I did not wish to answer her question—for two reasons. The first being the purpose for which I had gone there to begin with. And the second being the thing that kept me going back.

So, I pretended I hadn’t heard her. My mortifying nether region crisis now averted (being walked in on by one’s sister has that side-effect), I climbed out of the water. Her gaze tracked me as I made my way over to a crack in the stone wall, a Hellfire vent. Hot air blasted the droplets of water from my crimson skin.

Hellen sneered as I sauntered casually past her, reaching for my leather breeches. I could very much play the annoying little brother when it suited me.

“Does Father know you’ve been going up there so frequently?” she asked slyly.

I froze, one leg stuffed in my breeches. She was not going to let this slide, and my answer was only going to annoy her further.

“He does,” I hedged. It was not the whole truth.

Hellen scoffed. “I don’t believe you!”

I took a long, calming breath. Why did she have to be so insufferable?

Although I supposed I would be the same way if I were the one with the right family traits, and the wrong genitalia, to rule Hell once Father handed over the reins.

Instead, those reins would come to me … Satan Junior. A role that everyone had assumed I would excel at since my birth. After all, I was the son of the Devil. I had all the necessary attributes: the bloodline, the horns, and the penis.

I didn’t think Hellen would ever manage to get over her resentment of her lack of horns—the ones on the head and the one between the legs.

“For Lucifer’s sake, SJ! Do you ever pay attention when someone is talking to you?” Hellen screeched. The sound set my teeth on edge.

“I do,” I agreed, my voice amiable, even if my insides were roiling. “Except when that someone is you, prying your nose into things that are not your business.”

Hellen’s dusky rose skin went a violent shade of puce, her mouth pursing and twisting into something that resembled the rear end of a cat. I stepped towards her, reaching out a hand. The heat rolling off her was enough to singe my eyelashes.

“You’re going to explode your head again, sis⁠—”

“FATHER!” she screamed, and I staggered backwards, powerless against the winds of her fury. I shook my head, my sight blurry. When it cleared, she was gone, echoes of her screeches reaching me from somewhere above.

“For shit’s sake,” I muttered, hurrying along the stone tunnel, up the narrow, curving stairs. “She wants to rule Hell, but she acts like a bloody baby!”