Hell's Bells: Lucifer's Tale (Welcome to Hell Book 6) Read Online Free Page B

think of marrying the rascally, foul-mouthed bastard, but there was something about Luc. Something about the way he made her feel…
    He makes me feel young and beautiful and important and…
    Not makes. Made. The man who inspired all those things was gone. In his place, a perfect gentleman. A perfect bore. She couldn’t stand that man.
    I want the old Lucifer back.
    “So when should we rip that fake heart out of his chest and get him back to normal?”
    A grimace twisted Nefertiti’s features. “I wish the solution were so simple. I would have cracked open his chest, yanked that beating imposter from his chest, and devoured it right then and there if I thought it would fix him.”
    “But?”
    “But I fear doing so will kill the Dark Lord.”
    A world without her dark lover? The very suggestion made the chlorophyll in her veins run cold. Gaia straightened. “What do you mean kill him? How would removing it be a problem? He survived without a heart before. Why not now?”
    “Because right now his body needs it. A person can’t just tear out the organ without preparation and spells and contingencies. Spells, I might add, that only he can perform. Something about that whole free will thing the universe forces on us. I almost guarantee, with the mood Lucifer is in, there’s no way he’ll be willing to tear that sucker out.”
    No, this weak imitation probably wouldn’t. “So am I supposed to leave him like that? That’s just cruel. Xaphan is right. He’d be better off dead. The Luc I know would hate to see what he’s turned into.” The Luc she knew would beat up the Luc he’d become. And she’d cheer him on!
    “There is another option,” Nefertiti offered in a slow, drawn-out tone.
    “There is?” Gaia felt hope fluttering in her breast, a slender stalk trying to burst free from a seed.
    “We need to replace his new heart with his old one.”
    “Use his old one? You do realize I don’t have it.”
    “But you know where to get it.”
    Gaia did. “What you’re talking about is pretty much impossible. I mean, there are layers of protection guarding it that are meant to stump even the most skilled of thieves.” She should know. She’d helped designed some of them, and in return, Lucifer helped design some of the spells protecting her hidden heart. Between the pair of them, no one could get through.
    “No one person could hope to survive, but what if you took a specialized team? A team of minions who’d do anything to free him?”
    What if indeed…

    * * *
    B ang .
    Once again, Gaia and all of Lucifer’s most trusted minions—and family—gathered around the table in the Garden of Eden.
    She didn’t waste time. “Lucifer needs his heart.”
    “Funny because I thought the problem was he had too much heart,” Felipe countered.
    “But it’s not his heart.” Gaia explained their discovery to everyone. “So, Nefertiti thinks if we can replace the imposter organ with his true one then he might go back to normal.”
    “What do you mean might?” Muriel queried. “Will this work or not?”
    At this, Gaia could only shrug. “Since we don’t know if it’s ever been done before, we can only assume.”
    “No. Not that word,” Katie shrieked. “Because when you assume you”—everyone joined in—“make an ass out of you and me.”
    The ribald laughter, despite the serious situation, made Gaia smile. If anyone could help, then these nutjobs could.
    But they deserved to know the whole truth of the mission. “I’m going to need volunteers. However, I feel I must warn that where we need to go is fraught with peril.” Hands shot up. “Possible death.” None of the hands wavered. “A chance you might never return home.”
    Not a single one of them changed their minds. Their loyalty for Lucifer would have made the new version beam and sniffle. The old one would have gagged.
    As for Gaia, she could have hugged them all in that moment, but then they’d think she was afflicted like Lucifer and