Devilish Deal by Jenna Wolfhart

20

Time flew by, faster than an express subway train. Az and I fell into a daily rhythm even though things were tense and strained between us. Every night, I slept in his bed. Sometimes, he joined me. In the morning, we had pancakes with Hendrix, and at night, I danced in his club.

I always walked home alone, continuing my role as bait. Thankfully, the angels hadn’t tried to approach me again, but neither had the killer. Our entrapment plan wasn’t working.

We all sat gathered around the folding table after another night at the club. My entire body ached, and my forehead glistened with a light sheen of sweat. I’d danced for five nights straight, something I hadn’t done since high school. My muscles were making me pay for it, but the exhilaration in my tired body made up for it. Dancing drove the cobwebs out of my head. I might be mixed up in a dangerous, crazy situation, but I hadn’t felt this good in a very long time.

Not since that night of my senior year in college when everything fell apart.

I could still see those flashing lights. The blood painting the asphalt. The terror in my sister’s eyes.

“Right.” Phenex leaned against the wall beside the massive map and folded his arms. “I don’t think our little friend is going to come out to play.”

“He knows we’re keeping an eye on her,” Stolas answered with a nod. “Our trap is too obvious. We’re going to have to try something else.”

“Like what?” I dared to ask. Walking home was one thing. Who knew what they’d come up with next?

Az rubbed his jaw. “We’ll have to use the party somehow. That’s the last time he showed his face.”

“The party?” I frowned. “What party?”

He cut his eyes my way. “The second party we’ll attend as a couple. It’s part of your agreement.”

“When is it?”

“Tomorrow night.”

My heart flipped. That was soon.

“Would have been nice for you to mention it before now,” I muttered.

“It’s part of your deal,” he replied evenly. “If you’d read your contract, you would have known about it.”

I narrowed my eyes. Az met my gaze, clearly unaffected by the tension between us. He’d been like this ever since our argument. I’d offended him somehow, by asking about the vampire spy. Whatever friendship we’d formed had vanished like mist.

Fine with me. I didn’t want to be friends with him anyway. As soon as this whole thing was over, we’d never have to see each other again.

“Fine,” I said through gritted teeth. “We’ll go to the party. But how exactly does that help us catch a supernatural serial killer?”

A strange smile slid across his lips. “We’ll have a public argument. That shouldn’t be particularly difficult, at least not for you. After, you’ll storm off. Go outside to be alone. Hopefully, the killer will approach you then.”

Heart thumping against my ribs, I nodded. “Sure, that could work, but won’t that cause problems for the sacrifice ball? Have you gotten an invite for that yet?”

Az turned to Stolas, who shook his head. “Nothing. You haven’t been invited to the Covenant Ball.”

A shiver raced down my spine. “The Covenant Ball? Sounds like something straight out of a horror movie. Will I have to take some Holy Water?”

Caim chuckled. “You’ll be safe. Two of us will go with you. We’ll be waiting in the wings when you step outside.”

In the wings.

“That was a terrible pun,” I said.

“And by terrible, you mean so funny that you can barely contain your laughter, right?” Caim grinned.

Az puffed out an irritated sigh. “Back to the party. We’ll need to be sure to argue about something stupid. Then, it will be believable when we make up shortly after. I don’t want our invitation to be rescinded. None of you seem to be taking this seriously, but there are dozens of human lives—and souls—on the line.”

“Why don’t you want Lucifer to win the game?” I suddenly asked.

Confusion rippled across Az’s face. “What?”

“Why don’t you want him to win? You’re demons.”

“Because,” he said slowly, as if he were speaking to a child, “then this entire world will end. Everyone will end up in Hell.”

“And that’s definitely something you don’t want?” I asked, my heart pounding. “In Hell, I’m guessing it doesn’t matter if you kill people who get in your way.”

Az drew himself up tall, so tall that a twinge of unease went through my heart. He strode toward me with his shoulders wide and chin strong. Shadows rippled across his skin. Flames flickered in his eyes.

Oh shit. I swallowed hard. He looked like he wanted to rip me to shreds.

“Maybe I should take you there and let you see for yourself,” he said through gritted teeth.

I opened my mouth to say…well, I didn’t know what yet. Probably something stupid. But he cut me short.

“I thought you were different, Mia. You didn’t seem to fear us just because we’re demons, but it turns out that I was very, very wrong.”

“It’s not because you’re a demon, Az,” I whispered back. “It’s because you killed that vampire for spying on you.”

“And you think an angel would have spared him, do you?” he asked with an angry arch of his brows. “A fallen one, at that? They are far more heartless and coldblooded than we will ever be. But I suppose you’ll never learn. You humans are all the same.”

He stormed out of the room, leaving me in awkward silence with the Legion. Valac stared down at the table, half-hidden in shadows. Stolas paced nervously while Phenex fiddled with the map. Caim bounced on his feet.

“You know I don’t have anything against you guys for being demons, right?” I finally said.

Phenex grinned. “We know, but Az doesn’t. Bit of a sore spot for him.”

“And you shouldn’t hold anything against him,” Valac said quietly. “He did what had to be done. If he hadn’t, Lucifer would have found out what we’re doing here.” He lifted his gaze from the table and met my eyes. “Hell is not a very nice place to live, Mia.”

Shivers stormed across my arms. “Even for you?”

“Especially for us,” Bael said with a shudder. “The things we’ve seen, things we’ve been forced to do. We never want to go back there, and we sure as hell don’t want the entire world in that place. All of this, it would be over.”

“Not that Heaven is any better,” Valac said with a hiss. “Angels can be just as ruthless as demons can.”

My heart flipped as I looked from Valac to Caim. “But then what do you plan to do? If both sides suck?”

“We take it one day at a time,” Caim said with a nod. “One fight at a time.”

“One fight at a time,” Phenex echoed.

“One fight at a time,” Valac, Stolas, and Bael repeated in unison.

Hands fisted by my sides, I nodded. “One fight at a time.”

* * *

We entered the party with my hand tucked into Az’s suit-clad arm. He’d chosen an all-black ensemble for the night, one that hugged his muscular frame in perfect precision. I wore a cute sapphire dress that hit my mid-thigh and earrings that matched. A gift from Az, though he’d just tossed the thing at me and told me to get changed.

He was still mad. Not that I could blame him. I understood exactly where he was coming from. He thought I’d made assumptions about him, based on who he was. And he didn’t seem to realize I hadn’t. My unease was only based on what he’d done, and even I could admit that maybe I’d been wrong.

He made it really hard to tell him that though. His smug disdain toward me got on my damn nerves.

This party was a little different than the other. Instead of a rooftop bar, the host had chosen her own penthouse apartment as the venue. As soon as we stepped inside, a strange chill swept across the back of my neck, like an ice cold hand had pressed against it. I shivered and glanced at Az.

He cocked his head at me, and something strange flickered in the depths of his eyes. “What was that?”

“I felt something weird,” I replied in a low voice. “Like ice on the back of my neck.”

“Hmm. Stay close to me.” His words shot a new wave of unease down my spine. It was the first time he’d spoken to me without sounding angry. He almost sounded…concerned.

Great.

“What kind of party is this anyway?” I asked as we trailed across the empty floor toward a bar that had been set up along one wall. As far as I could tell, no one actually lived here. No sofas. No dining tables. No TVs or comfy rugs. It was just an empty space full of fancy supernaturals in their pristine dresses and suits, clinking drinks and chatting animatedly, probably about how they wanted to steal a bunch of human souls.

“It’s a mixed party,” Az said, shifting closer to murmur into my ear. “Like the Covenant Ball, you’re not allowed in unless you have a human date. The host likes to call it a game. See how much we can get away with, all without humans finding out what we are.”

I wrinkled my nose. “Great. It’s one of those parties then.”

“What kind is that?”

“The creepy kind.” I glanced around and sighed. In the far corner, I spotted Serena’s familiar head of midnight hair. She was speaking quietly with a group of older, suit-clad men, and Noah stood beside her like a steady, calming rock. My face transformed into what could only be described as cringing awkward turtle. I shifted closer to Az, hiding myself from view.

“Oh, are we already to that then?” he asked in a low purr, winding his arm around my back.

“Is there somewhere else we could go? A hallway or something?”

He arched a brow, and that dimpled smile made an appearance. “No one would be able to see us then, Mia.”

The way he said my name shot a strange tremor through my gut.

“There are others in the hallway,” I whispered back and pushed up onto my tiptoes. Peeking over Az’s shoulders, I caught sight of Noah again. I really didn’t want to face him right now. For one, our last encounter had been awkward as hell. And two, I didn’t know how I could hold myself back if he gave me a smug smile and congratulated me on moving out of Serena’s apartment. He’d gotten what he wanted, and I hated that with a passion. As happy as he made my best friend, he’d still been a dick to me.

Az twisted sideways to follow my line of sight, but Noah had vanished into the crowd. “Wait, isn’t that your friend? Have you two had a falling out?”

“No, it’s the guy with her.” I grabbed his hand. As soon as my fingers touched his skin, his ice-flecked eyes zeroed in on my face. An electric charge passed between us. It ripped through my body, lighting my gut on fire. A sharp gasp popped from my throat, and the darkness in his eyes flared to life.

“What was that?” I whispered.

“I don’t know,” he murmured back. “I’ve never felt it before.”

Okay, so that was good. Kind of. At least I wasn’t hallucinating these weird zipping sensations. On the other hand, it must have had something to do with magic and demons and souls and deals. Az, the Prince of Hell, didn’t know what it was. And if he didn’t know what it was, then it could mean anything.

“Hello, Asmodeus,” a sickly-sweet feminine voice purred right beside my ear. I jumped two feet in the air, knocked out of my strange reverie with Az. Who was now…pulsing? Shadows leapt across his body in vibrant swirls of grey and black. His eyes turned pitch black. Tightening his grip on my hand, he pulled me behind him. A single feather poke up out of his shirt.

“Eisheth.” Az’s voice was pure steel, and it packed a powerful punch. If I’d been on the receiving end, I might have flinched. Who was this girl? Frowning, I leaned over to get a glimpse of her on the other side of him. Sleek raven hair hung down to her tiny waist, accentuated by a glistening silver gown. Diamonds dangled from each petite earlobe. Despite her small stature, she commanded attention. Power radiated off her body in waves.

She was also fucking gorgeous.

“It’s been such a long time since I’ve seen you, sweetie,” she said with a curving set of full lips that most girls could only dream of having. “I didn’t think you liked to come to this kind of party.”

“Maybe I’ve changed,” he growled back.

She clucked her tongue and sighed. “No, I don’t think so. You seem the same to me. Aren’t you going to introduce me to your little friend?”

“No.” He stepped closer to me, his back pressing into my chest. “I’m here to network and nothing more. Stay out of my way, Eisheth.”

“It’s my party,” she said with a pout.

Az whirled on his feet, grabbed my hand, and practically dragged me into the hallway. I cast a glance over my shoulder at the woman staring after us in her perfect, sparkling gown. So many questions flew through my head. Who was she? Why had Az reacted the way he had? And how come she wasn’t put off by his rudeness? It was almost like she’d expected it.

But all those questions fled from my mind the second my back hit the wall. While I’d been distracted, Az had pulled me into a quieter, darker corner of the hallway. We weren’t alone. Several of the other party attendees were nearby, but it was as secluded as we would get without going into one of the bedrooms.

Not that I was thinking about going into one of the bedrooms.

Not at all.

Az leaned forward, bracing his hands on either side of my head. Swallowing hard, I tipped back my head to meet his eyes. “It’s time to get to work.”

“Yeah, alright,” I whispered back as he trailed a finger along the edge of my jaw. Sparks soared behind his touch.

And then he kissed me.