Chapter 1
Chapter One
Savannah, Georgia, Centuries later
Being a homicide detective, Sorcha O’Malley had heard a lot of frightening things during her career. Had seen even worse.
But the most terrifying words ever spoken by anyone in any time period in history came out of Helly’s mouth.
“Your demons are out of the closet.”
Yeah, that was worse than being trapped in traffic on an interstate with a toddler shouting, “Hey! I gotta poop!” Mostly because in this case, the demons were real. They were from Hell and they all had little to no respect for humanity.
Sitting beside her partner, Luke Teivel, in his vintage convertible Gauguin Red 1957 Chrysler 300C, she had absolutely no response to those words as she stared at Luke’s imp, Helly, in the backseat.
Tiny and adorable, Helly looked like a college student.
Except for the ram-like horns that wrapped around her brown hair.
Given that those horns were currently showing and they were riding in a convertible, Sorcha was glad it was dark.
Especially since there were cops and medical staff all over the crime scene they’d been about to leave.
And the local news. She could only imagine what a reporter would say if they caught sight of a real live demon in Luke’s car.
That was a nightmare in the making. Right up there with “Hey, your demons have escaped the closet and are loose in the human world.”
When Luke spoke, his voice was deep and even. “And how did they get out?” He put the car in reverse and turned around, then started down the long street toward their Infernal Affairs office.
Helly shrugged. “Wasn’t there, boss. No idea.
I went back to the apartment, like you said…
the closet door was wide open and there was no sight or sign of the evil beasts.
So, knowing how you feel about the FCDs being on the loose, I went to Hell to check it and see if they’d returned home.
They weren’t there either. Pretty sure they’re on the loose… here.”
Luke winced. “Unbelievable.”
Sorcha was still trying to wrap her head around all the weirdness with Luke and his Feral Closet Demons. Even though he was the son of the devil, he’d been banned from Hell and cast into the human world to fend for himself.
No one knew why his father had kicked him out.
For whatever reason (she suspected it had to do with torturing Luke), his band of feral demon pets had come along with him.
Until now, they’d been content to live trapped in his closet. Well, most of them had been content. There had been a couple who wanted out, and they had been quite vocal about it.
Apparently, that handful had found a way to get free.
And then freed the rest of their friends in the process.
Lovely.
Sorcha knew the answer, but she still felt compelled to ask a rhetorical question. “This isn’t good, is it?”
Luke shook his head slowly. “Think of them like a nuke detonating at the worst time, in the worst place.”
That made her curious. “Is there ever a good place for a nuke to detonate?”
Those amber eyes glowed with humor. “Heart of your ex in the middle of a desert, hundreds of thousands of miles away from any other living creature…or better yet, up his anus.”
She suppressed a smile. Leave it to Luke to think of a positive answer she’d agree with. “Aside from Bert’s desolate asshole, I stand by my observation that there is no good time or place for a nuke,” Sorcha said primly.
Luke snorted. “You know you want to laugh. Go ahead, I don’t judge.”
She would be more tempted but for the fact her laughter would only encourage him to be evil. And that was the last thing the son of the devil needed.
“Anyway…” She took a second to compose herself before turning her attention back to Helly. “When was the last time you saw them?”
“Most were sleeping when I left this morning.”
“Most?” Sorcha frowned at that.
“Dohlar was up and whining like normal. He smelled the bacon cooking and was begging for it. Maybe I shouldn’t have taunted him.”
Luke met her gaze in the rearview mirror. “Not your fault, Imp.”
Making sure her Infernal Affairs ball cap was secure as a sudden gust of wind almost sent it flying from her head, Sorcha considered the ramifications of those demons on the loose. All she could hear was their cacophony of demands.
Let us out!
I want a cookie!
I’m afraid of the dark!
Help, I’m trapped in a closet with smelly demons.
I have to pee!
They were entertaining. Especially whenever they sang, both on and off key.
Now…
“How hard will they be to find?” she asked.
Luke sighed heavily. “Depends on the demon. I’m hoping some of them will be waiting on me when we get back. Others… God help us and since I’m an anathema to Him, pretty sure He won’t.”
That made sense. Sorcha sighed. “Too bad you can’t chip them.”
Helly laughed in the backseat. No longer horned, she manifested a blanket for the ride. “You want to tell the story, boss?”
Luke glanced at her in the rearview mirror with an amused expression. “Not really.”
Sorcha raised a curious eyebrow. “What story?”
“We did try to chip them…once,” Luke said with a smirk. “I almost succeeded.”
“Only because he cheated.” Helly leaned forward over their seat. “He put a chip in peanut butter and fed it to Dohlar.”
“I forgot about demonic digestion.” Luke passed a charming grin to Sorcha. “Worked for a quarter heartbeat, then it exploded.”
Sorcha scowled. “The demon or the chip?” With demons, there was no telling what powers they’d hold. She could easily see one exploding because it was chipped.
Or because it ate peanut butter.
“The chip exploded,” Luke said drily.
“The chip actually screamed.”
Luke scoffed at Helly’s words. “It didn’t scream.”
“I heard it,” Helly insisted. “It made a high-pitched cry for help. Then, pwuh…” She made the sound of an explosion as she simulated a blast with her hands.
Luke turned that adorable smirk toward Sorcha. “It malfunctioned and made a discordant sound.”
Helly shook her head. “A scream…then a big boom.”
He rolled his eyes as Sorcha hid her smile at Helly’s insistence. It was hard to believe she’d known the two of them for only a few months. It seemed like they’d been in her life forever.
Which meant something, given the fact that Luke and Helly had lived for centuries. Neither would tell her exactly how many, which made her wonder if they celebrated birthdays in Hell.
Not that it mattered. Even though she was the oldest, Helly looked around the age of twenty.
Luke about thirty. Unbelievably tall, with wavy dark hair that held streaks of blond, and amber eyes that seemed to glow, he was exceptionally handsome.
The kind of masculine beauty that turned heads wherever he went.
The worst part? He was well aware of it, but somehow his arrogance was charming. Devilishly so. It made for a devastating charisma that sucked everyone in—including Sorcha.
If the devil held half the beauty or charm of his son, it was no wonder people were willing to sell their souls to him. Not that Luke ever had anything good to say about his father.
Since they’d met, she’d learned all kinds of things about Satan and Hell that she wished she didn’t know.
The biggest one being that no one was safe. Real, true evil existed and the world was far more terrifying now than it’d ever been before. Because she now knew the truth that lived under the guise of human and “normality.”
Yet for all that terror, it didn’t seem quite as scary with Luke as her partner. He kept her grounded and made her feel safe, no matter the threat.
Then again, being around him was like holding the leash of a feral dragon. One that could incinerate her in an instant and move on with his life without a second thought. She was never quite sure what his thoughts were, and he often surprised her. Especially with his random acts of kindness.
And acts of pure lethality.
Luke was the most unpredictable creature imaginable.
Suddenly, both their phones rang.
Sorcha silently cringed. The only time this happened was when there was a crime that needed their attention.
“O’Malley,” she said at the same time he answered his with a stern, “Teivel.”
“Hey, hon,” Bernadette said in her ear. “You with Detective Sexy?”
Sorcha glanced over to Luke. “Of course.”
“Good. We have a body at Old Fort Jackson. I have no details, other than Savannah’s finest wants y’all to go take a look at it.”
She had no idea where that was, but Luke had been in Savannah a lot longer and seemed to know every part of the small city. “Given that Luke is turning the car around, I’m going to say that we’re on our way.”
Bernadette laughed. “Give cutie pie a big ogle for me when he gets out of that car.” She made a purring sound.
Sorcha screwed up her face. She was glad Bernadette couldn’t see her expression. The last thing she’d ever want to do was offend her new friend and coworker.
For all her outrageous behavior, their second-in-command was a brilliant detective whose past was as guarded as Sorcha’s. She could respect that. And the more she knew about the affable lieutenant, the more Sorcha adored her.
Clearing her throat, she glanced over at Luke. He hung up his phone before she spoke to Bernadette again. “You know, I think he can hear you.”
“Y’all are in a moving convertible. I doubt it. Even if he does, it’s not like he doesn’t know I covet that luscious body. Pretty sure everyone wants a piece of that.”
Bernadette wasn’t wrong. From what Sorcha had seen, fending off hands and ogles was Luke’s natural state of being. Oddly enough, it never seemed to bother him.
Being half hellhound, he held an unnatural allure that caught everyone’s attention. Even she had a hard time resisting him at times.
But Luke was her partner. She would respect him as such, and they’d never be anything more than friends. If only he’d quit flashing that sexy smile at her.
Bernadette was right. Luke was irresistible.
“Tell Lieutenant Horndog that she can ogle my ass later. We have a crime scene to explore.”