Page 81 of Hell’s Half Acre

“No. He’s worse. His two parents are the rulers of Hell. Samael might not be married to Senka, but Senka is his right hand. She’s the only creature he trusts.”

That was a terrifying thought. Senka had seemed so…

Well, frightening beyond belief. If the devil had a female side, it would be Senka. And she’d given that same intensity to her son.

Still, she refused to believe Luke was beyond redemption. He might tempt her toward the dark side, but she fully intended to keep him planted in the light.

He could have wreaked all manner of Hell on earth. Instead, he’d chosen to help humans. It might only be to piss off his father. That made sense. Yet he seemed to actually like helping others.

If she could keep him on that path, then he might find that goodness suited him.

Rory kissed her on the cheek. “Let me get back to my partner. I’m sure he’s questioning my mother’s reputation even as we speak.” He opened the door for her. “Be careful.”

“You, too.” She gave him a quick hug before she went into the courtyard and closed the door behind her.

What a weird-ass day.

Then again, most of the days she’d had since she moved to Savannah had been that way.

At least no one had taken another shot at her in the last few minutes.

That was helpful.

She crossed the yard and headed into the garage so that she could go upstairs to Luke’s apartment and take a shower.

When she opened the door, she found Trinket in human form on the sofa, holding a bag of ice to his face.

Worried, she went over to him. She touched him without thinking.

He hissed, then grabbed her wrist in a fierce grip.

Until he saw her face.

All the color faded from his cheeks. “I’m so sorry, Sorcha. I didn’t know it was you.”

She forgot all about it as she saw the horrible bruise on his cheek and black eye. He’d been hit so hard that his entire sclera was red. “What happened?”

Trinket picked up the ice bag from the floor and returned it to his face. “I don’t want to talk about it.” He flinched as he returned the ice to his eye. “Simi was right. This helps a lot. Wish we had ice in Hell.”

Now that she was looking at him, he had a lot more bruising on every part of his body she could see. His wrists looked as if he’d been chained down.

“Can I do anything to help?”

That question seemed to confuse him. “What?”

“Do you need anything? Can I get you something?”

He scowled as if he didn’t understand what she was asking. “Why?”

“Why, what?”

“Why are you asking me that?”

“Because it’s what people do when someone’s hurt. We try to help them.”

He just stared at her as if she spoke to him in a foreign language and he had no concept of what she was saying.

Sorcha winced as she realized how stupid she must sound to him. “You’re not in Hell, Trinket. We’re not demons out to hurt you.”