Page 70 of Hell’s Half Acre

Otakar immediately ceased bowing before Luke and turned to face Sorcha. “What can I do for you, my pretty one?”

Luke picked him up by the scruff of his neck. “Nothing. You aren’t to touch these women, understood?”

He nodded vigorously.

“You have any questions for him?” Luke asked Ryan.

Ryan nodded. “So, so many. How did you get trapped in the cards?”

“Not trapped. I locked myself in there.” Otakar gave her a twisted smile. “Humans are stupid. Any idea how many souls I can get from a simple deck of cards? It’s amazing.”

Ryan paled. “Not sure I want to know.”

Luke placed the deck back on her desk. “No, you don’t. It’s why people shouldn’t play with things they don’t understand. A little knowledge is a most dangerous thing.” He started for the stairs.

“You’re not banishing me, dominus?” Otakar asked.

Luke shrugged. “Why should I? You’re just doing your job. But don’t do it to Ryan. Answer her questions, then get back in the cards.”

Ryan’s mouth opened and closed like a fish gulping air. “Aren’t we supposed to banish them?”

Pausing, Luke turned back toward her with a quirked brow. “Why? He’s not bothering anyone here.”

Otakar grinned at Ryan.

Sorcha had no response to that. On the one hand, Luke was right. Otakar wasn’t bugging anyone. At least not at the moment. But on the other, she rather agreed with Ryan. The chort shouldn’t be left to roam around and barter for people’s souls.

Rushing to catch up to Luke, she cleared her throat. “Is it safe to leave them alone?”

“Yeah. He won’t bother her now.”

She wanted to believe that, but her job … and life … had given her serious trust issues. “You’re really going to leave him here?”

Luke scowled as she passed him on the stairs. “Why wouldn’t I?”

This was when she remembered he really was a prince of Hell. Things that seemed so obvious to her, such as vanquishing and removing all evil from the world, were lost on him.

He didn’t fight or banish demons. He cuddled up with them.

“I know you think evil needs to exist⁠—”

“Sorcha, we are never going to agree on this. But yes, trust me. There are a lot of people in the world who need evil and rely on it. They can’t be happy in their lives. No matter what. They won’t let themselves. And before you say that’s not true, remember you’re not the average person. I’ve been alive for centuries. Believe me when I tell you that The Matrix was right about one thing. Humanity cannot handle perfection. It’s not in your DNA. That’s why Eve took the big bite. By nature, humanity is self-destructive. You need evil in order to survive and thrive.”

“God doesn’t make mistakes.” Her default was always the teachings of her grandfather.

“No, but humanity does. God gave you free will. With it comes fault and a lot of idiocy. While God doesn’t make mistakes, He does make imperfections.”

The grand dichotomy that she had such a hard time understanding.

Even when he and her grandfather tried to explain it, she couldn’t wrap her mind around that concept. It just didn’t seem right.

But who was she to question what she couldn’t understand?

Faith of the mustard seed. Her grandfather’s favorite default.

Fine, she’d cut Luke slack. While he was a creature of evil, he didn’t follow it.

As he said, free will.