Devilish Deal by Jenna Wolfhart

11

“Now that we’ve settled that,” Asmodeus said, pulling away. “All three of us are going to return to the party and act as though nothing has happened.”

Serena snorted. “Not a chance in hell.”

“Neither one of you has much of a choice,” he said, his voice dropping into an irritated growl. “A deal has been made. One month, and then it’s over. I’ll give you two a minute to collect yourselves, but if either one of you does anything remotely against me, I will not hesitate to alert the law firm and take Mia’s soul. Got it?”

I swallowed hard and nodded. The asshole had us exactly where he needed us, and he knew it. Too much was at stake. Serena’s job, and…well, my entire life, apparently. If he took my soul, what would happen to me? Would I die? Or would my body continue to live on, like some kind of zombie?

Serena grunted but then relented. Asmodeus gave us a wicked smile and then vanished through the door. A pocket of sound escaped into the bathroom: laughter, clinking glass, and booming music. It was a whole other world out there while we were stuck beside a golden toilet with our nightmares.

“Well.” Serena blew out a long breath that rustled the ebony hair framing her face. “So, I guess that happened.”

“I don’t think he is going to tear up the contract, shockingly enough,” I said dryly. “I think it’s more likely that hell will freeze over first.”

She cut her eyes my way. “This is really bad. You know that, right?”

“Nah, I’m having a whale of a time. My soul is bound to a total dick of a demon. How could I have more fun than this?” I turned to Serena. “Speaking of dicks, I have a question. Do demons have weird ones? With a pointy thing at the end. You know, like demon tails? And also, does he have an actual tail, too?”

She gave me a blank stare. “Did you just ask about his dick?”

I shrugged. “Aren’t you curious?”

“No. No, I am not.” She shook her head. “I feel like you aren’t taking this seriously.”

Sighing, I pressed down the front of my dress, wondering exactly how my life had gotten to this point. Hiding from a demon at a party for supernaturals and hoping that I could hold onto my soul for a month. “I’m taking it seriously, but there’s not much either one of us can do. Just gotta keep my head down and get through this next month. Shouldn’t be that hard, right?”

Her lips flatlined. “My world is crazy, Mia. There’s a reason I never invited you to come with me to things like this. Noah, too. I have to socialize because of my job. If I didn’t have to, I wouldn’t be here. These people can be dangerous, especially for humans.”

My heart pounded, and I swallowed hard. “None of them can be much worse than a demon, right?”

“You’d be surprised.” She crossed the room and took my shoulders in her hands. Her dark eyes bored into mine. “As crazy as this sounds, I want you to stick close to Asmodeus. He needs you for something, which means he won’t let anything happen to you. You’re under his protection, which ironically, is probably the safest place you can be. For now. No one is going to fuck with one of the Princes of Hell.”

“Sure,” I said in a small voice. “No one is going to fuck with Lucifer’s right-hand man, except maybe the angels?”

Her face clouded over. “The angels? What do you mean?”

A fist pounded the door, and a girl called out on the other side of it. “Hurry up! I have to pee, and you two are taking forever in there.”

Serena grimaced and released her grip on my arms. “Our time’s up. Remember what I said. Stick close to Asmodeus. And keep me updated. Some of the rules might not apply to him, but others do. If he does anything that seems off, let me know. I might be able to get you out of this.”

She gave me a quick hug, and then we pushed back out into the party. The clamor of drunken supernaturals flooded my senses, and the crowd pushed in tight. At least fifty more people had shown up while we’d been hiding out in the bathroom, and the earlier partygoers were swaying and slurring their speech. And I couldn’t help but wonder, how much alcohol did it take to get a vampire drunk?

Az loomed out of the crowd and latched his hand on my elbow. Without a word, he guided me down the hallway and into a dark room I hadn’t yet seen. Inside, blue lights cast a haze around partygoers who were swaying to a live musician on a small stage. The singer gripped the microphone and whispered words in a language I didn’t know. A guitarist sat just behind him, as well as a drummer. All their eyes were shut.

“Let’s dance.” He took my hand in his and pulled me close to his body. My lungs constricted; my heart nearly jolted into my throat. As we began to sway to the music, our chests pressed together and he leaned down to whisper into my ear. “I know all of this is a shock, but I need you to trust me.”

I scoffed, tempted to pull away, but then I just continued on, my body betraying my mind. “You can’t expect me to trust you after you tricked me into signing your demon contract.”

“I didn’t trick you,” he murmured, his breath whispering against my ear. Shivers stormed down my neck. “You wanted the job. You came to my club, begging me to give you an audition.”

“That’s before I knew what kind of club it was,” I replied through gritted teeth. “You should have told me.”

“And would it have made a difference?”

I opened my mouth to retort that it absolutely would have, but then stopped. My heart pounded as his lips stayed close to my ear, teasing my skin with his wickedly hot breath. Would I have turned down the job if I’d known the club was meant for supernaturals? Probably not. I loosed a sigh.

“Fine, I still would have wanted the job, but I never would have signed the contract. It’s my soul, Asmodeus. You say you’re above all the rules, but fuck the rules. It’s not right to make a deal with someone without them knowing what the consequences are. Not when their soul is on the line.”

I could feel his smile against my ear. I had no idea how I could feel it, but I did. I couldn’t see his face, not when he leaned so close to my neck. A strange familiar sensation rippled in my belly, one I’d felt a thousand times, but…I couldn’t place where. Weird.

“You’re talking about right and wrong with a demon, Mia.”

“You say that, but I know you’re not all bad.” I turned to him then, catching the corner of his eye. “You made me pancakes. You brought me Hendrix. And you didn’t want me to walk alone at night. If you were evil, you wouldn’t have done any of those things.”

“If someone kills you, you won’t be able to fulfill your end of our deal,” he said with a wicked smile. “And the other two things were nothing but bribes. You hate me, understandably so. I thought if I dulled your sharp edges then you would be easier to handle. I don’t have time to deal with your sarcastic pouting all the time.”

A low growl rumbled in my throat as irritation stormed through my veins. “And you wonder why I hate you.”

“I don’t wonder at all. I’m an evil, vicious demon who likes to steal souls.”

I rolled my eyes. “Being a demon is not your worst offence.”

Slowly, Asmodeus pulled back. A strange expression flickered across his face, one I couldn’t read. “You know, most human girls would go running and screaming in the other direction. You seem abnormally calm about this.”

Shrugging, I tried to avoid looking too deeply into his ice blue eyes. I didn’t like how they made me feel, like I was completely bare before him. “Like I said, I’ve known about supernaturals all my life.”

“That doesn’t explain it,” he said with a slight shake of his head. “You didn’t know I was a demon until tonight. Why aren’t you scared?”

“I don’t know,” I said with a sigh. “I don’t trust you or like you very much, but that’s less about what you are and more because you’re a total dick.”

His lips twitched, and he pulled me close once more. My heart thundered against my ribs, and I hoped he couldn’t feel the tremor of it. “I should be annoyed at you for that one.”

“So, be annoyed. I don’t care.”

“I know you don’t.” He chuckled. “You really aren’t afraid of me, are you?”

Hmm. I wasn’t sure that was entirely accurate. There was still the small chance that he was involved in a bunch of murders, but that didn’t explain why he’d spared me when he’d had a dozen chances by now. Unless Serena was right. He needed something from me. Maybe after he got it, he’d kill me then.

My gut twisted, although fear didn’t flood me with adrenaline. I just felt mildly uneasy. Not scared. Deep down, I didn’t think Asmodeus was a killer, despite what the angels said. I also didn’t think he wanted to steal my soul. The contract had been insurance and nothing more. To get me to do what he needed.

Not that it made it right.

“It’s hard to feel scared when you’re angry,” I finally whispered to him.

He tensed against me, and then wound his hand around my back. His palm pressed against the dip just above my ass, and I suddenly forgot what we were talking about.

“We’re being watched,” he murmured, his cheek pressed against mine. “Now would be a fantastic time for you to use that anger as fuel for passion.”

“Excuse me?” I squeaked.

“People saw you vanish into the restroom with Serena, and then me follow close behind. They know we were arguing about something. We need to convince them we’ve made up.”

“Maybe I don’t want to convince them we made up,” I hissed back.

“Then, I’ll be forced to take your soul,” he said in a deadpan voice that held little remorse or guilt. My fingers itched to curl into fists and slam into his gut. But I couldn’t. And he knew it. I was nothing more than a puppet to him, and I would never escape until he cut the strings.

“Fine,” I growled back.

Rolling my eyes, I wound my arms around his neck and leaned in close to him. Heat curled off his body, caressing my skin. I swallowed hard at the feel of his light stubble against my cheek. His skin was soft and warm, and it drove away all thoughts of fighting him on this. To be honest, this wasn’t too bad. He smelled good, like campfires and manly musk. His hand was warm against my back, and his shredded chest was like a steady rock, shifting against me each time we swayed.

If I forgot about the contract and the rude comments and the disdain in his voice when he spoke to me, I might even be able to enjoy this. Just a little.

Something buzzed by my ear. I jumped, heart raging like a bull. Az pulled his hand away from my shoulder and glanced at his smart watch. A frown pulled down his lips, and he turned away from me, his eyes shuttering.

“I’ll be back in a minute,” he said without even giving me a fleeting glance. “There’s something I need to do.”

“What?” I gaped at him as he pushed through the crowd, already halfway across the dance floor. “You’re just going to leave me here?”

“Go find Serena and stay close to her,” he threw over his shoulder, and then he was gone.

My mouth dropped open. What the hell was going on? Was he up to something? I should probably follow him and see if I could find out what it was. Maybe if I caught him with his hand in the metaphorical cookie jar, the angels could help me get out of the contract.

I glanced around. A few fanged dancers were eyeing me with eager interest. Yep, definitely time to follow Az. With a deep breath, I pushed through the crowd.