother, and she would remember that until she drew her last breath.

  TWENTY-ONE

  Back home, Katia’s masters always handed Hellspawn over to a demon trafficker. In her opinion, that was the best part of the job: Grab up the fiend, drop it off, and that was that. It was even better if she actually got paid for that fiend.

  That same process also happened in Atlanta, unless the Hellspawn had been exorcised. Which meant, despite his obvious exhaustion, and still suffering from the wound on his calf, Simon insisted on driving to the monastery where Azagar would be destroyed. He claimed that traffic wouldn’t be bad, and since it was nearing midnight, he was right. Once in the car, Katia had reluctantly removed the amulet and the Badass Nun was no more. Maybe Mort would let her keep it.

  The metal box holding the Four had sat at Katia’s feet for the entire journey. Sort of like having a live hand grenade that did a lot of snarling and rattling of its prison.

  “What keeps that thing in there?” she finally asked because her mind kept screaming that very question.

  “The power of the crosses on the side of the box, as well as the prayers laid into the metalwork.”

  “Ever have one get out?”

  “No. I was told they can’t escape no matter what.”

  Then why did she feel on edge? “Simon?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Why didn’t the Prince just toast Azagar while we were in Hell? You know, to teach them all a lesson about dissing the boss? Why use us as the executioners?”

  His hands gripped the steering wheel tighter than necessary. “I don’t know.”

  The demon at her feet switched from growls to persuasion mode now.

  Katia Allyson Bremen. I can reward you beyond your imagination. Set me free and we will destroy the Prince together.

  She glowered at the box, barely resisting the temptation to give it a kick. “You sent a fiend to kill my brother. Did you forget that?”

  A mistake. The Prince made me angry. You can have anything you desire. You wish revenge on your master in Kansas? You shall have it. Set me free and we will rule in Hell—