Devilish Deal by Jenna Wolfhart

33

Cotton balls filled my mouth. Or maybe it was an old dishrag. Whatever it was, it tasted like dirty socks. Sputtering, I sucked in air and flipped open my eyes. Candlelight flickered all around me in a ring that surrounded the bloody demon seal on the floor. My heart flipped over as I glanced around, finding half a dozen more bound humans surrounding me.

They’d caught me. Az hadn’t been able to stop them. And now, we were all going to be sacrificed to Hell.

Shit!

Frantically, I gazed past the flickering flames to find shadowed faces peering back at us. Eisheth was there in the front. Beside her stood that creepy vampire from the lobby. But on her other side…my stomach twisted as a new wave of pain ripped through me. Asmodeus was there. Alive and well. Doing nothing to stop this.

What?!

My mind raged against me, trying to understand what I saw. It seemed like an impossibility. This couldn’t be right. Whatever had knocked me out—poison in the champagne most likely—was playing tricks on my mind. Az couldn’t be part of this. He just couldn’t.

I’d put my trust in him. He’d tried to protect me from all of this. The new contract. The job, the name, the fake passport, and the secret apartment in Brooklyn. All of that had been his idea. Because he’d wanted to save me from Lucifer.

So, why wasn’t he doing anything?

This didn’t make sense.

I tried to meet his gaze, but he avoided my eyes. His jaw rippled as he stared straight ahead, listening to an intense chant spilling from the mouths of a few robed figures in the crowd.

And then Eisheth stepped out from the shadows, her hooded eyes gleaming in the light. She motioned toward Az, who strode forward with a determined set to his shoulders.

“Asmodeus, Commander of the First Legion of Hell, first Prince in line to the throne.” Eisheth smiled. “The fallen angels Rafael and Michael have brought accusations against you. They believe you are working against our King. This is your opportunity to prove they’re wrong. Sacrifice this human’s soul, and all will be forgiven.”

Eyes flying wide, I screamed against the cotton dishrag in my mouth, but only a muffled whimper came out. Heart rattling beneath my ribcage, I tried to scuttle back, but my bound ankles and wrists didn’t let me get far. Suddenly, I understood everything. They’d trapped Az in an impossible situation. This was his chance to show them they were wrong, to prevent Lucifer from finding out the truth, and to save his Legion, but…surely he wouldn’t go through with it.

Surely he was just playing along until he found an opportunity to rebel against them.

He wouldn’t actually sacrifice my soul…

Would he?

His words rang in my ears.

I will do anything to get what I want.

Just because I am helping humans doesn’t mean I am good.

I am still a demon, Mia.

The Legion are my family.

But I had seen the good in him. He’d proven it ten times over. He could have been pretending, but what would have been the point of that? If he’d wanted to sacrifice my soul, he didn’t need all these games. He could have just done it.

But how could I trust him when I was literally lying bound in the middle of Lucifer’s demon seal?

Everyone else in my life had let me down. My parents had abandoned me. My friends. My neighbors. The whole damn world.

Fear thrummed through my veins.

Eisheth took a deep sniff of the air and smiled. “Do you smell that?”

“The delicious scent of fear,” Az murmured back.

“Good,” Eisheth said. “Very good. Now, do it, Az. Stab her right in her pretty fucking heart.”

“With pleasure.” Az reached behind him and pulled his long gleaming sword from thin air. The blade rippled with flames, splashing orange fragments across the blood-painted floor.

Terror screamed through me as I tried to scrabble back. He was really going to do this. There was no mistaking the viciousness on his face. How could I have been so wrong? A demon loomed before me with eyes the color of ice, and he was going to kill me. My entire body trembled. The fear left nothing behind but a numb heart and a bitter mind. If only I wasn’t human. If only I could fight back…

Wait a minute.

I still had his fucking signet ring.

Az strode toward me with his sword held high. Before I could talk myself out of it, I pulled a deep breath in through my flared nostrils and threw all of my emotions toward him. I still didn’t know how the hell to use this thing. I just went by instinct. All I thought was push.

An invisible force slammed into Az and threw him out the window.

Not the window.

The blank wall that held no glass.

His eyes widened as he hurtled out into the darkness. My heart stopped beating, and my helpless cry was muffled against the rag. Even though he’d been two seconds away from sacrificing me to his demon overlord, the last thing I wanted was to kill him.

Just as he began to tumble toward the streets, he pushed his dark feathered wings from his back. In the darkness, I swore I saw the flicker of a smile.

My heart thundered back to life, galloping up into my throat. I’d managed to knock him back, but he’d return with a vengeance now. And I was pretty sure this ring had to recharge before I could use it again. All I’d done was make him angry. Whoops.

Az flapped his enormous wings, his gaze zeroing in on me. And then two massive figures thundered into the ball, appearing out of nowhere. Their golden wings gleamed against the candlelight, their shirtless bodies corded with power and rage. Suriel and Gabriel shot toward the cloaked figures with swords bigger than my body.

My mouth dropped open. Or, it would have, if it hadn’t been stuffed with a rag that tasted like socks. The angels swung their swords at the figures. Several of the supernaturals screamed and ran, charging toward the elevators. Only a few stuck around to fight.

Blood arced through the air as the swords made contact. Bodies tumbled to the ground. With tears in my eyes, I scrabbled away from the carnage and pressed my back against the nearest wall. The other human sacrifices joined me and tried to shield their eyes. I hated being helpless like this, unable to do anything other than watch the angels strike down their foes.

If I survive this, I swore to myself, I’ll learn how to fight.

The battle was over not long after it began. The two fallen angels stood heaving over the supernaturals. The whole thing had been a blur, and it had been next to impossible to follow the fight. All that mattered was that our captors were dead. The ones who had survived had fled. Glancing around, relief filled my heart.

Az wasn’t among the dead.

Ugh. Why should I even care? He’d tried to sacrifice me.

Suriel strode toward me, knelt, and unbound my wrists. Then, I yanked that stupid rag out of my mouth and spit. Not very ladylike, but whatever. That thing was gross.

“Good timing,” I told him. He offered a hand, which I reluctantly took. Out of all the supernaturals in the world, why did it have to be this guy?

A smile curled his lips. “You say that like we didn’t plan it this way.”

Shock flickered through me. “Plan it? How?”

He glanced around us. “It’s better if we talk about this somewhere else. Come with me.”

He held out his arms. My brows winged up toward my forehead. “What exactly are you suggesting?”

“I need to take you somewhere. Flying will be quickest.”

I folded my arms. “Absolutely not. First, flying? No. But also, I barely know you.”

“I just saved your goddamn life, Mia.” He held his arms wider. “Now, stop arguing and hang on.”

All I could do was stare at him. Leaving with a fallen angel who had kind of been stalking me…after everything that had happened? Probably not the best idea. He and his friend had cornered me in the dark streets. They’d been snooping around, trying to pry into Infernal.

They were against the Legion. But then again, maybe they’d had reason to be. Not ten minutes ago, Az had tried to stab me with a sword. None of the Legion had flown in to help when all hell broke loose. They had tricked me and betrayed me.

So, why did I still have any shred of loyalty toward them?

Sighing, I edged in close to Suriel and wrapped my arms around his neck. Gritting my teeth, I hung on while he soared out into the city skies. The world dropped from beneath me as my legs dangled like puppets on a string. His heavy wings blasted hot air into my face as he rushed across Manhattan.

I realized far too late where he was taking me.

Straight back to Infernal.