In Darkness, Truth.

She rose, after the embrace. Her eyes fading back to the ink darkness, causing him to wonder if her fragile mental condition crumbled and they?d fight as they had before. He could feel her strength returning, and even though she was using him to stand, Greg found himself readying for another attack. There was more to him now, than the first time, and he knew it would be a battle he would regret.

?You ask who I was speaking to? I... I was speaking with our daughter, Truth.? It was her voice, not the growling of the Gabrielle, his Fae, Sidonie. His chosen, speaking of their daughter, lost in Hell.

At first he wanted to question her. Maybe one of her kind was playing a cruel trick, trying to entice her to lead the hunt again, run wild, away from society, become their weapon. Maybe someone had tracked her down, looking for him. Demons could talk without being seen. They could put the voice in her head, just as if they were talking over morning coffee. They could be using her to get to him, take him back, and make him pay. Greg studied her face, she wasn?t lying, and she wasn?t on the verge of a break down. She was telling the truth, she had talked to her daughter, their baby girl.

Daughter?

He?d seen her lose the child. The pain, the blood. The mental breakdown of a mother who had thought she had a dream life only to lose her heart bonded mate, and daughter within weeks of one another. The stress of losing him, he?d seen caused the loss of their child. He saw it all during his time in the pit... had they lied? Demons, lying? Surely not.

Greg was trying to be strong, not only for her to see and know he was there for her, but also for himself. Her mention of the child, and the realization that she was telling the truth, and had been speaking to her was enough to rock him nearly to the floor. It should be no surprise that his father would take the girl. He wanted her in the past, why not take her now that he?d made his escape? Thoughts flashed through his mind, wondering if her capture had been why his escape and time since had been so easy.

Hell.

She wasn?t going to Hell alone.

His daughter wasn?t going to stay there.

Greg wondered what would happen should he sacrifice himself to free them both. The mother would have the daughter, yet the lover would be alone. Would her mind hold up to losing him again, or would their daughter grow up with a shattered mother? He would think about that, when the time came. If they went against The Destroyer they could all wind up as prisoners, and he wasn't going to let that happen either.

Dark green eyes took a red glow, as he let the inside out.

?If she?s there, you aren?t going alone, and she won?t be there long.?

Sidonie watched him with that wondering what the plan would be. The Gabrielle of the Hunt visiting Hell with him was something that Spade had never expected to be part of her life. A lover with a child, a family, all of those things seemed strange for Spade to take into account.

"I wasn't planning on going alone."

Tourmaline depths flickered up to consider him once more, a flicker of a smile before she shook her head and looked away.

"Though I cannot help but feel strange to realize that I will be traveling to a place that is for those that are damned. What price is it that I would have to pay for merely being there to bring our child from those depths?"

A purse of lips before she looked back to him. If anything the hardships that Sidonie endured made her all the more insightful. She realized that she had done many things that could make her deserving of Hell. Her relationship with Truth after all could easily be viewed as something that would curse her to such darkness and despair. Hell would likely tear them apart.

Spade closed her eyes to draw in that uncontrollable sensation to shatter again emotionally and mentally.

"I don't want to risk losing everything for a bit of something. If we go there and this is all a ploy to destroy you... it would ruin me."

Sometimes she loathed the fact that she could not lie. Pushing fingers through her hair she turned to look at him as she steeled her resolve once more.

"Then let us get this over, love."

Ursef stared at the cell, and the body just outside the bars. Another of their kind had fallen to...her. The girl that would be chosen. The direct bloodline of The Destroyer, the daughter of a fae, and a half human male. She held no candle to himself, a true blood demon, yet she could have killed him, had Belphegor not intervened.

Long, dark fingers ran along the jagged edges of the scar she?d inflicted, using his own horn as a weapon, and found himself frowning. He had let his guard down, and that would not happen again. He straightened himself up, and started to walk toward the stairs that wound down to the cells, where she was kept.

?Going somewhere, Ursef?? Belphegor asked in an accusing tone.

Ursef stopped, and turned to face his superior, as he hadn?t expected to see him, let alone be stopped by him. ?Belphegor,? Ursef?s face split into a smile, before he bowed his head in greeting. ?I was just going to look for you.? He lied. ?I was going to report the child has killed another.?

?She would have killed two, had you followed through with your plan to go down and face her.? Belphegor laughed as he pushed past the smaller demon to peer down over the cells. Of all the creatures and people in the cells, she was the only one that held his attention. Everyone and everything else could be killed with but a thought, but this one, if he managed to kill her, he would be signing his own death warrant. He knew what The Destroyer was capable of, he?d fought in many battles with him at his side. If the girl had even a quarter of his power, he?d be foolish to make a move against her.

?She is not invincible,? Ursef spat. ?You heard her scream.?

?I?ve heard The Master scream, but that doesn?t mean I wish to make a move for his seat.? Belphegor said calmly as he watched the girl watch him. He could almost feel her in his mind before he backed away from the viewing overlook. ?She?s got his blood, you?d be best to remember that, else you find yourself like the others that have been dragged away to the Deepfire.?

Ursef himself had dragged some of the lesser to the Deepfire, and watched as their bodies incinerated in the hottest flames of hell. A pyre worthy of any great being, it was an honor for the fallen to be carried up the steps and cast into the inferno. ?When my time comes, it will NOT be at the hands of that child.? He turned and walked away, leaving his Superior fighting a rising smile.

?Keep thinking that, Ursef,? Belphegor smiled, before he realized he could still feel her in his mind. ?And you, young one... do not think me weak as those you?ve killed.? He closed his eyes and returned a spike of his power against her mental link and smiled as she cried out. ?You are not that strong, yet.?



Cloud Nine.

How could he explain where she was going? Hell seemed to be different for everyone that went there. But to those that were going in to get someone out, how would it be? He knew the answer was, it would be how they, the demons and the like wanted it to be.

?It?s nothing like you?ve ever seen. Even in the nights you laid, alone, picturing everything and fighting your own personal demons... crying for your losses, it?s more powerful than that. If they find a weakness, they will use it to their advantage, Sidonie.? Greg found himself pacing while he thought. The time in burning chains, sinking in molten rock, and other ways to keep him from moving as they tortured him with the visions of his love, and their child being lost, had made him into a pacer.

She mentioned not wanting to lose him, seeming to sense as he had it was a trap to get him back into the pit, back to his father, back in his place. ?You won?t lose me, but if it means sacrificing myself to be sure that you and the little one get out safely... that is a choice I will make then, please understand that...? He turned to watch her. She was just as beautiful as the day he met her, and she still made his heart swell.

?I want you to stay close, as I open the door. The Lesser won?t come close, but above that, they could be wanting to make a name for themselves.? He leaned to kiss her, a long, slow, passionate kiss. One that reminded him of the first night they had made love, the kind that made your vision blur. A real kiss, from a man in love with a woman he would die for. After lingering there, tasting every bit of her kiss, he looked down at her with glowing, red eyes.

?One last thing, I need your blades.?

Is our bite worse than our bark, or is it that bite that matters?

Trust me child, it is the bite. It is always the bite



The faintest curl of lips would stain the dark fae’s lips into a smile as she felt the mind bond fade away. The sensation of pain briefly seared through the center of her own being before the connection was severed, but it was not enough to leave Sidonie distraught. After all she was beginning to believe that their daughter was far stronger than many would expect.



To face and enter Hell. Spade could only imagine it was likely as bad or perhaps worse than the Unseelie court. The gods themselves knew that Sidonie had seen her share of the violent and despairing within the containment of her own court. The very awareness that she was the one destined for the throne of the Dark Court left her wondering of her worthiness. Was she truly as twisted and corrupt as the Court she was meant to lead?



More so… if she was to lead… would they follow?



The distance in the depths of tourmaline were a giveaway of just how lost in thought Sidonie was before Truth brought her back home. It seemed such an illusion, a frivolous bit of foolery to realize that she had called the store Cloud Nine. Cloud Nine indeed. Looking back, Spade was starting to wonder if maybe she was stripped of any promise of anything like Heaven.



The smile turned into a bitter smirk as she thought of her past since she had been in Rhy’din. Angels surely were not what they seemed anymore, and demons had become faithful friends and now, looking at Truth, so much more.



“My world is upside down.”



The words became muffled, silenced with Truth’s kiss. It wasn’t just reflection that had her world going topsy turvy and twisted into ribbons of faith and loss, hope and despair.



It was in that moment and through that kiss that she was awakened and reminded of everything between them. All that had been shared. Everything worth dying for.



Spade’s smile broadened into something vibrant and lively. A spark of a vision of the fun-loving woman she once had been. That vibrant spark reached her eyes before the tourmalines widened in surprise by his request. Fingers instinctively and protectively fell to rest upon the hilts of the twin blades she possessed.



“The blades… why ever would you need them now?”

The smile, the vibrant and lively smile that the kiss had caused made him smile, though his visage was far from anything friendly. The normal Jade of his eyes had turned into a Ruby red, back lit with fire from the pit. His flesh seemed smoked, as if he?d stood too close to a roaring fire, or had been held above it. His arms seemed to move with something underneath the flesh, causing the veins and muscles to bulge at different times.

His thoughts flashed back to when he?d first met her. He was a stranger in a strange land. He thought he was nothing more than a hunter, an ex priest who had nothing to show for his life, except a flock he left with nothing but misunderstood reasons as to why he had to retired. The bar they?d met in, talked in, and he felt like a priest at times then as well. He would listen, she would talk. He met her friends, made some of his own, but he found himself spending more and more time with her, and that he was enjoying that time. The night he moved in to kiss her, hoping that she didn?t have anyone, or want another, he knew. He knew that he?d found his mate, and that nothing would come between them, until everything else he thought he?d known, came undone.

Demons showed up, one in particular, and turned his world upside down, and was intent on making him, her Truth, the next great destroyer of worlds.


?Things have changed, and after we get our daughter, we?ve got a lot to discuss Sidonie, but I need you to trust me with the blades, you will get them back.? He moved closer, and reached for her hands, hoping that she didn?t pull away from him. ?I want to be sure that you are fighting fire...with fire.?

Fire with Fire. The words seared through her mind even as Sidonie watched the change come over his eyes. The heat seemed tangible as if Truth himself possessed hellfire and brimstone within the center of his own being. Damnation brewing beneath the flesh. In his arms she instinctively took a step back as the Black Dog of her own spirit went into overdrive.



A low growl was issued into a hushed warning as the tourmaline of her eyes were painted in the oil black of the Gabrielle. The tilt of Spade?s head and the movements of her body in that moment were almost canine as the Black Dog possessed each and every fiber of her being.



So many had been left without the education of the Dark Fae and the terribly beautiful creatures of the Unseelie Court. Even those of the Fae born weren?t always those to know of what the ?beasts? of the Unseelie Court were forged of.



Spade knew what the courts whispered of under their breath when they spoke their nightmare threats about the Black Dogs of the Wild Hunt. She also knew of the stories mothers would whisper to their children to frighten them into good behavior. Spade had heard all the stories and knew them well. The Black Dogs became known by a new name when the world was overcome with the notion of a one true god and the devil that ruled a kingdom below.



They were known as Hell Hounds. The Devil?s own pets and private hunters.



Fingers tipped with flesh rendering claws brushed and claimed his jaw as she leaned close. The Gabrielle sniffed light along his skin, the warmth of her breath brushing along his pulse in almost a lover?s caress as she stepped even closer. A growl rolled seductive as thunder in the heat of a summer night from Spade as her lips and tongue grazed along his jugular.



Briefly the Gabrielle believed and felt like Truth truly tasted like home.



That one taste left her shaken as Spade regained control with a stumbling back from him. Her palms pressed out against his chest as if in warning as much as a reaction for his safety as she contained the part of her that was the Gabrielle.



The heat in her eyes was unmistakable. Deep and unfathomable that look in her eyes carried a burn as savage as wildfire. Spade?s hands dropped to her sides and with a hushed hiss the blades were withdrawn.



?Take them.?



Even now the growl lingered and lapped lovingly at the words she breathed out, breathless with the intoxication of a hunger that she would never, and could never sate.

Her guard went up, like he had expected. She was different, but he could still see her. Things changed within him, and though the Gabrielle rose to the surface, she was still his Fae. Some would find her frightening, he found himself wanting her even more. Her scent changed, and he could sense it. Darkness desiring darkness. The Hound of Hell and The Destroyer?s Son. A volatile mix, one that should not be expected.

The claws brushed his jaw, sending an involuntary shiver down the spine of the man, but fueling the blackness within. Her face nuzzling his neck as she nearly pressed her body to his, brought desires from both. Lips and tongue against his jugular, the need was nearly intoxicating. The growl, soon echoed by something of a response from him.
As he was about to wrap arms around her, she stumbled slightly, and pressed her hands to his solid chest. He knew then, should they give into the darkness they both held, it would be a night like none other, and a night that shouldn?t happen.

He stared into her eyes, the burning within made him smile. She felt everything he had felt, so he offered more. He opened his eyes wider, opened his mind to her, the contact of her hands with his chest would allow her to feel everything he felt. See everything he desired and much, much more. The memories of the pit, he kept shielded, he knew that she loved him, and even the closest of lovers do not share everything.

Greg nodded his dark head as he took the blades. He could sense the same power they held as he walked through the Summer Court. His hands slid the hilts slowly, feeling the craftsmanship and again noting the balance of the steel. Words began to fall from his lips, and the raised crosses of scarred flesh began to glow softly. His chant became faster and eyes closed slowly as one blade was in the right hand pointing downward, while it?s twin was in the left, pointing upward.

?Darkness born to walk the Earth, Darkness created to rule the same. I command the darkness to spill the blood of the fallen with this steel, in the hands of another.?

The soft glow became brighter, nearly as bright as a noon time sun, and in a flash it was gone, leaving them in a breath of darkness before the light of the room found them again. The blades were twisted in his hands, and offered back to her, hilt first.

?Our daughter waits,? Greg said as he stepped closer to her again, leaning to lift her chin with his strong hand, though gentle touch. A long, lingering look into her eyes, and a smile formed before he moved in to press his lips to hers. ?We will bring her home.?

It never ceased to amaze Spade and fill her with wonder at just how much a simple touch, the mere contact of flesh against flesh could reveal so much. In the span of what was possibly only a minute or perhaps just a moment she saw all that Truth revealed. The revelation was something that could take her breath away.



The softness of a smile creased her features and brought that sparkling intensity to her eyes as the Hound realized her control once more over the Unseelie Sidhe and tourmaline depths once more were brought to gaze upon her beloved. She had seen it all through the eyes of the Hound as much as she had through her own Fae eyes. The knowledge of all that he had endured and the changes to her Truth during his time of damnation brought easily the hunger of the Hound as much as the startled horror of Spade. She knew there was so much more that he kept hidden from her to assure her own emotions would not suffer but that she would not question.



She understood now that they both shared a renewed kinship born by the darkness held within them both. Darkness was not always evil, and truly Spade would never believe her or Truth to be considered evil. After the chant was breathed from the lips of her lover and the blades returned to her possession she found herself reflecting on the centuries past.



The time near forgotten when as the Hound she had hunted and never was there an angel that could escape her Hunt. How many wings had been broken, how many bones had the marrow licked clean by the Hound. Too many, far too many. Enough that Spade realized that not even dear, darling Cupid himself could survive the wrath and strength or sheer force of will that Spade possessed as the Hound.



Spade figured poor Cupid the fortunate one for never having the opportunity to realize that about her. A poor match that would have been for the Hound easily could reveal the weakness in them all. The Hound could break down and destroy till there was nothing left but despair and misery. The Hound was never meant to be paired with the weak nor the needy, the desperate nor the longing ones. The Hound was meant for an equal.



One to wander and work well with her in the Hunt.



The Darkness ever did not need or desire love as much as the Darkness would need and desire the longevity of that which was meant to last in all true bonds. Passion could fade, Love could die, but ever… oh ever…. Did Truth remain and belong with the Darkness.



Spade smiled through the caress of lips, her own voice a lush murmur of promise as her brows lifted imploringly.



“So where do we start?”

"We start, in the place I left to find you...unknowing I had to return." Greg smiled slightly, thinking of taking her back to Hell. Should The Destroyer know he brought the mother of his grandchild... He locked that thought away. Abaddon would never know. "Stay close, don't lose control, no matter what you see, believe in two things, Sidonie. Our love, and the love of our daughter."

He fell away from her, the chant rose from him as he raised his arms toward the heavens, then threw them back toward the floor. The Darkness seemed to pour from his hands and form around them. He looked at her with eyes of Hell's Flame, then wrapped his arms around her as the ink black of that same darkness seemed to pull at them from every direction.

"Remember my words, Lover of Truth. You will see things no one is meant to see. You will live the pain of those you love...meaning my own, and hers. Be strong for both of us."

With his words, their once shared apartment seemed to shift and groan under a great weight, and they were gone, leaving nothing behind except a rapidly dispersing darkness.

In the Pit...

"What is she smiling at?" Ursef asked as he glanced downward again. "She is smiling, thinking this is a game!" His anger rose, and Belphegor sighed, having grown tired of the other's desire to prove himself. "She smiles and you do nothing!"

"If you are so worried about why she is smiling, why don't you go down and ask her why?" Belphegor suggested with a smile, then smiled as Ursef fingered the still healing scar on his chest. "I am sure that the mixed blood would be happy to tell you."

Ursef eyed his superior, knowing that it was a challenge, and knowing that this particular challenge could wind up costing him his life, but he wasn't going to give the satisfaction of being known a coward.

"I will do just that!" He spat before turning and walking the long steps down toward the cells.

"This," Belphegor mused, "will be entertaining." He walked to the edge, to observe the interaction, and wondered how Ursef's death would be. Something slow and painful, as when the child turned one of the underlings inside out, or fast as she just willed him gone. Time would tell.

"Why are you smiling, Welp?" Ursef demanded as he neared the cell holding the dark haired child. "Tell me or you will feel the pain you caused me."

"You won't touch me." She said in a soft, nearly musical taunt. "You can't." She smiled again at the demon.

Belphegor watched from above with interest then felt the power rush from Ursef, he was wasting too much, but wanted to prove to her that he wasn't as scared as the Superior knew he was. The child dropped to one knee beneath the force, but the smile remained as she slowly pushed back up to her feet, and turned that power against the being that wielded it like a sword.

Ursef fell to his knees then, watching her with wide eyes and what could be called genuine fear as he knew what sort of mistake he had made.

"Silly creature, you've been told what I am. You've been told *who* I am," She was smiling then, showing straight white teeth. "Yet you come down to impress me with your power?" Small hands balled into fists and the force Ursef had used began to multiply to the point of pushing Belphegor backward. "You want to know why I am smiling, Worm?" Tourmaline eyes of her mother stared down as the demon was being pressed closer and closer to the floor. "I am smiling, because they are coming, both of them." As soon as she finished saying what she had to say, and showing Ursef his weakness the power ebbed away like a retreating tide. "You should finish your business, Demon... I won't kill you, but she will." The child smiled again, and turned her back to the creature.

Belphegor laughed lightly at the look on his subordinate's face, but he worried about the child's warning. If she spoke the truth, a war was coming.

I will child, I will destroy them all

Hell was what you would make of it. That was once what she had been told centuries ago by ancient creatures that claimed themselves as holy. Blasphemous rumors the whole lot of what had been spoken by the winged ones.

Spade's anger pooled within her, burning hot as Truth transported them both to the Pit. Her fingers curled easily into fists as she felt that hatred feed her hunger for revenge. That hatred for now would be a temporary biscuit to sate her.

The proximity of the Pit brought the most unusual and unexpected of sensations to stir within. The sensation spilled and trickled through every fiber of her being until the tourmaline of her eyes bled black and became the eyes of the Hound.

She had made her promise to Truth that she would not lose her temper or her control, and that she would not. Her grip became bone knuckle white with anticipation before her fingertips lovingly caressed the hilts of her blades. Spade could feel herself ease into a predator's nature of relaxation before the promise of the Hunt.

Her mind placed a dancing display of feathers being ripped from wings, limbs severed and snapped to the bone and the smile the visions brought to her lips was one of beautiful savagery.

Stay patient, lovely, we are coming

Surely their daughter knew but Spade wished only for that reassurance to be shared. It helped Sidonie focus on something more then the odd sensation stirring within her.

The sensation that their arrival to the Pit felt like coming home.