Hell To Pay Read Online Free Page B

kill myself.”
    “How can you die? You’re immortal, aren’t you?”
    “Look who knows all about demons.” Somehow she just kept getting more and more derisive. “Of course I can’t die, idiot. But I can be destroyed and...” She just jerked her head up. “...has no sense of humor.” After a pause, she said, “At least not where we’re concerned. Obviously you people are some kind of Divine joke.”
    Simon ignored this. “If God made you, why would He strike you down? Why doesn’t He just strike you down for rebelling?”
    She shrugged. “We weren’t made Upstairs, and I have no idea. All I know is if we follow the rules we’re safe.”
    This was yet another boggling revelation. “What do you mean, He didn’t make you? He made everything, didn’t He?”
    The anger turned back into mockery. “Was your shirt made Upstairs? I ask rhetorically, as it’s obviously as far from Divinely inspired as it’s possible to be.”
    “No. Well, not directly. What has that go to do with it?”
    She jerked her head with an upward glance again. “... made the Angels. One rebelled. After the War, He went into business for Himself. He made us to help Him. I’m as much the product of Creation as your shirt.”
    “So you’re not a fallen angel?”
    “Do I look like an angel?”
    Simon considered this. “Well, you’re dressed a little racier than I’d expect, and you’ve got no wings, but the rest of you could be.”
    The anger instantly turned back into a sweet smile. “You are a nice boy. Let me out of here and I’ll make it worth your while.” She leaned forward and Simon’s eyes almost jumped out of his head and down her cleavage. He pulled back with an effort.
    “Not just now,” he said when he had his brain under control again. “Like I said, I just want to talk.”
    She laughed and it went right to Simon’s raging libido. “This is a new one. What do you want to talk about?”
    “Life. The Universe. Everything.” He couldn’t help himself.
    “Wrong department, sweetie. I do lust. I don’t do philosophy. Is Hell real? Yes. Is it awful? You won’t like it. What happens when you die? You go there. That’s as much as I know.” She seemed to be enjoying the conversation, despite her professed ignorance.
    “Are there other demons? Ones who know more?”
    “Yes. No.” She was also apparently enjoying his confusion.
    “Who knows more?”
    “Upstairs. Him. They don’t pass on a lot of information.”
    Simon stopped to reflect on this. So much for getting the secrets of the Universe out of her. “Can you teach me more magic?”
    “Yes.” This made her smile even wider.
    “Why does that make you look so smug?”
    She tried the innocent look again. “No reason. I like to help.”
    “Tell me the truth. Why does the idea of teaching me more magic make you so happy?”
    She sighed. “Because any magic I teach you is going to be diabolic. Practice it much, and it’s right Downstairs with you. You would have figured it out anyway. Like I said, I hate the smart ones.” She didn’t look all that hateful, more resigned.
    “So you can’t help me without damning me, and I can’t get you to do anything without giving you my soul?”
    “That’s about the size of it, sweetie. But it’s a Hell of a way to go. I’ve had no complaints.” She batted her eyes at him outrageously. “At least not until after. But there is one alternative.”
    “What’s that?”
    “You could give me somebody else’s soul. I’d take that. But I don’t make change.”
    Despite himself Simon’s eyes closed and he shook as he remembered what Irena had tried to do. This is probably what she wanted me for. A bargaining chip. That damned bitch.
    The succubus grinned evilly at his discomfort. “Oh, come on, lover. Don’t you think I’d be worth it?” She ran her hands up and down her body and gave him a look that caused him physical pain as his cock strained against his pants.
    “To be honest, parts of me think