She’s trying to trick me!
“Never. That’s what keeps me close to God. If I’d had enough Faith I wouldn’t even be here.”
She seemed even less solid. He could see through her. Beyond her was a tide, a flood, a maelstrom of black water—or black blood.
She kissed him again, so softly he could barely feel it. “I’ll explain why, will you listen?”
“Yes.”
She hummed for a few moments, the song of angels, and then she kissed him again—this time a bit more forcefully. “The Devil needs you to have Faith, because with Faith you can forgive anyone anything. You gave your Faith to God, once, remember? The Devil knows that if you’ve given it once, you’ll give it again. He’s going to come asking for it.”
“You’re wrong, woman, I’d never trust the Devil.”
“You say that, my love,” she whispered into his ear, “but you know that hasn’t always been true. You’ve made mistakes before. I mean, how else were you sent to Hell?”
He nodded.
“Let’s say you were reading the Bible,” she continued, “and God ordered that genocide be committed. What would you think?”
“God would do no such thing!”
“Of course He wouldn’t, but what if He did order it? Let’s say He told Moses to kill some tribe to the last man. Imagine He ordered only their virgins be spared so that His men could have them. Imagine you had read it on Earth, what would you think?”
She’s bedeviling me.
But a part of his mind wanted to know. A part of him that had grown to fruition during his schooling. The part of him that had scribbled blasphemy into his senior year English textbook. He imagined reading what she had described in the Bible.
“God would only order such a thing if it were just, so the people He ordered killed must all be evil.”
Her kiss was so faint, like a butterfly landing on his lips. He could see the tide of black water rising beyond her.
“You see, you gave your Faith to God, once, when He came asking for it, and now you’ll forgive Him anything.” She was whispering so softly that he had to fight to hear her. “You’ll give your Faith to the Devil, soon, and He’ll take it, and you’ll forever be His.”
Maab. This woman is worse than Maab. Maab at least wanted to save the angel’s child.
Carlisle gathered his will to resist her. “Never, I’d never give my Faith to the Devil. I will always give it to God. No matter how many times he asks me.”
“Fool! He’ll take your memories. You’ll know nothing,” Lilith said as the black tide swept over them.
“It won’t matter.”
“You’ll know as little as a babe. You’ll know nothing of God or Satan. You’ll know nothing of the universe, or of good and evil. And Carlisle, do you know what will happen this time? Do you know the one difference between your future life and your past one?”
“No.”
“This time the Devil will ask you first.”
The black wave swept his blood away, swept Lilith away. He felt a resonance building in her absence, powered by a low masculine voice that slowly overtook his soul.
“Now,” said Mephistopheles, “you need to get your dirty hands on that child, don’t you?”
Carlisle breathed in the dark ocean water. It felt cool against his lungs, as if it was extinguishing some fire that had been burning there. “I do.”
“Good, then let’s see if we can work something out. If I were to tell you how to get back to the boy, what would that be worth to you?”
Hellsong Series continues with Book II: Knight of Gehenna
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Shaun McCoy lives in South Carolina. He is an accomplished Pianist, Cage Fighter, Chess Player and Writer. You can check out his fan page at www.facebook.com/shaunomccoy
Table of Contents
Prologue
PART I
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
PART II
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
PART III
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Epilogue