cheek, but she didn’t have the courage to mention it. All of her bravery had drained from her and she trembled in her seat, afraid that she would be the next one he pitched over the edge and into the abyss.
“You have lost your fire.” He frowned, black eyebrows pinching tightly, and then sighed and relaxed into his chair. “I apologise. I should have meted out his punishment in private. It was not my intention to startle you.”
Startle? She wasn’t startled. She was petrified.
Erin shook her head, unable to do anything else or speak.
The Devil smiled at her. “Now, I believe you asked why you are here?”
She nodded, heart pounding, fearing what he would say.
“The answer is very simple. It regards a game and your role in it.”
“A game?” She swallowed. What sort of sinister game was he talking about? He nodded and she found her courage. “What’s my role?”
His smile widened, turning cruel and evil.
“You are bait.”
She frowned. “Bait for who?”
Who did she know that the Devil was interested in luring down to Hell?
He waved a hand and a shimmering image appeared behind him. A tropical island. The image zoomed in to the white shore and a woman there.
A shiver cascaded over Erin’s skin and icy fingers squeezed her heart.
Her silver hair reflected the bright sunlight and that part of her didn’t make sense to Erin, but she knew her without a doubt. She would recognise this woman anywhere, had spent the past few months worried about her because she hadn’t been in touch since then, and her calls had been infrequent since a year before that.
Her sister.
Erin’s throat closed and her eyes filled with tears of relief that her sister was safe even while the claws seizing her heart tightened their grip.
“Amelia.”
CHAPTER 2
V eiron stalked through the dense humid jungle, cutting a path through the bracken with his broadsword. Marcus had better have a damn good reason for dragging him out to such a hellish place just to speak to him. Veiron growled when another insect stuck him with its pointy end and slapped his hand down hard on it, killing it and leaving a small red spot on his tanned skin. What had happened to the good old days of meeting on a nice sunny and remote island? He didn’t like it in the jungle as it was and this one was high on his list of areas to avoid.
There was a gate to Hell here.
He had spent the past year and a half avoiding the gates to Hell, unwilling to get himself caught by making such a rookie mistake. The Devil wasn’t happy about Veiron’s rebellion and wanted him to pay in blood for disobeying him by assisting Amelia and Marcus in their fight against the eternal game that Heaven and Hell was playing with her, and them all.
Amelia was the current reincarnation of the original angel. The only female angel in existence. God had given her too much power and the Devil had tampered with her creation so her soul had been born in Hell. She had led men to sin and to war with each other. God had killed her but angels were immortal. Her death had only triggered her reincarnation.
That reincarnation saw her born in the mortal realm as a human. Under normal circumstances, Heaven and Hell allowed her to live her life as a mortal and die as one. Things changed when the planets came into alignment. Then, the two realms proved just how sick and vicious they could be.
Heaven sent Apollyon, the great destroyer and one of the angels of the Apocalypse, to kill her and awaken her in her angel form. Then, it was all hands on deck in a race to be the first to get their mitts on her. Heaven won most of the time, using Marcus to capture the errant female angel and bring her to the altar in Heaven where she would be sacrificed, her blood used to seal Hell for centuries.
Veiron had won a few times.
For him and Marcus, it didn’t matter who the victor was. They both died whenever she did because her death reset the game. Veiron was reborn as a guardian angel along with
“You have lost your fire.” He frowned, black eyebrows pinching tightly, and then sighed and relaxed into his chair. “I apologise. I should have meted out his punishment in private. It was not my intention to startle you.”
Startle? She wasn’t startled. She was petrified.
Erin shook her head, unable to do anything else or speak.
The Devil smiled at her. “Now, I believe you asked why you are here?”
She nodded, heart pounding, fearing what he would say.
“The answer is very simple. It regards a game and your role in it.”
“A game?” She swallowed. What sort of sinister game was he talking about? He nodded and she found her courage. “What’s my role?”
His smile widened, turning cruel and evil.
“You are bait.”
She frowned. “Bait for who?”
Who did she know that the Devil was interested in luring down to Hell?
He waved a hand and a shimmering image appeared behind him. A tropical island. The image zoomed in to the white shore and a woman there.
A shiver cascaded over Erin’s skin and icy fingers squeezed her heart.
Her silver hair reflected the bright sunlight and that part of her didn’t make sense to Erin, but she knew her without a doubt. She would recognise this woman anywhere, had spent the past few months worried about her because she hadn’t been in touch since then, and her calls had been infrequent since a year before that.
Her sister.
Erin’s throat closed and her eyes filled with tears of relief that her sister was safe even while the claws seizing her heart tightened their grip.
“Amelia.”
CHAPTER 2
V eiron stalked through the dense humid jungle, cutting a path through the bracken with his broadsword. Marcus had better have a damn good reason for dragging him out to such a hellish place just to speak to him. Veiron growled when another insect stuck him with its pointy end and slapped his hand down hard on it, killing it and leaving a small red spot on his tanned skin. What had happened to the good old days of meeting on a nice sunny and remote island? He didn’t like it in the jungle as it was and this one was high on his list of areas to avoid.
There was a gate to Hell here.
He had spent the past year and a half avoiding the gates to Hell, unwilling to get himself caught by making such a rookie mistake. The Devil wasn’t happy about Veiron’s rebellion and wanted him to pay in blood for disobeying him by assisting Amelia and Marcus in their fight against the eternal game that Heaven and Hell was playing with her, and them all.
Amelia was the current reincarnation of the original angel. The only female angel in existence. God had given her too much power and the Devil had tampered with her creation so her soul had been born in Hell. She had led men to sin and to war with each other. God had killed her but angels were immortal. Her death had only triggered her reincarnation.
That reincarnation saw her born in the mortal realm as a human. Under normal circumstances, Heaven and Hell allowed her to live her life as a mortal and die as one. Things changed when the planets came into alignment. Then, the two realms proved just how sick and vicious they could be.
Heaven sent Apollyon, the great destroyer and one of the angels of the Apocalypse, to kill her and awaken her in her angel form. Then, it was all hands on deck in a race to be the first to get their mitts on her. Heaven won most of the time, using Marcus to capture the errant female angel and bring her to the altar in Heaven where she would be sacrificed, her blood used to seal Hell for centuries.
Veiron had won a few times.
For him and Marcus, it didn’t matter who the victor was. They both died whenever she did because her death reset the game. Veiron was reborn as a guardian angel along with
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