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  An Ellora’s Cave Romantica Publication

  www.ellorascave.com

  ‘Tween a Devil and His Hard Place

  ISBN 9781419916779

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

  ‘Tween a Devil and His Hard Place Copyright © 2008 Sam Cheever

  Edited by Helen Woodall.

  Cover art by Croco.

  Electronic book Publication April 2008

  The terms Romantica® and Quickies® are registered trademarks of Ellora’s Cave Publishing.

  With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing Inc., 1056 Home Avenue, Akron, OH 44310-3502.

  Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the publisher’s permission. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/). Please purchase only authorized electronic or print editions and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted material. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the authors’ imagination and used fictitiously.

  ‘Tween a Devil and His Hard Place

  Sam Cheever

  Trademarks Acknowledgement

  The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

  Cheshire Cat: Disney Enterprises, Inc.

  Frankenstein: Universal City Studios, Inc.

  Prologue

  Hell hath no fury…

  ’Tween Heaven and Hell the devil dwells and dances ’twixt the years.

  ’Tween Heaven and Hell our lady thrills, to box him ’bout the ears.

  Devils and demons were never meant to walk among humans. But about thirty years ago, in 2060, the human race went berserk and started blowing each other up willy-nilly. Unfortunately, in addition to creating some really big holes in the Earth and in themselves, humans unwittingly unleashed a horror much deeper and more terrifying than anything they’d ever encountered before. Something eminently evil used the resulting chaos to slither its way into the world. This evil was the stuff of human nightmares, previously only touching the human race through hysterical musings or tragic bouts of imagination. But what humans didn’t know was, this evil had always been out there, in a parallel dimension, if you will, watching the show and waiting for its turn to join in the fun. And every once in a while, when the humans’ defenses were particularly low, this something would reach across that barrier and tweak them a little. Which explains things like dental care, Brussels sprouts and bell-bottomed jeans.

  Once the purveyors of evil found their way into the human dimension, God had no choice but to send his angels in to keep an eye on them. Several minor skirmishes have already been fought between the forces of good and evil since that time thirty years ago when the first demon snuck through our defenses. The angels, with the Big Guy at their backs, are winning the battles so far but the outcome of the war is still uncertain.

  About ten years ago, God started using Tweeners to help the good side out. The only problem with Tweeners is that, by their very makeup they are some portion devil. That’s why they understand and know how to defeat the forces of evil. But it is also what has made them a little bit unpredictable.

  What exactly is a Tweener you ask? A Tweener is a nonhuman. They have neither wings nor horns but they generally have both angel and devil in their family forests. Which is probably why they enjoy a higher sensitivity to spectral influence than regular human-type people.

  My name is Astra Q Phelps. Don’t ask me what the Q stands for because if I tell you I’ll have to turn you into atmospheric gas. I've burned all printed documentation of the name and though a lot of my enemies have tried to dig it out, no one will ever know what it stands for. A girl has to have some secrets. Especially when the truth would cause her some serious embarrassment.

  I run a business called the Angel Network, which is the only devil and demon locating and destroying business in the universe. In other words, I kick serious evil butt for a living. But enough about me. You probably want to hear about how I saved the world from the attack of the killer demons don’t you?

  Oh…that’s about me too isn’t it?

  Oh well, what can I say, I’m a pretty important creature. Apparently many things are about me.

  Okay, here we go.

  Chapter One

  Blood Will Tell

  Alas our Tweener finds herself, in the fiery clutch of Hell,

  Her sexy hero’s cursed bonds, do cause her plight to swell.

  Dialle’s devilish gaze sparked. He dropped his head to kiss me before I could bolt away. Despite my better judgment, my heart took up the beat that was playing itself out in my lower regions. Heat, sharp and molten ran through my body at the touch of those fiery lips and I closed my eyes and leaned into him before I realized what I was doing. I suddenly became aware that Dialle had climbed up my shirt and was making himself very familiar with the geography of a part of my body that is not considered a public access area by the Astra Q Phelps dating committee of one—that’s me. I cursed and pushed his hands away just as the door crashed back against the wall and spat Gerch at us.

  “My Prince. I’m sorry to…interrupt…” I glared at him and saw just the tiniest tipping up of one side of his wide, craggy lips. “But the king has requested your presence in his rooms.”

  I grinned. Saved again. Dialle cursed. “Tell him to go to Heaven.”

  Gerch’s lips twitched but, soldier-like, he managed to hold the smile in check. “My Prince, do you think that’s wise?”

  Dialle’s answering glare very nearly succeeded in banishing the smile into the Shadows to be seen nevermore. Gerch lowered his head and body in the tiniest bow. “As you wish.” But he didn’t leave the room.

  Dialle cursed again and paced away from me. I found his response to his father’s summons singularly interesting. I decided it might be fun to meet this Dialle the First, if he could make my Dialle this nervous and pissed off.

  After a moment Dialle’s eyes shot toward the waiting Gerch and he sighed. “Oh Hades! All right, Gerch. Wait outside the door for a minute while Astra and I finish our…business.”

  Yikes! That wasn’t what I had in mind. My eyes went round and my mouth opened to argue but I didn’t get the chance. Dialle was on me like bristle hairs on an elephant before I could say, diddley squat.

  My traitorous body melted against him almost as soon as his lips met mine. My world suddenly became a small bubble of musky heat and shared air that caused my limbs to tighten with need even as they turned to warm, flexible rubber.

  Dialle’s blue gaze burned into me as he pulled those incredibly soft lips from mine and trailed his hot, red tongue across my lips. I gasped. I could have sworn the touch sizzled against my tender, swollen lips. “I’m damned,” I said on a need-charged sigh.

  Dialle chuckled, his tongue having worked its way down my chin into that tender spot on my neck where my daemon hickey throbbed. When his teeth replaced his tongue I was beyond caring. He could have ripped my throat out right there and then and I wouldn’t have even noticed. My body was a flame that flickered to his gentle breeze, my m
ind was a melted pool of pleasure, totally devoid of will or coherent thought.

  But he didn’t bite me. At least not hard enough to draw blood. He only teased my tender flesh until I thought I would scream. And then released me.

  “Unfortunately we’ll have to finish this later, my love. The great King Dialle awaits.”

  “Huh… Wha?” Taking a deep, cooling breath I stuck my nose in the air and glared at him. “It’s a good thing you stopped. I was getting ready to kick your ass.”

  Dialle chuckled and touched the tip of my nose with his lips. “Of course you were, lovely Tweener.” He grabbed my arm and steered me toward the door. “Come along my princess.”

  “Don’t call me that.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I said so.”

  “But I care not what you say, little princess. I am your prince.”

  “Kiss my ass.”

  He pulled open the door and nodded to Gerch, who proceeded to lead the way toward Dialle the First and the next episode in the hell that is my life.

  “It would be my pleasure to kiss your ass, my princess.”

  Gerch’s shoulders tensed when I growled low in my throat but, to his credit, he didn’t turn around.

  “I swear, Dialle, you’re lucky I’m outnumbered.”

  Dialle grinned at me, the tip of his hot, red tongue waggling suggestively. “I think I could best you, my princess.”

  “Oh, you’ll get a chance to try.”

  If my feet hit the floor a little harder than was exactly necessary I think you’ll understand. Such is the frustration and complexity of my life. Sigh. Oh well. At least I still had my health. At least until after my audience with the king of the devils. Where I was sure I would piss somebody off and have to be saved again.

  The hallway we traveled was long and well lit. Both sides were lined with heavy wooden doors and above each one was a wall sconce that emitted a soft, yellow light. The carpet beneath our feet was impossibly white and thick enough to sleep on. The air gave off a heated, slightly musky smell that told me the huge stone building was filled with otherworldly types.

  I struggled to keep up with the two leggy devils. I had to nearly run or I would fall behind. Occasionally Dialle would reach back and tug on my hand to pull me forward. Whenever I fell behind I had to force my traitorous gaze away from his taut, yummy buttocks and once he caught me looking and laughed. My face turned very red but I glared back at him defiantly, daring him to comment.

  Gerch turned a corner and I found myself in another endless hallway that looked much the same as the first one. That hallway turned, eventually, into a third hallway that finally ended beyond a gilded archway filled with armed guards and a harem of beautiful women, both devil and fallen angel. The guards stood at rigid attention on either side of the archway and both sides of the huge, gold-plated doors in the center. The women lounged on chaises and were flung across long, backless divans, their sheer robes shimmering in the soft yellow light softly draping their gold and silver flesh.

  I looked at the women and frowned. “What’s with the harem?”

  Dialle gave them only the merest glance as we entered the alcove created by the arched entranceway. “They vie for the king’s attention. He is supposed to be choosing a new Queen but he apparently suffers from the human condition called ADD. He can’t seem to focus on one woman for any length of time.”

  I sensed he wanted to say more but, just then, Gerch pushed one of the gilded doors inward and Dialle’s attention was pulled away with a jerk. He drew himself up with a sigh and grabbed my arm. “He is also a very impatient creature. Let us go.”

  Dialle led the way through the gilded doors. He pulled me into the room behind him and all but dragged me to his side, where he immediately put an arm around my waist and proceeded to rip my mental drawers open. Show no fear Astra.

  What’s to fear? I responded in a negligent mental tone and he turned to arch a look at me.

  You are teasing me right?

  I shrugged.

  King Dialle the First stood across a cavernous room in front of wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out over an Angel City skyline that sparkled in the distance. He stood with his back to us, his hands folded behind him and his long, muscular legs braced apart in a warrior’s stance. His silky black hair flowed down his back and stopped, curling slightly at the ends, just where perfectly sculpted buttocks rounded out from a narrow waist. The hair was loose except for the last six inches, which were tied together in a thick bunch with some kind of leather tie. He wore white leather leggings that fit his well muscled legs and perky round buttocks like a second skin and nothing else. As he turned I noticed a large tattoo shaped like a pitchfork on one muscular biceps. I smiled.

  His face could have been designed in heaven. Well, actually it was. The golden brow was wide and clear, with a thick mane of hair flowing back from a widow’s peak at the center. His eyes were deeply set, narrow and very sexy. His nose was long, tapered and straight. The jaw was square, with just a tiny bit of black stubble on it that made him look dangerous and very sexy. He had high, strong cheekbones, like his son but when he grinned, as he did now, his cheeks creased with matching dimples that made certain places on my body tingle. His shoulders were almost impossibly broad and his chest was a smooth, hairless, golden color and deeply muscled.

  The king’s black-velvet gaze slid past his son and fixed on me. “Alas, behold my Queen.”

  I felt my Dialle stiffen beside me and his arm tightened on my waist. “Father, I’d like you to meet my future Queen. This is Astra.”

  King Dialle arched one perfectly shaped black eyebrow at his son and then dismissed him, sliding his eyes back to me. “You are the Tweener?”

  “I am.”

  He nodded once. “I had heard you were lovely. I admit I didn’t believe the reports.” He eyed me up and down once more. “Now I realize I should have been paying better attention.” He slid his gaze back to his son, who had grown increasingly agitated as the seconds ticked by. “Perhaps you will need to find…another…Queen my son. I may need to explore this one for myself.”

  My Dialle huffed out a breath. “Stop baiting me old man. You know as well as I do that you cannot settle on just one woman.” He tugged me a little behind him and stepped forward, all in one smooth motion. “This woman is mine. She bears my mark. I did not come here to joust with you. I await your instructions.”

  I glanced at my Dialle but his face was closed. Except for a muscle working in his beautiful square jaw he showed no emotion. His words were very strange however. I tried to initiate a trip into his mental drawers but he slammed them shut on me. Obviously he and his father didn’t have an easy relationship. Interesting but not too surprising given the devil factor.

  The king narrowed his gaze on his son but apparently decided to let it go. He turned and strode arrogantly toward a desk in the far corner of the room. How funny. A devil king office. Imagine that.

  He sat down in the throne-like white leather chair behind a huge desk made of what appeared to be black onyx and looked at us expectantly.

  I made a move as if to sit too but my Dialle stopped me with a hand on my arm. Then he pulled me into his side and wrapped his other arm around my stomach, a slight cocking of his head the only sign that he was prepared to listen to the king.

  I struggled to pull away but Dialle tightened his arms around my waist and said, Stop. We need to have a united front against my father or we’re both…toast…as you would say.

  I stopped struggling, suddenly realizing he was right. Better to have one powerful royal devil on your side than fight two of them. I stepped into Dialle and wrapped my left arm around his stomach. One united front coming up.

  The king scowled at us but finally turned to the door. He spoke to Gerch, who had, apparently, followed us into the room. “Remove yourself. If you value your life you’ll keep everyone away from that door after you close it. What I have to say is not to be overheard.”<
br />
  Gerch bowed almost in half. “As my king commands.” And he left, pulling the vast, golden doors closed silently behind him.

  The king turned to us. “I’ll make this as brief as possible. The demons have sent word that they intend to break loyalty with us and become an independent court. They have promised to take drastic action if we don’t meet with them to form an agreement. I have no intention of doing so.”

  I looked at my Dialle. He didn’t look surprised. “But their king was just killed by Prince Nille. How could they have organized a revolt so quickly?” I asked.

  King Dialle snorted. “This plan has been in motion for some time. King Abrine will not even be missed. His brother has been scheming for his demise for centuries. Nille and Nerul only gave him the method of murdering his brother.” He stood and walked to the wall of windows again, resuming the exact stance he’d held when we’d entered the room. “Abrine was, at heart, a pure coward. Over the centuries I have been very successful holding him and his aspirations at bay. King Alcott will be an entirely different matter.” He turned around, his black gaze going to his son. “I need you to go to Alcott. I need to know what he plans. I want you and the lovely Astra to keep an eye on the demons and keep me informed. We’ll simply head them off before they can do anything.”

  My Dialle studied his father for a minute without responding. I could almost see him fighting the desire to speak out against the plan. I made a mental note to ask him what he thought of the situation and his father’s handling of it later. For now, I had to ask, “Why don’t you just let them go? Why fight the inevitable?”

  The king turned to me and, although his gorgeous face showed no emotion at all, I could tell by the way he held himself that he wasn’t wild about my question, or me for asking it. “You will learn our ways in time, Astra. Try, in the meantime, to hide your ignorance more carefully. A beautiful face and an empty mind create a vessel that can be filled with only one activity.” He smiled and the smile didn’t take me to a happy place. “I doubt you would welcome the activity I refer to.” He turned to my Dialle. “There is one further complication.”