Page 53

Chapter 52

The Devil I Know

SJ

“U nhand me, you fiend!” God squawked, all bravado, all control gone. My hand was locked to her shoulder, that same surge of power I’d felt in Heaven tingled in my fingertips, and she fell silent. I stepped out of the portal and directly into Hell’s throne room.

I stumbled to a halt on the lava-stone floor, the scene that met me robbing me of breath. And it wasn’t because Hellen was stealing my air. Although she was there.

Sitting on Father’s throne.

Father was chained like a beast at her feet, his mouth gagged. His eyes bulged when he noticed who I had arrived with, and he shook his head vehemently. Hellen kicked him in the side of the head. He grunted around the gag.

“Oh! Junior, so glad you could make it!” she simpered, crossing her legs and smirking down at me. She toyed with one of the skulls on the armrest. “And you’ve brought a friend!”

I stepped forward, but Hellen raised a hand, the air swirling dangerously around her palm. “Stop right there. I’d like to have a civil conversation with you, little brother, but if you insist on approaching, I’ll have to pin you to the wall.”

“What is going on?” I asked warily. Hellen chuckled darkly, kicking her legs up on Father’s back.

“Well, it appears that my little brother chose his human whore over his kingdom … again. Imagine my shock when I returned to my chambers, expecting to find myself a very tasty meat sack to play with, and instead finding that my plaything had inexplicably escaped, and my own father—the King of Hell, no less, was unconscious on the floor and reeking of the miasma!”

I cursed myself inwardly, locking my expression into impassivity while my thoughts roiled. Was Jemma safe? Had Hellen returned for her while I was distracted in Heaven? God had mentioned time was different up there, could more time have passed here than I was aware of?

Hellen snorted. “Oh, don’t panic, Junior. Your little human is safe … for now. Because when Father came to, he was all in a fluster, and he insisted that there was something very important I needed to know … about you , if you can believe it.”

Her eyes narrowed, flicking to God and then back to me. “Is this her, then? Your mother? The being who conned the King of Hell into spawning you to rob a true Lucifer of the crown? A cuckoo in the nest, as it were. How delightful that you wanted a family reunion!”

Father’s frantic, muffled moans echoed across the space. God was completely mute, although whether due to her shock at the situation or the power still running through my fingers, I wasn’t sure.

“Do you think the demons will accept you once they discover who your mother is?” Hellen hissed, shoving Father to the side with one heel and standing. Looming, or attempting to, from the throne.

This had better work.

“I do not wish for them to accept me.”

Hellen scoffed. “How do you expect to rule Hell without their acceptance?” she demanded. “Father cannot give his blessing—he’s in disgrace for his part in allowing all of this!” Her tail lashed, whipping Father across the flank. He flinched but made no sound.

“I do not wish to rule Hell.”

Hellen guffawed. “Of course you don’t! You never wanted responsibility for anything! I, on the other hand, have worked tirelessly all my life for the betterment of Hell, and yet they will not accept me based solely on my lack of horns!”

She spat viciously, and a breeze stirred behind me.

Stay calm, SJ. Just stay calm …

“Perhaps if I killed you all …” Hellen mused, gripping one of Father’s horns and tugging his head back, exposing his throat. “They would have no choice but to accept me.”

Father whimpered, his eyes meeting mine, pleading. I looked away, not able to meet his eyes, knowing what I was about to do.

He more than deserved it, but it still churned my stomach.

“What if there were a better way … to get the demons to accept you as the Queen of Hell?” My words were quiet, but the weight of them echoed in the cavernous space.

“Simeon,” God breathed, and I realised that whatever had been keeping her silent, that magic had faded from my fingers.

Hellen’s eyes flashed. “She even has a special name for you? Disgusting!” The wind buffeted my back, but I locked my muscles, standing firm against it.

I must get through this. Jemma is waiting for me, and I cannot return to her until I’ve made her life safe again.

“She is here as my prisoner. I have taken control of Heaven.”

God’s shoulder tensed under my palm, but I gripped tighter, cutting her off before she tried to speak. “And I have a proposition for you. One that will restore balance to the Soul Realms, put an immediate end to the famine here in Hell, and place you formally on the throne you are sitting on right now. The throne you have earned.”

The words burned my throat, but a little flattery of my egomaniacal sister would go a long way. At least, I hoped it would.

Hellen’s lips turned cat’s arse, but her eyes lit with interest. “I’m listening.”

I refused to let relief wash over me. This wasn’t over yet.

“You take full control of Hell. I … learned only today that I was spawned by these two …” I tilted my head in the direction of God and then Father, “to restore an equitable balance of souls between the two Realms. And that is what I plan to do.”

Hellen’s nostrils flared, and the wind whipped, but I pushed on. “You get to preside over every soul that enters Hell, and I will ensure that the … deserving ones are always sent here. No more deathbed repentance for wicked humans. Your subjects will be well fed, full of gratitude, and you … well, you will have what you have always worked and waited for.”

“Right.” Hellen sniffed, but the wind eased as she eyed me calculatingly. “Three problems with your little proposal. Firstly, how can I trust you to do the right thing for a kingdom you have so clearly forsaken?”

I opened my mouth to answer, but she held up a hand, air forcing its way into my throat. I coughed, and she continued.

“Second, you seem to have forgotten that I am not a horn-having member of the Lucifer family. It will take more than me simply telling them I am their new ruler for the demons to accept me. And thirdly … what the Home do we do with these two?”

She tail-whipped Father again, who grunted.

“Perhaps I should just be rid of them … at least that one.” God made an odd, strangled sound beside me, and I glanced over, the blood draining from my face to find her going blue, eyes wide, mouth open, but not breathing.

“Do not suffocate her, Hellen!” I warned desperately. “She is your ticket to the Throne!”

Hellen sighed dramatically, but God suddenly sucked in a trembling lungful of air, sagging against me. “Thank you,” she panted.

“Do not thank me,” I muttered, lifting my eyes to Hellen once more. “You must take her and Father … and offer their souls to the Pit demons. In return for their fealty.”

“Simeon, no!” God screeched as Father made a horrid choking sound behind his gag.

Hellen snarled, eyes blazing at God. “You will be silent, or I will take your breath again!” She punctuated her words with a harsh kick to Father’s ribs.

God whimpered, clawing pathetically at my arm. I ignored her.

“Their souls will be very nourishing,” I reasoned, keeping my eyes fixed on Hellen. I couldn’t look at Father. He deserved this fate for so many reasons, but the only one that stuck in my head was the broken shell of Mr Bliss’s soul. A man who had only wanted to keep a gang off the streets. And protect his little girl.

My girl …

And God … I didn’t even know what she’d done in Heaven, but if even her archangels were willing to support a revolution against her, it must have been abhorrent.

“So, I trade the souls of … two traitors to the Soul Realms,” Hellen mused, her lips curling, “to the Pit demons, with a promise that my brother and I are working together to ensure a steady flow of souls will return to them. And in exchange, I simply demand their fealty to me?”

Her face looked positively delighted at the prospect. My stomach swirled, but I reminded myself that for this to work, she needed to be placated. And she would serve the realm faithfully.

“You will be the most terrifying Lucifer ever to rule Hell,” I assured her. “They will never question a female’s right to the throne again.”

Hellen’s eyes narrowed. “And what do you get out of this?” she demanded.

“As the Queen of Hell, you promise that henceforth, no demon of Hell will attempt to enter the Human Realm or to reap souls from it.” I swallowed. “And Jemma Bliss is never to be touched by a demon again.”

“Present company excepted, I assume?” Hellen rolled her eyes. “You and your little human. I suppose I can trust you based on that alone. I know you will do anything to keep her safe—even break her fragile human heart.”

My chest jolted with pain at the reminder of what I had done to keep Jemma safe. Unsuccessfully.

Just another thing to atone for, SJ.

Hellen eyed Father, who crouched miserably at her feet, then turned her disdainful gaze to the blithering, trembling wreck clinging to my arm. “Alright. I agree. On the proviso that the demons accept me. If they do not …” Her eyes darkened with vicious promise. “All bets are off.”

“Understood,” I said hurriedly, shoving God to the floor in front of me. I hoped that I knew the Pit demons well enough to bet Jemma’s safety on my plan.

“Simeon!” God screeched. “You cannot truly mean to?—”

I eyed her coldly. “Someone very recently told me that when it is for the greater good, sometimes a wicked deed must be excused.”

Her eyes bulged, and she scrabbled frantically, trying to get to her feet. I watched tensely as Hellen flicked her wrist, and her winds pinned God to the stone floor, unable to move anything except her mouth and her eyeballs.

“No …” she panted. “No, please!”

Both Hellen and I ignored her.

“I will no doubt hear from you if things go awry,” I began, already backing away. “But if you would do me the courtesy of informing me either way, please. Now, I really must leave, I have … important places to be.”

“Who is taking charge of Heaven?” Hellen demanded, stepping down from the throne to toe at God, who clamped her mouth shut, her skin so pale it was almost translucent. “Don’t tell me you’re taking that on, Junior?” She guffawed. “We all know how little you relish the idea of ruling.”

“I think I will leave the decision up to the archangels. Although I think I know who they will choose.” I thought of Pete, of the way he hid a commanding facade behind a stuttering old man. The way he’d cared for Mr Bliss. The way he knew that what Heaven needed was someone who cared for the souls and not someone who only wanted the fame of it all.

“I promise you, no matter what happens in Heaven, I will ensure that Hell thrives on every soul that deserves this fate.”

“Why are you offering me this deal? We’ve been barely more than rivals our whole lives.” Hellen’s voice was thoughtful, and something in it made me lower my hand, pausing my portal conjuring.

“There is a very simple answer to that,” I murmured, giving her a half-smile. “I’d rather the ruler of Hell be the devil I know. And, for the record, I never wanted to be your rival. I only ever wanted to be your brother.” I turned away, a portal morphing into existence in front of me. My anticipation thrummed headily in my blood.

“Going back to her , are you?” Hellen muttered. “You know, when she spat on a fully grown Pit demon we met in the tunnel, I almost understood what you see in her. Feisty little thing, isn’t she? She wouldn’t have broken as easily as I’d thought.”

She reached between her bosoms, pulling out a small, pulsing coin. I sucked in a breath.

Jemma’s Soul Token. How had I forgotten?

My fingers itched to snatch it from her, but for the sake of diplomacy, I held back. Hellen stepped towards me. “While I think you’re an utter fool, Junior, if you can pull off what you claim you can … well, it’s really all I’ve ever dreamed of. So, for the sake of diplomacy …” She thrust the token at me. “Here. But like I said before, if things go badly for me in the Pit, all bets are off. Including the safety of your little human.”

I suppressed the growl that threatened to rumble up my throat, instead snatching the Token from her grasp with a rough, “Thanks.”

But as I stepped one foot into the portal, I couldn’t help myself. I turned back to Hellen, who watched me with an oddly pensive expression. “You are lucky I need you alive to rule Hell, because after what you did to Jemma, I would have had no qualms about putting you down. And if you ever, ever try to so much as come near her again, regardless of what happens in the Pit, I vow that your little wind magic will not save you from the wrath that I will mete upon you, sister. Don’t ever forget that.”

I climbed into the portal to the harsh laughter of my sister, but I didn’t look back. No, I had a female to grovel to. Which meant I needed to make a detour on the way to Jemma’s house.