The Devil's Ex

Chapter Eight - Embers

She'd forgotten. Forgotten how busy it was. Outside looked like a veritable ghost town in comparison to the chaos in here. The heat was unbearable. How had she forgotten how hot it was? Using a trace of her magic to cool her body down, she began to push through the bustling crowd.

A crowded market welcomed any passer-by into the gates of hell, with demons on hand to sell you anything they could – all at a price. Everything was extortionate here, designed to catch out tourists and first-timers. Jenny barged past their insistent calls and used her powers to override their carefully laid spell traps. She nearly slammed into a man who'd been snared. His eyes were wide and vacant as the demon stall owner told him what to buy and what to pay for it. Jenny narrowed her eyes. She'd always hated that the demons could do this. With a small jolt of magic, she woke the man from the trap. He blinked in surprise and began shouting at the stall owner, who in turn, began to shout after Jenny as she disappeared into the crowd.

It had been a while since Jenny had seen this many demons in one place and she struggled not to stare at the more unusual shaped or sized creatures. This area of hell was the main thoroughfare, where you'd easily find demons of all level and class. There were those that moved like slugs, their bodies sliming across the ground, and those that towered like elongated grasshoppers above her.

In a way, she'd missed this chaos. In a way, she still hated it

By the time she'd made it further into the depths of hell and away from the main crowds, Jenny had a banging head ache. It was cooler here, or maybe she'd acclimatised, either way a shiver ran down her spine. Taking a quick glance around to ensure that no one was paying her any attention, she dropped the glamour on her face, returning to her normal look. Clicking her neck as her power bucked and strained against her skin.

In all honesty, she didn't use her magic as often as this normally. It was starting to tire her out.

"Luca..." she called, sending her whisper out like a leaf floating on a strong wind.

He would hear it, him and only him. From it, he'd know where she was. It was the easiest and safest way to communicate in hell. You never know who's listening.

Sooner rather than later, Luca appeared in front of her in a flurry of brimstone. "Sorry, got distracted with my superiors."

"They wanted an update?"

"Yeh, I didn't tell them much. Just the headlines – that your house was burned down and the others were dead. I tried to tell them about the devil's wife, but they already knew."

Bitter resentment curled in Jenny's stomach again, and she fought to ignore it. "Where's the body? I'll need to pick up some ingredients, but it'd be good to get the lay of the land first."

"Sure, sure, take my hand...I'll show you."

Jenny didn't know if it was the familiar surroundings of houses piled onto houses and a blooming red sky towering overhead, or if it was the heat and strong scent of brimstone and smoke that took her on a trip down memory lane, but seeing Luca, stood with one hand stretched out towards her....it took her straight back to the numerous times her husband had made the same gesture, with a similar flourish and a different face. She didn't often miss him, not anymore. Yet suddenly...no. She would not miss him.

Brushing aside her thoughts, she plastered a fake smile on her face and took Luca's offered hand. Wrapping her arms around him, they disappeared into a cloud of smoke.

*
A/N

Hello there!

Wow, it feels like it's been ages since I was last in this world! I have exciting news - following a long car journey and a distracted mind, I've plotted out the entire story for The Devil's Ex, and the next 10,000 words are ready and waiting for me to hit "publish".

Therefore, you can expect an update every day of the (working) week for the next few weeks at least! At the moment, I'm powering through this story, so keep your eyes peeled for regular updates!

Also, just to say, thank you for reading / voting etc. I really love to hear from you all...!

Question: would you have helped the tourist trapped by the market stall demon?

Spoiler: I wrote a chapter from the devil's pov last night...it would seem that he's a little more aware of Jenny than she knows. . .

More soon...

V_F