Thanks to a dare gone wrong, Maggie Brumfield finds out the hard way that Heaven and Hell are real.
Prince Laudon, Lucifer's son and the current ruler of Hell, has locked Maggie into a sinister deal that grants him temporary ownership of her soul...
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MAGGIE'S POV
Sans Zul, Laudon takes me to his office to finalize our deal in writing. Meanwhile, I dwell on what my future holds and how I'll never be able to block this traumatic experience from my memory.
I'll never be able to forget coming to Hell and finding out that I'm something other than human. I'll never be able to forget how I was forced to make a deal with the devil's son, essentially condemning an innocent stranger's soul to the underworld for the rest of eternity. All for keeping my loved ones safe.
"You're sulking," Laudon comments after a while. "Would you rather stay here than return home to your family and friends?"
"I'd rather pluck my eyelashes out one by one while dancing on broken glass than spend another day trapped in Hell with you and your lunatic sidekick." I look up to meet Laudon's gaze, silently questioning just how long he's been watching me. "No offense?"
Laudon chuckles. "None taken. I respect your honesty."
When we arrive at his spacious office, he opens the door and allows me to enter first. I struggle to keep from making a snarky comment about him being both an emotionless prick and a gentleman.
"We'll begin in a moment." Laudon shuts the door before walking over to a wall of books. "There's something I need to grab first."
"What are you looking for?"
"A book."
I roll my eyes. "That much is obvious. What kind of book?"
"A spellbook." Laudon levitates to the top row of the bookshelf a few minutes into his search. "My head is filled with thousands of spells. When dealing with the more complex ones, I like to rely on the written text rather than go off memory."
"Well, I would greatly appreciate you more if you performed the right spell versus the wrong one and accidentally turn me into something that looks like Atiko."
"I will try my best to keep you exactly as you are—an annoying tiny human," Laudon replies in a teasing manner while making his descent. He walks over to his desk and places a thick book in the center. He holds both of his hands over it before closing his eyes and whispering something in his native language. When he opens his eyes, the book opens to the spell that I assume he was searching for. He looks over at me. "Come here."
I stand to move closer to his desk, briefly looking down at the book even though I'm unable to comprehend any of what's scribbled on the old wrinkled pages.
"I always have to ask..."
"I know you do."
"What is this spell for, and will it hurt me?"
"It will not hurt you," Laudon answers. "This spell is what will make your job easier after I send you back to Earth. It will temporarily grant you the ability to tell the pure from the wicked."
