Devilish Deal by Jenna Wolfhart

18

It was only eleven, but the club was already thumping. The other dancers were up in their cages, swaying along to the hectic beat blaring from hidden speakers. Girls and guys spun around the floor. Groups clustered in the booths, the sparkling chandeliers casting eerie glows on their faces.

Every single person here was a supernatural, including the short, squat man lurking in the back booth with a gang of solemn-faced groupies. His flat nose reminded me of a spade, and half a dozen piercings dotted his ears. An elaborate tattoo swirled across his neck, at odds with his pristine suit and close-cropped hair. Frankly, he looked like a mobster.

“That’s the guy?” I murmured to Az as he shifted me sideways so that our profiles were visible to the vampire and his gang.

Az leaned down and wound his arms around my waist. An electric zing went through me from his touch, bringing with it a strange sense of familiarity. “Yep. His name is Tony Soprano.” When my eyebrows shot up to the top of my forehead, Az laughed. “I’m joking. His name is Lars. No last name. He likes his blood fresh.”

A shiver went down my spine. Despite it, I pushed up onto my toes and laced my fingers around the back of his neck. “So, he’s a vampire who kills.”

“That’s the rumor. Of course, no one has ever been able to prove it.”

“And so we’re dangling me in front of him. Who’s to say he won’t try to drink my blood?”

“Because I have claimed you. And now it’s time to make it look real.”

Az dropped his forehead to mine. My whole body stiffened as he searched my eyes, almost as if he was waiting for my consent. I wet my lips and nodded, my heart raging like a bonfire. What the hell was I doing? Why didn’t I stop this? This was crazy. A terrible, horrible mistake.

His lips brushed mine. Those pesky sparks stormed across my skin, burning away my intrusive thoughts. My hands tightened around his neck as the kiss slowly deepened. He groaned against my mouth and pulled me tighter into his chest.

All logical thought fled from my mind as the hard planes of his perfect chest rippled against me.

I pressed up onto my toes, crashing against him. A shudder swept through me as his tongue speared my lips. Clinging on as tight as I could, my tongue melted against his, our mouths in sync and our bodies locked tight. Everything within me yearned for more of him. Heat coiled within me, clenching my core.

Slowly, Az pulled away. Darkness flickered in the depths of his ice blue eyes, and my chest thumped with the rhythm of my frantic heartbeat. I didn’t know what the hell had just happened, but I knew I hadn’t hated it. Had he felt that same spark? We weren’t still pretending, right? Or had all that just been for show?

Even with the flicker in his eyes, I couldn’t read his mind.

“Well,” he said with a delicious smile that made my toes curl. “That will certainly do the trick.”

“I mean, I would be convinced if I were him.”

His eyes flashed as he spun me around and gave me a spank on the ass. I let out a little chirp of surprise. “I seem to have made you late to your shift. Better get to dancing, Mia. I’ll see you after.”

As he strode away, I reached my hands up to my cheeks. They were boiling hot. I took a deep breath and rolled my shoulders, trying to shake off what had just happened. I needed to get a grip. At the start of all this, he’d warned me that we might have to share a few fake kisses in front of people. That was all that was.

He was just a really, really good fake kisser. And I couldn’t let myself think it was anything more than that.

* * *

After my shift, Valac, Caim, Phenex, and Stolas were waiting for me in the hallway. There was a fifth demon among them, one I hadn’t met yet, but whose name I’d learned was Bael. With dusty blonde hair and a winning smile, he looked like he’d strolled right out of a college football team. One of those wholesome, boy-next-door types. But luckily, I knew it was nothing more than a mask.

“I need a minute.” I held up my hands when they tried to usher me into their little crime-solving dungeon. “It’s hot as hell in there, and I need some fresh air.”

Truth be told, I was still reeling from the kiss. But also, I’d spent four hours dancing. I needed to pee.

“Alright, but we’re coming with you,” Phenex said with a nod. “We’re not letting you out of our sight when there’s someone out there intent on killing you.”

I sighed and closed my eyes. I should have known I wouldn’t get some privacy as easily as that. “I’m going into the ladies’ room. You can’t come in there with me.”

Stolas frowned. “What if he climbs through the window and steals you that way?”

“Or does the whole teleporting thing,” Caim added.

“Look, you guys. I appreciate your concern, but you can’t go into the bathroom with me. If there’s a problem, I’ll just bang on the door. Alright?”

They cast each other uneasy glances until Stolas finally nodded. “Alright, but only if you keep the door unlocked.”

“Sure.” With a shake of my head, I led the charge down the hallway, flanked by five massive demon guards. I would have laughed about the whole thing if my nerves weren’t frayed down to their nubbins. The kiss had unmoored me, as much as I hated to admit it.

And I needed more than a breath of fresh air and a bathroom break.

The card from the angels still burned a hole in my pocket. The last thing I wanted was for Az to find it, and I needed to get these angels off his back. He and his Legion were trying to do a good thing here, but the angels could never know the full truth of it. If they didn’t stop looking into things, they’d find out. And the news would reach Lucifer. The Legion would be forced back into Hell.

I couldn’t let that happen to them.

After I ducked into the bathroom, I leaned against the wall and loosed a long, laborous breath that shook my whole body. The stench of the city streets wafted in through the cracked window, but with it came a soothing, cooling breeze. I really needed to get a grip. So what if the most gorgeous asshole demon I’d ever seen had kissed me tonight? It hadn’t meant anything. We’d both only been pretending.

There was zero reason for me to feel so worked up by it all.

Shaking my head at myself, I pulled my cell from my purse and punched in a text to the angels.

This is Mia. I’ve done what you asked, and you’re wrong about them. You can stop looking into Infernal now. There’s nothing to find. The Legion isn’t up to anything bad at all.

There. I nodded to myself and headed into the bathroom stall. When I was done, I had a text message waiting for me.

That’s impossible. You must not have looked hard enough. We need you to keep spying.

I rolled my eyes.

Absolutely not. And I don’t want you to text me anymore. This whole thing is creepy. Please. Delete my number and never contact me again.

With that, I deleted the entire conversation, erased their number from my phone, and threw the business card into the trash. My heart hammered hard as I stared into the mirror. Had I just made a terrible mistake? Probably not. Az was definitely hiding something from me, but it wasn’t dead bodies. I was in way over my head with this entire thing, and I didn’t want a couple of pesky angels to complicate my life any more. Besides, I was now bait. I didn’t want to be a spy on top of that.

A heavy fist banged against the door. “You alright in there, Mia?”

Shaking my head, I yanked open the door. Caim and Stolas both stumbled inside the bathroom, tripping over their feet. I grinned.

“Serves you right,” I said. “For not giving me a little privacy.”

“You were taking forever,” Caim said, trailing after me as I left the bathroom. “What the hell do you girls do in there anyway?”

I shot him a conspiratorial smile. “You’ll never know.”

“Stop flirting,” Az growled as he stepped up behind his Legion. He gave Caim a warning glare before whirling on his feet and striding down the hallway toward their meeting office or whatever it was.

We followed. Caim fell into step beside me and dropped his voice low enough that none of the other demons could hear. At least, I hoped they couldn’t. “He gets very jealous when you talk to me.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s not jealousy,” I muttered back.

Caim’s brows winged upward. “What else would it be?”

I pressed my lips together. “I don’t know, but it’s definitely not that. He doesn’t like me very much. Living under the same roof is getting a little dicey.”

I didn’t mention the fact we’d shared a bed last night. There was no telling what Caim would think.

“If he didn’t like you very much, you wouldn’t be here, Mia,” Caim said with a brilliant smile. “Trust me, when Az doesn’t like you, you know. He makes it clear.”

I nodded. “Yeah, and he’s made it more than clear.”

“No, darling.” He stopped and gave my shoulder a solid pat. “You’re one of us now. He’s brought you into the circle. If he didn’t like you, you’d be out, and you would never, ever see us again.”

My heart thumped. Surely Caim wasn’t right. Az acted as though he could barely tolerate me most of the time. And I could barely tolerate him. I didn’t want him to like me. It made things a hell of a lot harder. Could we…actually be friends?

No. Absolutely not. There was that whole demon contract thing! He’d hidden the truth from me when I’d signed it. Ugh.

We all gathered in the meeting room. As soon as the door shut, the place transformed into a supernatural detective agency. The curtain came off the wall. The map and its hundred little pins stared at us, reminding us exactly what was at stake.

“All the recent murders happened here.” Phenex stabbed his finger at the corner of the city labeled Hell’s Kitchen. “He knows Mia works and lives here now, too. I doubt he’ll stray far.”

“It’s likely he’s watching and waiting,” Caim piped in as he strode from one end of the room to the other, his beefy arms folded over his chest. “I bet he’s hiding in the shadows, making note of your routine and schedule, and planning for a time when he knows you’ll be alone.”

My mouth went dry. “Yeah, that’s not at all terrifying.”

Caim’s lips quirked in the corners. Az narrowed his eyes and stepped in front of him, almost like he was blocking Caim from view. I rolled my eyes and leaned back into my chair. Okay, this was officially getting ridiculous. Caim was part of his Legion. He trusted him with his secrets and his life. So, what the hell was his problem?

“We want you to walk home alone tonight,” Valac said in an eerie voice, continuing as if nothing odd had happened. “You did it once before. So, he might not find it strange.”

“Wait.” I leaned forward and palmed the table. “You want to do this whole bait thing tonight? As in…now?”

Stolas gave me a solemn nod. “The sooner we take care of this asshole, the better.”

“Well, shit.” I blew out a hot breath, my mind reeling. When I’d agreed to this crazy plan, I’d imagined some distant, faraway scenario that I didn’t have to face for awhile. Maybe in a few weeks. After I’d had time to get used to the idea. I’d never thought it would happen so soon.

“And we don’t want him to get bored and target someone else,” Phenex added. “Right now, he’s focused on you. That’s a good thing.”

Yeah, sure. If you weren’t me.

Az stepped in close. I swallowed hard and desperately tried not to stare at his lips. The lips that had been kissing me. Also, there had been tongue. “You’ll be safe, Mia. I swear I would never let anything happen to you, not while you’re under my protection. We’ll be up on the rooftops the entire time. The second the killer appears, we’ll be right by your side.”

“Wait.” My heart stopped. “You’ll be on the rooftops? But it will take you ages to…oh.” It was a demon thing. “Don’t tell me you have wings.”

A slow wicked smile crept across his lips. “Maybe one day I’ll show you.”