Thanks to a dare gone wrong, Maggie Brumfield finds out the hard way that Heaven and Hell are real.
Prince Laudon, Lucifer's son and the current ruler of Hell, has locked Maggie into a sinister deal that grants him temporary ownership of her soul...
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LAUDON'S POV
"I want to visit Edreial," said Laudon. "Hell is insufferable, and I need a break."
The young prince has been running Hell on and off for the last twelve years, and a vacation is long overdue. Zul, the advisor and part-time guardian to Lucifer's only spawn, sighs in disagreement.
Nothing good can be found on Edreial, a place where the giants once lived. These days, Edreial goes by the new name of Earth, and it's cluttered with tiny moronic humans that God keeps around for entertainment.
"You are an adult, so you are free to do as you so please," says Zul. "But if I may speak frankly, my prince, I ask that you reconsider this trip to Edreial."
"Why?" Laudon sits back in his seat and props his feet up on his desk, an impassive look resting on his perfectly sculpted face. "Ever since I was a child, I have done nothing but follow the appallingly strict rules that my father laid down. I have never stepped out of line, and I have never slacked off with my work. I deserve to travel beyond the gates of Hell and live just as freely as my father, or do you disagree with that as well?"
"No, my prince. You more than deserve a break from the throne, that I do not disagree with."
"Then what do you disagree with, Zul? I dislike guessing games."
"Edreial," Zul repeats. "That is God's territory. Whenever your father goes there, he does so in secret. Always for business, never for pleasure. Should you go for the latter, you must be careful not—"
"Not to cause a disturbance or harm any of my dear old grandfather's toys? Of course, of course." Laudon rolls his black eyes, growing annoyed. "I want to visit Edreial for a change in scenery, not because I want to socialize with the humans. There are only so many places in this universe that one can go, and Heaven is off-limits to our kind, as if I'd ever want to visit that dreadful prison. So, Edreial it is."
"Laudon..."
"My father comes and goes as he pleases from Hell," Laudon sharply interrupts. "I shall do the same. End of discussion." He waves a hand towards the door to his office, opening it without having to get up from his seat. Zul quickly takes the hint and turns to leave. "Kindly fetch me my cloak before you wander off to do whatever it is you do when you're not around to breathe down my neck."
"Yes, my prince." Zul bows before departing.
"Twenty-five years old and I still have a babysitter trying to give me orders," Laudon mutters to himself while angrily pushing around the junk on his desk, books mostly. "Fucking ridiculous."
Before Laudon mastered his powers at thirteen, having then been deemed competent enough by Lucifer to provisionally take over the throne during his absences, Zul was originally left in charge whenever Lucifer departed Hell for business. Despite being demoted, Zul held no ill-will towards Laudon.
