Hell's Angel

Hell’s Angel

Cathryn Fox

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Ribbons of acrid, sulfur residue curled through Lucifer’s lair and wafted before

Brand’s face—the fiery black cinder a perfect match for his mood. With his arms

folded behind his back, Brand faced his Master and inhaled the al too familiar smel s,

drawing them into his lungs and savoring them like a powerful aphrodisiac. The

pungent aroma fed the anger in his soul, a continual reminder that many decades ago

his best friend had escaped purgatory, leaving Brand behind to rot in Hel . Literal y.

Flames raced up the stone wal as blistering heat played over his scarred and

mutilated flesh, but Brand had learned long ago to distance himself from the

discomfort and concentrate only on the raw anger whipping through his veins. It was

that anger that kept him going, and gave him purpose as he awaited Gage’s return.

Sure he and Gage had been best friends, relying solely on one another to make it

through each gruel ing day in Hel , and sure Brand had thought Gage would come

back for him, but the passing of time, decades to be precise, had fleeced him of his

last vestige of hope. Gage had been gone for nearly thirty years, but it might as wel

have been a mil ennium since one day in Hel felt like an eternity.

Brand hadn’t wanted to believe that Gage and his newly found soul mate, Jadyn,

had purposely left him behind, but years of torture and abuse at the hands of Lucifer

had a way of changing one’s perspective. Not to mention the sinister methods his

Master had of dril ing the venomous fact home, again and again.

Yeah, Hel real y had a way of changing a guy, Brand mused.

Lucifer’s cold amber eyes met his unflinchingly. Without softening his words to

lessen the impact, he announced sharply, “Gage and Jadyn have a daughter. Her

name is Kaylea.”

Brand fisted both hands as rage ate at his insides like a thousand hungry rats.

Gage and Jadyn had a child. The image of big blue eyes, round ruby cheeks and

bubbling laughter erupted in his brain, eliciting a disconcerting mixture of sadness,

joy, pain and elation.

Lucifer’s voice pul ed him back, anchoring him in this reality—a cold, harsh reality

without love, companionship or…loyalty. “Like her name says, she’s a pure soul. Born

of goodness and touched by…” Lucifer paused, gave a slight shiver and glanced

upward before saying, “Him.” He then proceeded to tap sharpened black claws on his

stone throne as he gave Brand a moment to digest and assimilate the information.

His long, talonlike nails hammered in synch with Brand’s accelerated heart beat. After

a short respite, Lucifer added, “I want you to mark her for me.”

Incredulous, Brand’s head came up with a start, shocked at his Master’s request.

“If she’s so pure, how am I supposed to mark her for Hel ? She has to commit a crime,

and since one born of purity rarely commits—”

Lucifer cut him off and swiped his hand though the heavy air, carrot flames

dancing on his fingertips. He scowled. “Have you learned nothing from your time here,

Brand,” he boomed out. After a long-suffering sigh, Lucifer countered, “Then perhaps

you’re not the man for the job.” He let his glance race over the four warriors flanking

his side, as though assessing their abilities for this very important mission.

“ I am the man for the job.” The eerie, calm in Brand’s voice brought Lucifer’s

attention back around to him and left little doubt that he was the man for the job,

capable of fulfil ing any task Lucifer cared to saddle him with. Brand narrowed his

eyes to mere slits, his nostrils flared. “Tel me what you want me to do.”

Brand didn’t miss the slight, victorious grin on Lucifer’s face. A grin that

enlightened Brand to the fact that not only did Lucifer want him for the job, but he also

needed him for it. Was it because he—a man who had a vested interest in the case—

was the only man who could get the job done. Or was it something else?

“It’s a crime against her God to sleep with the devil’s henchman,” Lucifer

elaborated, then stuck out his claws to study them, giving Brand time to digest the

information.

Brand knew that Lucifer had been nothing short of enraged when Gage and Jadyn

had miraculously escaped some decades ago. He carried that rage like an Olympic

torch, nurturing the smoldering embers until fiery flames seeped from his every pore.

Lucifer fed off the volatile energy, using it and manipulating it as he waited for the

opportune moment to exact his revenge. And now, it seems, the time had come.

“So you want me to seduce her, then?”

Lucifer gave a slow side-to-side shake of his disfigured horned head. “My, but you

are a quick one.” Then his voice dropped, and took on a serious edge. He leaned

forward, close enough that Brand could smel hot garbage on his breath. He snarled,

and said, “I want her. And with the way your so-cal ed friends had treated you, I’d

hazard a guess that you’re just the man to bring her to me.” Amber eyes narrowed and

stared down at Brand. “You must accomplish this mission in forty-eight hours. It’s al

the time you’l have. Beyond that my powers to keep you in human form fade, then

your body wil weaken and you’l materialize back here.” A short pause and then, “So

what do you say, Brand, a little tit for tat?” He nodded his head, gesturing to the

guarded portal embedded in the blackened stone wal —a portal that carried souls

from one realm to the other.

Brand studied the long, jagged opening in the rock before turning back to face his

Lucifer. A sardonic grin curled up his lips as he echoed, “A little tit for tat, Master.”

Then under his breath, he added, “Payback is such a bitch.”

“Okay, I’m going to sleep with the next man who walks through that door,” Kaylea

West announced as she and her best friend Nicole James ate lunch at Halo, her

parents’ curbside cafe.

Nicole gave her a sceptical glance and took a sip of her steaming latte. She rol ed

one shoulder, relaxed back into her plush seat and said, “I’l believe it when I see it.”

“Then prepare for me to make a believer out of you,” Kaylea said, holding her chin

—and her coffee mug—high in salute, even though her insides were a ridiculous

mess of nerves just from thinking about seducing a stranger.

Nicole chuckled and smoothed down her midnight, poker-straight hair. Kaylea

mimicked the action, and swatted at her flyaway blond frizz. Why was it that Nicole’s

hair remained cool and put together, despite the summer humidity, and Kaylea’s short

blond locks resembled dandelion fluff? Perhaps that’s why Nicole had a date every

other night and Kaylea was left home to live vicariously through one of her romance

novels. Thank God they had air-conditioning at the library where they both worked.

Otherwise the unruly bal of fluff that she passed off as hair would scare the patrons

away. She made a mental note to tel her parents to instal another cooling appliance,

because the one they had was doing little to combat the sultry Chicago heat.

“Oh, I’m prepared, Kaylea. The question is, are you?”

Hel yeah, she was prepared.

She was a twenty-five-year-old virgin for Christ’s sake. And sure she was ready to

take a walk on the wild side, despite knowing who and what she was. Her parents,

Gage and Jadyn, might have escaped Hel and given birth to a daughter who was

born of purity and touched my “him,” but Kaylea wasn’t careless enough to make any

mistakes that were classified as “sins.” As a rare, pure soul—enlightened to this

reality during her christening—landing in Hel wouldn’t be a wise move.

Sleeping with a guy, however, real y didn’t qualify as a sin. But going twenty-five

years and not sleeping with a guy sure as hel did.

Kaylea glimpsed the tal gorgeous man coming from the counter, a steaming mug

of coffee in his hand. After a long perusal, she planted her elbows on the table and

buried her face in her palms. “Why the heck can’t I get laid?”

Nicole rol ed a casual shoulder and stated, “Because you’re too fussy.”

Kaylea dropped her arms in time to see Mr. Leather Pants grab a seat in the

corner. His long legs stretched out in front of him as Kaylea did a slow, leisurely scan

of his scrumptious, athletic body.

Yummy…

He had to be a tourist, she mused, because she’d yet to see a man that hot on her

beloved streets of Chicago. Her gaze briefly met his, then suddenly, catching her off

guard, her pulse jumped and heat pooled between her legs in a way it had never

pooled before. Good Lord, what was it about him that held her attention and, quite

frankly, aroused her? Kaylea gulped air and casual y said, “I’m not fussy. I’m

selective.”

“Selective?” Nicole arched a manicured eyebrow over deep green eyes.

Amusement laced her voice as she added, “You dumped the last guy you went out

with because he used too much tongue when he kissed you. And the guy before that

didn’t use enough.”

Kaylea crinkled her nose. “Okay, okay, but there was no chemistry,” she admitted,

and stole another glance at Mr. Leather Pants, who’d just slunk down lower in his seat.

Talk about chemistry…

She’d just bet that he’d use the right amount of tongue, and with one touch from

him she’d likely go off like a round of C-4.

Her sideways glance hadn’t gone unnoticed by Nicole. Her friend twisted around

to see where Kaylea’s gaze had wandered to, then turned back and said, “I know

you’re waiting for Mr. Right, ‘someone to complete you.’” Nicole paused to do air

quotes around those four words. “But in the meantime you real y need to get laid and

loosen up.” Nicole nodded toward the guy Kaylea had been checking out. “He looks

like a guy who could help you work out the kinks.”

Speaking of kink…

Her mind took her in an erotic direction, one involving leather, lace and metal

restraint. Not to mention a smokin’ hot guy with nothing on but a broken-in pair of biker