My chest swelled with pride, and I felt the presence of my brothers and their Reapers behind us—a united brotherhood.
“Exorcist?”
“With pleasure,” he responded, using his unique talent.
A cry of horror left John’s lips, followed by a scream. His body seized, lifting off the ground. His feet dangled in the air as I held him there, awaiting Exorcist. If he wanted to play a little, we would.
“What are your crimes?” he asked, staring at John.
“N-none,” he stuttered.
Wrong.
John’s mouth opened in a cry of terror as his soul ripped from his body, appearing next to him in a filmy ghost-like apparition.
Onyx, foul-smelling tendrils circled his body as a shadow hovered around him. Proof of his evil spirit.
The meal Lucifer always enjoyed in Hell.
“Tell the truth!” I roared, forcing him to speak. One of my many talents, I could bring his sins before his eyes as clear as a movie reel. He’d see it all, experience it from the point of view of his victims, and feel every bit of their pain.
That pain, thatchaos, it surged inside his soul, twisting and burning, rotting him from the inside out.
Skyla watched as he finally confessed the truth.
“I slept with my daughter, but she’s not my blood,” he gritted out. “I took her as payment. She was always meant to be my slave, and I let anyone who wanted fuck her. The Russians agreed as payment for my help covering up the abducted woman in central Nevada.”
I felt he still held one more secret. “And?”
“I had your woman killed for murdering my son.”
Agony punched me in the chest. I should have realized it sooner.An eye for an eye.Cindi for Bowie.
“You’ll pay in Hell for that.”
Skyla clenched her fists. “I hope you rot in Hell for all eternity and the devil feasts on your bones every single night. There’s not enough pain in the universe to match what you’ve inflicted on others.”
His eyes grew round, nearly popping out of his head as his body in human form began to swell. I knew what was coming and began to laugh. This sick fucker was going to regret all the choices he made in life.
A loud pulse shook the air, and his body combusted, breaking apart into hundreds of tiny pieces that flared to life, bursting into flame before burning fully to ash. The charred remnants sank into the earth, sinking into the soil.
Somewhere close, riding on the current of the wind, Lucifer’s macabre laughter joined us.
Horrified, John’s soul watched the destruction, wailing as it tried to break free from the hold Exorcist and I had on him.
No fucking way, asshole.
The ground began to shake beneath our feet, and I scooped up Skyla, holding her against my chest as we dangled above the ground. Every Reaper in attendance came forward, joining in a circle, scythes ready.
A fissure broke through the sand, tearing the ground apart as pockets of steam hissed, the mist curling into the air while the fires of Hell raged below. Flames of Hellfire burst free, heating the air around us as we eagerly awaited John’s reaping.
“Welcome to hell, motherfucker,” I announced as Exorcist released his hold on the soul, and every scythe swiped in unison. Snarls and laughter from my brothers were sweet, demented music to my Reaper. What remained of John Mitchell’s spirit began to spin in the air, swirling into a funnel sucked down below our feet.
Skyla spit on the last loose portion, the piece disappearing as the ground suddenly closed. The fissure closed, leaving no trace of its previous existence. No one would know what happened to the senator except for those who reveled in his death.
My feet touched the ground as I tilted Skyla’s chin up, lowering my lips to claim hers in a kiss that I felt all the way to my bones.
“Vengeance is always sweet, my precious, but even more so when it heals someone you love.”