The Devil Inside (Hell's Gate Book 2)

by Jane Hinchey

  I laughed. “What is it with you and sex in the bathroom?”

  “Hey, can I help it if I love you naked and wet?” He spun me to face him, pulling me close and kissing me, the force and passion behind his embrace overwhelming in its intensity. Knees weak, I ground my hips against his hard length, twining my arms around his neck.

  As he pushed me up against the shower wall, Levi’s hands tugged at my clothes, but it was taking too long. I was impatient for his touch. With a whisper of magic, I undressed us both, and our clothes dropped to the floor.

  “Neat trick,” he said, chuckling, before plastering himself against me, skin to skin. Thank the Lord he’d pinned me to the tile, holding me up, because all the strength had left my legs. I was a boneless mass of sensation.

  A shiver danced through me when a rough hand cupped my breast, his thumb rubbing against the swollen tip. When he finally sucked it into his mouth, I squealed and clutched his hair, urging him on. He took his time, first torturing one breast, then the other, pinching them gently between his teeth, running his tongue over and around them. All the while, he pressed a muscled thigh between my legs, rubbing it against my core until I was writhing.

  “Please,” I begged, not recognizing my own voice.

  “Maybe I’m not done with you yet,” he growled, his breath warm against my neck as the stubble on his jaw scraped my skin.

  “I need you. Inside me. Now.”

  I could barely vocalize my incoherent thoughts, but I knew what I wanted, and it seemed my words had the desired effect. His mouth came down on mine, hard, scorching me in a passionate kiss. His hands squeezed my ass cheeks, and then he lifted me off the floor, trapping me against the tile. Automatically, my legs locked around his waist, and I could feel his thickness pulsing at my entrance. Angling my hips, I pushed against him. He chuckled before he slowly, too slowly for my liking, slid his hard length into me. Thick, rigid, and long, he stretched me deliciously, making me moan and tense up, my body trembling.

  “This is going to be quick,” he said in my ear, his voice strained.

  “Don’t care,” I gasped.

  He needed no further encouragement. With his hands cupping my ass cheeks, he pumped into me with long strokes that had me panting and groaning. I tried to hold on, to prolong the ecstasy that coursed through me, but his cock was hitting my sweet spot with every thrust. I lost it, spasming around his length with a strangled gasp. My climax was all he needed. He pounded into me, hard, until he stiffened and threw his head back with a guttural groan that thrilled me to my core.

  Oh, dear Lord, that was fucking amazing.

  Coming down from my high, I noticed something I hadn’t before. At some point, we’d turned the shower on. Water was pouring over us. It amazed me that, caught up in passion, I failed to notice it. Unhooking my ankles from behind his back, I lowered my legs. Levi kept hold of me until he was sure I had my balance.

  “What’s this?” I asked.

  Levi had turned his face into the spray of water, and I was studying his lean, muscled back, admiring the rivulets of water as they cascaded over his shoulders and down to his tight as steel ass. But what had caught my attention was a black mark on the back of his right shoulder. It looked like a stamp or brand that had gotten wet and the ink had smudged, making it hard to decipher the design.

  “What’s what?” He didn’t turn, busy shampooing his hair. The bubbles distorted the mark until I jerked him out from under the spray to get a better look.

  “Is this a tattoo? Have you always had it?”

  “What? Nah, I don’t have any tattoos.” He laughed. “It’s probably dirt!”

  I rubbed at the mark, but it didn’t budge. Not dirt.

  “You still feel hot, you know,” I commented, placing my palm over the mark and feeling the warmth of his flesh.

  He shrugged. “Told you, I feel fine. Maybe I just run hotter these days?”

  “Do you think passing through into another dimension could have changed you?”

  “Will you just let it go?” The edge to his voice surprised me, and when he jerked away from my touch and stepped out of the shower, I realized I’d pushed too far. But was I wrong? Levi’s body temperature was definitely above normal—for a human.

  “I feel fine. I am fine! The only thing wrong is you nagging at me.”

  Wrapping a towel around his hips, he flung open the bathroom door, leaving me standing, dazed, in the shower. We’d gone from hot and heavy to frigid within two seconds, and my head was reeling. His mood swings not only gave me whiplash, but it just wasn’t like him at all. He was the calmest, even-tempered person I’d ever met, yet…

  Was I overreacting? He’d been through a traumatic experience. Lashing out could be in response to that.

  Finishing up in the shower, I quickly dried and dressed, meeting Levi in the living room.

  “I’m sorry.” I didn’t quite know what I was apologizing for, only that it seemed to be the right thing to do. My worry had angered him, and for that I was sorry. But I wasn’t sorry for worrying.

  “It’s okay.” Pulling me into a hug, he gave me a tight squeeze. “I’m sorry, too.”

  We were interrupted by a knock at the door and Dacian’s voice demanding we get our lazy asses out of bed. Flinging open the door, I scowled at him.

  “We’re up, thank you very much.”

  “Good. I’ve got a plan.” He strode in and stood with hands on hips in the middle of the room.

  “Oh?” It was nice to have a plan. I liked plans. Only lately, it felt like I’d been really bad at coming up with a good one.

  “I’m going to get a team of Seraph angels together and we’re going to search Heaven from top to bottom.”

  “Okay.” It wasn’t a brilliant plan, but it was something.

  “You have a better idea?” Dacian challenged.

  “I thought I’d go to HQ and search Dad’s office.”

  “You don’t think your brothers have done that already?”

  I shrugged. “Even if they have, I doubt they’d tell me. They say they want him found, but I don’t see them doing much searching.”

  “Exactly. I don’t want them to know what I’m doing, so I’m going to say we’re documenting the damage and making a list of repairs. Heaven may be deteriorating, but no one is attempting to repair anything. I can turn that around.”

  I thought about it for a moment. He was right. Heaven would be in better shape if someone at least attempted to fix it. And while he was doing that, he could also look for clues about God. Brilliant plan. I told him so and winced a little at the overly bright smile he gave me. Dacian probably didn’t receive much praise from my brothers, and once again, my anger started to bubble to the surface.

  “Let’s split up,” I said. “Levi and I will go to HQ. You go gather your team and start your search. Meet back here later?”

  Dad’s office was exactly as I remembered it—massive and made of glass with sleek surfaces. The opposite of the plantation house in the jungle. I’d just settled into his chair when the door slid open and Michael walked in, body stiff and face passive. But his eyes—oh, his eyes were spitting fire.

  “What are you doing?” His voice was level but laced with annoyance. Maybe even anger. Michael always liked to be in control of his emotions, and almost never displayed his feelings one way or the other. But I was convinced that, underneath it all, he was pulling strings behind the scenes and watching his little games play out.

  “I’m searching for clues about Dad.” Ignoring him, I began swiping through the electronic device on the desk. It was fully charged. Interesting.

  “We’ve already done that.”

  “What did you find?”

  “Nothing.” It was the split-second hesitation before he answered that gave him away. Liar.

  “Can’t hurt to take another look, then.” The electronic device yielded nothing, but I suspected it wouldn’t. My brothers had wiped it. I needed a physical clue. Something small, something insi
gnificant that they would have overlooked.

  “Why don’t you want him found?” I asked conversationally, rifling through drawers.

  “I do want him found.”

  I couldn’t contain my snort of disbelief.

  “No, seriously. I do. It’s just…” He glanced over his shoulder at the closed door, then looked back at me.

  “What?” I stopped, looking at him.

  “Don’t tell him I said anything, but —” He broke off, face twisting in a grimace.

  “Who?”

  “Gabriel. I think he may have done something.”

  “To Dad?”

  Michael nodded, looking down at his feet. “I need your help, Lucy.”

  I sat back, eyes round with disbelief. Over by the bookcase, Levi had frozen with a book open in his hand, watching us both.

  “Explain,” I said.

  “I’m ashamed to say we’ve known Dad was missing since day one. But…you weren’t here to kick up a fuss, and we honestly thought he was visiting with you for a bit and then having a vacation. We were just caught up, I suppose, in the ego boost of having Heaven to ourselves that we didn’t notice he’d been gone so long, and without a word. And then we thought…perhaps he’d died. But we knew Heaven would panic if word got out, so we kept it quiet.”

  “Only now Heaven itself is outing your secret.”

  He nodded. “And when I think back, it was Gabriel who suggested not saying anything. It was Gabriel who struck a deal with the Zuska for the time device on Earth. It’s Gabriel who wants to rule it all.”

  “So you’re saying everything is Gabriel’s fault? And what? You just went along for the ride? Didn’t have the balls to speak up or stop him?”

  “I was—still am—afraid of him.” He met my eyes, and the pleading in them was real.

  I looked across at Levi, who arched a brow. Did I believe my brother, or not? He was laying all the blame at Gabriel’s feet, and while I could see that our brother was the ringleader in all of this, I couldn’t accept that Michael was a victim, that he’d been bullied into going along with Gabriel’s plans. Something more was going on here.

  With a slight nod of my head, I smiled at him. “Thank you for being honest with me, Michael. It means a lot.”

  “You believe me?” He sounded surprised.

  Of course not you idiot, I thought, but out loud, I said, “There’s no reason not to. Is there?”

  “No. I’m telling the truth, I swear.”

  “Your word is all I need. Do you have any theories about where Dad could be?”

  He shook his head. “No. Sorry. I’ve looked in all the places I know he likes to visit, but there’s been no sign of him. I wish I could be of more help.”

  “Actually, there is something you could do to help.”

  “Oh?”

  I nodded. “Keep Gabriel away. I don’t want another confrontation like yesterday. It’s best he doesn’t know what we’re doing, and if he sees me here, I’m afraid he’ll have another tantrum.”

  “I’ll keep him away. I promise.” Michael’s smile lit up his face, and I smiled in return, raising my hand in farewell when he spun and left the office, the door sliding closed behind him.

  Several seconds passed in silence before Levi said, “Do you believe him?”

  “Not at all.”

  “Good. Because I just found this.” Levi held up a scrap of paper.

  “What is it?”

  “A note.” He held it out to me. “Found it in this book about the seals.”

  I recognized my father’s handwriting, but couldn’t quite make out the words. “What does it say?”

  “Shadow Falls,” Levi replied.

  “Weird.”

  “Coincidence? I think not.”

  “You think they planted it?” I wouldn’t put it past them, plus Levi had found it rather quickly.

  He shrugged. “Possibly. But it’s a lead, so we should check it out. There are a bunch of tunnels and caves beneath Shadow Falls. He could be down there, possibly incapacitated in some way. And it’s the location Gabriel chose for the orb. There has to be some significance in that.”

  9

  After leaving a message for Dacian, Levi and I returned to Shadow Falls. Strolling down Main Street, nodding hello to all the townsfolk we passed, Levi muttered, “This is so fucking weird.”

  “What is?” I was watching the woman across the street. She looked to be in her fifties and was walking a little white fluffball of a dog on a leash.

  “That no time has passed here. I was in the Xoelax dimension for weeks, then we went to Heaven for a day or so, and now we’re back here, and it’s just weird. Exactly how much time has passed since I closed the shop?”

  “Don’t quote me, but a couple of hours, maybe more?” I shrugged, eyes intent on the woman. Her dog stopped to pee, and a flash of irritation crossed her face. She jerked on the leash, not letting the dog stop and take care of business. “Excuse me one second.” Before Levi could reply, I crossed the street and approaching the woman.

  “You need to stop and let your dog pee.” I didn’t bother with niceties, for I already knew what I needed to know. She abused this poor animal. Kicked it. Starved it. My blood boiled.

  “How I treat my dog is none of your business. Go away.” She shooed me with a wave of her hand and went to move past me, but I stepped sideways, blocking her. The dog whined, and I looked down at him. His big brown eyes looked soulfully back at me, melting my heart.

  “Oh, it is very much my business,” I said, squatting to give her dog a pat. “I’m Lucifer, CEO of Hell, and I have a spot reserved for people like you.”

  “Oh. You’re one of them.” Her snooty accent grated on my nerves, and I rose to my feet, stepping closer so she could see the fire I unleashed in my eyes.

  “I kid you not,” I spoke softly, with menace. “I’m not off my meds, and I’m not a mental patient, or any of the excuses people like you throw around. I am the Devil and I will make you suffer as you make this creature suffer.”

  She paled, a trembling hand clutching her throat. “But—you can’t be.”

  “I assure you I very much am. I want you to re-home this animal immediately, to a loving family who will treat it right. You have no capacity, not until you deal with your own demons. Until that time, no pets.”

  The little dog yapped. “It’s okay sweetheart, we’ll get you sorted,” I said to him, then turned my attention back to his owner. “Are we clear?”

  “Yes.” She nodded her head so fast I feared it might topple off.

  “You’ll find a new home for this dog?” I pressed.

  “Yes. I think my sister and her family would be very happy to have him.”

  “Make it happen. Repent your sins, make amends, and maybe—just maybe—I won’t see you in Hell. Not everyone gets this chance. Don’t blow it.”

  “I won’t.” Scooping the dog into her arms, she hurried away.

  “You continue to amaze me.” Levi smiled, draping his arm around my shoulders when I returned to his side, and we continued on our way to the town square.

  “Oh? Why’s that?”

  “Because despite the fact that everyone on this planet believes you’re evil, you still want to help them. You could have let that slide, but you didn’t. You’re trying to save souls.”

  “Of course. I don’t want to see them in Hell. It makes me sad that there’s so much work to be done here. There’s a design flaw in humans that makes them this way.”

  “I wouldn’t say design flaw. That would mean it affects everyone. Maybe a glitch? An anomaly that only affects some but not others?” Levi suggested.

  “Perhaps. Still too many. Why would you want to hurt your fellow man? Or defenseless creatures? It’s beyond imagination…and makes me so damn mad.”

  “I think this is why God chose you.”

  I glanced at him. “Oh?’

  “To run Hell. Because you’re passionate about it, about keeping souls on the right path.
From what I’ve seen, your brothers don’t give a damn about humans. But you care, and it shows.”

  “We won’t know until we find him.” I shrugged off his compliments, but my heart was ready to burst with happiness. Levi understood me. My brothers never had, and, I suspected, never would. They were still trying to work out my angle, when the truth was, I didn’t have one.

  “Are we going in the same way?” We’d come to a stop at the town square, and the massive sink hole with yellow police tape around it.

  “Yep.” I waited until a group of people had passed us, then grabbed hold of Levi and whisked us into the sink hole, flying until we reached the bottom. Using my magic, I summoned a ball of light and held it in my palm.

  “Where do we even start?” Levi kicked at the rubble underfoot.

  This part of the labyrinth had collapsed last time we were here. Although I hadn’t searched every last tunnel and cave, I also hadn’t come across any indication that dad was here. But that was generally the case when someone went missing, wasn’t it? They either didn’t want to be found, or someone else didn’t want them to be found. I had to face the facts. There wasn’t going to be a nice big neon sign pointing the way.

  “Do you think you’d sense him if you got near him?” I asked.

  Levi had made a connection of sorts through the Sword of Souls. Maybe it would be of use during our search.

  “Doubtful. It’s never worked that way before, but who knows.” He shrugged, stepping past me and into a dark passageway. I followed, sending the ball of light ahead of us to guide the way.

  Our search of the tunnels was long, arduous, and unsuccessful. We found no signs of Dad, no hidden chambers, and to say I was disheartened was an understatement. We were in the massive cave where the orb from Xoelax had been hidden when a group of ten or more revenants suddenly appeared, and they were coming for us.

  “Shit!” I scrambled to my feet, rushing to put myself between Levi and the revenants, some of whom were carrying weapons. As they approached, I could see them scooping up rocks. These guys meant business.