Chapter 14 #2
He gave her a dry stare. “You really need to stop hanging out with him so much. He’s rubbing off on you more than you realize.”
Not true.
She knew exactly how much Luke was rubbing off on her. And if she were honest about it, she liked it. Luke brought out the best in her, and she liked to think she made him better too.
At least as good as a prince of Hell could be.
Which made her wonder something. “Did you come here to spy on Luke?”
He turned instantly sheepish, which confirmed it. “You don’t understand how bad he is.”
“But he fights those impulses. Doesn’t that count for something?”
Rory hesitated before he answered. “It does. But remember that even Lucifer was an angel. Creatures change. Just like that poor woman. She was decent…until this morning.”
Sorcha wanted to deny it. If only she could.
The truth was when she’d been a cop, she’d put people away every day because of one bad act. Many of them were career criminals who didn’t even bother to try to be decent.
As Luke had noted, they committed atrocious acts that defied logic.
Others were like Karen. Normal up until they’d been pushed too far. Or until they let their fear get ahold of them.
Yet she’d also seen people turn themselves around.
“People can change.”
“He’s not people, Sorcha. You don’t know what Hell is like.”
“And you do?”
Rory pulled her to a stop. Facing her, he held his hand out. “You want to see for yourself?”
Did she? The very thought made her heart race. “Can you do that?”
He nodded.
All she had was the concept of Hell that her grandfather had instilled in her during his sermons. Fire, brimstone, treacle. A horrific horned devil who was ready to devour everyone.
Helly and Luke assured her that it was worse than anything she could imagine.
Trinket, too. He’d painted a horrific scene that still haunted her.
You’re not a coward.
True. She’d faced the unimaginable. Had seen her identical twin mutilated. There was no worse moment than seeing yourself in a crime photo.
Siobhan was the one person she loved most. Her confidant. Her best friend. They’d been born holding hands.
Every day without Siobhan was Hell. So why not see what it was actually like?
Taking a breath, Sorcha placed her hand into Rory’s.
Her head spun as she was shown a realm the likes of which she’d never imagined. It was so hot that she felt as if she’d explode. How could her skin remain on her body?
For some reason, she’d thought there would be flames everywhere. Instead, it was a desolate, charred landscape. Like something in a Night Gallery painting.
Screams rang out in synchrony with laughter and those begging for mercy. Voices that prayed and bargained. Taunts and shouts.
Unable to breathe, she saw Rory next to her in his angelic form. Even more beautiful than the man she knew, he took her hand and flew with her over one of the fire pits.
Sorcha let out her own scream as she saw the torture below.
Then everything vanished.
She was back on the street, just a few yards from her office. Her breathing ragged, she met Rory’s gaze. “What was that?” she asked breathlessly.
“A window to Hell. Can you imagine growing up in that. How could he be normal?”
Sorcha struggled to breathe. She clutched at Rory’s biceps, needing to be grounded in that moment.
Unlike him, she didn’t draw the same conclusion.
“How can he have any kindness, Rory? Think of the compassion he showed Karen. The fact that he’s not soulless and demonic… doesn’t that say even more about him?”
Before this, she’d respected Luke. Now…
The fact that Helly could be decent, too. Tears gathered in her eyes. No wonder the feral demons had preferred to be trapped in his closet than return to that.
“I’m going to church on Sunday.” Her grandfather had been right. Hell was the last place she wanted to end up.
“Good. And I want you to remember that you don’t really know Luke. No one does.”
Maybe he was right, but Rory didn’t know Luke the way Sorcha did.
“My grandfather always said that every soul was worth saving. Sometimes, it only takes one person to say, ‘I see you. You matter’ to make all the difference in the world to someone who feels lost and alone. What if that’s my purpose for being here? ”
Rory pulled her against him and held her close. “You are precious, Sorcha. Do not let him seduce you to evil.”
Those words touched her because she knew they were spoken out of genuine concern.
She hugged him back, then started laughing.
Rory released her. With a fierce scowl, he cupped her cheek. “What is wrong with you?”
“Stupid thought. Remember those cartoons where someone has an angel on one shoulder and a demon on the other?”
“Yeah.”
“I have you and Luke on each side of me. Both of you arguing and me caught in the middle. I don’t know. It just struck me as hilarious.”
Rory’s frown melted into a handsome smile. “I really do care about you, Sorcha. I didn’t ask you out on a date because of Luke or my assignment.”
“I’m glad. I like you, too.” And she did. He had a wonderful heart.
“Can I have that make-up date?”
Sorcha tsked at him. “You know it makes Luke crazy whenever I go off with you.”
“It makes me crazy whenever you go off with Luke and his band of miscreants. You deserve better than that.”
She didn’t know why, but those words meant a lot to her. Maybe because she’d had such a bad track record with men. Luke was so much better than the humans she’d dated before him.
How sad was that?
Rory was a real angel. At least partly. Why not try dating a good guy for once?
“I’d love to.”
Rory walked her to the garden door that opened into the courtyard where her office was located. “Give me a call and let me know when you’re ready to piss off your demon.”
“You know Luke’s not really a demon.”
“No. He’s worse. His two parents are the rulers of Hell. Samael might not be married to Senka, but Senka is his right hand. She’s the only creature he trusts.”
That was a terrifying thought. Senka had seemed so…
Well, frightening beyond belief. If the devil had a female side, it would be Senka. And she’d given that same intensity to her son.
Still, she refused to believe Luke was beyond redemption. He might tempt her toward the dark side, but she fully intended to keep him planted in the light.
He could have wreaked all manner of Hell on earth. Instead, he’d chosen to help humans. It might only be to piss off his father. That made sense. Yet he seemed to actually like helping others.
If she could keep him on that path, then he might find that goodness suited him.
Rory kissed her on the cheek. “Let me get back to my partner. I’m sure he’s questioning my mother’s reputation even as we speak.” He opened the door for her. “Be careful.”
“You, too.” She gave him a quick hug before she went into the courtyard and closed the door behind her.
What a weird-ass day.
Then again, most of the days she’d had since she moved to Savannah had been that way.
At least no one had taken another shot at her in the last few minutes.
That was helpful.
She crossed the yard and headed into the garage so that she could go upstairs to Luke’s apartment and take a shower.
When she opened the door, she found Trinket in human form on the sofa, holding a bag of ice to his face.
Worried, she went over to him. She touched him without thinking.
He hissed, then grabbed her wrist in a fierce grip.
Until he saw her face.
All the color faded from his cheeks. “I’m so sorry, Sorcha. I didn’t know it was you.”
She forgot all about it as she saw the horrible bruise on his cheek and black eye. He’d been hit so hard that his entire sclera was red. “What happened?”
Trinket picked up the ice bag from the floor and returned it to his face. “I don’t want to talk about it.” He flinched as he returned the ice to his eye. “Simi was right. This helps a lot. Wish we had ice in Hell.”
Now that she was looking at him, he had a lot more bruising on every part of his body she could see. His wrists looked as if he’d been chained down.
“Can I do anything to help?”
That question seemed to confuse him. “What?”
“Do you need anything? Can I get you something?”
He scowled as if he didn’t understand what she was asking. “Why?”
“Why, what?”
“Why are you asking me that?”
“Because it’s what people do when someone’s hurt. We try to help them.”
He just stared at her as if she spoke to him in a foreign language and he had no concept of what she was saying.
Sorcha winced as she realized how stupid she must sound to him. “You’re not in Hell, Trinket. We’re not demons out to hurt you.”
His gaze went down to her shirt. “What happened to you?”
“Someone shot me.”
Again, his brow drew tight in confusion. “Why?”
“Don’t know. I guess I pissed off the wrong person.”
“Huh…” He pulled his legs up to his chest and rested his chin on his knees. “Where’s dominus?”
“He vanished. Not sure where he went.”
“You’re alive and from the looks of your repaired shirt, I’d say that you shouldn’t be.”
She nodded. “Exactly.”
“Then that means he’s on a blood hunt.”
“What’s that?”
Trinket screwed up his face. “I’m going to stop talking. Ask Helly.”
Okay then. Curious, but not wanting to push him when it was obvious he didn’t want to say anything more, she went to the bedroom to get her clothes so that she could shower.
Blood hunt.
That didn’t sound good. She’d seen the fury in those amber eyes.
Whoever Luke was after, was about to have a really bad day.