Sexy as Hell: A More Than Men Novella

10:13 P.M.

Isra needed to think of a way out of this cage. She was running out of time. Even if she couldn't seduce her initial target, if she could get away, perhaps she could find another man in time. Maybe his heart wouldn't be quite so hardened to her charms. That would buy her another day. And then maybe she could outsmart Seth.

She needed to come up with something. Something he wasn't expecting. He was an immortal warrior of the Archangels after all —— he'd probably seen every trick she knew to throw at him. She had been told he was the oldest and strongest, and therefore the one they had to target first before they got suspicious and raised the alert to what they were really trying to do.

But battling the oldest and strongest meant she had to be at the top of her game. She was chosen because she was the best. Isra had to find a way to knock him off his guard.

"He's not going to let you out of here." Once again, Camille fought her way into Isra's mind. Once again, she had something smart to say. It was annoying, but she appreciated her spunk. "He can't, even if he wanted to."

"Oh, shut up," Isra pouted.

"What's that?" Seth peeked around his chair again.

"Nothing."

Seth sighed and came back around to the cage. He lowered himself onto the chair and propped his elbows onto his knees.

Isra watched him, her mind racing with options. Her instinct was to smile and start the seduction game again, but she was growing weary of this game. It hadn't gotten her very far anyway. Instead, she flopped to the concrete floor, hugged her knees to her chest, and ignored him.

"What's your name?" Seth asked.

"Camille," she answered automatically, resting her chin on her knee.

"No, I mean your real name, not your host's name."

What did it matter? The clock was ticking away and she'd be right back in Hell before too long. And this time, she'd return a failure. "I'm just one of many in service to the Dark Lord."

Seth sat quietly for a moment and then seemed to give up trying to talk to her. He stood and sighed, turning to walk away from the cell.

"My name is Isra." She spoke the words suddenly as he moved away. She needed to keep him as close and engaged as possible. What could it hurt to talk? Perhaps gaining his trust could get her somewhere.

"Isra?" Seth sat back down. "Tell me about yourself, Isra."

She couldn't help but wrinkle her brow in confusion. He wanted to make small talk? Okay. She could do that. She liked the way he said her name, anyway. "What's there to tell, really? I'm a demon. It's not exactly like I can tell you about my childhood and my aspirations to be a country music star."

Seth laughed, and Isra grew more confident in her ability to befriend him. "What about Hell? What do you do down there?" he asked.

"We play a lot of strip poker." Isra smiled. "Seriously," she added as the smile slipped away, "there's nothing that goes on down there that is appropriate for polite conversation. As I said before, there's a reason we fight to get out, even if for just a day."

"How often do you manage to get out?"

Not nearly often enough, she mused. "If we're lucky, once a decade or so, although the passage of time is sort of fluid down there. I haven't been out since the late nineties. I got to stay on Earth for a whole week that time."

Seth's eyes shot up in surprise. "How'd you manage that?"

"Well, the first twenty-four hours are the biggest hurdle. Once you capture a man's soul, you can stay for several days until you have to do it again. Of course, the more souls you consume, the stronger you are and the longer you can fight Hell's pull on you. And you need to be strong to fight Michael's warriors. Otherwise, they'll overpower you and exorcise you back to Hell."