Hell's Gift by K. S. Haigwood Page A

Rhyan?” Josselyn asked.
    “Princess Gluttony wouldn’t accept the fact that I refused to be her sex slave,” I said, then froze as one of her eyebrows lifted.
    No. It couldn’t be possible. There was absolutely no way that demon bitch could be the Abigail my soul was supposedly connected to. No. I refused to accept it. Nobody in Hell even had a soul. How could she be my soulmate? No. I hated her. How could I possibly be expected to love her? No. No. No.
    “No.” I shook my head. “No! It’s not her!” I shouted and my voice cracked. I suddenly noticed my own face was wet. I covered my eyes with the palms of my hands and fell into a chair, shaking my head in denial. There must be a mistake somewhere, I thought, then voiced it, “There has got to be a mistake. Um, maybe I fell into the wrong place,” I said, hopeful. “You did say that I was supposed to be informed I could return to Heaven if I completed the task. Maybe I should have fallen into the Syde of Lust, because of the thoughts I have for Kendra.” I got swiftly to my feet in anticipation that I might actually be right. “That has to be it.”
    Malcolm snickered, and I found that extremely irritating. I’m sure, if the roles were reversed, he wouldn’t think the situation so funny. I glared at him and his smile faltered.
    “Sorry,” he said, and cleared his throat. “I just had a mental picture of your reaction to landing in that syde and being expected to fall for that guardian demon.”
    “She couldn’t be any worse than Princess Gluttony,” I said, instantly feeling ill.
    “You don’t think so? The Prince of the Syde of Lust is named Thoros. I doubt you’re his type, though.”
    I rolled my eyes and he chuckled again.
    “How the hell do you know all of this anyway?” I asked, forcing myself to calm down a little. Being irate and irrational wasn’t helping anything, and I had just informed them both that I could handle anything they told me. I had to handle it, at least in front of them. I could freak out later.
    I glanced at Josselyn. She had gone back to staring at the floor. It was clear she was still upset, but I thought now maybe it was because her plan had backfired. I could clearly see that she had intended to tell me Princess Gluttony was Abigail so I would agree to her plan of being with her in Limbo. I couldn’t do that to her. She would be miserable with me. I wondered how long her feelings for me had been more than friendly.
    I glanced back to Malcolm as he spoke. “It’s my job. I’m on the LOD, so it’s my job to find out all there is to know about anything that could possibly be a threat to Heaven. Hell is at the top of the list. I’m sure you already knew that, though.”
    “So, the Line of Defense knows more about Hell than the rest of us?” I asked, and Malcolm smiled.
    “No, you now know more about the Syde of Gluttony than even we do. I was hoping you would spill the beans, so-to-speak. We will heal you and possibly slip you some weapons, small amounts of power, a little at a time, of course. We don’t want certain people suspecting you’re a spy from Heaven. I could only imagine how painful that might get for you if you were discovered.”
    “You don’t say. Super glad I was volunteered for the job,” I said dryly.
    Malcolm held up his hands, palms facing me. “Hey, man, you’re already down there. Just thought you might want to help us out in exchange for a little fire power and some fast-acting band-aids. Besides, it’s your soulmate you’re dealing with, not mine.”
    “And just where is your soulmate, Malcolm?” I asked, and he squirmed under my stare a little, obviously avoiding my gaze at all costs. I couldn’t read his mind anymore, but I bet he had it locked up tighter than Heaven’s gates anyway. “Uh huh. I see. I’m being forced to, ah…”
    My words were cut off because all of a sudden I was drunk. The dizzy feeling made me ill at my stomach. I shook my head to focus my blurred