Deal with a Demon (Kindle Serial) (3 page)

Nic couldn’t agree to what he was asking. “No way.”

“That’s the deal, take it or leave it.” Arden leaned back against the counter. Even from across the room she could see the sparkle in his eyes.

She wasn’t surprised. He knew how much she needed his particular kind of help, so she should have guessed his price.

No way. But…damn it.

She peeked over at him and mulled it over. Her brother was in the hands of some horrible monster and this could be her one shot at saving him. Drew was her responsibility.

And it would be an absolute lie to say she wasn’t curious. The demon prince was
very
nice to look at and the way his shirt fit led her to believe there was a nice body involved too. She eyed the curve of his lean muscles. When was the last time she’d had something like him lying in her bed?

Never something that nice.

She was going to kill Drew for putting her in this position when she got her hands on him. If only there were a way she could trick Arden into helping without having to pay up at the end, she’d be —

An idea popped into her head. She might make it out of this, but she needed to buy some time to get a handle on the plan forming in her brain. “I’m going to need a minute.”

“Of course,” he said with his perpetually sensuous grin.

“Watch Jimmy.”

“Of course.”

Jimmy had fallen asleep while the deal was offered up. Arden’s parlor trick must have been powerful if it put a meth head to sleep. She was thankful he hadn’t heard the gritty details of the bargain.

Nic walked back to the bedroom and closed the door behind her, leaning against it for support. If she hoped to get this right, she needed to tap into some of her inner calm. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and when she opened them back up, she spotted the book written by Arden’s father lying on the floor next to the bed.

She sat down on the mattress and flipped through the pages. Something she’d spotted earlier — before she’d fallen asleep and her life had zoomed off the charts into utter chaos — about the summoning of a Helper, something about the Call itself.

There wasn’t a table of contents so she skimmed, skipping over pictures and charts until she found it.

Her one memory of the words blinked inside her head. The words themselves had begged to be read aloud. Like the letters and sentences needed to be heard, to be appreciated. That, in itself, was probably some kind of trick too. Damn demons.

She flipped another page and found it. The footnote was impossibly small and difficult to read. Having gotten to know a bit about the author’s son, she figured the snippet was something they didn’t want to print in large type.

Nic had to squint to read it:

The Call for Helpers is akin to the sweet song of Spring, alluring, a signal of new life to come. But along with its beauty, the Call has an opposing force, as all in nature has an opposite. If the song sours, as if the first warm, sun-filled day of that delightful season is threatened with a rain shower, the Helper will find him or herself in misery. The mortal has the power to turn the Call into a bittersweet dirge if he or she can convince the Helper their assistance is no longer needed. To do so, the mortal must address the Helper by their true name. Then, like the last sad leaf of Autumn falling from the sleeping tree, the season will change, and the Helper will return Below.

“Bingo.”

Someone knocked on the door. She laid the book back where she had found it, not wanting to arouse suspicion when she was supposed to be agonizing over her dilemma.

“I need your decision. The ceremony must take place before sunrise.”

Arden. She steeled herself. If she could get him to play along, she’d figure out his true name somehow, and once Drew was home safe, she would use the name and be done with the whole mess. Simple enough. “OK, come in.”

“What’s your answer?” He shut the door behind him and approached her. When he got close, she could smell the strange scent of rosemary again. Under any other circumstances, she would be intrigued by it, but—

Who was she kidding? He smelled amazing.

She took a step back. “Let me get this straight. You came here to help me, right?”

“I got the Call, yes.”

“And you’re agreeing to help me on the condition that I give myself to you?”

“That is what I said. Weren’t you paying attention?” She shot him a glare and was further irritated when his smile only got bigger. “Easy, killer,” he chuckled. “What I mean to say is, I’m offering you my assistance. In return, you will be mine.”

“And your support is based on my need?”

“Yes.”

“So, it would follow that you would be helping me get my brother back.” She chose her words with care. When trying to get one over on a demon, caution seemed vital, if not mortal. “If I agree, you will take me to Drew and help me get him home?”

She waited and watched impatiently as he debated. Did he suspect something? Her lip was still sore from biting it earlier in the night, but she chewed on it anyway.

“I will, but only if you consent to surrender to me.”

Surrender?
She wasn’t falling for his tricky wording. “Not until after we’ve brought Drew back. Once I’m sure he’s safe, then I’ll have sex with you.”

His eyes turned frosty, but the look didn’t make her think of cold. In fact, it made her very, very warm. It also made her doubt her reasoning. She wondered if she alone would be enough to tempt him. A man with his looks probably had a whole harem at his disposal. But why would he go to all the trouble just to get in her pants? And in the end, if she couldn’t get his true name out of him, all she had to do was have sex with the beautiful demon. What could it hurt? Nic looked right into his flawless eyes. “Deal?”

“It’s a deal,” he said.

Arden kicked Jimmy again. “Wake up.”

He was about to attempt a crossing ceremony with this idiot as a pilot and there wasn’t a lot of time to train the human. It would be a miracle if he and Nic didn’t get lost in the Abyss. At least she appeared to understand the gravity of the matter.

As soon as he’d agreed to her deal she went to work. In no time, she had gathered all the things they would need. He was thankful the ceremony site was intact. It would make this easier for all of them. The gateway had been opened once so it would be simple enough to open it again.

But this time he’d be going Below with a mortal. Of course, the mortal he was helping had no idea what she had actually agreed to; he would help if she gave her life to him. It was the final thing he needed to make his transformation. The other tasks had been total cake in comparison. All he had to do now was get her down to the Fourth and turn her over to the Emissary who would take care of the rest. Then his days of sitting around the house waiting for a Call while he practically died of boredom would be over. The greatest part of all of it would be the moment he became full demon and the weak human half of him was stripped away. For good.

He caught a glimpse of her in the other room. She looked a bit like a Trickster with her petite frame and pixie-like nose. Her hair kept spilling onto her forehead and she shoved it back with a frown. It seemed like a waste to have something as delectable as Nic around and not take advantage of the situation.

He made up his mind on the spot. Before he gave her over, he would know the pleasure of her flesh. Once satisfied, he’d dump her and be born again as an Incubus.

But neither was going to happen if he didn’t get Jimmy up off the kitchen floor, so he kicked him again for good measure.

“Hey man, stop it.”

“Wake up.”

Arden made eye contact, and before Jimmy had time to realize what was happening, he was trapped. “Jimmy, I’m going to need you to do exactly what I tell you.”

“’Zactly what you tellmee,” Jimmy said, his words slurred from the effects of Arden’s spell — too many trances in too short a time.

“Good. I’m going to give you a book and you’re going to read it word for word, all right?”

“Wordfer word…alllright.”

“Now, let’s go in the other room.” He kept his gaze locked with Jimmy’s as he backed out of the kitchen.

Arden jerked his chin at Nic for her to follow them. He saw the determination glinting in her eyes and raw lust pulsed in his veins. Would the same fire burn there when he entered her for the first time?

No.
No distractions.

Candlelight illuminated the room and the dancing flames made shadows run across the floor. Arden was careful to position Jimmy outside of the circle. He handed him the book. “Once Nic and I are in place, you can start reading.”

“I can start reading—”

“No,” Arden said. “Do not start reading until we’re in position, you twit.”

“I’ma twit.” A drop of drool crested Jimmy’s bottom lip and slipped down onto his chin. “Twit.”

He needed to stay focused. If he kept the man under for too long, his mind would be broken — as if it weren’t broken enough already — and he didn’t want to risk having to leave the apartment to find some other sheep to coerce. The time wasted might provide Nic with the opportunity to change her mind and he refused to let that happen. She belonged to him now.

Without breaking contact with Jimmy, he took Nic’s hand. Her palm was damp. Good. He liked having her on edge. It would make her surrender so much sweeter when the moment came. “All right, Jimmy. Start reading.”

The candles in the room blazed with energy as Jimmy droned out the archaic words, the junkie’s face lit by an unnatural amber glow. Arden kept his hold on the man so he wouldn’t fuck up the reading.

The air in the room shifted. They were nearing the portal.

“Whatever happens, Nic, don’t let go.”

The sucking feeling started at his ankles. She must have felt it too but her grip on his hand didn’t tighten. Her ignorant dismissal of the situation irritated him. It wasn’t every day a human got the experience of being vacuumed off the face of the earth, and she acted like it was no big deal. Once they got to the other side she would see how much she needed an attitude adjustment.

The air in the room compressed. A tremor entered Jimmy’s voice as Arden fought to keep his eyes locked on target. “Doing great, Jimmy, keep reading.”

The pull on his lower half intensified. If Jimmy messed up now and mispronounced a word, Nic would explode into a million pieces and would float forever aware in the Abyss. Alone, the crossing would have been simple, but this time he was taking a
living
human with him. It had been done before, but this time he needed to make sure the package arrived intact. He had to keep contact with Jimmy until they were safely on their way or things could get ugly.

The boards of the floor beneath them shook and split apart, throwing splintered wood into the air. The walls of the apartment rumbled and the flames on the candles flared like blowtorches turned to full blast. He squeezed Nic’s hand when the edges of the room started to blur and twist out of shape.

The great tug of the crossing bore down on him as if the weight of the earth itself tried to push them through the portal. He wanted to turn his head to check on Nic but didn’t dare take his eyes off the junkie.

He shouted for Jimmy to keep going and saw the obvious too late; fear had consumed the frazzled addict, and his reading had slowed and stuttered. He knew by the change in the room that the reading had gone far enough for the gateway to be opened, but he needed to make sure his prize made it across with him, so he spun and snatched Nic into his arms, locking them around her like a tourniquet right as the floor dropped out beneath them.

The gateway was a vortex of blackness. A cacophony surrounded them like all the sounds that ever existed were being broadcast at one time, in fast forward and at full volume; it was deafening.

“Nic!” He yelled so she would hear him above the chaos. “Hold on.”

She buried her head in his chest and covered her ears. He switched his hold so he could get his arms around her; they would be landing any second and he didn’t want her damaged. He had to deliver her in one piece.

He held her against him and smiled. Nic would never see the earth again.

To be continued in the next episode. Your book will be automatically updated with Episode Two and you can continue reading from this page.

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