Lord of Hell (Alex Holden) Read Online Free

“Greetings, Alex, Lord of Hell. Welcome to my palace.”
    “Thanks. And uh, thanks for taking the time to meet with me on such short notice.” I made a bow that was very Japanese since I was used to bowing to my sword-fighting teacher.
    “I understand you have a matter you would like to discuss,” he said as Anubis took up a post beside the throne.
    “Yeah. I’d like you to take some of the souls that were misplaced in Hell. They deserve to live in paradise. They’ve done no great wrongs, and they’ve been suffering for years. Centuries.” Some of their faces flashed in my mind, and I got angry again at the unfairness.
    Osiris brought up the same argument Ra had, that this was interference since I was now a god. He didn’t accept my counter argument as easily, but Anubis leaned over and said, “This is a matter of justice for the dead. It’s our duty to ensure the blessed dead enter paradise.”
    “We cannot take from the Christians. Whether or not you believe they were wrongly sent to Hell, those dead belong to your pantheon. We cannot interfere.”
    “But they don’t deserve—”
    Anubis held up a hand. “But we can accept gifts. If Alex were to give us some of the dead under his care, as a gift from one god of the dead to another, that would be allowed within the Law. They are his to give.”
    Way to go, you crafty jackal.
    “I will have to consider this carefully. You say they are wrongly condemned, but I do not think you would take it well if we accepted souls only to have some of them fail the Weighing of the Heart and be eaten by Ammit,” Osiris said.
    “True.” I wouldn’t want them to go from one Hell to another. “But you can choose which souls to take. Only take those you deem worthy.”
    “I can judge a heart nearly as well as the scales,” Anubis said. “I can find those who are worthy.”
    “Let me consider this matter. I will send a message when I have decided.”
    Pushing him further might make him say no, so I left it at that. Anubis walked me out of the audience chamber and down the hall.
    “Thanks,” I told him.
    “You’re welcome. You’re doing the right thing. I’ll keep talking to him, but even if I do convince him to take some of your dead, he won’t take all of them.”
    “I know. I didn’t expect you guys to. I’m talking to all the other gods of the dead. If everyone can take some, then all of them will end up in some version of paradise.” There were millions, maybe billions of misplaced souls.
    “You have always protected and respected the dead. I’m sorry you have to take on such responsibility, but I’m glad you’re their guardian. Lucifer hated humanity and treated the dead accordingly.” We kept walking through the torchlit halls. It was a darker version of Ra’s palace, with the stone left its natural color instead of painted white, but the artwork was just as bright and stunning. Some of the pictures showed souls enjoying the afterlife: hunting, boating, eating.
    “I get the sense Jehovah hates large sections of humanity, too. I guess if I was human, I wouldn’t even want to end up in Heaven if he leaves so many good people out of it.”
    Anubis looked at me, his eyes bright. “I think you’re talking blasphemy.”
    “Damn right, I am.”
    We shared a laugh.
    ***
    When I got home, I had texts from Stefan and Colin. Odin and the Morrigan had agreed to accept souls if they could choose them. Just like Osiris. I was thinking I was going to throw a party in Hell with all the gods of the dead. We could have dinner and then everyone would pick out souls to take home. The idea was so bizarre it made me smile.
    The Morrigan was going to talk to Donn, the Celtic god of the dead, to see if he would agree to accept some souls, too.
    All I wanted to do was relax on the couch, curled up with Mew-Mew, but someone started pounding on the door. Thinking maybe it was Hayley or one of my friends, I opened it, only to find a demon.
    He was a green so dark it was