Hell's Gift by K. S. Haigwood Read Free Book Online Page A

them. We got no way to clean ourselves.” He pulled his arm from the sleeping bag to give me a better look.
    I winced. I couldn’t help it. And I had to admit it scared the hell out of me that I was going to look the same soon. I cleared my throat again; there was a consistent irritation down my throat and into my lungs. Getting used to it wasn’t going to happen. “Who was Death?” I asked nodding my head toward the blizzard, and instantly wondered if I would get the truth.
    Pogo’s brow popped up and he glanced around shiftily. It was obvious talk of the woman made him nervous.
    I couldn’t say that I blamed him. If she could knock me ten yards off my feet, I could only guess what she would do to someone as frail as Pogo if he got in her way. I’d imagine the people here didn’t talk to Death the way that I had. It seemed to even confuse Death herself, I thought, and a slight smile tugged the corner of my mouth upward. It was a good thing to confuse Death. I planned to make a habit of it.
    Pogo began, but it was barely more than a whisper, so I had to lean closer to be able to hear him. “She causes this to happen to us.”
    One of my eyebrows rose in interest. “I’d always thought Lucifer had different plumbing. His voice sounded a little feminine to me,” I joked.
    “Shhh,” Pogo said, and put his finger to his cracked lips in an attempt to shut me up. “Don’t talk about—”
    “What? Don’t talk about what? Lucifer? Or his little pawns that kiss his feet?” I stood, my whole body shaking from the sudden burst of anger filling my bones. I wasn’t there to bow before God’s favorite fallen angel. He had been in my shoes once upon a time, and his actions had cost him the very same mine cost me, a swift kick right out of Heaven. I wasn’t afraid of Lucifer or any of his demon minions.
    “Sit…” Pogo started shakily, then gasped in terror and shrank back against his headboard of stones. Soft whimpers involuntarily escaped his dry lips. His teeth chattered in time with the bones of his knees knocking together under the sleeping bag. It was beginning to have a very unique reggae sound to it. His actions puzzled me until I followed his gaze out into the acid blizzard.
    A familiar figure stood drabbed in black satin right outside the vast opening of Pogo’s lodging. I knew who it was and I wasn’t afraid of her. Although I guess I should have been, considering the way things ended the last time we’d met. My body still ached from the single blow she’d gifted me with. What I did feel was anger, and I itched to re-gift. But it wasn’t the time or the place. Death had a few advantages over me; she had a cloak of protection from the acid ash, which I did not. Her powers were advanced and impressive; mine were now nonexistent. And this was her playground. She had the home field advantage, and it appeared that I was just beginning to learn the game.
    I cleared my throat uncomfortably when she only stood there staring at me and Pogo. The tempo of the bone chattering had picked up considerably by this point. “Can I help you?” I asked. “It’s rather rude to lurk in doorways…or stare at people.”
    “Have you not been informed where you are, boy?” she said.
    My back molars immediately clenched shut in irritation. “I know where I am. You didn’t catch me knocking on your door demanding answers, now, did you, sweetheart?”
    I watched as the form under the black fabric went totally still, and knew she hadn’t liked my pet name for her, either. I didn’t try to hide my gloating smile.
    She took a step forward, then another. I lost my grin, but I didn’t bother backing up. If she wanted to hurt me she would do it regardless of whether I cowered or stood my ground. I hadn’t ever been gutless, and had absolutely no intention of tripping and falling into the pool of spineless cowards now. I could handle her, powers or not. I had my own bag of tricks I was sure she wasn’t prepared to deal