Daring the Devil (Reigning Hell Book 1) Read online

  I choked on a swallow, my mouth suddenly arid.

  “Have you come in judgement?” Her voice was the kind of raspy that came from years of smoking.

  “Umm…”

  She broke into a laugh that fired unease up the back of my neck. I grabbed her wrist and forced her tight fingers away from my arm with a shaky hand.

  “They wanted to believe,” she said and cackled. “They wanted to believe. I gave them what they asked for. Does that make me so bad?”

  The robed figure that had been questioning her floated closer. Dark shadows crowded underneath his hood. My breath hitched. He slapped the woman across the cheek.

  Heat swelled through my chest. There was no reason to be rude. It wasn’t as if she’d asked me to sneak her out of here.

  “Was that really necessary?” I reached for his robed arm, but my hand slipped as if there was no flesh to grab onto.

  Blade took hold of my arm and yanked me down the hall. “Keep your head down and don’t touch them, princess.” He scoffed. “You’re the heir to Hell, so stop acting like such a noob.”

  I snatched my arm away from him. “Get out of my life, emo-boy.”

  “Gladly.” He ruffled his green faux-hawk, turned on his heels, and stalked away.

  Of course, Mom would have his head if he purposefully got out of my life. Maybe I could arrange for that to happen by “accidentally” losing him in the Nest.

  I forced an exhale, smoothed my dress, and followed after him. The words of Skirt Lady echoed in my head, worming their way into my conscience for some reason. I gave them what they asked for. Does that make me so bad? I shook my head to clear my thoughts. This was just Purgatory. Been there, done this, if only a few times. I couldn’t let it freak me out.

  The air thinned as we neared the second curtain. The blue fabric rippled out, the kind of blue only found in the Nest. The color of the open sky.

  Blade kicked at the entrance, his machete now slung across his back. “Let’s hope you can get it right this time.”

  A wave of anger swirled in my chest, but I batted it away as I squared my shoulders. I didn’t have time for this. Or for him. I forced my thoughts onto one goal—the taking of a soul. I should really have a Hellish theme song playing in the background, Rocky-style, to make everyone believe in me a little more. So I’d failed. Twice. That was hardly the end of the world.

  I opened the curtain. Warm air pressed against me, making my skin feel tight, and then a bright blue light exploded. There was the sensation of falling upward for what seemed like hours but only actually amounted to a few seconds. My legs flailed, desperately trying to find purchase. My stomach leaped into my throat. My mouth opened in a quiet scream. For a few moments, bone-deep panic made me want to tear my hair out, but then the blue light spat us out. My feet touched down on solid ground. The cold night gathered around me, and my chest expanded, breathing in a blast of chilly air.

  I raised my gaze and smiled at the hundreds of stars winking down. Traveling to the Nest, or Earth as most people called it, was never a pleasant experience, but feeling the raw energy here was always worth it. I never felt more alive than when I was here, among people who were so different than me. And yet the same, too, though few likely wanted to admit that.

  I turned in a slow circle, trying to make out where we were. We seemed to be in a dark alley somewhere, behind a building that pumped out loud music and choruses of laughter.

  “We should get a drink before we get started,” Blade said, nodding toward the building. “Loosen you up a little.”

  “This isn’t a vacation, moron. I have work to do.”

  Blade gave a mock bow and started down the alley. Mauve’s words rang through my head as I stared at his back. He knows better than to offend the princess of Hell.

  Ha. Apparently not. I didn’t know if I was relieved that he didn’t fall at my feet like all the other servants of Hell or if it annoyed me. Maybe a little of both. I rushed forward to catch up with him and made sure I walked a few paces in front to remind him of his status so he’d shut up for once.

  We came out in front of the bar called The Lone Lion with a row of motorcycles lined up out front. A few overweight, gray-bearded men sat on the bikes swinging back beer and making wild gestures. One of their gazes landed on me.

  “Well, helloooo, darlin’!’” He raised a brown bottle in my direction. “You can’t be from here with that dress on. Looks like you fell straight outta Heaven!”

  I arched an eyebrow and smiled. Heaven? Seriously?

  His buddies guffawed and whistled.

  “What’s the matter, princess?” Blade asked, watching me closely. “Not your type?”

  “Uh…not exactly.” I turned away to the tune of more whistles and jeering then zeroed in on a green sign by the side of the road.

  Decatur, Georgia, it read.

  I laughed. “The Devil went down to Georgia.”

  Blade cracked a smile. “Let’s raise some Hell.”

  We walked along the highway past the sign toward the city as cars rushed by for what seemed like hours. I loved strolling with the open wind whipping over my face, blowing my hair back, buzzing all of my senses. I loved here, and once my mother saw that I could capture souls, I’d be free to travel through the gate as often as I pleased. With a sidekick escort, of course.

  And I would be deemed fit for the throne. I supposed that should’ve been the most important thing, but it wasn’t exactly a secret that I was kind of—okay, maybe a lot—obsessed with the Nest.

  When I was little, Mom brought me here, and we would sit—on some bench or at the beach—and just feel. Not that you couldn’t do that in Hell. There were lots of feelings in Hell, but they were darker, more solid so they crawled over my skin and tightened me. Here, I could be wide open. My hearing sharpened, my eyes saw clearer, and I could feel the souls pulsing like a million exploding suns.

  My eyes drank everything in as Blade and I reached the edge of the city. The way the full moon cast a silver glow through the leafy trees and over the houses spread off in the distance, the hills rising and falling, and even the yellow glow of approaching car lights delighted me.

  Blade huffed out an impatient sigh. “Princess, are you going to do your thing or not? Or am I your escort for a frolic in the countryside?”

  He was right. No sense stalling forever.

  I stopped, closed my eyes, and cast my power out, connecting myself with thousands of souls at once. I gasped and stumbled forward. Blade grabbed me right before red draped across my vison.

  The physical world rippled like water. Souls popped up in front of me like glowing red dots on a map, some burning brighter than others. I made my way through them, trying to find the one that blazed the hottest, that boasted the most darkness. They all called out to me, screaming.

  My insides seemed to growl, hungry for all of them. I swallowed and told myself to be patient. The one I wanted would find me. I just had to look. And then my mind swept toward one of those bright, scorching lights. I focused only on it until it exploded in my mind. A ball of flame shot out of my eyes and landed in the palm of my hand to catch an up-close glimpse of the soul. The world oozed back into focus, but only the dancing fire in my hand held my gaze.

  Inside, a lone, dark figure stood beside train tracks. He held a small brown box up to the light of the moon, then knelt in the gravel. He brandished a knife from his pocket, sliced into his palm, and let the blood drip down into the contents of the box.

  He was trying to summon a demon. This would be ridiculously easy. I growled, this time out loud. Mine. All mine.

  I threw my flame outward, and it spread out into a swirling portal. I stepped inside, followed by my demon escort, and exited behind my trophy, my eyes burning bright red like the Devil herself.

  “It’s you,” the man beside the train tracks whispered, without turning around to face me. He left his little brown box in the gravel and stood, his entire frame shaking. “You really came.”


  “Yep, sure did.” My voice squeaked, likely giving away my excitement at talking to a human.

  I couldn’t help it though. They were so riveting and complex, I just wanted to squeeze them until they popped so I could study what made them tick. Disturbing, I know. I didn’t get out much, okay?

  Blade cleared his throat.

  I glanced at him, and he stared at me with his eyebrow raised, probably wondering if I would pull it off this time.

  Me too.

  “I mean…yes. You called?” I gripped the chains wrapped around my dress. The metal heated under my touch and burned glowing red. I did it for effect more than anything else, in case he needed lots of visual proof I was who I said I was when he turned around.

  “I’m not imagining this?” he asked.

  “Turn around and find out,” I told the man.

  He took in a deep breath and turned, hanging his head low. His shoulders trembled, and then he looked up with a set of hardened, gray eyes. They turned darker when he frowned.

  “You’re just a girl,” he said.

  I shook my head. “Not just.”

  He limped toward me, favoring his left side. I wondered why he tried to summon someone and hoped it wasn’t for something like healing his leg. His bright soul wouldn’t have burned so intense for something so trivial. The right sleeve of his jacket flapped in the wind like a flag, as if there was no limb under there to cling to.

  “Are you one of his agents?” he asked.

  Blade snorted. Why did people always think Mom was a man with horns and hooves?

  “I’m no one’s agent.” I stepped forward, and the man tightened up as if afraid to be near me. I couldn’t say I blamed him what with the whole summon-a-demon-from-Hell-at-a-crossroads thing and all. “Why did you summon someone, uh, me?”

  He used his only hand to toy with the side of his jeans. I tried to pinpoint his age, guessing he was in his sixties. Being desperate enough to call on Hell aged a person though.

  “I-I talked to a friend.” He rubbed his right leg and sighed. “This is crazy.”

  “Give us a shot,” Blade said under his breath.

  The man peered at me and I nodded.

  “Go on,” I urged.

  “I talked to a friend. He said that when he was a kid, there were reports of a man performing a ritual at a crossroads. And a woman came… He wished to see his kids for one day, but his ex… Anyway. Overnight his ex had a change of heart. The day after he saw his kids, he dropped dead. I thought my friend was crazy, but…”

  I smiled. “But here I am.”

  “Since when do demons grant wishes?” he asked.

  “I’m not a demon. And we don’t grant wishes, but we do make deals.” I stepped closer to him. “What’s your name?”

  “Uh…it’s…um.” He closed his eyes. “Kevin, my name is Kevin.”

  “What do you want, Kevin?”

  His eyelids fluttered, and he fumbled around with the inside pockets of his jacket. He held up a wrinkled old photograph.

  I took it from him. The picture showed a small girl, no older than six or seven, smiling out at me like the sun cast its light wherever she went, despite her completely bald head. Something inside me ripped, right through the center of my chest. I released my grip on the chains wrapped around me. The fire inside the metal fizzled, then went cold and dark.

  “This doesn’t explain why you summoned me,” I said, my voice tight.

  “Sh—She’s terminal. The doctors say six weeks.”

  Beside me, Blade sighed. My gaze narrowed on him.

  He smirked. “What? You couldn’t take the first one because of a stupid dog, the second one because he wanted to take his daughter to Disney World, and you pick this soul with a cancer kid. It’s like you pick out these souls on purpose so you’ll fail. Just give up the throne now.”

  A frenzied rush of heat swamped my body. My molars cracked together on the burst of un-princess-like words I wanted to hurl at him. Instead, I ignited my chains with a simple touch and snapped them toward the ground. They wrapped around his ankles. I yanked. Hard. He toppled over with a loud grunt. The pants up to his knees singed away in a flurry of ashes. Underneath, his skin sizzled and turned bright red, then quickly blistered into a sickly-looking black. He would heal by morning. Unfortunately.

  I whipped the chains away, and they wrapped back around my torso as if they had a mind of their own.

  I turned back to the man. “You were saying.”

  He gaped at me in wide-eyed fear.

  I frowned and hiked a thumb toward Blade. “Amateur.” I reached out and touched Kevin’s shoulder, impressed that he didn’t cringe away, and handed him back his picture. “Tell me more about the girl.”

  There was no reason for me to be interested. I could have plucked out his soul right then, deal or no deal, but the girl seemed to have hollowed out all hope inside him. It seemed only fair that I know all the details before I killed his body and took his soul.

  A tear ran down his cheek. “She’s my granddaughter. Six years old and the smartest kid you’d ever want to meet.” He laughed, but it was a struggle, as if something in him couldn’t manage the joy it took to belt out a real one. “Two years ago, she was diagnosed with leukemia. She—” He jerked his head toward the ground, almost crushing the picture in his fist. “She fought so hard,” he choked out, his words trembling. “And this year, they said… We can make her comfortable.”

  My eyes burned. I couldn’t do this. I wouldn’t do this. He was human, but I was not. I couldn’t afford to share these emotions with him. But still, the image of the frail little girl bobbed in my mind almost like a nightmare, and my throat pulled so hard, it made it hard to breathe.

  I swallowed, and once I was pretty sure my voice wouldn’t tremble, I again asked, “What do you want, Kevin?”

  He grabbed my hand, and I leaned away from him with wide eyes. “I want you to heal her. That’s my wish, and I’m willing to pay the price. I’m telling you I will do anything. Please!” He gripped my hand so tight his knuckles turned bone white.

  I had to remember why I was here. His soul called out to me, pulsing like a red-hot light in the center of his chest. But other things called out too. The desperation in his plea, the unfairness of a child bearing so much pain, and the sadness her grandfather felt for her.

  “I can heal her,” I blurted.

  “Please.” Kevin released me and gathered his hand with the stump of his other arm together in prayer.

  I nodded, trying to see him as nothing more than a soul. “I will heal her, and she will live a long life. All that I require of you is your soul.”

  Kevin went still as he considered my deal. Part of me hoped he wouldn’t take it. That he would accept that sometimes people just died, for no good reason at all. But the part of me that could read humans like a manual knew that wouldn’t happen. When people became this desperate, they never considered the consequences.

  “Let me be clear.” I spoke slowly, hoping that every word would land where he could understand them. “If I take your soul, your body will die, and your soul will go to Hell.”

  He nodded but the light had gone out of his eyes. It was as if he’d already resigned himself to his fate.

  “You’ll never see your granddaughter again.”

  “Emily,” he said shakily.

  “You’ll never see Emily again or anyone else you love. There is no getting out of it. Ever.”

  “Just…” Tears streamed out of his eyes. “Do it.”

  My heart constricted, and for a moment, I didn’t know if I could. I drew in a trembling breath and reached my hand toward him.

  His mouth pushed tight, he grazed his fingers over my hand and then shook it, sealing the deal.

  Blade grabbed my arm. “Take his soul. Now. Then you can go heal the girl or whatever.”

  Or whatever. He made it sound like she was just an afterthought.

  I glared down my nose at Blade’s fingers digging into my fle
sh and sent another burst of flame through my chains. He backed off, hands up, staring at me with scathing fury.

  “Sorry about that,” I said, focusing on Kevin once again. “Think about her.”

  He blinked.

  “Emily… Think of her now.”

  His eyes filled with light again, and I saw her in his thoughts. She was asleep in a hospital bed, full of so many tubes that she looked more like a machine than an innocent little girl. Her life was draining away. She was asleep but was still in pain, and her dreams screamed for relief. She was falling in the dream but never landing and never experiencing the release of death.

  “Kiera, don’t forget to take his s—” Blade shouted.

  I willed Kevin and me into the hospital room, minus Blade. A worn-looking woman with greasy hair spackled across her forehead jumped up from the chair beside Emily’s bed.

  “What the hell?” she said.

  I nodded toward her, guessing from her age she was Emily’s mother. “Exactly.”

  “What’s happening?” Kevin asked from beside me. “What are you doing?”

  I couldn’t explain to them what I was doing since I didn’t even know myself. All I knew was that I was moving to Emily’s side. Before I could think about it too much, I held my hands over her, took in a deep breath, and peered down at her ashen face.

  I’d never experienced heartbreak until that very moment. I didn’t know this girl, but I could sense her soul. Nothing but goodness. A soul that brought smiles to everyone around her. Pure joy in mortal form.

  This sickness couldn’t happen to her anymore. I waved my hands in the air over her body, calling forth my powers. Instead of darkness and flame, I filled myself with light. Being who I was, the daughter of a fallen angel, I could work with both.

  I built the magic up until I felt ready to burst from it. Then a white-hot streak burst from my hands and sank down into Emily. It swallowed the dark shadows around her eyes and replaced it with rose-colored life. Her sunken frame filled out, and hairs sprouted out of her bald head and flowed down toward her shoulders in lustrous blonde waves.