Free Shadowed 3 I’ll Be Damned by Kate Hill

Chapter One
     
    Not all demons are born. Some are conjured, and others just appear.
    Sinister appeared, forming in the smoke from the hottest fire in the deepest bowels of hell. He was a fiercely beautiful demon -- the kind who could easily lure mortal victims. Ruggedly handsome with vivid blue eyes, sable hair and a body to die for, he could shift from human to smoke in a heartbeat.
    When the demon who tended hell’s hottest fire saw what had emerged, he sent gleeful word to his superiors. “A new spirit of pure evil has joined us.”
    And hell welcomed Sinister.
    But the demons’ wicked hopes were quickly dashed. Sinister didn’t live up to his name. He didn’t revel in hell’s tortures. Instead of rendering pain and punishment, he often received it instead. Disciplinarians hoped to beat him into service with their cursed floggers. His demonic keepers provided the most terrible mentors the underworld had to offer, but Sinister failed miserably.
    The worst he could be was mischievous, and his superiors realized they would have to imprison and forget him or cast him into oblivion.
    “You’ll have one last chance,” said the keeper of the hottest fire. “You’ll be allowed one month on Earth to wreak havoc. If at the end of that time you cannot commit at least one act of pure evil -- a single mortal sin -- we will destroy you. Jodi will keep watch over you and inform us of your progress.”
    Jodi, an irritating little demon with limited power yet infinite capacity for evil, smiled at Sinister. A small creature with a weasel’s body and a human face, Jodi could be seen only by other demons, although he could manipulate humans who were open to suggestion.
    “You understand your situation?” the fire keeper demanded.
    “I do,” Sinister said, though he doubted his ability to perform his task.
    Try as he might, he couldn’t summon the hatred innate in the most successful demons. He didn’t enjoy seeing others suffer, and unlike some lower forms of demons, he didn’t enjoy suffering himself.
    Now it was either him or mortals, so he intended to do his best to inflict the harm hell demanded.
    Although Sinister hadn’t ever traveled to Earth -- only demons who had adequately tortured their own kind could progress to tormenting mortals -- he had studied it thoroughly. His mentors had taught him the customs and languages necessary for him to survive in the human world. The idea of putting his studies to use excited him, but he dreaded deciding which mortals to destroy.
    He appeared on Earth in a cloud of dark smoke. After changing to his human form, he stood naked in the living room of the furnished apartment he’d been provided in Boston. He glanced around briefly before striding to the bedroom. He opened the closet and ran his hands over the material of a new wardrobe of sexy clothes. A faint smile tugged at his lips. His superiors had thought of everything.
    “Come on, let’s go out,” Jodi said, slinking around Sinister’s ankles. “In a city like this, we can cause all kinds of trouble. What do you want to do first, huh? You want to crash cars? How about a train wreck? Oh! Oh! I got it! We can kill somebody. Your first kill, Sinister. That will show them that you live up to your name.”
    Sinister curled his lip and kicked Jodi aside. “Shut up. I want to feel out my surroundings.”
    “Good idea! You want to fuck first. What do you want? Guy or girl? Or maybe you can make the guy --”
    “Didn’t I tell you to shut up? I don’t need your advice.”
    Jodi jumped up on the dresser and glowered at Sinister. “You need all the help you can get. You’re a pathetic excuse for a demon. I can’t believe they let you come here.”
    The annoying little bastard kept ranting, but Sinister tuned him out. He was far more interested in trying on clothes. He pulled on smooth black pants and a silky shirt that almost matched his eyes. Then he walked to the bathroom to glance at himself in the mirror. He paused a