Speak No (Hidden Evil, 3)

By Lizzy Ford

The stakes are higher than ever as all parties rush to Arizona to locate the final key holder. A mute young woman named Heidi is waiting for them – and just so happens to have a portal to Hell in her backyard. Nathan and Kaylee, along with the key holders and their enemies, are on a collision course for the final showdown.

Kaylee’s power begins to manifest, along with memories from her time as an archangel. She discovers the horrifying reality of her fate. The portal to Hell must be closed from both sides. They key holders must seal it from this plane, and Kaylee must descend into Hell and close it from the other side, which means, an eternity trapped in Hell.

Desperate for a different solution, Kaylee and Nathan form a plan to save her as well as the world. They just have to convince the Devil himself to forego the apocalypse and close the portal.

But if an archangel and the power of Heaven are not enough to defeat evil, what is?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lizzy Ford
• Release date: Jul 30, 2018
• ISBN: 9781623783662

Lizzy Ford

I breathe stories. I dream them. If it were possible, I'd eat them, too. (I'm pretty sure they'd taste like cotton candy.) I can't escape them - they're everywhere! Which is why I write! I was born to bring the crazy worlds and people in my mind to life, and I love sharing them with as many people as I can.I'm also the bestselling, award winning, internationally acclaimed author of over sixty ... eighty ... ninety titles and counting. I write speculative fiction in multiple subgenres of romance and fantasy, contemporary fiction, books for both teens and adults, and just about anything else I feel like writing. If I can imagine it, I can write it!I live in the desert of southern Arizona with two dogs and two cats!My books can be found in every major ereader library, to include: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Sony and Smashwords.

Book preview

One

Twelve years ago

---

The Native boy stood at the center of a ring of other children in the grocery store parking lot. His eyes were on the ground at his feet. At the age of thirteen, he was smaller than normal, half a head shorter than the shortest boy taunting him.

Like a girl! one of the boys said, yanking on the thick braid of hair that reached his mid-back.

What’re you doing off the res, Indian? another demanded.

The boy ignored them.

Frustrated at his lack of response, one of the bullies pushed him. The boy fell, smacking his lip on the bumper of a car as he did so. He caught himself against the rough asphalt. The metallic tang of blood seeped into his mouth. Standing, he bowed his head again and waited for the worst to pass, like it always did. Eventually, the boys would move on, and he could go shopping for the groceries his mom had sent him to buy.

Why are they hurting you?

The voice didn’t come from outside him, but it wasn’t his inner voice, either. He lifted his head a fraction of an inch.

Another shove. This time, he didn’t fall and used the opportunity to cast his eyes around. He saw nothing beyond the boys.

Why are they hurting you? came the voice again, this time more clearly, as if the speaker had grown nearer.

He lifted his head.

The bullies interpreted his movement as a reaction. His focus wasn’t on them but on discovering the source of a voice that shouldn’t have been in his head. He caught a flash of pink beyond one boy, whose larger frame soon blocked whoever stood behind him.

The boy ignored the insults being hurled at him. None of them were new, unique or creative.

Another shove. This one caught him off guard, and he hit the ground harder than he would have liked. Doing so, however, gave him a full visual of the girl standing several feet away. Distress was on her features. She wasn’t much younger than he, perhaps two or three years. She wore a pink shirt and blue jeans. Her dark hair was braided like his.

Are you okay?

How was it possible she spoke into his mind?

No, he answered.

She stared at him in surprise. After a split second, she started towards him. A sense of urgency, or perhaps fear, flared to life within him. For reasons he couldn’t understand, he panicked at the thought of the complete stranger in danger.

No, don’t! he warned her. Tension crept into his frame, and he felt the urge to … what? Fight? Flee? He didn’t know. The intensity of the new sensation threw him off guard.

One of the bullies hauled him up, and the girl disappeared behind his form.

Don’t? You gonna cry now? the bully taunted.

The girl reached the group.

Get lost, kid, one of the bullies said to her.

Leave! The boy seconded silently.

She touched the bully instead. He jerked away and spun, staring at her in confusion. She touched him again, and he backpedaled.

What the hell? he asked, rubbing his arm.

A bully reached for her, but his hand didn’t touch her.

With reflexes he didn’t know he possessed, and strength beyond which should have been possible for his scrawny form, the boy had snatched the bully’s arm and held his wrist. He froze, uncertain what to do next. He didn’t know how to throw a punch, even if he had to.

The girl’s fingers grazed the skin of his hand.

Energy ripped through him and rolled away from them, knocking down the boys surrounding them and setting off the alarms of the nearest cars. He and the girl were the only two people left standing.

The boy looked at his hand where she’d touched him. The spot tingled.

I think you’re mine, she told him.

He met her dark gaze, unsettled more by her than he had been by the circle of bullies.

My name is Heidi, she said.

How are you in my head? he whispered.

She grinned. Heidi took his hand. More energy played between them, a swirling mess of coolness and warmth, of familiarity and alarm. She tugged him away from the dazed bullies who had started to rise.

Concerned more for her safety than his own, the boy went with her, fully aware that she had saved him and not the other way around.

What’s your name? she asked.

Adam, he said.

It’s a beautiful name.

Perplexed, Adam nonetheless felt for the first time in his life as if he were exactly where he needed to be.

Two

Present day

---

The secluded, two-story house located at the end of a long driveway in Maryland was quiet and dark. Its occupants consisted of two key holders, two spirit guides, and a creature who was neither man nor demon but something else entirely.

One of the key holders, Shanti, sat on the back porch. By the cooler temperature, crickets and scents, it was nighttime. Born blind, she couldn’t tell night from day, but she could read the energy signatures of those around her. She’d waited until the energy in the house stilled to leave the guest bedroom on the second floor and venture outside.

She was tired and aching from the events the past few days, during which her protective bubble and optimistic perception of the world had imploded. She’d traveled from Florida to the DC area with the clothes on her back. She currently wore a t-shirt, sweatshirt and sweatpants belonging to the mother of the family slaughtered in their own house by an assassin named Eddy, the creature whose energy read as something she’d never experienced. He came from Hell. The other members of the house were in agreement about this. It was one of two truths she knew to be accurate.

The second: he was her soul mate, granted to her as the highest of rewards for a former angel. Very few people met their soul mates, known to angels as OTLs, One True Loves. She’d been given the ultimate privilege of having her soul tied to the soul of another.

Having no soul mate was better than Eddy!

Are you on guard duty, sunshine? a man’s quiet yet cheerful voice asked from behind her.

It didn’t surprise her the distrusting assassin kept an eye on everyone. She suspected he went out of his way to watch her, though he’d deny it if asked. Eddy claimed not to want a soul mate any more than she did. He also had a habit of acting contrary to his words by checking up on her. He’d saved her life twice already.

She felt his body heat as he propped his forearms on the railing beside her.

Shanti automatically turned her face away from him, not because she didn’t want him to see her features, but because she hoped to avoid his light scent, which made her heart race.

It didn’t work, wouldn’t work, because her senses were too honed for her to miss anything about him, not his scent, not his heat, not the memory of the lean, strong form he’d pressed to hers the first time he threatened to kill.

Why him? Her initial shock had worn off, but she couldn’t grasp the reasoning behind a soul agreement with a sadistic monster.

I want to be alone, she snapped.

You’re not the only one who can tell when someone is lying.

Shanti didn’t know what she felt clearly enough for a rebuttal. He could be calling her bluff, or he could be reading her accurately. She despised everything he stood for and all that he’d done, but they were also inextricably connected.

Eddy stood beside her. He could’ve kept an eye on her from a distance. He read energy better than she did. He didn’t need to be right beside her. He was there because he wanted to be there.

We need to break up again, she informed him.

All right.

Nothing bothered him. Not cold-blooded murder, not rejection from his soul mate, not the fact he was failing in the mission given to him by the Devil himself.

But he didn’t leave.

Nothing about him made sense.

Shanti sighed. Do you think I’ll ever be with you? Like seriously? Do you think that at all? In any way? Even the slightest bit?

I think we’ll all be dead by the time this is over.

Then why ask me out at all?

Curiosity.

About … me?

About why you former angels swear a soul agreement is the best thing ever created in the universe ever.

How could she feel even a tad disappointed he wasn’t interested in her, when the idea he could like her was more terrifying than any horror movie?

You former angels, she repeated. Everyone in the house had been trying to figure out what exactly Eddy was or had been. You say that like you were never one to start out with.

Maybe I wasn’t.

But all demons were angels at some point.

You must be right. There’s no possible way there’s a second explanation, he said dryly.

Obviously, a soul agreement is not the best thing ever, she replied shortly. You’re right. It doesn’t matter anyway. Hopefully, we’re all dead after this.

Eddy’s laugh was soft. That’s the spirit.

You’re so annoying.

No more restrictions on who I kill, he added, pleased.

She grimaced, recalling their deal, if it could be called that. She would go out with him on a date if he agreed not to kill innocent people and kids for two days. In what reality did anyone have to bribe someone not to murder children? If she let herself think about it too long, she’d walk away and never come back.

He wasn’t going to let her leave, key holder or not.

He’d deny this, too, if she asked him. He always appeared calm and in control, confident to the point that it seemed impossible for him to face a challenge he couldn’t handle. But some part of him was at war with himself over the soul mate agreement. He seemed … fascinated by it, as if he never thought the possibility existed.

Every time she was around him, Shanti ended up with a headache.

You’re curious, too, Eddy continued.

Not about you.

You sure?

Shanti swallowed her next retort. He was better at reading her than she was him. He somehow managed to control his energy and aura so no one could interpret them, not even Nathan, the most powerful spirit guide in existence.

No one knows what you are, she said. It’s freaking everyone out.

That’s the point.

Hypothetically, if we survive this, would you tell me?

You’ll figure it out by then, he assured her. I’ll know by then, too.

What does that mean?

It means I can’t remember everything from before I incarnated. I’m pretty sure I know what I am, but we’ll see soon.

Her pulse quickened, not from the undeniable attraction to him, but from multi-faceted fear. She couldn’t begin to guess what could be worse than a demon, which she was leaning toward. He wasn’t an archdemon, because there were only four. He wasn’t a possessed human, either.

Then what?

He didn’t know. She should have found it funny. If anything, it made the list of possibilities scarier.

The questions she wished she’d asked her spirit guides before they ended up murdered were growing by the day.

Does it bother you that you can’t see me? Eddy asked.

Why would it? she replied grumpily. I’ve never seen anyone.

"But this is me."

She rolled her eyes.

You’re curious. You have to be.

Shanti clenched her teeth. She was about to respond when Eddy’s energy shifted ever so slightly. She couldn’t read him but she sensed the change.

Walk away, Nathan, Eddy said in a tone that managed to convey both friendliness and warning.

I don’t give a fuck what you want, was Nathan’s instant response. You okay, baby? He addressed this to Shanti.

She smiled. She’d liked Nathan since first meeting him. He had a calming effect on former angels. She was safe with him.

I got this, she told him confidently without facing the direction of his voice.

Eddy’s energy shifted once more, indicating Nathan had left.

I like him, Eddy said. He’s a worthy adversary.

Her soul mate, the assassin from Hell, settled beside her once again.

His effect was different than Nathan’s. Eddy’s energy didn’t just calm her physically, it soothed her mind as well. When he touched her, he quelled the disquiet within her, further vexing her. He was evil. How could his touch be anything other than evil?

Okay, she said, frustrated. I am curious. She faced him, struggling once more to read him.

Eddy took her hands.

She shoved him.

Don’t blind people use their hands to feel faces or something? he asked.

Shanti hesitated. Everything about him was wrong.

Don’t touch me, she warned him.

I won’t.

Not trusting him, she reached out to him cautiously. Her fingertips brushed the material of his sweatshirt. She moved them upwards until they met the stubble of his jaw. His energy trickled into her, easing her distress. She wanted to despise him for it and herself for appreciating the release of tension between her shoulders.

Shanti explored his features gently, forming an image in her mind as she did so. Chiseled jaw, slender cheeks, large eyes and a forehead free of wrinkles, because what did an assassin from Hell have to worry about?

How did a man like this have smile lines?

The more she learned about him, the more annoyed she became.

How much gel do you use? she asked as her fingers reached the spiked hair on top of his head.

As much as it takes.

What color are your eyes?

Brown.

Hair?

Naturally dishwater blond but I bleach it and dye the tips black.

Hmm. She dropped her hands and returned to her position leaning against the railing. At once, her tension returned.

He wasn’t ugly, she admitted to herself with disappointment. Eddy didn’t ask her what she thought, probably because he didn’t give a shit about anyone else’s opinion.

Want help with that? he asked.

With what? she grumbled.

"Um, that. There was a smile in his voice. Attitude."

If I have an attitude, it’s because you’re bothering me.

You sure?

She sighed noisily. I don’t want anything from you.

I leave tomorrow morning. Last chance to settle your mind. Probably the last chance ever, since we’re all doomed.

She’d never understand how he could be happy about being doomed, but she understood his point. He’d helped her contain her overwhelmed senses and erratic thoughts on more than one occasion.

After a moment of internal battle, she held out her hand.

Eddy clasped it with his larger, warmer one. He slid his fingers between hers, intertwining them in a reflection of the state of their souls. His energy flowed into her.

Shanti shivered. The tension between her shoulders released once more, along with the bunched muscles in every other part of her body.

You know, he started. We –

No, she said firmly.

Eddy laughed. He didn’t pull away at her swift refusal, and she leaned more heavily against the railing.

Does this do anything for you? she asked with reluctant interest.

You think I’d do something just for you?

I’m so glad we’re all doomed.

Yeah. We’ll go down in flames together. He was content with the fate she was starting to believe was too accurate.

Why him? She’d never be able to answer the question, no matter how many times they interacted and how hard she thought. With his energy soothing her mind and body, she didn’t bother resurrecting the internal war but allowed herself to relax.

He was right. This was the last time he’d be available to calm her before they all went down in flames.

They stood in silence until she grew too tired to remain outside any longer.

Shanti left him without a word and returned to her room for the best night of slumber she’d had in a very long time.

The next morning, Shanti and Amira watched the men leave to do what men did best: assume the women in their lives couldn’t handle the oncoming drama.

Fuming, Shanti waited until the energy signatures left the long driveway.

Come on. We’re going to figure something out, she said and turned to the house. She tapped her new guide stick on the ground, seeking out the steps she’d descended twenty minutes earlier.

Amira didn’t follow. Shanti recalled why and turned.

Unlike the men, whose auras had been a rainbow of colors after all the drama, the first key holder glowed brilliant white, reminding Shanti of the Other Side and all its sparkly angels.

Shanti whacked the second gen angel with her walking aid. Amira jerked, though Shanti couldn’t tell if the deaf girl faced her or not.

She waved and hoped Amira was watching. The key holder followed her into a house that smelled of dust and chicken nuggets, which was apparently Amira’s favorite food. Shanti’s nose wrinkled. She tapped her way into the kitchen and located a chair. The events of the past few days had begun to wear her down. She didn’t have the luxury of spare time to recover, not when she knew what was at risk.

Amira followed her.

We need to set up some sort of system of understanding, Shanti said slowly. I can’t tell which direction you’re facing, and you can’t hear me talking to you. Can you tap if you understand me?

Amira tapped.

Okay. So I think we should run away.

Where? Amira’s loud voice had managed to startle Shanti more than once.

Arizona.

Amira squealed, and Shanti scowled.

We can rescue Kaylee! Amira exclaimed. And save the world! Amira was bouncing around in front of her in her excitement. Then Troy and I can be happy together forever!

Shanti shook her head, as much from irritation at Amira’s exuberance as from the troubled knowledge her own romance could never lead to a happily ever after. Her soul mate was a psychopathic assassin sent to this plane by the Devil himself. Eddy didn’t understand restraint or love, didn’t respect life or anyone with it, and she definitely wasn’t going to spend the rest of her life with him. Best-case scenario: they both died, as he predicted.

Right, Shanti said. I obviously can’t drive. Can you?

Amira was silent.

Did you hear … understand me? Shanti asked.

No tapping. Amira appeared to be dancing.

This might get old fast, Shanti thought.

She whacked Amira with the cane again. Pay attention!

Amira tapped in response.

I can’t drive. Can you?

I don’t have a license but I can drive, Amira answered. Troy left his truck. I’ve driven it before.

Okay, good. Then go pack if you have anything you want to take.

Amira’s energy disappeared as she left the kitchen and rounded a corner.

Shanti sat on a chair. When she learned her true purpose on Earth, she never thought it possible that she’d be called upon to stop the apocalypse during her lifetime. An eternity had passed since Creation without any of the key holders being forced to do anything more than protect the sacred stones and pass them on to their successors.

She never thought she’d be granted the ultimate gift – a soul mate – or that said soul mate could be someone like Eddy. Thinking of him infuriated her, not because of who and what he was, but because of how he made her feel. Her heart sped up and her blood warmed from the simple thought. Touching him? She’d become addicted already.

She couldn’t stand Eddy.

She also couldn’t get him off her mind.

Maybe this is hell, she murmured to herself. Already, she was fed up with their adventure. It didn’t help that her interest in Eddy could literally endanger all of Creation. If forced to choose between stopping the apocalypse and her soul mate, she’d choose to save the world.

It would destroy her. Her soul was connected to his. He couldn’t die without impacting hers.

There was no happy ending for her and Eddy.

What was Pedro – the head of the angel corps – thinking when he assigned Eddy as her soul mate?

In need of a distraction, Shanti stood and navigated the ground floor of Troy’s house to the stairs. She diligently counted her steps until she reached the area outside her guest room. Entering it, she went to the bed, where Amira had placed folded clothing. Shanti had nothing of her own. Normally, she wouldn’t care for possessions. Lately, though, she was feeling off balance enough to wish she had a favorite sweatshirt or lucky charm or even a pair of shoes she’d worn out. Anything that felt familiar and grounded her.

As it was, the world felt more foreign than it ever had.

Except Eddy.

She growled and set her guide stick on the bed. She changed into a shirt that smelled of floral fabric softener. Shaking out the jeans, she heard the thunk of something solid hit the wood floor near her feet.

Shanti knelt. The object had ended up a few inches under the bed. She stretched, grabbed it and sat back on her heels. The knife’s blade was sheathed and about six inches long. It was well cared for and smelled of leather and oil. By its heft and the soft leather of its sheath, it wasn’t cheap.

Only an assassin would consider giving someone a knife as a parting gift.

An expensive knife he’d dutifully cared for.

Why did a man who claimed not to want anything to do with her continue to prove otherwise with his actions? Or was she reading him wrong?

He was a psychopath. He wasn’t capable of caring about anyone. Then why leave her a weapon?

God, what is wrong with you? she said as much to Eddy as herself.

Shanti had no idea what to think, except that she definitely needed a weapon or two since she sensed Amira had no clue how to defend them, if forced to.

She stood and placed the knife beside her guide stick.

You’re such an asshole, she muttered to Eddy.

Shanti pulled on the jeans and paused once more, this time thrown off by the bulge in her right pocket. She dug her hand into it and pulled out a cell phone.

Amira! Did you give me a phone? She called before remembering with some annoyance her companion wouldn’t hear her.

Shanti pressed her index finger to the indent meant to unlock the phone. To her surprise, she heard the familiar click of the screen being unlocked. It wasn’t her phone, which had been lost somewhere between Florida and Maryland. Why did her fingerprint work?

You have one message, said the mechanical voice of the phone’s operating system. Would you like me to play it?

Yes, Shanti said.

Hey, sunshine! Eddy’s voice rang out. So, I figure you aren’t going to stick around. Take the phone with you. Yes, I can track you. No, I won’t get in the way unless you call. The phone responds to voice commands. You’ll have to guess what my contact is saved under.

What was worse? That he had anticipated her? Or that he’d probably waited until she was asleep to program the phone with her fingerprint?

She’d been afraid of him since they met, but nothing felt quite as sickening as acknowledging she was completely vulnerable to him, whether she was asleep or not.

Shanti wanted to throw the phone.