Sorcha slid in as Luke walked to the other side and joined her. Pulling his hair back with the pink tie, he waited for Helly to get in and be situated before he turned on the car and headed back.
“So what do the higher-level demons do?” Sorcha was curious about the aforementioned hierarchy.
He gave her that wicked lopsided grin before he answered in a gravelly tone. “Seduce.”
That one word hovered between them. It wasn’t helped by the sudden image in her mind of him making love to her. Worse? She could practically feel him in her arms. His hard, muscled body moving under her hands.
What’s wrong with me?
This wasn’t like her. At all.
And yet she was attracted to him in a way she’d never been attracted to anyone. She’d heard the term “sex on a stick” most of her life. He was the only one she’d ever met who gave that term meaning.
Luke glanced over at her as he headed toward Senoia. “I’ve rendered you speechless.”
“I’ve noticed that you like to shock me.”
“Don’t take it personally. I like to shock everyone.”
“Is that what has you banned from Hell?” she asked in a teasing tone.
But it sucked all the humor out of him.
Helly leaned forward to whisper in her ear. “Don’t joke about that. He’s very sensitive about not being able to go home.”
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t know.”
Luke let out a long-drawn breath. “Not your fault. I’m just not happy being here. Believe it or not, I prefer Hell to this world.”
She had a very hard time believing that. “How? Why?”
“Better the hell you know than the heaven you don’t.”
“That’s not a saying.”
“But it’s how I feel. All my family is there and most of my friends.” He glanced over at her and smirked. “And no. Your uncle Ted isn’t burning in any of our pits.”
While it bothered her that he’d heard her thought, she was relieved to know that. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. I had nothing to do with it. I mean, it was close. He definitely had one foot in Hell the whole time he lived. But he managed to pull it out at the last minute when it counted.”
Given the criminal tendencies of her uncle, that made her very curious. All her life, she’d heard her father say that if anyone was going to Hell, Ted would be driving the bus. “How so?”
“Regret. Contrition. He admitted what he’d done and sought to make it right. It’s not enough to ask forgiveness. You must feel the weight of your conscience and truly wish you’d never given pain to others. That’s a lot harder than you think. Most want to blame others and never take responsibility for the evil they do. Nothing in life is worse than someone who feels justified in their hatred or bad acts. That’s when the real evil takes over and does the worst damage to this world. And it’s how people end up damned.”
Sorcha hated how true that was. “Yeah. Too few want to face the truth of what they’ve done and who they’ve hurt.” Like her ex. He’d been a rotten piece of shit. One who’d gone out of his way to cause her and others pain.
She despised the word narcissist. It was used way too flippantly by those who wanted to label others and who didn’t really comprehend its meaning. But having been in a five-year relationship with one who still wouldn’t let her go, she knew exactly the mental anguish such people caused. Bert had never once been able to face anything he did. Everything was her fault and she was the one who caused him to hurt her.
Why do you make me do these things, Sorcha…
Luke reached over and took her hand. “Don’t worry. Bert will pay for what he’s done. You’re not his only victim, and he has no remorse that will redeem him.”
“You sure?”
“Beyond. He’s not your uncle. He’s been earmarked as ours for a long time now.”
She appreciated his support, but… “I’m not sure I wish him to Hell for what he did to me.”
