Welcome to Hell Box Set: Paranormal Romantic Comedy (Mel Goes to Hell Series Book 123)

by Demelza Carlton

  Daedalus and his son escaped from their prison by creating wings from feathers and wax. Icarus flew too close to the sun, so his wings melted and he drowned, but Daedalus made it to the mainland and into hiding. Minos set off to search for him and found him in Sicily. With the help of King Cocalus of Sicily and his daughters, Daedalus managed to kill Minos…by scalding him to death with boiling water while he was in the bath.

  Muriel

  Her name means perfume of God and the myrrh tree was named for her. Unusually, Muriel is an angel who appears female, while most others are male or androgynous in form.

  Very little is known about this angel, except that she is one of the Hashmallim. Some accounts place her as the leader of that choir.

  Nessos

  Nessos is a centaur who used to ferry people across the Euenos River on his back. One day, his passenger was Hercules' wife, Deianeira. During their short ride, Nessos decided he wanted a ride of a different sort and attempted to rape Deianeira while Hercules was still on the opposite bank of the river.

  Hercules shot Nessos in the heart with a hydra-poisoned arrow. As the centaur lay dying, he told Deianeira that his blood was a powerful love charm that would ensure that Hercules remained faithful to her. She took some of his blood and later stained one of Hercules' shirts with it. When Hercules wore the poisoned shirt, it burned him to death.

  Nessos is now the ferryman for the River Phlegethon in the seventh level of Hell and he hasn't lost his taste for personal payment from his female passengers.

  Nybbas

  Nybbas is a demon whose speciality is visions and dreams, but he's a charlatan and a fool. He's said to be able to create anything he can dream about.

  This may be why he's in charge of IT at the HELL Corporation – and he's the main liaison to the imps, a race of winged, demon-like beings who create illusions so realistic they even fool angels and demons. He's reputed to have been instrumental in the start of the Thai adult film industry (though he hasn't said how) and his public speaking skills are comical at best.

  He has something of a crush on Mel.

  Patrick

  Man or myth? Did Saint Patrick really banish snakes from Ireland?

  Saint Patrick most certainly did exist. Some of the documents he wrote (or copies of the originals) have survived more than 1500 years to the present day.

  While Patrick spent most of his life in Ireland, Patrick wasn’t born there. He was born around the year 385 in Kilpatrick in Scotland. He wasn’t Scottish, either – his parents, Calpurnius and Conchessa, were Romans tasked with taking care of the Roman colony of Britannia. His father, Calpurnius, was a deacon and his grandfather was Potitus, the priest of Banna Venta Berniae (a town believed to have been near modern-day Carlisle).

  When he was a teenager, an Irish raiding party captured him and took him home with them. In Ireland, he was a slave shepherd until he was twenty.

  He escaped and took ship for home in Scotland, but he was persuaded to return to Ireland – to convert its people to Christianity.

  He didn’t go right away – he studied to be a priest instead. It wasn’t until 433, when he was ordained as a bishop, that Patrick returned to Ireland. He spent more than thirty years of his life in Ireland, where he died on 17 March 461.

  There are several tales about how Saint Patrick rid Ireland of snakes. Some say that snakes attacked him while he was fasting and praying, while others state that his beloved wife was bitten by a snake. Either way, he took a distinct dislike to the creatures, so legend says he drove them into the sea.

  Actually, no human intervention was required to rid Ireland of snakes – as a combination of ice and sea water is responsible for that. In the last Ice Age, which ended around 10,000 years ago, Ireland was too cold for snakes to survive there and by the time it was warm enough to be hospitable, the sea level had risen, isolating the island from anywhere snakes might migrate from.

  Ireland isn’t the only island that doesn’t have snakes – New Zealand, Antarctica, Iceland and Greenland don’t have any snakes, either. This might account for Patrick's preference for Ireland – he has a healthy fear of snakes.

  In the present day, the saint has become one of the Hashmallim – the first human-born soul to do so. His area of responsibility is the leaders of the UK and Europe, which is mostly where he spends his time. He's an old friend of Mel's and has worked closely with her many times over the centuries when she gets involved in European politics.

  Persephone

  Demeter's daughter, known as Persephone, Proserpine, Kore or Kora, prefers that her close friends call her Persi.

  Abducted by Hades when she was very young, to be forced into a marriage she didn't want, Persi's had a tumultuous life which has left her less than angelic.

  She's fond of ink and has a particularly detailed tattoo inspired by a Luca Signorelli painting in Orvieto Cathedral in Italy.

  As Demeter's daughter, she's also Mel's cousin and Persephone looks up to Mel as friend, confidante and authority figure. Persi aspires to be angelic, but her penchant for bad boys and other Earthly delights get her into trouble more often than most.

  Peter

  Saint Peter, also known as Simon Peter and Cephas, was both a fisherman and one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ, the leaders of the early Christian church. Along with Saint Paul, he's believed to be one of the founders of the See of Rome of the Catholic Church.

  He died in Rome during the reign of the Emperor Nero, crucified upside down on a cross on the Vatican Hill, where he was later buried. St Peter's Basilica was built on top of his grave, or where his grave was believed to be.

  Since his death, the saint's soul stands in judgement at the gates of Heaven. With the Book of Judgement, he weighs whether souls may enter Heaven or not. Up until recently, he's only stood in judgement over human souls and when demons attempt to enter Heaven, he defers to a higher authority like Saint Michael the Archangel.

  Philatanus

  Philatanus, known as Phil in the HELL Corporation, is the demon who assists Belial in sodomy. As the two men are lovers, they tend to focus on each other more than tormenting unwilling humans.

  When he's working, Philatanus is the director of the HELL Corporation's Research Division.

  Phlegyas

  Originally the King of the Lapiths, Phlegyas was the son of Ares and Chryse. His daughter, Coronis, was one of Apollo's lovers. When she was pregnant with Apollo's son, Asclepius, she fell in love with someone else – Elatus' son, Ischys. Apollo was so angry at Coronis that he sent his sister, Artemis, to kill the girl – but the baby survived, to be brought up by the centaur Chiron.

  Phlegyas responded by torching the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, so Apollo killed him, too.

  Phlegyas is in charge of the fifth level of Hell, where those who committed the sin of wroth endlessly battle it out with each other in the swampy River Styx. He has a boat and occasionally ferries souls across the river, but at their peril.

  His particular enemy in Hell is Megaera, one of the three Dirae, who imprisoned him in a rock where he could see an eternal feast, but never eat any of it.

  Ploutos

  Ploutos was the Greek god of wealth – not to be confused with Pluto, otherwise known as Hades, the Lord of the Underworld. Ploutos was Demeter's son by Iasion, conceived when the couple were attending a wedding. He's tasked with distributing wealth, which is why he's often pictured with a cornucopia, but some accounts state that he's blind, because he distributes wealth so blindly.

  Ploutos is responsible for maintaining order in Level Four of Hell, where the greedy are punished. He continues to distribute wealth by managing the gambling in Hell – betting on which of the greedy souls will win their bout of fighting.

  He's Persephone's half-brother and particularly fond of cats.

  Raphael

  He healed a blind man, saved a woman from the devil, buried a demon in the desert…Raphael heals and likes hot places.

  Recognised in the Bible, Torah
and Qur’an (where he’s known as Israfel) as an archangel, very little is known about Raphael.

  Some sources say that he’s on the same level as Michael, Gabriel and four other archangels in the angelic hierarchy, where archangel can be either one of the lower tiers of angels or simply a title for the leaders of each of the tiers.

  Raphael has been described as the leader of the Hashmallim, the choir of angels who have domination over Earth and the rest of the universe. If that’s true, he’s a bloke with huge responsibilities.

  The Book of Tobit in the Bible describes how Raphael disguised himself as a human and escorted a young man named Tobias from his father’s house in Nineveh to Media and home again.

  During his journey to Media, Raphael and Tobias stopped at the Tigris River to wash. Like something worthy of Crocodile Dundee or Jaws, a large fish attacked Tobias from the river. Tobias cried out for help, but Raphael told him to catch the fish instead. The two ate part of the fish for dinner and retained the rest for its demon-banishing and healing qualities.

  After catching the fish, Raphael and Tobias arrived at the settlement of a man named Raguel. Raguel’s daughter, Sara, had quite a serious problem – she’d been betrothed to seven men, yet each man was killed by demons on their wedding night. Raphael persuaded Tobias to ask to marry the girl and gave him advice on how to survive the wedding night. Tobias had to pray for the first three days of his marriage; burn the fish’s liver to keep the demon away; spend a night with the girl under the observation of some holy patriarchs; wait for a blessing…and think of nothing but children during the consummation of his marriage, on the fourth day. Evidently she wasn’t the dinner, chocolate and flowers sort.

  When Tobias burned the fish liver, it drove away a demon called Asmodeus. Raphael pursued the demon into the deserts of Upper Egypt. According to the Book of Enoch, Raphael bound the demon hand and foot and cast him into the darkness, beneath rough and jagged rocks, where the demon wouldn’t see light until the end of the world – when the light would be a fire to devour him.

  On their return to Nineveh and Tobias’ blind father, Raphael told Tobias to rub the fish gall on his father’s eyes to allow the man to see again. This treatment worked.

  Some texts state that Raphael revealed his identity before he left the family, while others say he kept it secret.

  Raphael is the Director of the Helpful Angels Agency, the temp agency Mel works for. His relationship with Mel is quite complex – they’re not simply a boss and employee. He pops in to her house unannounced for dinner, worries about her (especially when Lucifer starts paying an increasing amount of attention to her) and he definitely owes her a favour for helping him out in the HELL Corporation.

  He has good taste in clothes, food, wine and beer, but as a Domination, he doesn't let his passions and pleasures rule him. He spends some of his time on Earth, but takes regular trips back up to Heaven.

  Samael

  Samael and Camael are twin fallen angels whose names mean the blind God and one who sees God, respectively. People often confuse the two, because the brothers are identical. They were the angels of death before Lilith seduced the two brothers and they both fell together.

  Sarkis

  Saint Sarkis was a military commander who lived in the fourth century AD. Born in Cappadocia, Sarkis was an Armenian who was appointed as Roman Emperor Constantine's general in charge of the Roman troops of Cappadocia.

  When Constantine was succeeded by his nephew Julian, Sarkis objected to the new emperor's persecution of Christians and left Cappadocia to command the armies of the Sassanid Empire instead. When Sarkis destroyed a Zoroastrian temple, Shapur, the Sassanid Emperor, retaliated by killing Sarkis' son, Mardiros. Sarkis was then imprisoned and executed.

  Saint Sarkis is the patron saint of Armenia and young people.

  In the present day, the saint was recruited to the Exousiai to fight demons alongside Saint George and other warrior angels.

  Saule

  Saule is the Baltic sun goddess and her duties include the wellbeing and regeneration of all life on Earth, through taking care of the sun – quite a responsibility, but as one of the angels in the choir of Dynameis, she can certainly handle it.

  Her preferred mode of transport is a chariot with copper wheels and at the end of each day, she retires to a castle to watch the setting sun as she lets her horses play in the sea.

  She married Meness, the Dynameis responsible for the moon, but he betrayed her with the morning star.

  Saule likes to attend midsummer festivals or those at the summer solstice, where she dances in silver shoes. She's particularly fond of green snakes.

  Tisiphone

  Tisphone is one of the three Dirae. Tisiphone's name means punishment, vengeful destruction or avenger of murder.

  Turiel

  Turiel is a fallen angel whose name means rock of God or mountain of God. His name is on a counterfeit magic manuscript, the Secret Grimoire of Turiel, which is plagiarised from other historical magic books in the middle of the twentieth century.

  In the HELL Corporation, he's the demon responsible for intellectual property and copyright, given his experience in plagiarism.

  Uriel

  Uriel is an archangel who is bonded to Gabrielle.

  Author's Note

  Readers of my Mel Goes to Hell series have often asked for a guide to the angels and demons contained within the pages. There are so many of them and each have their own story, often outside the pages of Mel's books. Melody Angel's Guide to Heaven and Hell is that guide.

  Another question I hear frequently from my readers is, "When is your next book out?"

  Because the answer to that question changes every time I write a new book, I've made it easy for you to keep up to date with when I have new books coming out – and when they'll be on sale, too.

  If you'd like to be the first to know when I release a new book or there's a sale price on an existing one, you can sign up to receive emails about my new releases HERE.

  And if you'd like another taste of Hell…read on for THREE bonus chapters from To Hell and Back, the fourth book in the Mel Goes to Hell series.

  One

  "You're coming with me, Luce. We'll return to HELL together."

  Luce watched the chainmail-clad girl clink off. Armour on a guy just looks old-fashioned, but on a woman…it made him feel a bit nostalgic. If Mel had fought in the Heavenly Battle all those centuries ago dressed in mail like that one…Hell, he'd have fallen to his knees and begged to surrender to her. Maybe if he hinted to Mel, she'd consider…

  "Just think – you'll get to wear pants again."

  Pants. Damn. That meant no fooling around. At least, not yet.

  "Any chance you'll let me lose the pants later?" he asked eagerly.

  "Luce."

  Two

  "It looks just like we left it," Luce said, looking around as he headed for the bedroom. He stumbled over a shoe and kicked it away, swearing. "Who left all these here, where I could trip over them?"

  "They're yours, Luce. You were wearing them when you kicked the juvenile swan and earned yourself a nasty nip, back at the office Christmas party," Mel replied, stepping daintily over the obstacles as she made her way to the kitchen. "Would you like some tea? I find it always helps ground me when I've been without a body for a while."

  "Sure," Luce said, grinning. "Boil the kettle. I've been thinking about your body all week and I have some ideas I'd like to try out." He pulled out a dining chair and sat down, patting his lap. "We could get started while the water heats up. Maybe heat things up a little more."

  Mel laughed, crossing the kitchen to fill the kettle. She clicked it on, returned to Luce, and lowered herself onto his lap, crossing her wrists behind his neck. "I have some ideas, too," she murmured, drawing him in closer for a kiss.

  His hands caressed her back through the silk of her dress and his arms tightened around her as she slipped her tongue between his lips. Mel could feel the love spilling out of h
is soul and hoped he could feel the same from hers. So many centuries of soul-reading without revealing her presence…but she was learning to let Luce sense her.

  Her body betrayed her thoughts, making Luce break the kiss to whisper, "You're too tense, Mel. Don't think about it. Only share what you want to. Your body is expressive enough for me to read plenty from you, without you needing to share your whole soul. Humans manage love like this just fine." He chuckled. "Focus on my body for once and not my soul. I made sure it was perfect for you, Mel. I promise you'll enjoy it." He pressed his lips to the side of her neck, trailing kisses down to the neckline of her dress.

  Mel tipped her head back, closing her eyes as he kissed her breasts – or what little he could reach without her taking her clothes off. "Luce, I'd like to…"

  "So would I," he said, returning to her lips. He deepened the kiss, tightening his hold on her as if he'd never, ever let her go.

  A new and distinctly annoyed voice rang out, killing the moment. "Kissing demons is disgusting, Mel. I didn't believe you'd ever…"

  "If the lady will let me, I'll show you just how wrong you are," Luce offered instantly.

  "No, Luce, that's not…" Mel pulled away from him. "Raphael, you should really knock first. You could have saved yourself from seeing things you don't like. You'd best remember to be polite to my guest, too – Luce is an angel, the same as you. Definitely not a demon any more."