To Hell and Back Read online

  "Shh, come to my library," Sunny whispered. "I knew you'd come again. And I've been such a bad girl – I bought a new flogger. This one has little beads on it and I heard it's much better than my last one." She tugged on his arm again.

  "Don't touch me, woman," he growled. "I'm here to speak to your husband. Wake him up. Now!"

  "But we can't. If he finds out about us, he'll divorce me and I'll be a laughing stock. A marriage that only lasted a few months! I'll never be on reality TV again if that happens!" she wailed, falling to her knees. "Fuck me first. Then wake my husband up."

  Luce stared down in disgust. "No. I'm here for business, not…that."

  Footsteps approached and a switch clicked, flooding the reception room with light. A loud male voice barked something that Luce didn't understand.

  Sunny stammered a reply in her irritating little-girl voice.

  "Who are you?" Mr Han boomed.

  "Luce Iblis, CEO of the HELL Corporation," he said smoothly, extending a hand as he approached the man. Mr Han ignored it. "We met at a reception here earlier in the week."

  "What are you doing in my house after midnight?"

  Luce looked him in the eye. "Why don't you ask your cheating wife that, Mr Han? She invited me in." He couldn't lie, but this at least was true. He hoped the man would take the hint.

  "He said he was here on important business!" Sunny insisted.

  Both men stared at the skinny, scantily-clad girl lying on the floor. "So why are you nearly naked, then?" Mr Han asked. Luce knew the look of a man trying to hide his lust – he'd done it himself often enough. Now, all he was trying to hide was nausea.

  "Show him the video," Luce ordered, leading the way to the woman's licentious library. "I know you took one. Show him that the reason you're not sleeping with him is because you prefer to fuck other men on your desk." Sunny's face clouded with anger. "I said show him!" Luce roared.

  She skittered around to her tablet and flicked it on, chewing on an intricately painted fingernail as she waited for it to boot. A few swipes of her finger and she thrust the device at Mr Han. "There! See what a truly powerful man can do!" she screeched at her husband.

  As her recorded voice started yelping, Luce felt bile rising in his throat. He didn't want to hear it again – once was enough. And the memory was nicely faded – had Keiko's mind tricks helped with that, too? Maybe he'd thank her for it when he got back. He pulled a business card out of his pocket. "You're causing a political incident for a woman who doesn't love you and openly mocks you in your own house. I don't think she's worth lighting a cheap birthday candle for, let alone a nuclear pyre to consume an entire island. If you want to speak to me again, here's my card. I don't need to see this. This is a private matter between you and your cheap whore of a wife." He turned on his heel and headed for the front door.

  "How dare you!" Sunny shrieked, tackling from behind. But even throwing her entire weight at him didn't do much, so she tried again.

  Luce kept going until he reached the steps and his shoes. He didn't want to stay long enough to put them on – he'd rather walk barefoot. Sighing, he reached down to yank off one sock, then the other.

  "I'll never let you fuck me again!" she screeched.

  Luce turned his head so she could see his indifference. "Good."

  "Good? Good? HA! You'll never have a better woman than me!"

  "I have a better woman than you. A thousand…no, a million times better than you. The only reason I paid you any attention at all is because she wanted me to make sure you enjoyed your evening while she talked business with your husband."

  Shock turned Sunny's face white. She gaped like a goldfish for a few seconds before she snapped her mouth shut. "It's that blonde bitch, isn't it? Keiko's consultant. Well, if you're going to spoil my marriage, then I'll spoil any chance you ever had with her. I'll send her the video my husband's watching and we'll see how much she wants you when she knows you flogged another woman into submission and then forced her to have sex with you." She whipped her phone out of her pocket and started punching numbers.

  It was Luce's turn to stare in shock. If Mel saw the video, she'd leave him for sure. She wouldn't believe it was just an act, him doing what he'd done a hundred thousand times before, even if this last time had been for her. He'd made it look and sound real to get on Sunny's good side. He shouldn't have wasted his time. Mel would believe he'd returned to his demonic ways and she'd leave him, because she didn't do demons. Then he realised, "You don't have her number and she wouldn't give it to you, anyway. Not even your husband has it, because Mel wouldn't take him for a client." He grinned reflexively in relief.

  "Maybe not, but I have Keiko's number and she'll show her for me. Keiko is my friend."

  Luce's heart sank. If anyone hated him more than this bitch, it was mind-controlling Keiko. She'd show Mel for sure and laugh the whole time, too.

  "Do whatever you like." He walked out, hearing the door click closed behind him. Once the house was out of sight, he picked up the pace. He had to get back before Mel woke up and saw the video or…oh God. He'd lose her forever.

  As Mel watched Luce leave the Hans' house, she breathed a spiritual sigh of relief. For a moment, the streetlight outside brightened, then dimmed again: the only sign of her presence in her spirit form. At her full power, she could make a nuclear blast look like nothing, but Mel was tired and it showed. She hoped this would be the last night she'd need to walk the paths of the future for a while. This crisis hadn't come at a good time. She knew she was fading and if she didn't rest soon – either here or in Heaven – her soul would drop below the energy level she needed to maintain this body, and Heaven would be her only option. Her weakened soul would be powerless to resist Heaven's siren call – far stronger than anything Keiko could do – and that was as it should be. Better that Heaven drew souls home before they faded entirely.

  She felt another pull now, too: that of her soul's bond with Luce. Mel yearned to follow him home so she could embrace and congratulate him on his choice of actions tonight. She should have spotted that Sun-Hee's liking for Luce ran far deeper than a simple preference. Luce was recovering from Sun-Hee's onslaught, though – Mel had taken time and care to ensure that he did. Energy that perhaps some would say Mel should have saved for herself, in her depleted state, but Luce was too important to neglect. She loved him and he deserved all the help she could give him.

  Just a few minutes…and she could feel his arms around her body as he held her. Oh, so tempting…but no. Mel knew she had work to do. Once her task was complete, then she could enjoy an idyll with Luce in Koyane's house outside Kyoto. She just needed to know for sure that the future was clear and not the war she feared.

  Concentrating hard, Mel reached for the time strands of the present, tracing them into the infinite futures that could eventuate from this moment. What had appeared to be a spiderweb in a fog was now haloed in water droplets that glistened in the clear morning light. Ah, that one – the strand broader and brighter than the others. She hummed with laughter at her use of human words for a concept no human could understand. Now, all she had to do was follow it and investigate all of its branches to ensure that this path to war had been blocked, or at least rendered highly improbable.

  She felt the charged energy of dawn touch her body and knew her time was up. She'd checked most of the threads and she was almost certain everything was woven together in a more harmonious pattern now. Well, except in the Han household. That…was a sad case, but humans could make bad choices in anything, including love.

  She slid her way back into her body, sensing the sluggishness of her overworked soul. This time, she swore she'd rest. She'd enlist Luce's help and together they'd recover in Kyoto. She couldn't wait to show him the ancient hot spring she and Koyane had first discovered there. She suspected Koyane had spoken privately to the local Dynameis to ensure that earthquakes and volcanic activity wouldn't adversely affect the flow of the spring, but she'd never called him out about it. As f
ar as guilty pleasures went, this was about as benign as her penchant for tea.

  Although she was usually such a morning person, today, she was anything but. Her body didn't seem to want to respond and it was such an effort just to force her eyelids apart. Too much fussing, she chided herself. She should have only looked at the most likely futures and left it there, instead of traipsing through every tiny path of each infinitesimally small possibility to its eventual end. When she woke, she'd tell Luce and he'd laugh at her. But he'd help her recover, too, better than anyone else could. That's why she'd expended so much energy and let her soul become as drained as it had: she knew he'd be there to care for her. All she had to do was return to him and everything would be all right.

  Mel focussed on her body's breathing – usually the easiest way to assume control of it again. No more travelling far from her body until she'd recovered, she scolded herself, or she'd end up in Heaven and have to rebuild her body when she came home. She'd better warn Luce just in case, though. He hadn't taken it well the last time her body disintegrated outside Heaven's gates.

  Right. Time to wake and pack her things so they could leave for Kyoto. Maybe she'd even see Fujiyama on her train trip south. If the clouds and haze weren't hiding the summit, of course, which happened far too often in this highly industrialised country.

  Mel blinked, stretching slowly to stave off the stiffness of having slept so long. She became aware of the absence of Luce's arms and it was such a lonely feeling. She'd grown so used to sleeping in his embrace that the morning seemed cold without him. Ah, after such a worrying night, he was probably nursing a coffee in the kitchen, dreading the discussion that would follow Keiko's discovery of a video Mel never intended to watch. She knew more than enough about what Luce had done, for she'd seen his memories through the lens of his own disgust and self-loathing. He'd come so far from the demon he once was. If it wasn't such a condescending concept, she'd be proud of him for conquering the demon of his past.

  As for Mrs Han…Mel sighed as she rose and slipped on a robe. The woman would have slept with someone soon enough, she was that dissatisfied. Perhaps Luce had saved some poor human's soul from damnation by his sacrifice. Though given his experience, he'd probably spoiled the woman for anyone else.

  The kitchen was empty, so she busied herself making tea and toast. She hadn't had a coffee since leaving London and she was profoundly glad that she'd managed to avoid a caffeine addiction for so long, what with Luce's kindness in making a cup for her whenever he made one for himself. She never had the heart to refuse his offerings. She knew he was trying to be good, but sometimes the poor devil had no idea how to behave well in human or angelic society. It was a tribute to his heart, soul and fierce stubbornness that he persevered, though.

  Her sigh rippled the surface of her cup of tea, diffusing the steam until it vanished into the air. Mel had just taken her first mouthful of toast when Keiko breezed in, radiating contentment as she wished Mel good morning. The siren stopped to stare at Mel. "Mere-san, is that a bruise or is it just jam on your cheek?"

  Mel brushed at her cheek and her fingers came away sticky. "Plum jam, I think. Oops, I should be more careful." She headed for the sink to clean the stuff from her face, then returned to the table. "How are you feeling after last night, Keiko?"

  Keiko grinned. "Much better this morning, Mere-san. Koyane was right. You do work miracles." She laid the newspaper on the table. The picture on the front depicted two businessmen shaking hands, with a tired but smiling Koyane in the background.

  Mel lifted the paper so she could read it better. "Last night? Only a few hours ago! They sure moved fast. It's a wonder they didn't wait until morning. I bet rousing all those delegates from bed took some doing."

  Keiko shrugged. "I wouldn't know. Apparently, Mr Han insisted he'd had a change of heart. Koyane got the call while we were still at the karaoke bar that he was needed to witness the signing. It seems they'd already written several versions, in anticipation that some agreement would be formulated, so it was an easy matter of obtaining the relevant signatures and the islands are my people's again. I wonder what changed his mind."

  Mel raised her eyebrows as she dropped the newspaper. "I believe Mr Han had a falling out with his wife. Relinquishing the islands is his idea of revenge. So what are they called now? And which country owns them?"

  "Neither and both, same as before. The only agreement they reached is on who will police and regulate fishing there, and my company's project just gained the exclusive licence for the place. They can argue over the rocks all they want, but as long as I control the ocean and all that is in it, the islands and their waters will be safe."

  The oceans and all that was in it? Mel tried not to react to the girl's slip, but she suspected the siren wasn't a girl at all, not if she admitted to holding such power. The chance remark placed her as one of her people's elders.

  "Where's Lucifer this morning?" Keiko asked, scanning the kitchen as if she expected him to be hiding in a corner.

  It was Mel's turn to shrug. "I'm not sure. He was up earlier than me, so I haven't seen him yet today."

  "Good," the siren said, pulling out her phone. "I think I know why we've had so much trouble this week. Instead of charming Han Dong-Suk and Sun-Hee, he's been turning them hostile." She held the phone out to Mel. "Sun-Hee sent me this video of him. You shouldn't trust him, Mere-san."

  The sound of a small dog yelping, followed by Luce's emotionless voice delivering lines that he hated almost as much as he hated himself for saying them, broke her heart. She swiped the video message off and returned the phone to Keiko. "Thank you, but I don't need to see it. I know the gist of what Luce did and why. And I trust him just as much as he deserves." She rose and took her dishes to the sink to wash up.

  "Murielle-sama, have I done something to offend you? If I have, then I am deeply sorry," Keiko said, her voice suddenly quiet.

  Mel stacked her dishes neatly in the dryer. "No, I'm just worried about Luce." She reached for his soul and found nothing. She stretched further, but found her vision failing. Too weak. Mel grabbed the counter to stop herself from falling. She couldn't search for him like she normally would, so she decided to do things the human way. If he'd gone out, his shoes would be gone. A quick peep into the tiny entrance hall confirmed it. Luce's shoes weren't there. Well, it was daylight and he was hardly incapable of defending himself – he'd probably gone for a walk. Maybe to get more pastries before she woke up. Mel smiled. That would be so like Luce – sweetening her up before breaking his news about what he'd done last night.

  She headed up the stairs to get dressed for the day.

  It wasn't until she made the bed, rolling up the futons to keep them out of the way, that she found his note.

  Mel read it twice, took a deep breath, and checked the cupboard. Empty. Luce's clothes were gone. His luggage, too.

  Tears rolled down her cheeks.

  She fingered the letters that only a man who'd learned to write by carving them into stone would produce:

  I'm sorry I disappointed you.

  I've gone back to HELL where I belong.

  A light tap on the door made her lift her head.

  Koyane cleared his throat. "Mere-san, I wish to know whether you and Lucifer would prefer lunch bento from here, or from the shinkansen station. I'm sending Keiko to get some more manju, so I thought I'd ask her to…" He caught sight of her expression and his mouth hung open for a moment before he recollected himself. "What is wrong?"

  Mel swallowed. "It's Luce. He's gone home."

  Then she blacked out.

  It had taken both Keiko and Koyane to get Mel to the train station and settled in her first-class seat after Koyane had revived her. They seemed to hover beside her for the whole trip to Kyoto, and Mel was grateful for their care. She hadn't been this weak in a long time and she was afraid of exposing her true nature if she lost consciousness again.

  A taxi transported them from the station to Koyane's house, where s
he immediately retired to her room. Keiko brought her dinner and informed her that Koyane had offered the use of the hot springs and the miraculous cure they provided. Mel happily accepted, for she knew better than anyone that the stories of miracles were true.

  Mel closed her eyes as she lathered up the shower gel before smoothing it over her skin. Japanese communal bathing seemed the most natural thing in the world when she was here, though it was hardly communal when she had the empty bathhouse all to herself.

  "Mere-san, would you like me to wash your back?"

  Ah, not quite empty.

  Keiko's eager smile beamed at her beneath her cherry-coloured knot of hair. "It would be my pleasure, Mere-san."

  Mel shook her head slowly as she dipped her bowl into the steaming onsen water. "Thank you, Keiko, but I'm almost finished." She tipped the bowl and poured hot water down her back. Several cascades later, Mel rose from her crouch and stepped toward the murky pool.

  "If it is too hot for you, Mere-san, there is a cold tap over there." Keiko pointed with a long, scarlet fingernail.

  Mel laughed gently and submerged in the ancient, spring-fed pool. The heat permeated her very bones, releasing her tension and a blissful sigh.

  "If there is anything you wish for, you have only to name it and I will give it to you. Koyane, too." Keiko slid gracefully into the pool beside Mel. "You have the most exquisite breasts. I'm not surprised your muscle man stared at them so much."

  "My muscle man? Do you mean Luce?"

  Keiko nodded.

  "Why do you call him that?"

  The girl shrugged. "The muscles are his most prominent feature. He evidently thinks with one of them, for his mind is nothing to admire. His actions in Tokyo confirmed it." Keiko's eyes tightened with hurt, as if she'd known the betrayal of many men. Mel wondered how old the youthful-looking siren really was. She'd heard stories of sirens living for centuries. "You have enslaved him without needing the songs of my people. That implies a feeble mind. What use is such a one to you?"