Heaven to Hell (A Naughty Box Production Book 1)

by Rue Volley

  “The Lucifer, I mean…the devil, Satan?” I asked as she tried to touch my cheek, but I backed away, her hand floating midair as her expression was one of hurt and confusion. She lowered it as I went on. “Your boyfriend is fucking Satan, seriously, are you shitting me?”

  He laughed, I guess in his position I would have too. “So glad you are a fan.”

  I shook my head. “No, I am not…but, I just can’t…what the fuck is going on here?” I asked as no one was willing to accept the insanity of this situation, as I was.

  She turned back to him. “You are fucking this up.”

  He laughed. “Oh am I? So fucking sorry Eve, mother of sin.”

  I blinked a few times and backed away, almost falling onto the bed.

  “Mother of sin?” I muttered as Lucifer looked at me and grinned. “Yes, Eve, the mother of sin in the Garden of Eden. She was the reason that humanity took a nosedive into fuckdom. I am forever grateful, but God Damn.” He looked back at Eve. “You are the biggest pain in my ass, I swear.”

  She gritted her teeth. “You seriously need to leave before shit gets ugly.”

  He laughed and then tilted his head. “Oh, shit is about to get as ugly as it has ever been.”

  I held my hand up as they both took a step towards each other. “Um, excuse me.” I said in a small voice. My ability to speak at all kind of surprising me. Eve turned and stared at me as Lucifer glanced at me and then back to her. “I have no idea what this is all about, but I would like to leave, before, you know, shit gets ugly, or whatever the fuck you guys are about to do.”

  She narrowed her eyes and he laughed, quickly placing the side of his fist to his lips. She placed a hand to her round hip and sighed. “You are kidding me, right?”

  I stood up and straightened my shoulders. “I mean, you two feel free to work out your shit, which seems pretty important, right here. You can have the room, in fact, here.” I reached down to the side table and picked up my keys. I held them up towards Eve as her eyes lost their light and I could tell that I hurt her, if that was even possible. She reached up and I dropped them in the palm of her hand. She wrapped her fingers around them. “You are dumping me, right?” she said as I cleared my throat. “Dumping someone means they were yours to begin with, you seem to be spoken for, Eve.” I held my hand up towards the man and he nodded to me. “Well now, this is a nice change of pace. You actually fucked someone with a brain and manners, I might add. Someone who appreciates the sanctity of a relationship…” She interrupted him as she spoke to me. Her tone now darker and her eyes getting black around her pupils.

  “You… are dumping….me?” she said as the words sounded like hissing in the air around me. Lucifer rubbed his neck and muttered. “Oh fuck.” I leaned to the side to look at him. “Oh fuck, what?” I said as he glanced back at Eve, his eyes fixated on her back. I could hear something, it almost sounded like the tearing of fabric. Then I saw one tip of a black wing rise up behind Eve and then another. Her fingernails lengthened as the black wings continued to grow in the room. I clutched the white sheet to my chest as Lucifer walked to the chair and sat down. He looked as if he had seen this shit a million times over, but to me, it was pure insanity. I shook my head as her voice deepened and the wings twitched above her. She stretched them out and then relaxed them. I could smell the faint scent of burning in the room as she continued to transform.

  “I….I am not dumping you, Eve. I mean, what we did was amazing, don’t get me wrong, I fucking loved it, every minute of it…in fact you are amazing in bed, just as amazing as you look…” I paused as her face started to turn white, white as the sheet I was holding against me. Then small black lines started to form on her skin, reminding me of the desert plains that had been void of water for a century. She parted her lips and her teeth were no longer straight and beautiful, they were now chiseled to fine points, as if she was built to tear and eat the flesh of anything that wandered across her path. I shook my head and held a hand up as Lucifer inspected his nails on one hand. He leaned in and then brushed them on the lapel of his now clean tux, no signs of coffee to be had from where she tossed it all over him.

  “Ummmm, help?” I said as he glanced up at me and grinned. He pointed to himself and then raised an eyebrow. “Me? Are you asking me for help?” I nodded to him and he stood up, adjusting his tie and then lowering his cane to the floor. He took a step and I noticed a limp. He looked down and grinned.

  “She did that to me, she has a terrible temper, as I am sure you noticed. I had no idea anyone could break anything on me, but she snapped by leg like a fucking twig.”

  I backed up as Eve took one step towards me. “What do you want?” I asked as he rubbed his chin and then snapped his fingers. “Love.” He said and I narrowed my eyes. “What?” I cried out and rolled across the bed as Eve swiped her claw like hand at me. He leaned on his cane and then decided to take his jacket off. He tossed the cane behind him and it landed on the chair as if it belonged there. He tossed the jacket, undid his tie and rolled up his sleeves.

  “Love, I need for you to give that to me, the passion you feel, the love that you still have in your heart for Kate.”

  I pushed myself up and gripped the side of the bed as Eve jumped up on it and stared me down. Her eyes red as blood, teeth sharp and wings twitching above her.

  “How do I give you love?” I asked him and he tilted his head. I narrowed my eyes. “I am not fucking you, asshole.” He laughed. “As if I would want your pussy, if I wanted that I would have had it already.”

  I stood up and slammed my back against the wall as Eve lunged at me. She stopped about 2 inches from my face as I turned my head and closed my eyes. This was it, this was the end of whatever life this was that I had carved out for myself. I was such a pathetic excuse for humanity, lingering here on this plain as my one true love probably burned in hell. I never believed in that crap before, but now, how could I deny the existence of it?

  “You have about 35 seconds to give me what I asked for, Remi.”

  I gritted my teeth as Eve raised her hand, white and smelling of burning fire. “I don’t know how…how do I?…”

  He stepped forward, unbuttoning his shirt and taking it off. I stared at his tattoos, so many, it was hard to distinguish where one started and ended. Then I saw something on his side and it made everything go away, all of the fear, the pain…the memory of Kate dying. I saw her face, tattooed on him and it looked so real, it was as if she was alive in his flesh. He reached down and touched the tattoo and Kate’s eyes closed. I sucked in my breath and stepped out from in front of Eve. I walked towards Lucifer as he grinned at me. “Katie?” I whispered, as her eyes opened and she looked at me.

  “Yes….it is Kate, come.” He hissed at me as his arms opened wide. I stepped up as a tear rolled down my cheek. He reached up and took the tear, it glistened in the light as he grinned at it.

  “It was you, she was with you, Lucifer, in our bed that night.” I said as my voice cracked and the memory of catching Kate cheating on me burned in my mind. He grinned and nodded to me. “You took her from me.” I said as Kate stared at me, her eyes as beautiful as they had ever been before. “Kate killed herself, but you knew, you knew that she would and you did nothing, Remi. You left her alone, leaving her, telling her you could not be with her. Your love was eating you alive. Well, I need it, I need that passion, that love you feel. You see I am cursed, as the king of Hell, I cannot truly give love, and yet I want it. I want it more than any soul devoured, any power handed to me. I want it so that I can…” he glanced at Eve as she turned and transformed back into the beauty that she once was.

  “For her.” I whispered.

  He nodded to me and then touched my face. “Give me this and I will grant you anything.” I started to remember everything. When she cheated on me and then I cheated on her, with a woman I met in this motel…with Eve. I remembered it all now, as if memory had been gifted to me. I had woken up with Kate sitting in the corner chair, staring at me
, not Lucifer. She was so hurt, more hurt than I had ever seen her before. I felt cold and callus. As if evil had taken ahold of me and would not release me. Then my heart slowed, the sound of it slowly thumping in my ears. I stared at Kate and remembered the first time I had seen her. The first time she smiled at me. The first time I held her close and my lips touched hers. I remembered love, I remembered loving her and most importantly, her truly loving me.

  “There it is, the love I asked of you.” He said as he placed the tear to his tongue. His body shuddered. I reached out to touch Kate’s face just as her eyes closed and I found my eyes fluttering open, as I lifted my head from my steering wheel. Blood streaming down my face from one deep cut to my head.

  What Comes Around

  I drove along with the music humming in the car. It was low, reserved, and I sighed as I tapped my red nails on the black steering wheel. The beat droned on, reminding me of how stale I had truly become. I reached over and pressed the button, forcing the CD out of the small slit cut into the car. I tossed it out the window and it rolled to a stop on the black asphalt behind me. I flipped the armrest up and it exposed my secret stash of driving music. I fingered through it, never taking my eyes from the road and felt it. The soft paper case that housed the CD I had ignored for a while now. A CD made for me, a mix CD, yeah…one of those fucking things. It was packed with songs I could do without, songs that reminded me of her. The woman who had ripped my heart out and then took a dump on it, just to make sure it was dead and no one would ever want to touch it again. I hesitated and then pulled it out. I tapped it on the edge of the armrest and then glanced at it. “To my Love” was written in black script. Nice handwriting coming from a demonic hand. A cheater, a liar, a coward who also happened to be the love of my life.

  I fingered at the flap and slid the silver disc out. I tapped my nail on the top of it and then did the inevitable. I popped it in, I had avoided doing this for weeks but I felt it was time. Time to listen to whatever the fuck she had to say to me. The first track loaded and then I gripped the wheel, my fingers turning white as I heard her voice. I could not believe she actually did this. She actually spoke to me, in her own words, her own voice…as if she had the right to do this. As if after all I had endured with her wasn’t enough.

  “Remi…I know you. I know that you are rolling your eyes right now, (I was mid eye roll) probably driving a long road and trying to forget me. I know this as well as I know myself, but…I want you to know something. I want you to know that I…”

  I placed my finger to the button then paused, deciding to allow her to go on.

  “I love you, I know that you know this. I just can’t stay here anymore. I lost your love. Without it, I feel nothing. I know, you will hate me. You will think I am a coward. I get it, I do, but I just can’t look into your eyes anymore. Not since you, no since you were with her. I know this is fucked up. I don’t expect you to understand, I am not even sure that I understand. But Remi, I love you, I have always loved you, please remember that about me.”

  I pressed on the gas, as I thought about finding her body in the motel room. She looked as if she had been sleeping, but she wasn’t. She had taken every sleeping pill she could find. I didn’t come in time. I was out, drinking. Trying to forget our problems. She had called me, begging me to come back. I told her it was over, that I hated her, I hated us. I hated what she had turned me into, as if I could excuse away my indiscretion, because of her own.

  I popped it out of the CD player and tossed it to the back of the car. It slammed into the window and ricocheted onto the seat. I glanced in the mirror and saw it. The glossy sheen of eyes about ready to cry. I fucking hate that and I hate her. “God Damn you, why?” I whispered to myself as one tear rolled down my cheek and I wiped it away with so much distain. I reached in my arm rest again and pulled out an old CD I had ignored forever. It was packed with hard rock songs, shit to bang your head to, so to speak. I slid it in and turned it all the way up, louder than I needed to. I rolled all the windows down in the car. The air was chilled, Fall was coming…and I needed a change. A huge one. I glanced over in the seat and saw it. The fucking URN. I grinned as I tapped it, all strapped in like a baby seat. “Halloween is coming, what the fuck are we are we going to be this year?” I asked it as I tapped the wheel and decided to turn the noise up to drown everything out of my mind. Everything…finding her body, the funeral, all of it.

  I swerved as I spotted the small black sports car on the side of the road, but more than that, I spotted a heel. I bit my lip and slammed on the breaks, my cherry red mustang eating the road and leaving a trail of white smoke behind it. I slid sideways and then turned to look. I started muttering to myself. “Keep going…just go, Remi.” Then my nature took over. I saw a beautiful ass bent over the edge of the car, it was housed in a gorgeous red pencil skirt that hugged her voluptuous curves. Her one long leg up, black heel floating midair. I bit my lip and glanced in the mirror. I slid out of the car, standing there and hanging onto the door. The engine humming as it always did.

  I stopped breathing as she slowly walked towards me. I parted my lips and then glanced back at the car. The URN was gone and when I turned back, Kate stood before me, as beautiful as she had always been to me. The most beautiful woman in the entire world. She stepped up and placed a hand to my face, I cupped it with my own and closed my eyes, taking it and placing her open palm to my lips. I kissed it as the tears flowed from my eyes and she grinned. Eyeing me with so much compassion.

  “Remi.” She whispered. I opened my eyes and leaned in, holding her body against my own. Warm, breathing, alive, as I had wished over and over again after my indiscretion had killed her, had taken every bit of light inside of her and extinguished it.

  “Kate.” I said with my last breath as the paramedics worked on me.

  “I forgive you.” She whispered into my ear. I grinned.

  My heart slowed, but not from breaking, it was finally free. I understood that everything I had seen, from the moment I found Eve on the road, was simply the end of my life. My mind trying to make sense of it all. I stood up and glanced at my mangled red mustang wrapped around a tree. I saw the paramedics hovering over me, as my body lay there, eyes closed and peaceful. Sleeping, as I had found my Kate in our bed when I returned to the motel room that morning. Then I felt a hand slip into mine. I turned and there she was. Her eyes gentle and loving, as I remembered her before everything went wrong. She pushed my hair behind my ear and I looked down and then back up at her.

  “Thank you.” I said as my voice whispered on the wind. She nodded to me and took my hand, walking towards the middle of the road and staring down it. It seemed to go on forever.

  “Shall we?” she asked. I nodded to her. We walked along, hand in hand, as everything else fell away behind us into fire and brimstone. A wide staircase appeared and we started to climb up it and towards a brilliant light. I stopped and looked back, seeing Lucifer on the road as Eve stood before him. He dropped his cane and held his arms open as she ran and hugged him, feeling the gift of love that I had given to him. He snapped his fingers and they faded into blackness as I turned to Kate and touched her face.

  “I have always loved you.”

  “I know.” She whispered to me. Then she leaned in and our lips met, as if for the first time. The light engulfed us and we were truly set free.

  Note from the author:

  Rue would like to thank her husband, as well as the countless fans, her friends, and publishing family, who have made her career in literature possible.

  Keys to Heaven

  The Purgatory Series – Book 1

  Shyla Colt

  ©Text Copyright 2014 Shyla Colt

  Dedication

  To Natasha who watered the seed of hope and self-confidence in myself that needed a bit of TLC. I will always want to be as cool as you, and think of myself as a pseudo little sister. <3 you.

  Chapter One

  “Mom. I’m going to do a garbage run!” Heav
enleigh glanced over her shoulder. The red streaks in her mom’s black hair swayed a she nodded. Knowing she heard, Heaven took the two bags in her hand and walked to the back door. A rush of cool air felt good against her heated skin as she stepped out into the night. The bar was booming tonight. She smiled. Purgatory had been smash hit from the moment it opened, much to everyone’s surprise, hers included. When her mother pitched the concept of a neutral bar for angels, demons, and whatever else supernatural wandered in looking for a good time, Heavenleigh thought she’d lost it. Still, as always she supported the women who’d given up everything for her.

  As a being with one foot in hell, and one foot in heaven she wasn’t well liked. Her mother had fallen to earth, leaving her grace behind to pursue a romance with a demon she claimed was ill fated from the start. Her mother never went into details and the look of pure torment that rose in her eyes whenever she spoke of her father kept her from asking for more details. Besides, the asshole had bailed on them, and at sixty, though she looked about thirty by human standards, the last thing she needed was a wanna-be-daddy trying to tell her what to do. Pushing the bitter thoughts away she tossed the lumpy black sacks in the dumpster.

  Her stomach lurched like she was on a Tilt-O-Whirl and her ears twitched. Turning to face the dimly light area behind her, she raised her hands. Blue power crackled around illuminating the space between her and the parking lot. She waited, her eyes scanning the blackness as she kept her muscles loose and ready to fight. Something wicked this way comes. A shadow peeled itself from the wall and began to take a human shape. Demon. Scarlet eyes stood out against the creatures pale skin, and blue-black hair that fell across his forehead in an angular cut. Wow even demons were doing the Emo thing now. His high cheek bones, an angular chin, and thin, dusky-pink, lips made him look like a runway model. That was their gimmick, good looks, a silver tongue, and a sincere tone.