The Devil Inside (Hell's Gate Book 2)

by Jane Hinchey

“It was an accident,” I told him.

  “It was. If I could change it, I would. I’d return the child to you.”

  “But you can’t.” I knew this. She was gone—a daughter, he’d said.

  He shook his head. “No. I can’t.”

  I stepped away, not comfortable with all the tears and hugging.

  “Now what?” Dacian asked, arms akimbo.

  “I’ve got no idea,” I admitted. “I’ve never seen her like that. I guess we’ll just have to give her time to cool off?” It went against every cell in my body to not go after her, to not pull her into my arms and let her cry out all her pain. But she’d just finished throwing me through the table, I got the sense my company would not be appreciated right now.

  “You don’t understand.” God sniffed and straightened his shoulders, pulling himself together.

  “Understand what?”

  “How do I say this?” he murmured, running both of his hands through his hair and pulling.

  I sighed. How bad could it be? “Just say it.”

  “She’s done with you,” Dacian said instead, taking me by surprise.

  I spun to face him. “What do you mean?” Yes, she’d spat at us that she never wanted to see any of us again, but those were just angry words. Weren’t they?

  “Let me put it in more human terms.” His voice held a trace of sarcasm, but I let it slide, for my heart had stopped in my chest. I knew what he was about to say, but I prayed that I was wrong. “She just broke up with you. Those last words of hers, about not wanting to see you—us—ever again? That was for keeps. Forever.” He was blunt, but I supposed I needed to hear it.

  “No.” Although I knew Dacian was right, that Lucy was done with me, I wasn’t done with her. There was no way in Heaven or Hell I was letting her go.

  And if that meant we had a fight on our hands, so be it.

  THE END…for now

  Want to find out what happens next for Lucy and Levi? Continue the story in book three, Hotter than Hell!

  Preview: Hotter than Hell - Chapter One

  The truck fishtailed as I planted my foot hard on the accelerator. Red and blue lights flashed in the rear-view mirror, lighting up the interior of the cab, and I whooped in delight. This was so much fun! Gone was the old Lucifer, always doing what was expected of her: always on the job, always saving souls. In her place was hell raising Lucifer, and I relished every second, for it let me forget, for brief moments, and I so desperately needed to forget. Even now, in the middle of a high-speed pursuit, memories threatened to consume me. Memories that wanted to drag me under into darkness and pain. I pushed them deep down inside, so far that they’d never see the light of day. I hoped.

  The police car followed as I sped down the dirt backroads of Fury Island, the windows down, taking the corners at breakneck speeds while my hair whipped around my face. Glancing down, I grabbed my beer from the cup holder. How clever of the humans to design such a thing – a holder for your beverage of choice. I took a swig, swerved across the road, and then dropped the bottle back into the holder, regaining control of the truck.

  The lights behind faded. They’d called off the pursuit.

  “Pussies!” I shouted out the window. My cell phone rang, and the trucks Bluetooth picked up the call. “Yo?” I answered.

  “Lucy.” It was Jase. Probably wondering where his truck was.

  “Do you have my truck?” He asked.

  Bingo.

  “Maybe.” I wanted to lie and say no, but still, I had this innate compulsion to speak the truth – it was infuriating. Since leaving Heaven, I’d hidden out on Earth, subduing my angelic — or demonic — depending on how you look at it — powers by living as one with the humans. That meant no magic. The minute I used it they’d be able to track me, for I had no doubt that Levi and Dacian were searching. Only they didn’t know what realm I was on, they may suspect Earth, but where, on this vast planet, would Lucifer, the Queen of Hell, hide?

  My mind was drifting dangerously close to the one man who I did not, one hundred percent, want to think about. Levi. He’d destroyed me. The human turned fire demon had done what no one, angel or demon, had ever managed. He’d gotten under my defenses, I took my guard down and opened my heart wide for him. That’s when he struck, hard and fast, the memory of it still left me breathless.

  “Lucy, we’ve talked about this.”

  I jumped at the sound of Jase’s voice, having forgotten he was on the line.

  “I’m just blowing off some steam.” I protested. “You’re always trying to spoil my fun.” The pout in my voice was real, for I’d discovered walking on the dark side was an enjoyable activity.

  “Yeah well, can you blow off steam in your own car? Oh, that’s right, you don’t have one!”

  “Sarcasm doesn’t become you Jase.” I could picture the tall blonde vet, raking his hand through his hair in frustration.

  “Just bring the truck back, Lucy. The police rang, asking if I was aware it had been stolen.”

  “The cops are as much fun as you.” I took another swig of beer, frowning when I noticed the precariously low volume left in the bottle. Reaching over to the passenger seat, I dug around in the brown paper bag, found it empty, and cursed. I was out of booze. The tires screeched as the vehicle meandered on to the wrong side of the road. I glanced up, overcorrected, and then finally managed to get the thing back under control and in the correct lane.

  “Lucy!”

  “Fine!” I shouted back, “I’ll bring your precious truck back.” I disconnected the call, annoyed at Jase. Hell, I was annoyed at everyone these days. I knew Del and Jase were on eggshells around me, the only one who didn’t give a damn was Duke, the black lab had ignored my lousy mood and demanded I give him a pat, and just like that, with my hand stroking his luxurious fur, my mood would ease. For a while at least.

  Softening at the memory, I eased off the accelerator and turned the truck back toward town. I had a shortcut the cops had yet to discover and with not a police car in sight, I parked the car at the back of Jase’s vet clinic, with no one the wiser. It was a beautiful night; the air was warm with a slight summer breeze coming off the ocean. The moonlight was unfiltered, not a cloud in the midnight sky. I sighed. How I wished it was winter, with thundering storms and cold winds lashing my body – for that was how I felt inside, and it would be nice to have the weather reflect my mood, not the romantic paradise Fury Island was exhibiting.

  I stood looking at the house attached to the vet clinic. It was dark, all the lights off, and I knew Jase and Del were inside sleeping. Pushing down any errant melancholy that surfaced, I swiveled on my heel and began the walk into town. I’d had my fun with the truck, but I wasn’t ready for my night to be over, for then, I’d have to face the inevitable truth. I’d be going to sleep alone and waking up alone and ever since fleeing Heaven, I’d never felt so utterly alone in my life.

  The Elephant & Wheelbarrow – a wholly English pub on a Caribbean island – was my drinking venue of choice. Stepping through the rustic door was like stepping into another dimension, and I liked the irony of it. The pub smelled like old smoke, leather, and for some bizarre reason, freshly cut roses, when there were no flowers to be seen.

  Sliding on what I considered my barstool, I waved at Gloria, a well-endowed woman in her forties who had a smile for everyone, and white curls that bounced in total disarray around her shoulders. Some days her perpetual happiness grated on my nerves, and all I’d have to offer her was a growl. On those days, she knew it was best to leave me alone.

  “What’ll it be this evening Lucy?” she asked, filling a glass with ice, then a shot of whiskey, and setting it in front of the man a few seats down.

  “Sex on the beach?” I asked, tapping my fingers against my chin as I mentally scanned through the list of cocktails I’d made it my mission to devour. I’d been here a week, and this was my third rotation of the cocktail list.

  Wiping her hands on a tea towel she smiled, “Coming right up.�
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  The man who’d ordered the whiskey moved to the bar stool next to mine and nudged me with his elbow. “I can help with that,” he said.

  “What?” I knew what was coming. Always did. Stupid humans.

  He grinned, raking his hand through his hair. “Sex on the beach.”

  I glanced at him, only to be rewarded with a leer. So gross. “Not interested.” Ignoring him, I turned to Gloria, who was making my cocktail. She looked from me to the guy and back again, trying not to smile.

  “No need to be rude.” He puffed, and my eyebrows shot into my hairline.

  “Rude? Dude that was not rude. Your pathetic attempt to have sex with me was declined. You take rejection as rude? No. You see, this is where human nature has gone all wrong. Men feel entitled. They feel they can say and do what they want to a woman with no consequences. When a woman says no, she’s rude, or a bitch, or frigid, or whatever other insults you think you can throw at her. But you know what? I don’t give a rat’s ass what you think. Say what you want. Honestly, I don’t care, because you mean nothing to me – your existence has no meaning in my life what-so-ever. I’m meant to feel privileged that you deigned to speak to me? Well here’s some advice for you. Go fuck yourself, you pathetic twat waffle.”

  Gloria barked out a laugh, slid the cocktail to me, and addressed the guy who was now flushed bright red. “You lucked out Pete, move along now, and stop bothering the lady.”

  “She ain’t no lady,” he protested, grabbing his drink and scampering away. I wanted to read him, to open my magic and see if he was slated for heaven or hell, but I’d suppressed those abilities since arriving on Fury Island and the not knowing was liberating. I got to judge every person I met on the merits of how I perceived them to be at that moment, not what I knew of their past. I’m sure a lot of them were sinners, some worse than others, but I enjoyed not knowing, not judging. Sweet, sweet, freedom.

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  My name is Del Devereux and I see dead people.

  I’ve always believed in ghosts. I’ve been able to see and talk to them since I was a child, so when the spirit of Father Jack Sullivan told me someone was trying to open the gates of Hell, I listened.

  Turns out the chewed on piece of stone I’d rescued from my dog Dukes jaws was, in fact, a shard from an ancient relic – a medallion. Broken into three pieces, they had to be reunited to form the key. And I had the last piece.

  With a demon hot on my tail and willing to kill anyone or anything that got in his way, I was on the run, with Duke and my best friend Jase by my side. I thought we were in with a fighting chance when I discovered the shard was giving me special powers. And then it all went horribly wrong.

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  Back of book stuff

  When I first started this series, I was really nervous about sharing it with the world – well okay, I get nervous with every book launch, that’s a given, but Lucy was different. I wasn’t sure how readers would react to Lucifer being female and NOT evil. Thankfully you embraced it wholeheartedly and my writing career didn’t go down the tubes!

  It’s been fun creating her and throwing challenge after challenge her way just to see what she would do. I mean, dragons? Come on, even I didn’t see that coming! I was totally going to go with the four horsemen, I primed you for it and then BOOM, a dragon appeared. This is what I love about writing – and about being a panster. A panster is a writer who doesn’t plot, simply writes by the seat of their pants. In other words, I make shit up as I go along. So half the time I have no idea what’s going to happen next.

  I’ve already started book three, Hotter than Hell. I can’t tell you too much about it because honestly? I don’t know lol. What I can tell you is that you’re going to see a side of Lucy we haven’t seen before. Will Levi win her back? At this point I don’t know, it’s going to take some major groveling on his behalf and I don’t know if Lucy can ever repair the relationship with her parents. Right now she’s hurting and in a wild mood so heaven only knows.

  Please, if you enjoyed this book give it a rating on the retailer where you purchased. Your kind words and encouragement help. Word-of-mouth is crucial for any author to succeed, so even if it’s only a line or two your review will make all the difference and is hugely appreciated.

  You are the reason I write these stories and I sincerely appreciate each of you!

  Thank you.

  ~ Jane Hinchey

  About the Author

  Aussie Author Jane Hinchey writes funny, witchy, paranormal cozy mysteries and romantic urban fantasy.

  Living in the City of Churches (aka Adelaide, South Australia) with her man, two cats, and turtle, she would really prefer to live in a magical town where cooking could be done with a snap of her fingers, and her house would clean itself.

  The best place to find ALL of Jane’s books is her website: https://janehinchey.com/books

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