Witch Road to Take Read Free Page B

any
harm. If he thought he could take on Lucifer, he was sadly
mistaken. Even I knew that.
    Father turned and faced us. “How dare you
tell me what I won’t do? Have you forgotten who I am?”
    “No, sir, I have not.” Damien bowed. “You
are rightfully upset with Dhellia, but there is a way to fix this
that will benefit us all.”
    Father took a casual step toward us and
gracefully swiped his hand in the air, throwing Damien’s body
across the room. He slammed into the wall, fell on top of my desk
and then landed against the concrete floor, the breath knocked out
of him. Father turned to leave.
    Damien jumped to his feet, cocked his hands
back and threw a fireball at Father’s head. The impact pushed
Father across the room and just outside my bedroom doorway.
    Wolf and Zombie growled.
    Father’s head twisted around before his body
did. Blue smoke flared from his ears and nose. “YOU DEFY ME?!”
    Damien pushed me further behind him. He
growled, “Father, you are being unreasonable. I think you should
listen to my proposal.”
    “I’m the ruler of the underworld, I don’t
negotiate.”
    “You’re our father; I’m asking you to
try.”
    With all the tension circulating the room,
Zombie and Wolf paced back and forth, waiting to fulfill my
father’s commands. I could tell that they could think of nothing
better than to sink their teeth into our human flesh.
    Father’s clawed toenails clicked on the
concrete floor while he paced in front of us. Finally, he spoke.
“Make your point. If you don’t convince me, then you’ll spend the
rest of your life in the pits as well.”
    “I’m a soul catcher! You wouldn’t dare,” my
brother whispered.
    “I’m fucking Hell! Of course I would.”
    I could tell that my brother was
contemplating his duty to protect me. He loved his way of life and
the freedom to navigate both worlds—the world of tormented souls in
hell and the world of confused souls on Earth.
    I whispered at his back, “You don’t have to
protect me, Damien. I’m not afraid of the pits.” I was a terrible
liar. I was shaking with fear.
    “Shut up. Let me handle this.”
    I watched my brother get into the right
frame of mind and use his negotiating skills. “Father, you are the
king of evil.”
    I inwardly laughed at the way he opened his
first line. Brilliant! Praise Father first. That always does the
trick to calm him down.
    Then I listened as Damien continued, “And
because you’re the king, I’ve no doubt that you will make the right
decision. With that said, Dhellia has a way with humans. They flock
to her in the way . . . well, let us say in the way that Wolf and
Zombie flock to you. They have befriended her, listened to her, and
they like her.”
    “I’m listening.”
    “She is a valuable asset to us, Father.”
    “Go on.”
    “You know how you and”—Damien pointed upward
because Father forbid us to use the Halo Man’s name in our
home—“fight over souls? He usually gets mad at you because a pure
soul sometimes will end up here with us.”
    Father nodded.
    “Why don’t we use Dhellia’s abilities to fit
in with humans to our benefit? We can have her decipher souls
before they die.”
    “Wait!” I belted out, but Damien’s foot came
down hard on mine and the pain stopped me from opening my mouth
again.
    Satan didn’t say a word, so Damien
continued, “It’s brilliant. She can live on Earth with them and
check in with me. I’ll report to you once a month. Then she’s
actually contributing to the family business and staying out of
your horns.”
    “Or, I could ban her from leaving here and
throw her in the oil pit and watch her burn for a few
centuries.”
    I gasped and gripped my brother’s arm.
    “Yes, Father, you could do that,” Damien
said. “It is within your power, but her torment would serve no
purpose except for your amusement. With her on Earth, among the
souls, she would be able to infiltrate them and discern which souls
warrant enough of your