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Infernal Affairs

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Ralgath wants nothing more than to work as a crossroads demon. Too bad he botched his first assignment when a very sexy mortal turned the tables on him. Now he has one chance to get his job back: find two demons who vanished in the human realm. Unfortunately, doing so means teaming up with Chess—the mortal who cost Ralgath his job in the first place.

Chess has spent the last three years using their infernally granted powers to do good. But now Ralgath has a new offer for them: help find the missing demons, and he’ll return Chess’s soul.

After their last encounter, Chess is the last person Ralgath should be interested in. But the passion that initially drew them together still burns hotter than the flames of the Underworld. Chess claims they never meant to hurt Ralgath, but can Ralgath afford to trust them? Because while Ralgath may have Chess’s soul, he’s increasingly certain Chess owns his heart.

Note: Infernal Affairs originally appeared in the Devil Take Me anthology. This new edition is the author’s preferred edit.

87 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 16, 2018

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349 people want to read

About the author

Jordan L. Hawk

85 books2,646 followers
Jordan L. Hawk is a trans author from North Carolina. Childhood tales of mountain ghosts and mysterious creatures gave him a life-long love of things that go bump in the night. When he isn’t writing, he brews his own beer and tries to keep the cats from destroying the house. His best-selling Whyborne & Griffin series (beginning with Widdershins) can be found in print, ebook, and audiobook.

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5 stars
102 (26%)
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149 (39%)
3 stars
95 (25%)
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28 (7%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews
Profile Image for Mir.
4,977 reviews5,332 followers
January 6, 2024
3.5 rounded down due to cliche and overused plot devices, and also instalust/love. This was highly predictable but an entertaining, easy read with likable characters. Perfect for reading in an hour when you have insomnia.

(I was slightly put off by the opening in which the demon is portrayed as shocked speechless by the sight of a nonbinary person in a gasp! sparkly tank top! but I think this is mostly authorial laziness. Although I've read several of their books and characters generally do seem both modest and boring about their clothes.)
Profile Image for fleurette.
1,534 reviews161 followers
May 4, 2020
An interesting, short story with a nice paranormal thread. This is probably my first story with a non-binary character.

The main characters, Ralgath and Chess, are fine. I like demons and I like when hell looks like a bureaucratic machine. This concept may have been a bit extended here, but it's still okay. There is also a little bit of a mystery here - what happened to the missing demons. Nothing overly extensive, but it's always nice to see something like this in story. Romance is basically love at first sight and this is probably what I was most disappointed with. I would prefer it to be run differently somehow.

It’s definitely a fast and fine read.
Profile Image for JoAnn.
774 reviews33 followers
February 8, 2020
I little upset with myself for buying this again... but I love the author so I guess I’m ok with the added support.

I kept reading this and telling myself “I’ve read this before WTF..” but I couldn’t figure it out. I thought maybe it was TJ Klunes, Blasphemy... but that wasn’t it. Once the hellhound Fluffpaw came up I absolutely knew I read this once... anyways that’s when I decided to read the whole blurb and saw that it was in the Devil Take me Anthology, which I started but never finished. I guess I should read the whole blurb before jumping head first after reading “crossroads demon”... my bad


Some saved quotes from when I read it the first time in Devil Take me

“Don’t,” Ralgath exclaimed. “That’s a hellhound!” As though anyone could mistake a solid black dog with glowing orange eyes who slobbered green slime all over the landscape for anything else. “She’ll tear you to pieces!”
Fluffpaw flung herself into Chess’s arms, butt wriggling and stubby tail wagging.
“Aww. She’s just a sweetheart, aren’t you?” Chess asked as they scratched her ears. “Who’s a good omen of doom? Is it you? Is it?”
Fluffpaw barked happily to indicate it was indeed her.




Ralgath suppressed a shudder. Even demons were afraid of clowns.




“If he puts on a sad clown mask and tries to kill us, I’m blaming you.”
Profile Image for Nicky.
4,138 reviews1,116 followers
May 12, 2020
I loved Widdershins, and pretty much expected to love this one because of it. And there’s quite a bit to enjoy about it, mostly involving Chess: they’re non-binary, they drive a hot pink car with a vanity plate saying NBINARY and a they/them bumper sticker, and they seduce a crossroads demon into making them a hero (leading to said demon’s disgrace in Hell, dooming them to an eternity of processing new souls as they enter Hell). They’re unashamedly themselves, all over the place, and that’s lovely.

Buuut, the humour and the sex/attraction-focused relationship didn’t quite work for me. I didn’t believe that Ralgath and Chess were that attached to each other, and I didn’t have much skin in the game when they were in peril. Everything just happened very fast, from the relationship to the plot, and… I’m not that good with humour or this style of plot. I’m sure it’s a lot more fun when you aren’t a humourless lump like me — but I’ll stick to Whyborne and Griffin, with their angst and pining and more solid plot. Sorry!
Profile Image for Ami.
6,270 reviews489 followers
February 16, 2020
3.5 stars

Ralgath botched his first assignment of crossroad demon after a very sexy mortal flirted with him on the job. He was demoted into administrative job. But then when crossroad demons are missing, Ralgath is given a second chance to investigate. And to help him track the missing demons, Ralgath has to turn to the sexy mortal, Chess, who makes him lose his job in the first place.

I thought this was seriously cute, it has that Supernatural vibe as Ralgath and Chess travel together in a car, trying to find the missing demons. With this being a shorter novella, I thought the relationship was a bit undeveloped. I loved Ralgath so much -- and his adorable hellhound. I wish to understand Chess more, but this story also written from Ralgath's point-of-view, I had to learn about Chess from the conversations between the two of them....
Profile Image for Alex (HEABookNerd).
2,467 reviews
May 22, 2023
INFERNAL AFFAIRS was a cute, rom-com type paranormal romance with a decent bit of action and a lot of plot in its 80+ pages. Ralgath is a crossroads demon on his very first day when he's summoned by nonbinary Chess and then gets tricked into giving Chess a really good contract. Ralgath gets demoted and three years later he finally has the opportunity to see Chess again and correct the mistake by calling on Chess's contract. I loved the way the Underworld was crafted like a corporate business and all the customer service and management touches were really funny when applied to demons, magic, and Hell.

Both Chess and Ralgath were enjoyable characters but it definitely felt like Ralgath was more developed since the whole story was told in his POV. We still learn a bit about Chess's history and personality but their overall feelings and intentions, outside of saving people, were a little opaque. All in all, these two were very cute together and they make a really good team hunting wayward demons. And of course Fluffpaw the hellhound was a delightful addition to the story.
Profile Image for Madison Maler (anxious.librarian).
346 reviews38 followers
February 22, 2021
This is the demonic romcom you didn't know you were looking for!

“Aww. She’s just a sweetheart, aren’t you?” Chess asked as they scratched her ears. “Who’s a good omen of doom? Is it you? Is it?” Fluffpaw barked happily to indicate it was indeed her.

I really liked this; Jordan L Hawk always delivers. This novella follows a QPOC nonbinary monster slayer, a disgraced crossroads demon, and an adorable hellhound named Fluffpaw. There is a lot to love! Lots of action, humor, and mystery.

This story is a cross between TJ Klune's Blasphemy! and the CW's Supernatural (but with, you know, cannon LGBTQ+ mc's).
Profile Image for Christy.
4,475 reviews126 followers
February 8, 2020
Trust Ms. Hawk to start it all off with a bang and have me laughing like a loon. What else could I possibly do when Ralgath, on his first night as a crossroads demon, gets taken in by a gorgeous nonbinary mortal, Chess, who screws Ralgath (literally) into giving them a contract for superhero powers so they can go out into the world and fight for good. What? Yes, see why I was laughing? Of course, Ralgath got kicked out of the Infernal Affairs department and has spent the past three years in intake (shudder) wondering what he’d do if he ever ran across Chess again.

Please find my full review at Rainbow Book Reviews
Profile Image for peach.
565 reviews40 followers
January 31, 2023
A short and action-filled novella about a crossroads demon and the human who makes a deal with him. It was an okay read, but I just never connected with the main characters or their relationship. It was too insta for me to feel an actual attraction/connection between them beyond the physical. But the emotional angst was nice.
Profile Image for Juno Richard.
210 reviews3 followers
February 11, 2020
It was just okay. Not what I expected, being used to the punch Jordan Hawk packs in the short episodes of the SPECTR series. I was bored. It also felt a bit juvenile. I truly dislike fade to black sex, also. Oh well.
Profile Image for Kristel (hungryandhappy).
1,903 reviews92 followers
February 9, 2020
I loved it!!! It had Supernatural and The Good Place vibes, and it was super cute and adorable with also a bit of mystery. Loved it!
Profile Image for T.J. Nichols.
Author 89 books343 followers
December 6, 2020
Cute romance between a demon and a non binary monster hunter
Profile Image for Don Bradshaw.
2,427 reviews106 followers
September 27, 2023
I totally enjoyed this book. There was a little bit of comedy and seriousness that kept the story moving along.
Profile Image for Solly.
628 reviews39 followers
February 24, 2020
3.5 stars

I had a lot of fun reading this. I loved the concept and the characters were fun to read about. My one thing is that I wanted more of the relationship between them. It was cool to have that plot and mystery thing going on, but in the end I felt like it maybe overshadowed the actual romance, which was my favourite part.

Chess was an amazing character and I loved Fluffpaw the hellhound!! In the end, I guess this had everything I wanted but I just wanted a lot more development than what I got!
Profile Image for Elaine White.
Author 45 books261 followers
May 1, 2020
I loved it! It was so original.
I only recently delved into Hawk's work, and I have to admit I'm super impressed. I haven't been disappointed once! This was a cute, hilarious rom-com, right up my humour-alley. I usually find it SO hard to find books funny, because some authors use wise-crack sarcasm or go over-the-top and neither are my thing. But this had just the right balance between cute, mysterious, intriguing, and funny. It was perfect!
I fell in love with Chess and Ralgath.
Profile Image for Katherine.
2,872 reviews13 followers
February 17, 2020
Read this the first time around in the Devil Take Me anthology and it was one of my favourite stories from that. This re-read just highlighted why it was such a great story!

Chess is a fascinating character that is hard to get a handle on at first. They are so confident and completely themselves, but then there is this core vulnerability that is hard to get a bead on. As their past gets revealed it becomes clear where the insecurity is completely at odds with the brash exterior they show. This is what gets brought out by Ralgath, the demon. Ralgath has his own issues but in his case he isn't so confident. When Ralgath tanked at his job the first time out, with Chess no less, he felt used and also uncertain as to whether he could ever live up to what was expected of him. But seeing that Chess had very pure reasons for what was done and never actually meant to use or hurt Ralgath changes his mind. Their work together leads them both to realize that there are more important things out there, but the question is whether they can have those with the Underworld always lurking behind.

There is so much possibility for more story after this short. It would be great to see more story from this world but if not, this is a great complete story of Chess and Ralgath on its own!
Profile Image for Heather York.
Author 5 books53 followers
November 1, 2020
Infernal Affairs is a short, sweet and not-s0-sweet-at-times tale of selling one's soul to the devil, or demon as it is in this story. An often used plot about devil coming to collect but this is far, far better. Honestly, even though it's often used there is nothing typical or over-used in Infernal Affairs. Ralgath and Chess are an interesting pair in many many ways, ways that I won't spoil😉. I love the whole concept of different departments in the underworld and needing a crossroads as a portal to enter the mortal world and back again.

I love the connection between Ralgath and Chess, and having a non-binary main character is brilliant, the author tackles Chess beautifully and realistically(which is a bit odd of a term in a paranormal setting but nonetheless true). Some might call their connection "insta-love" but it never really crossed my mind, truth is it's hard not to have some level of insta-love in a short story but either way, when done right it's believable and Jordan L Hawk has done it right. My grandparents were a kind of insta-love so I know it happens and I know it lasts.

One last thing: Infernal Affairs was originally in the anthology Devil Take Me, personally if the author wished to continue this into a series I know I would jump at the chance to read it. I just love the world building Hawk has started in this short story and would love to see it expand. Continued or not, Infernal Affairs is a delightful, spooky gem of a read.
Profile Image for Rhedyn.
12 reviews1 follower
April 28, 2020
Infernal Affairs is a short story about a crossroads demon named Ralgath who badly fumbles his first day on the job after encountering his first client, flamboyantly non-binary human Chess who wastes no time using their charm to squirrel their way into a very advantageous contract that gets the poor demon into a world of trouble.

For readers like myself with no real significant past experience with reading about non-binary characters, the difference can be a little bit of a challenge. There's a deliberate ambiguity to the character of Chess - not just in how they are referred to by others or themselves, but also in describing how others percieve them. Hawk has avoided any word at all that may lead a reader into assigning Chess a gender and perhaps in this way some small part of the character becomes hazy and indistinct. Throughout the read I felt that Chess was indistinct, as though I was constantly viewing a bright pink feather boa on the periphery of my vision.

My review tends more towards 2.5 than 2. I do love Jordan L. Hawk and suspect that my enjoyment of this short story has more to do with personal taste than any real reflection of their ability to write well or engage their audience.
Profile Image for Natalie Nicole.
327 reviews21 followers
October 21, 2020
Chesapeake Richards wants to make the world a better place for mortals... by fighting the supernatural creatures that threaten their existence. But what's a non-binary beauty to do when Celestial Affairs has overlooked them for superhero skills, abilities, and talent? Make one hell of a deal with a sexy crossroads devil by the name of Ralgath, that's what! The attraction between the two main characters is immediate and I was pulling for an entire series featuring these two before the first chapter ended. Ralgath loses his job and his heart to Chess but he gets to gain so much more in the end. Oh, the fun that is 'Infernal Affairs', written by Jordan L. Hawk! It has a bit of everything: hot sex, fight scenes, tender moments, love, and an adorable, faithful Hellhound named Fluffpaw. Consider adding it to your reading list, folks. You will NOT be disappointed!
Profile Image for Lauren Nicole.
261 reviews44 followers
December 27, 2020
I hate myself, I hate myself, I hate myself!

I couldn’t enjoy it. I tried, but I couldn’t. I’ll always be a fan of Jordan’s, and I’ll read anything he writes. The Whyborne and Griffin series is a favorite of mine and always will be. But, sadly, ‘Infernal Affairs’ is just a bit too...silly for my taste. It’s borderline crack-fic.

It moves too fast, resulting in a plot that just feels underdeveloped; I found it relatively bland and humorless, unfortunately. I didn’t buy the romance between the two main characters and, at times, I was bored. 🤷‍♀️

I won’t steer anyone away from this, especially fans of Whyborne and Griffin, and the Hexworld, but this time, at least for me, it was a miss.
Profile Image for Natalie Al-Otaibi.
92 reviews1 follower
July 15, 2023
Cute, short, but full of imagination

This is what Jordan L. Hawk is good at: creating a seamless charming fantasy setting effortlessly and making very likeable characters that you miss immediately after finishing the book. Thank the gods for the Widdeshins series where you dont have to miss them for long (there are over 10 books of goodness). This is a story about a slightly awkward crossroads demon who gets entangled with a charming monster hunter and hilarity and romance ensues. Unlike a lot of other Hawke's books, this one is a light on the angst but nevertheless presents interesting conflict and resolution. I would highly recommend if you love supernatural (both the genre and the show) because its giving me mad Supernatural vibes. And I miss that show.
Profile Image for Shelby.
3,385 reviews93 followers
January 7, 2025
So I found myself more enchanted with the idea of this world than with the story itself immediately. Ralgath and Chess were fine together, it's insta-love and not a lot of development time, it is a short. Chess is a little over the top but fun all the same. They're determined to do good in the world even if it means making a little deal with a demon. I did enjoy how bowled over by them that Ralgath was. Ralgath didn't know what to make of this human. When push comes to shove though Ralgath went back to the one human he thought could help and his attraction to Chess was just going to have to be pushed aside...right? But I loved the concepts here of demons and the underworld. I loved Infernal Affairs. I would love to see the author expand in this world. :)
Profile Image for Sarah.
70 reviews
February 21, 2020
Brilliant

I absolutely loved this book, the plot was fantastic. And I loved the characters and their development. I think this book could easily become a series, if not and is only a stand alone, it would be unfortunate but I completely support the book. 10 out of 10 I would recommend, if you have not discovered books by Jordan L Hawk, I reccomend you do so, you would not be disappointed.
Profile Image for Em.
574 reviews18 followers
March 15, 2020
Short story. I loved the opener, and I wish that spark between Chess and Ralgath had felt like it ignited again later in the book. To me it started with a bang and then sort of resettled into a slow burn without a lot of payoff. The romance has a HEA though the plot-plot is left with one mystery unsolved and I wish it were more wrapped up. But maybe there will be a full length sequel! I'd read that.
Profile Image for James Hardison.
43 reviews1 follower
February 14, 2020
Sweet & Charming Story About Demons & Hellhounds

Jordan L. Hawk continues to be one of my favorite writers. Every tale is a joy to read and this story is no exception. I would gladly read more about these two characters and hope we'll see them again soon. A romantic comedy about a non-binary human and a handsome demon turns out to be just the sort of thing I want to read!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews

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