Page 54 of Hell’s Half Acre

He grabbed the demon by the arm, twisted it and flipped the demon, then wrenched the demon’s arm until he cried out.

“Had enough?”

The demon screamed out and turned his head completely around to stare up at Luke. “I don’t bow to you anymore!”

“And I’ve never bent my knee to you.” Luke snapped his arm, then tossed him back into the pit. Waving his hand, he sealed the portal. His eyes were blood red as he turned toward his closet demons.

Shrieking and begging, they huddled in a corner.

“Please, dominus!”

“Don’t hurt us!”

“We’re innocent!”

“Shaddix let us out!”

Those last four words were what saved them. Sorcha watched as Luke returned to normal. His wings fizzled out as he returned to standing on the floor. Amber replaced the red in his eyes.

He glared at the last demon who’d spoken. “What did you say, Holler?”

“Shaddix opened the door and said for us to go terrorize the villagers. We’re just doing what we were told.”

Luke grabbed the one he’d called Holler. At first, Sorcha thought he was going to throttle him.

Instead, he pulled the demon’s back against his chest and placed his hand over its eyes.

Not sure of what he had planned, Sorcha looked at Simi. “Should we stop that?”

Simi shook her head slowly. “The Simi’s thinking this is about to get weird. What flavor of cookie goes with that?”

Chapter

Nine

Luke felt his eyes roll back in his head as he connected with the demon he held. Holler struggled against his hold, but Luke refused to let go as he crawled through the demon’s memories, seeking the information he needed.

They were in the closet, surrounded by all Luke’s pets.

“Someone’s outside.” Grudge pressed his ear to the door so that he could listen more carefully.

“It’s just Helly.”

“Shut up, Envee. I’m trying to hear.”

Dohlar shook his head. “I don’t think it’s Helly. She’s not blowing food smells at us.”

Suddenly, the door turned clear.

Sure enough, Shaddix stood on the other side, staring in at them. Impractically beautiful, she had features that were too big for her face. It gave her an unbalanced appearance that somehow came together in a stunning way. Luke had never understood how that worked, but for some reason, it made her memorable.

Her long black hair flowed around her curvaceous body that she loved to show off with clothes that were at least two sizes too small. He might have found her attractive had they not been related.

And if he could stomach her nasty attitude.

She wore that sneer that had always made him, and others, want to slap her. The only time it vanished was around their father who did slap her whenever she forgot and let it show. That impulse was one of the few things Satan did that Luke didn’t take issue with.

In truth, Shaddix would have been a much more tolerable creature had she been slapped more often.