Good Side of Sin

Good Side of Sin

A
‘Save My Soul’
Novel (Book 3)

By

Good Side of Sin (Book 3)

By: K. S. Haigwood

Copyright © K. S. Haigwood 2013

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review or article, without written permission from the author.

You. There never would have been a book 2, much less a book 3, if you had not demanded I write them. Thank you. You are the reason my dreams have come true.

Editor:
Ella Medler

Beta Readers:
Liz Cabrejos, Leslie Hansford, Claire Taylor, Dottie Schmeckpeper, Victoria Clemente, Tina Nelson, Jennifer Wedmore, Rosemary Krejsa, Christy Mann, Janie Lucas, Joyce Wetherbee-Hays, Amy Reindl, Kaylyn Keister, Bea Babb

Language translation of Troy:
Stuart Laing

Cover artist:
Patti Roberts

Special Thanks to:
Shawn and Riley for being my rock when I needed a little bit of reality to hold on to.

Save My Soul

Hell’s Gift

Good Side of Sin

(Coming Soon) My Sweet Purgatory

Eternal Island

Eternal Immortality

(Coming Soon) Eternal Illusion

Forbidden Touch

“Give me a hand and grab his legs, will ya’? We can’t just leave a dead body lying on the center line. A vehicle could come along and run him over, for Christ’s sake,” Thoros said as he lifted the limp top half of the thirty-something-year-old male body from the asphalt.

Baddon cocked his head to the side, his lips turning up at one corner in a mischievous smirk. The chuckle escaped before he could stop it, but he placed a closed hand over his mouth and coolly played it off as a cough when Thoros glared at him questioningly.

“What?” Thoros demanded, and blinked as tiny specs of light filled his vision, the all too familiar dizzy feeling taking over again. Out of breath and feeling like he was about to vomit and pass out, he let the man go lax in his arms until his help finished with the puns and decided to actually help him.

Baddon’s fire-red eyebrows shot up and his cerulean blue eyes danced with laughter. “I was only trying to figure out if it’s the dead body or the vehicle you are more concerned about.”

Thoros frowned. “Very funny; are you going to help me or not? This one’s heavier than the last one and I feel completely drained.”

Grin still in place, Baddon walked the five steps to Thoros and effortlessly slung the dead weight of the man over his left shoulder. “If you’d stop killing them, you wouldn’t need any help disposing of the bodies.” Baddon winked as Thoros growled in frustration.

“You know I don’t remember what happened. They all could have died from natural causes and it just happens to be me that stumbles across the corpses,” he suggested, and then nodded as if agreeing with the impossible theory, but averted his guilty eyes from his friend.

Baddon’s expression turned concerned as his big palm came up to rest on Thoros’ shoulder, squeezing the muscle just enough to make the guy look him in the eye. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on with you, but we’ll fix the problem together, like always. I’ll see you at home. I’ll put this one in the basement with the other two until we figure out what to do with them. Are you going to have trouble fleeting? You look a little peaked,” he said, and then forced the concern from his features, replacing it with a phony smile. “You can ride on my other shoulder if you need to.”

Thoros wiped at the freshly beaded cold sweat that broke across his brow and almost took Baddon up on the offer, but shook his head in refusal instead. “Thanks, but I think I need the night air to clear my head. I’ll be fine.”
I hope.
“Get that body home before a human cop sees you and throws you in a cell. An eternity spent in an eight by eight cement box seems worse somehow than the Hell we were just released from.”

Baddon chuckled. “You actually think I would let a human handcuff me?”

“Didn’t look like you had a problem with being shackled the other night. What was her name…Candy?”

The giant blushed a bright crimson and smiled shyly. “I thought the rest of you were going to be out later. Her name is Chelsea and she’s a Pisces.” He smiled then, showing off a perfect set of pearly-whites.

“Yeah, well, can you play cops and robbers somewhere other than the grand staircase next time? I’ll never get that image out of my head now. And I’ve seen some nasty shit in my day.”

Baddon cleared his throat and sniffed. “What about you, Prince of Lust? Why have you not tasted any of what Sin City has to offer? You know, you could always—”

“Don’t go there.” Thoros looked away, suddenly uncomfortable with his company and the direction the conversation had taken.

Baddon just stood there looking at him, expecting something more to come out of his mouth, maybe.

“I know that look, Baddon, and I’ve already told you, I’m not asking—”

“You need help! We have no idea what we’re doing.” He motioned with his hand to Thoros, and then the dead guy on his shoulder. “And now this? Who knows what will happen next? She—”

Cutting Baddon’s thought short, Thoros’ eyes shot up to glare at his best friend and one of the nine forgiven demons that had been saved from Lucifer’s clutches by one very ballsy angel only three months prior. Only one of the nine had been granted a complete soul and allowed through Heaven’s gate. He was happy for Abigail, and wouldn’t have wished a different fate for his longtime friend, but where did that leave them? Walking the Earth for an eternity as immortals was hardly a punishment compared to Hell, but he’d never envisioned killing innocent people, especially with no memory of doing it, to be a good thing. He’d been put in Hell for his lustful ways, not for violence, like the friend standing in front of him, holding evidence that he himself was capable of more than he had ever imagined: murder. His green eyes held Baddon’s gaze with contempt and warning.

“Leave
her
out of this,” he growled. “
She
cannot fix me. No matter the lengths the male angel went through to save us, I—
we—
are still damned and cursed, Baddon. Don’t you dare believe otherwise!”

“Why do you keep punishing yourself? You’ve done your time and you’ve saved her. You can’t turn your back on fate. The two of you are meant to be—”

“I am meant to be miserable and alone, as are you!” Thoros thundered, and then immediately calmed down and began to pace away from Baddon, before he said or did something he would regret later. “I’m sorry. Just drop it—please. Your suggestion is not an option. I’d just as soon face the seven
sydes
of Hell than…” Thoros chewed on his cheek for a moment, and then sighed. “…than ask her for help after what I’ve put her through.”

Taking in a deep breath, Baddon sighed in defeat. “I’ll see you at home then. Maybe the others can help us figure out why humans are dropping like flies in your path.”

Thoros nodded and watched with a sickened stomach as Baddon turned toward the lights of Las Vegas, and then vanished into the night with his third victim.

“Congratulations, Josselyn!”

“Thanks,” I said with another bright smile, but kept moving so I wouldn’t be expected to stop and talk. I didn’t have time to chat. There was a very important and long overdue mission waiting for my undivided attention.

I looked up and locked eyes with Troy across the crowded Line of Defense room, and immediately felt a rush of excitement race through every bone in my body. The smile pulling at my lips this time was genuine, but still felt extremely foreign to me. I was having a difficult time remembering what happiness felt like; so much had been risked, gained and then taken from me in the last few months, that I felt raw and mentally bruised.

But today—today I was happy. Finally, I felt like everything was falling into place again. I elbowed and pushed my way through the crowd and didn’t stop when I reached my friend. Troy’s massive arms caught me in a hug, and then twirled me around before setting me gently back on the floor.

“Yer wan o’ us noo.” he said with a glowing smile, and wiped at the treacherous beads that slipped from my tear ducts. “Aw, Jossel, dinnae you cry, noo. The Line o’ Defense is proud tae ha’e ye, and we all ken Heaven is a safer place wi’ you on oor side.”

Swallowing the huge lump in my throat, I shook my head and wiped at more salty drops of emotion. “They’re happy tears, Troy. You know I’ve been so eager to help you look for Malcolm, but the Council wouldn’t allow it until I graduated the academy. The LOD Academy is no joke, but I made it, and I’m ready to go out with the next crew!” I beamed at him.

Troy glanced nervously over my right shoulder, his smile vanishing instantly. I was confused until I turned my head to find Isaiah a step away from interrupting our conversation.

“Congratulations, Miss Josselyn. Your instructors have informed me that you ranked top of your class, expert even. The highest mark one can achieve. I’m impressed.”

I eyed him warily for a moment. He’d been a major influence in the decision to
not
let me help look for Malcolm until after I’d completed three months of intense training and graduated from Heaven’s Line of Defense Academy. I hadn’t forgotten, and by the smug look on his face he knew I still held a grudge.

“Thank you, Head Guardian. I’m prepared to join Troy and his crew in the search for Malcolm now. I can only imagine how confused and scared he must feel out there alone. It’s been far too long—”

“You will not be with the next crew that goes out to search for Malcolm,” he said, and then held his hand up to silence my protest. I was livid, and it took every bit of patience I had left in me not to scream at the Archangel. He continued, and I had no choice but to let him. “You will accompany Troop C on a different mission first. It is of higher importance and has been marked our number one priority above anything else. Do you understand, Josselyn?”

No. I didn’t understand. What could be more important than looking for a lost and soulless angel? Why must
his
importance be set lower than some other crisis?
He
was
my
number one priority and
I
had to find him!

Isaiah shook his head at my thoughts. “You have a duty, Josselyn. You’ve sworn to stand with others of your kind in battle and conflict, protecting those that are less fortunate and in need. I witnessed you repeat those words myself only a half hour ago. Your
expert
skills are needed elsewhere. Malcolm will be fine. He is immortal after all,” he said, his hard stare challenging me to disagree with him.

I fought back the immature huff that so desperately wanted to escape my tightly pressed lips and nodded to the Archangel. “Where am I needed?”

Isaiah smiled cunningly. “There’s a problem with one of our…
special cases
, for lack of a better phrase to call them. I think we certainly need to come up with a more proper term, as it appears we will be keeping a close eye on the forgiven demons for quite some time to come—perhaps indefinitely.”

Special cases? Forgiven demons?
I took a step back and stumbled into the rock-hard chest of Troy. He caught and steadied me as I tried to wrap my mind around what Isaiah expected of me.

“Easy there, lass. Are ye a’right?”

I blinked up at him, but words failed me. With the absence of Malcolm weighing heavily on my thoughts, I had forced everything else to the deep, far corners of my mind. I couldn’t allow myself to worry about anything except finding my friend then. Now, every hidden thought came flooding back to the surface and all I could see when I closed my eyes was Thoros.

I gasped, my eyes filling with tears again; this time they weren’t happy ones. “No,” I whispered on a sob as I clutched at the heavenly material of Troy’s LOD uniform, and then I buried my face in his shirt and cried.

I heard Isaiah clear his throat behind me, but I wasn’t ready to face him or the ridiculous mission he had prepared for me to complete.

I couldn’t do it. I wasn’t strong enough to face the demon that had betrayed me. Not only had he not held up his end of the bargain and helped me, but he’d practically handed me and my soul over to Lucifer to gain a higher status in Hell.

I’d heard him through the door of Lucifer’s chamber the day Rhyan saved us all. Thoros wanted nothing more from me than my pure soul to hand over to Lucifer, and then my body to use for pleasure, before tossing me from his bed to pass around to his friends as a minion whore.

I couldn’t bring myself to look at him that day. I didn’t want to see the self-satisfied smile of the cat that had caught the mouse. I had been fooled. I had been captured. And my heart had suffered greatly. I should have known better than to trust the Prince of Lust.