Page 8 of How to Accidentally get Trapped in Hell

They flip through the pages, their eyes scanning every detail before closing the book and looking up at Luc. “Deprivation.”

“Why?” Luc demands.

“They were a sex addict, sir. Depriving them of what they crave most, while forcing them to witness the act over and over will be torture for them. And poetic.” They smirk and I’m not sure what they saw in that book, though I’m certain it’s not what I saw. If that’s true, though, I have to agree. Sounds like poetic justice to me for a sex fiend to be tortured by watching the very thing they want most but can never have.

“Madelyne? Let’s see if you agree.” Luc hands me the book, not giving anything away. The demon is sitting there, probably nervous to see if she passed Luc’s test, but there’s not a hint of any emotion coming from him.

Taking the book, I open it, surprised to see it’s completely different from when I read it in the sorting office. Before, it just had a list of sins… lust, greed, pride… now it has transgressions to go with each sin.Watched a woman changing clothes. Watched porn.That one’s on therea lot.Sex outside of marriage. Sodomy. Sex with multiple partners.Sex was also a major transgression. It listed every single act. This guy hada lotof fucking sex. It would be surprising if he had time for anything else in life. It seems he spent all of his time fucking.

“I agree.” I look up at the demon and smile. “There’s nothing worse than having everything you ever wanted dangled just out of reach.” I shrug at Luc and continue. “It’s not like he did anything really bad. Had the word rape been in that book, he’d be looking at a very different punishment.”

His eyes light up, and even though he retains an indifferent look, I can tell he’s proud of me. He tilts his head to the demon and simply says, “So be it.” The book bursts into flames in Luc’s hands.

The demon goes back to the book she was reading when we got here and I watch as her face darkens. Tilting my head, I wonder what is in that book that has her so visibly angry. “Excuse me.” I interrupt her reading. “May I see that?” I’m polite, but my tone brokers no arguments. She has no idea who I am, but she quickly hands me the book. “Thank you.”

She looks confused by my manners, but I don’t have time to worry about that now. I flip open the book and instantly see what the problem is. My blood boils as I read this soul’s list of transgressions. An eternity of being tortured isn’t good enough for this sick fuck.

“Madelyne?” Luc’s voice brings me out of the darkness that fills this book. Snapping my head up, I look at him with wide eyes. He simply holds his hand out, silently demanding the book. I hand it over and watch as his eyes flare, flames lighting up in place of his normally deep brown irises. “I’ll deal with this one. Come Madelyne. It’s time for you to see Torture Hall.”

I don’t know that I reallywantto see this Torture Hall, but he’s right. I need to know how Hell is run. I’ve seen the steps leading up to a soul’s torture. Now I need to finish this. Then, hopefully, I can go back to my mates.

six

Madelyne

Wepopoutofthe Lust office and appear at the beginning of a long, dark hallway that seems to go on forever. There’s a demon manning what looks like a security desk by another of those big, heavy doors. The only way in or out. He snaps to attention when he sees Luc and I’m once again reminded how demons fear him. I’m not sure if I were the one in charge, I would go for the fear tactic, but it clearly works for my grandfather. It’s sometimes hard for me to believe we’re related. On the outside, we’re so different. I know Luc’s not as bad as he leads everyone to believe he is, but in a place that’s all about torturing the evil, he has to show his demons he’s not to be messed with.

After five years of teaching preschoolers, though, I believe being kind and fair is the best way to work with others. I don’t want people to fear me. I want them to trust me. When someone fears you, the only thing they trust is that if they disobey or displease you, you will lash out and they will suffer. I doubt my way of thinking has a place in Hell, but I don’t want to have to change who I am to be a good demon. I want to displease Luc less than any demon in existence, but I fear my very nature will be a disappointment to him.

We ignore the demon guard, and I follow Luc down the corridor. Doors line each side of the hall with sconces hanging between them, giving just enough light to see right in front of you. We walk for so long, I wonder why we didn’t just pop to wherever our final destination is. A door to my left suddenly opens and a massive demon steps out, crashing into me. I squeeze my eyes shut as I prepare to hit the ground, but strong arms band around my waist and hold me firmly against a warm, hard body.

“I knew it was only a matter of time before you fell for me.” His smooth, whiskey voice caresses my skin as he murmurs in my ear.

Pulling my head back slightly, as far as I can considering he hasn’t loosened his hold on me, I glimpse his face. “Oz!” I gasp. His answering smirk sends tingles to my lady bits. I’m saved from making a further fool of myself when Luc pointedly clears his throat, reminding us we’re not alone in this dark hallway. Oz finally, though reluctantly, releases me and takes a step back.

“Hey, Boss. What’s up?” His casual way of talking to not only his boss, but the fucking devil, just blows my mind.

“Giving Madelyne the tour. We just left the office. She took an interest in this book, though, and after reading it, I wanted to make sure you found this soul and sent him to the proper room.”

That gets his attention. He cocks his head and holds a hand out for the book. Once he has it, he skims its contents and nods once. “Consider it taken care of, sir.”

“Excellent. Would you care to join us? Maybe you have an idea which rooms we should show Madelyne today? I haven’t checked the logs for a few days. Been… busy.”

“Oh, I’m sure.” Oz chuckles darkly, sending a shiver down my spine. “We’ve had several new arrivals this week. I have a few that probably won’t scandalize the princess too much.” He smirks at me and now I want to punch him in his too-handsome face.

“I’m sure Madelyne can handle anything,” Luc tells him. The pride in his voice soothes the hackles Oz’s comment raised.

“I bet she can.” Oz looks at me with dark eyes and licks his lips.Annnd the tingles are back.

He leads the way down the hall and explains how the rooms work. “When a soul is sent to Hell, they end up in one of these rooms. They’re completely black inside. You can’t see anything. Until the paper pushers decide his fate. Once the sin office marks their book, the room transforms into whatever punishment they’ve been dealt. Everyone gets their own personalized hell.” He stops in front of a door and motions for me to open it. “Let’s see what this one looks like.” He smirks at me as he waits for me to open the door.

Glaring at him, I walk to the door with my head held high and turn the knob. There can be literally anything on the other side of this door. There’s no way for me to prepare myself. But I won’t give him the satisfaction of seeing my reaction. No matter what it is. I’m careful not to step into the room as I look in. I don’t know all the rules yet and I don’t want to risk getting sucked into their personal hell. I’d much rather be an observer than a participant, thank you very much.

I try to hold in my reaction… I really do. But I can’t stop the laugh that bubbles out of me as I watch a man stand completely naked in front of a classroom full of teenagers. He’s holding a piece of paper in front of him, trying to cover his dangly bits, and the kids are all laughing and pointing at him. The teacher is in the corner of the class looking rather bored. She sits at her desk, picking at her fingernails as she sighs exasperatedly and tells the man to read his essay already.

“Thisis his hell?” I ask, shaking my head.

“He was an asshole teacher. We thought it was only right.” He smirks at me and I swear his eyes twinkle.

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