Shadowed 3 I’ll Be Damned

Kate Hill

All rights reserved.
Copyright ©2012 Kate Hill

BIN: 06006-01927
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Publisher:
Changeling Press LLC
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www.ChangelingPress.com
 
Editor: Sheri Ross Fogarty
Cover Artist: Bryan Keller

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Kate Hill

Sinister is a demon who has never lived up to his name. He’s mischievous at his absolute worst, but that’s not good enough for his superiors. They send him to Earth on a mission -- to wreak havoc. Sinister knows this is the end of the line for him. Unless he shapes up, he’ll be tortured and cast into oblivion. But when he finds a beautiful private investigator in trouble, instead of making the situation worse, he helps.

Jayden is used to working on her own, but she ends up with a rather strange guardian angel, one she can’t help loving.

Sinister knows that a demon impersonating an angel must be breaking some cosmic rule, but that’s the least of his worries. By loving Jayden and surrendering to his good side, he has sealed his fate and will be destroyed by his hellish masters. Can they find a way to save a demon with an angelic soul?

Not all demons are born. Some are conjured, and others just appear.

Sinister appeared, forming in the smoke from the hottest fire in the deepest bowels of hell. He was a fiercely beautiful demon -- the kind who could easily lure mortal victims. Ruggedly handsome with vivid blue eyes, sable hair and a body to die for, he could shift from human to smoke in a heartbeat.

When the demon who tended hell’s hottest fire saw what had emerged, he sent gleeful word to his superiors. “A new spirit of pure evil has joined us.”

And hell welcomed Sinister.

But the demons’ wicked hopes were quickly dashed. Sinister didn’t live up to his name. He didn’t revel in hell’s tortures. Instead of rendering pain and punishment, he often received it instead. Disciplinarians hoped to beat him into service with their cursed floggers. His demonic keepers provided the most terrible mentors the underworld had to offer, but Sinister failed miserably.

The worst he could be was mischievous, and his superiors realized they would have to imprison and forget him or cast him into oblivion.

“You’ll have one last chance,” said the keeper of the hottest fire. “You’ll be allowed one month on Earth to wreak havoc. If at the end of that time you cannot commit at least one act of pure evil -- a single mortal sin -- we will destroy you. Jodi will keep watch over you and inform us of your progress.”

Jodi, an irritating little demon with limited power yet infinite capacity for evil, smiled at Sinister. A small creature with a weasel’s body and a human face, Jodi could be seen only by other demons, although he could manipulate humans who were open to suggestion.

“You understand your situation?” the fire keeper demanded.

“I do,” Sinister said, though he doubted his ability to perform his task.

Try as he might, he couldn’t summon the hatred innate in the most successful demons. He didn’t enjoy seeing others suffer, and unlike some lower forms of demons, he didn’t enjoy suffering himself.

Now it was either him or mortals, so he intended to do his best to inflict the harm hell demanded.

Although Sinister hadn’t ever traveled to Earth -- only demons who had adequately tortured their own kind could progress to tormenting mortals -- he had studied it thoroughly. His mentors had taught him the customs and languages necessary for him to survive in the human world. The idea of putting his studies to use excited him, but he dreaded deciding which mortals to destroy.

He appeared on Earth in a cloud of dark smoke. After changing to his human form, he stood naked in the living room of the furnished apartment he’d been provided in Boston. He glanced around briefly before striding to the bedroom. He opened the closet and ran his hands over the material of a new wardrobe of sexy clothes. A faint smile tugged at his lips. His superiors had thought of everything.

“Come on, let’s go out,” Jodi said, slinking around Sinister’s ankles. “In a city like this, we can cause all kinds of trouble. What do you want to do first, huh? You want to crash cars? How about a train wreck? Oh! Oh! I got it! We can kill somebody. Your first kill, Sinister. That will show them that you live up to your name.”

Sinister curled his lip and kicked Jodi aside. “Shut up. I want to feel out my surroundings.”

“Good idea! You want to fuck first. What do you want? Guy or girl? Or maybe you can make the guy --”

“Didn’t I tell you to shut up? I don’t need your advice.”

Jodi jumped up on the dresser and glowered at Sinister. “You need all the help you can get. You’re a pathetic excuse for a demon. I can’t believe they let you come here.”

The annoying little bastard kept ranting, but Sinister tuned him out. He was far more interested in trying on clothes. He pulled on smooth black pants and a silky shirt that almost matched his eyes. Then he walked to the bathroom to glance at himself in the mirror. He paused a moment to gaze at the enormous black tile shower and the hot tub. The entire apartment was made to lure mortals. He could indulge in orgies every night if he wanted to. So many times he’d overheard sex demons talking about how good it felt to fuck humans. Sinister would have to try it. There was so much in this world he wanted to experience.

“I like that look in your eye,” Jodi said, scurrying around his feet. “Indulgence is good for demons, but remember, you’re not here only to enjoy Earthly pleasures, but to cause trouble. You’ll find that in itself is a pleasure.”

“If you don’t shut that annoying mouth, you’ll spend our allotted time in a smoke cage.”

Jodi frowned. Sinister had the ability to conjure and command magical smoke. A weaker demon, like Jodi, would have little chance of escaping should Sinister decide to bind him. Of course if the little bastard didn’t provide regular reports about Sinister’s progress, the fire keeper might get suspicious.

Sinister wasn’t going to worry about it at the moment. Right now his main interest was in exploring the world.

He glanced at himself in the mirror. The clothes fit his lean, broad-shouldered body perfectly. He returned to the bedroom, put on shoes and socks and walked to the night table where he picked up a black leather wallet. Inside was proper identification as well as cash, credit and debit cards. No doubt he had a sizeable bank account to play with. He’d have to check out his balance at the nearest ATM.

The name on all the plastic was Cinder Wren. His superiors had sure decided to lay the dark and dangerous on thick.

“I’m going out,” Sinister called to Jodi. “If you want to tag along.”

“Well, I’m not going to sit around here all night,” Jodi snapped, hurrying out of the bathroom. “Unless you give me something fun to watch, that is. Like an orgy for example.”

A wicked grin touched Sinister’s lips. “Maybe. Depends on my mood.”

To a demon who had spent his entire existence in hell, the world was a fascinating place.

After inhaling nothing but fire and smoke, even city odors smelled clean. The hum of car engines, human voices, music and hundreds of other sounds stirred his interest.

So many new experiences awaited him -- things he’d studied and practiced within the confines of hell. He could scarcely decide what to do first.

He noticed several people coming and going from a club. Scantily dressed women emanating the aroma of sex, perfume and alcohol drew him toward the place.

Nearing the club, he heard voices coming from a dim alley. He paused and glanced down it. A tall, beautiful, ebony-skinned woman dressed in jeans, boots and a black jacket stood talking to a swarthy, bearded man in a dark suit.

Sinister sensed something… sinister.

“Hey, look at that,” Jodi said, nudging Sinister’s leg.

Sinister glanced down the street toward a young man on a bicycle. Cars passed him and Jodi said, “Interfere. Make him fall in traffic. It’ll be funny and a mortal sin if he dies.”

Sinister wrinkled his nose. “Boring.”

“Not to me.” Jodi chuckled and disappeared only to reappear on the cyclist’s shoulder. The young man headed toward traffic.

A burly man in a truck jammed on his brakes and blew his horn as the cyclist darted in front of him.

The young man blinked as if waking from a dream. He biked to the side of the road and dismounted shakily.

Nearby Jodi rolled on the sidewalk with laughter.

Sinister again considered caging the little monster. He didn’t understand his sense of humor.

Sinister turned his attention back to the alley where the man in the suit said to the woman, “I told you before, Jayden, I’m not answering your questions and if I see your face at my club one more time, I’ll call the cops.”

Jayden. A beautiful name for a beautiful woman.

“You want them around here even less than you want me, Francois,” she said in a smooth, sexy voice that piqued Sinister’s interest in her even more.

Francois stroked his neatly trimmed beard and studied her through narrowed eyes. “You’re getting to be a pain in the ass, lady.”

Sinister’s attention shifted to a towering man dressed in black who was sneaking up behind Jayden. He moved quietly for such a big guy, and Jayden apparently didn’t notice him approach. He grabbed her from behind. Instead of panicking, she shifted her weight to the side and struck his groin with the side of her balled fist. He groaned and hurled her against the brick building.

Grunting from the impact, she braced her hands against the wall, then turned quickly.

Francois pulled a gun from under his suit jacket and aimed it at her. “You’re getting out of here, Jayden, one way or another.”

On impulse, Sinister changed to his smoke form and appeared in the shadows next to Francois.

“Yes! Perfect!” Jodi squealed. “Help these guys do her!”

Sinister would love to do her, but not in the way Jodi meant. “Shut up, Jodi!” he snarled.

Francois’ brow furrowed. “Did you hear something?”

“No, boss,” said the towering man in black.

“Lou, search her and take her weapon because I know she has one,” Francois ordered, and the black-garbed hulk approached Jayden.

“My secretary knows I’m here,” Jayden said. “If I don’t come back, she’ll know where to look. Be smart. Let me walk away. Otherwise you and your gorilla are going to have trouble.”

“Empty threats, baby,” Francois said.

At that moment, Sinister shifted to his human form, snatched the gun from Francois and struck him in the head with it. Francois dropped to the ground, unconscious.

“Where the fuck did you come from?” growled Lou.

“Hell,” Sinister replied, a faint smile on his lips. Under the right circumstances, using his demonic power was rather fun. Sinister tossed the gun aside.

Snarling, Lou rushed at him. Sinister shifted his stance, grasped the bigger man’s arm and used his momentum to hurl him against the wall. A crunching sound preceded a splash of blood from Lou’s nose.

“Not so much fun being on the receiving end, is it?” Sinister smirked.

“You little shit!”

Sinister punched Lou again and he hit the pavement.

He turned to Jayden who had pulled her own weapon and aimed it steadily at Sinister. She stared at him hard. He saw no fear in those large, dark eyes, only wariness and curiosity.

“This is how you say thank you?” he asked, still smiling faintly. He took a step toward her.

“Stay where you are.”

He stopped and held up his hands. Though he was the one with supernatural powers, this human held him captive with her gaze.