Page 17 of Infernal

For all intents and purposes, it was Trace. He looked just like Trace. Not a hair on his head or muscle in his body was amiss. He even sounded just like him. But it wasn’t him. I could feel it. Or rather, I couldn’t feel it—the very distinct body buzz I usually got from being close to Trace.

In my shock of seeing him at All Saints, I hadn’t noticed the feeling was missing.

But I noticed it now.

“You’re not Trace.” Surprisingly, my voice didn’t shake when I spoke.

“No,” he answered plainly. “Not in essence.”

Lucifer. His name rolled through my mind like an incantation of evil.

The devil ignited Trace’s dimples, and my heart seized at the sight of them. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Daughter of Hades,” he said with a hint of admiration in his tone. “I wanted to thank you in person for releasing me.”

I cringed at his words. “I didn’t release you—I didn’t. I mean, I did but not by choice! It was a mistake.” The worst mistake I’d ever made in my entire miserable life, but one I intended on rectifying. I needed him to know where I stood, that I wasn’t one of his followers or devotees.

I wasn’t his anything.

“A mistake?” He chuckled as though I’d said something cute. “A day of reckoning that has been prophesized since the beginning of time? Where I come from, we call that destiny.”

“Where you come from? You mean Hell.” It pained me to even look at him. To watch this monster…this thing, use my boyfriend’s body as though it were his own. As though he had any right to occupy my place of worship.

“Hades, Hell, The Underworld. My Realm has many names, though none truly do it justice.” His head cocked to the side as he waited for another question.

And believe me, I had hundreds, mainly the exact steps required to nuke his ass back to his hell-tomb. But I was fairly certain he wasn’t going to give me that information willingly, so I had to think of something else. Something to keep him talking, to keep him giving me inside information, and yet when I opened my mouth, there was only one question that mattered to me.

“Is he—?” Tears sprang up beneath my lids, blurring out my vision. “Is he still in there…with you?”

“Yes,” he said, dragging the word out almost serpent-like. “I’m well aware that my vessel’s soul is the only thing stopping you from trying to kill me right now. My consorts took every precaution.”

Yes, the Roderick sisters certainly thought of everything, and I fully intended on paying them back for that.

Threefold.

“Can I talk to him?” I asked, my voice small and pleading.

“I’m afraid it doesn’t work that way.”

“Why not?” I asked, though it came out more like a whine than a question.

“Because, Daughter,” he said and paused for effect, “I am the only one that operates this vessel now.”

“He’s not a vessel!” I shouted without thinking the whole thing through. “This isn’t your body! This isn’t your life. It belongs to someone else—a good person who deserves to see it through to the end!”

His eyes crinkled as he smiled back at me. “You say that as though it’s of any importance to me.”

Of course, it wasn’t of any importance to him. He was Lucifer—Satan, the Devil incarnate.

Realizing I wasn’t getting anywhere with him, I tried a different approach. “If you won’t let me talk to him, how do I know you’re telling me the truth? How do I know he isn’t alreadydead?” I asked and nearly choked on the word.

“You’ll just have to take my word for it.”

“Take the Devil’s word for it?” I made a face and waited for the punchline.

He smiled again. “I’m not all bad, you know. If you’d give me a chance, I could show you why they once called me the Light Bringer.”

I was shaking my head before he even finished the proposition. The only thing I wanted him to show me was how to get his twisted ass out of Trace’s body.

“After all, it is I who gave your realm knowledge—gave themfree will.” His eyes were trained on me like an unsuspecting target. “And I could give you so much more than that, Daughter. If you let me.”

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