Hell's Gates (Urban Fantasy) by Celia Kyle, Lauren Creed Read Free Book Online Page A

glass. Before he recognized the pain my actions caused, I quickly cooled the area, leaving me with one captured imp. “You know something. Don’t you? Who’s messing with my town?”
    The imp fought against his solid cage with a grunt. It didn’t take long for him to give up—evil but impatient—and he was back to groveling.
    “I am but a humble servant of darkness, Your Highness .” More mocking with an edge of sneer. “What could I possibly know that would aid you? Me, a lowly dem.”
    I huffed and stared down at him, trying to decide on the best method of torture. He lived forever, in hell, so it wasn’t like that was much of a threat. If I could tolerate holding a cross, I’d pretend to bless him like that movie. Threaten to send him up to On High instead of back home.
    It’d be funny to see an imp in On High.
    Movement near my happy face drew my attention, pulling my gaze from the imp and over to a rising fire nearby. A hand reached through the hole, rising from the dancing flames, and then a tall, slender figure of dark beauty emerged. The newcomer looked me over with a smile, pearly whites a stark contrast to the evil that pulsed through those veins.
    “Yippee.” I pushed past gritted teeth and changed the grip on my knife. I also slipped another from the sheath in my boot. “Just what I need.”
    “Tsk,” she smirked. “Is that any way to talk to your mother?”
    “Yeah, get lost.” I turned the larger knife in my grip, ten inches of steel just looking for flesh, and then I shook my head and returned it to its sheath. Mom was Satan’s sister. My weapons, forged by my own hands in the depths of hell, wouldn’t do anything to her.
    Not that I’d ever considered sinking a blade between her ribs. Ever.
    No, my childhood wasn’t the greatest.
    “That’s not very nice.” She pouted. “You haven’t been a very good daughter lately. I’ve been sending messages and finally got tired of waiting for you.” Mom clapped her hands. “Are we torturing this little creature? We really should see if there’s a thelac demon nearby. One of them would be much more of a challenge.”
    And I knew which thelac demon my mother had in mind. Edzard, Jezze’s boyfriend. Their relationship had been strained—to say the least—by my banishment, but they still managed to make it work.
    “No, we’re not torturing the imp.”
    She pursed her lips. “What’s the matter, evil of my loins?”
    Ew, loins.
    “I know something’s wrong. I’m your mother, I can tell.”
    “Seriously?” I shook my head. “Like, really? Do you actually care? From what I remember, you have absolutely zero fucks to give about me and you get off on my pain.”
    My mom did the whole offended, clutching-her-pearls thing. “Caith Belinha Morningstar, I never. Just because I enjoy your pain doesn’t mean I don’t care .”
    “I just…” I raised my hands, fingers curling. I wanted to wrap them around her hateful, evil, stupid neck. “You know what? Forget it.”
    I dropped my arms. She wasn’t worth it. I couldn’t expect her to understand. She wasn’t human, but a creature beyond mortal sympathy or understanding. She was, by her very existence, one of the evilest and most diabolic creatures ever to exist.
    And none of that was softened when she dealt with her own daughter. She’d been quick to inflict pain and just as quick to neglect me.
    Parent issues, am I right?
    I turned my back on her and the imp, waving my hand to dismiss the hole to hell. The happy face collapsed in on itself, sucking the imp from the ground and tugging my mother back into the fiery depths, cutting off the curse she threw at me. Sure, she had the power to leave hell whenever she wanted, but the bonus of her coming through my little hole was that I could banish her. If only she’d visit that way more often…
    I stared down at the remnants of my portal, trying to decide if I should summon another dem for answers. Maybe dig a little deeper this time.