Devilish Deal by Jenna Wolfhart

25

An unsettling awkwardness formed a lump in my belly. With Caim and Phenex gone, there was nothing to distract me from the fact I’d just had sex with Asmodeus, the most powerful Prince of Hell. Drunk. While my best friend was missing. Thankfully, Az didn’t seem like he wanted to discuss it any more than I did.

“Would you like another drink,” he asked as he moved over to the bar. Glasses clinked as the muscles in his back rippled beneath the city lights splashing through the windows.

“I think I’ve had enough.”

His shoulders tensed. When he turned toward me, it was all I could do not to stare at his chest. Why hadn’t he put on a shirt yet? “Right, of course. You’re exhausted. We should probably get you to bed.”

I hugged my arms around me, sighing. “To be honest, Az, I don’t think I can sleep right now. Not while Serena is out there. She’s probably scared. Or hurt.”

“She might be scared, but she’s likely not hurt,” he said with a frown. “It’s a shame it’s not a full moon or she might have a chance of fighting her way out of wherever she’s trapped. Werewolves are as strong as hell. Most supernaturals can’t stack up against them when they’re in wolf form. Only demons and angels.”

My heart flipped over. Werewolves were strong, but how did they stack up against literal angels? I had to ask, even though I was already sure I wouldn’t like the answer. “How strong are angels? Can they even die?”

He shook his head. “Not permanently. They’re immortal, just like demons. The only way to stop us is to rip our hearts out, but then you have to keep the heart away from the body or we’ll heal ourselves.”

I blinked at him. “Are you telling me that you literally have to hold onto a demon’s heart if you want him dead?”

“The heart will never stop beating, and if you try to destroy it, it will regrow itself. Same as the body. Morax is the only one we’ve ever lost, and that’s only because Eisheth buried his heart and then had another demon erase her memories of where she hid it. So that no one could ever find it again.” He took a step closer, his eyes darkening. “There are plenty of hunters who have tried to kill us over the centuries. It is impossible. The heart always finds a way of returning to its body if it’s close enough. We’re talking within a thousand miles.”

Shivers stormed across my skin. A thousand miles? “So, you’re all immortal. How are we ever going to stop this killer?”

“I plan to take his heart. And then I will drop it into the deepest ocean, as far away from here as I can manage.” Az reached out and fingered a strand of my hair. My heart lurched into my throat, despite everything. “But don’t you worry about that. You need to get some sleep. We have a big day tomorrow.”

I opened my mouth to argue. Hadn’t he heard me tell him I was too worried about Serena to sleep? Damn demons and their selective hearing. But just before the words popped out of my mouth, a strange sensation whooshed through my veins. My limbs suddenly grew too heavy for me to move. Lightness filled my head. As the world went black, Az wrapped his arms around me and kept me from toppling to the floor. The last thing I knew before sleep dragged me under was being lifted off my feet and carried into the bedroom. The scent of fire soothed my soul.

* * *

Iawoke with a start. A gasp shook my lungs as I popped up straight, sweaty hair tangled against my forehead. Darkness still hung heavy in the bedroom, but pinpricks of light shone around the edges of the curtains. Az was already up. I could hear him moving around in the kitchen, clinking dishes.

With a frown, I padded into the main section of the penthouse. A glass of orange juice sat waiting for me on the counter, but I still shot the back of his head a glare. Mister Nice Demon wasn’t going to cut it this morning.

“What did you do to me last night?” I asked in a low, even tone of voice.

He turned, nodded at the juice, and went back to the stove. The scent of freshly-grilled bacon wafted into my nose. “Drink.”

I folded my arms. “Not until you tell me what you did to me.”

“You needed some rest. All I did was help you along.”

“You knocked me out.” Narrowing my eyes, I grabbed the juice and took a sip. Damn, it was good, especially after all the booze I’d consumed last night. The annoying thing about Az was that everything he did was frankly amazing.

“Not exactly,” he said smoothly as he slid his spatula beneath the bacon and deposited it onto a plate. “All I did was make you relax with a small bit of my power. It released some of your anxiety. The exhaustion did everything else.”

Grudgingly, I took the plate. Bacon, toast, and poached eggs, along with a little spinach. The greens stared up at me. I didn’t know what the hell that was there for.

“Something wrong?” he asked as he followed me over to the table with his own plate of food.

“I’m not a big fan of spinach.” I lowered myself into a chair. “But everything else looks delicious. I’m still mad at you for knocking me out, by the way…but thanks for making me breakfast. To be honest, I’m surprised you didn’t go with pancakes again. We’ve had it…what? Every morning for three weeks?”

“I’ve forgotten to think of you as a human,” he said as he joined me at the table. “We need to look after your health. Protein, carbs, and greens. It’s important for you to get them all. Pancakes don’t have a lot of nutrients.”

I arched my brows. “You can’t be serious.”

“Of course I’m serious.” Confusion rippled across his face. “You’re mortal. You can subsist on nothing but pancakes every day if you’re a demon, but not if you’re human.”

I decided not to argue. My stomach grumbled, and the bacon smelled like heaven. Who was I to complain about a home-cooked breakfast made from the finest ingredients in all of New York? Not this girl. I gobbled up the entire plate in record time. Even the spinach.

Az didn’t mention anything else about the night before. Neither did I.

After I’d eaten, we both got showered, dressed, and then headed for Brooklyn. My thoughts grew darker as the car rumbled across the bridge. Would Noah be able to tell us anything important? Or would I have to make up some crazy story to explain Serena’s absence? He didn’t know about supernaturals. After our run-in at the coffee shop, would he think I had something to do with her disappearance?

“You seem uneasy,” Az said from where he lounged beside me on the black leather seat.

“Noah isn’t very fond of me,” I said with a frown. “He believes the…you know, stuff.”

I glanced up at the driver, who kept his gaze forward. This really wasn’t the kind of thing I wanted to talk about in front of someone else, even if he probably already knew all about it. If Az had looked me up, maybe his driver had, too. Hell, maybe the entire Legion had. A rock tumbled through my belly. It was one thing for Az to believe in me and quite another for five whole other beings to believe in me, too. Did they know? If they did, surely they wouldn’t want me around much longer.

Not that I would be around much longer anyway. As soon as the deal was done, I was gone.

Az’s gaze went hard. “I see.”

I shook my head. “Maybe this was a mistake. I was so eager to talk to him about last night, to find out if he’d seen anything, that I didn’t fully think things through. How will I explain all of this to him? Will he think I’m involved?”

“You let me do the talking,” Az insisted.

“But…”

“Your friend’s boyfriend isn’t the first asshole I’ve had to deal with,” he said with a slight smile that looked kind of evil, if I were being honest. “I’ll make him understand you had nothing to do with it.”

“Please tell me you don’t plan on ripping out his heart if he says the wrong thing,” I said dryly. “Or his spine.”

The evil glint spread to his eyes. “What an excellent idea, Mia.”

I rolled my eyes, trying not to focus on the way he’d said my name. Deep, melodic. Almost like a purr. Memories flashed through my mind of the night before. Az’s body on top of mine. The hunger and need in his eyes.

None of it had been real. We’d been faking things so much we’d gotten confused, that was all. Combined with the alcohol, the fear and worry from the night, it only made sense we’d ended up like that. It was a classic case of “one thing led to another” and nothing more. It would never happen again.

Still, I couldn’t help but flush at the memory of his lips between my thighs.

The driver saved me from my thoughts when he stopped the car outside of Serena’s apartment. Az and I took the stairs together while the driver waited by the curb. My heartbeat pounded in my ears as I knocked. Moments passed in excruciating silence. Noah didn’t answer.

“He’s probably at work,” I muttered, trying to ignore the heavy sense of doom. I didn’t know Noah’s schedule, but it seemed weird he’d head into the cafe while Serena was missing. Or maybe he was out in the streets, searching for her. That made more sense.

Az placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. “Try your key.”

Nodding, I unlocked the door. It creaked as it swung wide. Total carnage swept through the silent apartment, and a strangled gasp of shock popped from my throat. I stumbled inside, gazing around at the destroyed apartment. Remnants of the sofa were scattered across the floor. The cotton tufts fallen like soldiers on a battlefield. Broken dishes from the kitchen joined them, and lemon-scented body wash bottles rolled out from the open bathroom door.

I stepped back and into Az’s firm, unyielding chest. His heartbeat pounded against me. “Az…”

“It’s alright,” he murmured, squeezing my shoulder with his warm hand. “Serena wasn’t here when this happened.”

No. Because she’d already been taken.

“But what does this mean?” Tears filled my eyes. The reality of the danger we faced flooded in hot and fast like a river of molten lava. Az and his Legion were Princes of Hell, but they hadn’t been able to stop this from happening. Serena had been taken, and if Noah had been here when the killer had arrived…

“It was him, wasn’t it?” I asked in a small voice. “Whoever took Serena came and destroyed her apartment.”

“Most likely, yes.” His voice was hard and edged in steel.

“But why?” I whirled to face him, searching his eyes for answers he didn’t have. “What’s the point of this?”

He shook his head and gazed around at the ransacked apartment. “Honestly, Mia, I have no idea. He was clearly looking for something. Maybe he thought you’d left something here?”

My heart skipped a beat. “Like what?”

“Something that smells like you,” he murmured, jaw clenching. “If he knows your scent, he can find you more easily.”

Ice slid down my spine. “That’s horrifying.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t let him get you,” he said. “But I think we might need to pay Serena’s boyfriend a visit at his cafe. See if he went into work today. See if he’s…alive.”

All the blood drained from my face. “You think he might have been here when the killer broke in.”

He glanced around again. “Perhaps.”

And if that was the case, then Noah might be dead.

We left Serena’s apartment as it was. There was little we could do there now, and if the cops got involved, we didn’t want to leave any evidence behind that we were there. Next stop: Funky Froth. The place was as lively as ever. A line of coffee addicts stretched down the entire block. We cut past them—much to their shouted dismay—and flagged down one of the harried baristas, neither of whom were Noah.

“Is Noah in today?” Az asked in an easy voice that betrayed none of the tension I knew we both felt.

The girl cocked her head, scowling. “No, the bastard. He was scheduled to work this morning, but he never showed up. Probably with his girlfriend, like he always is. And we’re fucking swamped.”

“Thanks,” Az said with a nod. We stepped back out onto the sidewalk before we got too many questions—and before the asshole owner spotted me inside his cafe again.

I sucked in a breath of the smoggy city air. Deep down, I’d known we wouldn’t find Noah at work. He’d been with Serena last night. If he’d seen something, he never would have escaped.

“Noah’s dead, isn’t he?” I asked softly, my words almost drowned out by the constant blare of taxi horns.

“It’s possible.”

The killer needed Serena to get to me, but Noah was nothing but collateral damage. I didn’t like how the guy had turned on me, but he didn’t deserve a fate like this.

“What are we going to do, Az?” I asked, glancing up at him. “How are we going to stop the killer from claiming another life?”

His face hardened as he gazed across the Brooklyn streets. “We’re going to rip out his fucking heart.”