by Renee George
The demon lord kicked the lock away, and it slid under the refrigerator. Moloch’s fear was replaced with annoyance. “Oh, David. Very, very good. And I must say, you are looking quite well for a dead man. Did you really think you could trap me?” Moloch clucked his tongue against his teeth. “Though, I am intrigued. How did you find the angel grace?”
I was stunned into silence as I looked from Moloch to Tristan. No. To David. This whole time I’d been feeling guilty about my lust-filled thoughts…and it turned it out I wasn’t attracted to his grand-freaking-son. My hormones had figured out what my head—my heart—could not.
David was alive.
“I’m sorry, Liv,” David rasped. “I thought it would work.”
“Oh, you are in so much trouble,” I said as fury mixed with joy. “As soon as I kick Moloch’s ass, I’m kicking yours.”
“How dare you!” Moloch boomed. The walls in the kitchen shook hard enough to open the cabinet doors and force pots, pans, and dishes to clatter and crash to the floor. Moloch snapped his fingers. David froze in place.
I’d seen this trick before—one of Moloch’s favorites. Stop time so he could have a private convo. Honestly, I think he did it just to show-off.
“You think you can kick my ass?” he asked, amused.
“I’m willing to try,” I said in the face of my rising terror. “Would you mind holding still while I shove my heel into your forehead?”
“Oh, please. Even if you managed to do that, it wouldn’t work. Just like David’s stupid little trap didn’t work.”
I ground my teeth. “Where are my sisters? What did you do with them?”
“They’re safe. For now.” He stalked around David and put a hand on his face and turned it toward me. “Hmm. He’s remarkably well-preserved for a man in his eighties. I admit he fooled me. I’d really believed he’d died.” Moloch licked David’s face.
“Gross! That’s just unsavory.”
“David has the distinctive taste of sanctimonious bullshit. An angel’s bargain,” said Moloch. “That explains how he got hold of the angel grace.” The demon lord slobbered on David’s cheek again. “Ah. And not just any angel.”
“Stop licking him. He’s not a Tootsie Pop.”
“Don’t worry, Olivia. I’m not interested in his juicy center.” He pursed his lips as if in thought then, muttered, “So clever. He was always a clever boy.” Was Moloch talking about David? I didn’t think their history went back any further than my history with David. “Yes.” Moloch nodded. “This changes things.” He walked away, his expression thoughtful.
David’s cheek glistened with Moloch’s saliva. I wanted to dump a bottle of sanitizer on his head, and afterward, punch him in the face for lying to me. But first I had to deal with this evil prick and what he’d done with my family. “You release my sisters right now!”
“Or what?”
Cold fear slicked up my spine. “You can’t do anything to my sisters, or you’ll nullify our bargain.”
“Re-locating ghosts to a different plane of existence doesn’t break the deal,” said Moloch. “I haven’t hurt them or tried to take their souls.”
“The book,” I said. “I have it right here.” I ran to the table, scooped the book up, and hurried back to the demon lord. “Here,” I said, offering it to Moloch. “Now, release my sisters and leave David alone.”
He reached for the Shedim, but he could even touch it, the book burst into flames. I screamed and dropped it. When it hit the floor, it burst into ash. All that was left was a few burning embers.
Oh, shit.
“What have you done, Olivia?” he boomed.
“I...I...Nothing. I didn’t do anything.” I’d seen Moloch irritated plenty of times, but I’d never seen him so angry. His rage frightened me. “Don’t punish my sisters, please. I promise I didn’t try to trick you.” Why had the Shedim burst into flames?
He shook his head, baring his teeth in a feral grin. “Clever boy, indeed. Handing out angel grace like it’s candy and then placing an infernal curse on my book.” He frowned and furrowed his brow. “I will rip him to shreds,” he muttered.
“Don’t hurt David!”
Moloch gave me an annoyed look. “I’m not talking about lover boy.”
“Then who?”
He waved away my question. “Since the book no longer exists, you still owe me a soul.”
“I gave you the book!”
“I could not take possession of it. Therefore, it does not meet the conditions of our deal. But don’t worry, Olivia. I have another offer that will satisfy your minion’s bargain and will get you your sisters back.” His red eyes flashed at me. “I want David’s soul.”
“Yeah, I want to chop you into pieces and drop them into an acid bath, but hey, I guess neither one of us are getting what we want.” Terror for David had made me insolent—that, and knowing Moloch couldn’t force me to get him David’s soul. “I still have three and a half days to get you a soul, any soul of my choosing. That’s our original bargain. The same one where you promised my sisters would never come to harm as long as I did my job.”
“Yes, and they are protected. No harm will come to your sisters as long as you get me a soul for this decade and finish the rest of your fifty years as my minion. However, getting to keep your sisters with you was never part of the deal. I thought having them with you would be a good reminder for you of what you have to lose. But now I think having them with you has made you petulant and rebellious.”
Terror gripped me tightly. “Please don’t take them from me. I won’t hunt demons anymore. I’ll do my job. I won’t cause any more problems.”
“They are safe as kittens in a box, Olivia, but I can make their holding spaces unpleasant. Fifty years is a long time to live isolated from everyone you love. And I’m afraid the twins aren’t doing well without each other.”
“You’re not keeping them together?”
“I promised safety, not happiness.”
“Please, Mol—” I steeled my will. “Master.” The word tasted like ash on my tongue, but I’d shed every ounce of my pride for my sisters. “What do I have to do to get them back?”
“I already told you. Get me David’s soul.”
“No. Anything else but that,” I said, frustrated.
“Only that,” he said resolutely. He tapped his imaginary watch. “Tick tock. This offer ends when your decade is up. I’d hate to see it be the end of you and your family.”
Tears leaked from my eyes. “I hate you.”
“You can hate me all you want.” He actually looked proud as the words came out of his mouth. “As long as you obey me.” He cupped my chin and kissed me. The soft brush of his lips made revulsion ripple through me. He chuckled. “Now be a good girl and get me what I want. The sooner, the better. In Limbo, three and a half days can feel like three and half centuries. Those little Southern Belles are wilting as we speak.”
In a blink, Moloch was gone.
David inhaled noisily. “Where’d he go?”
“I don’t know,” I muttered as the numbness left my body and anger replaced it. I turned on David. I got onto my hands and knees and retrieved the unholy lock from underneath the fridge. I tossed it onto the table and then turned and jabbed my finger into his chest. “Why didn’t you tell me?” David was alive? He was young? Even with an angel bargain, whatever that was, how in the heck could he be here, complicating my already complicated life? And, damn, looking so much like the last time I saw him. It wasn’t possible. At least it shouldn’t be. “How are you here?”
David caught my hand as it came around to slap his face. “I did it for you, Liv. I can’t save you, but I thought I could save your sisters. I thought I could help you stop making bargains for souls.” His expression softened. “I know how much you hate it.”
I went numb again, blinking through the tears. Moloch wanted David’s soul. He wanted it in exchange for my sisters. He’d outsmarted me. Outsmarted us both. I couldn’t do it. Could I?
Could I trade David for my sisters?
“Do you even have a grandson?”
“Yes,” said David. “Tristan really is a lawyer in Chicago. After Thomas died, his wife took my grandson and moved away. I figured it was for the best given my dealings with the supernatural.”
“Thomas really died when Tristan was two?”
He nodded. “I’ve kept track of my grandson, but we’re not in touch.” He examined my expression. “I’ve accepted my choices. I’ve dealt with my losses. All but one. You.”
A sob choked my throat, and David wrapped me in his arms.
“It’s okay, sweetheart,” he said. “We’ll figure this out. We’ll get your sisters back.”
His wet hair brushed my cheek, and I suddenly became hyper-aware of his naked chest pressed against me. “Uhm, David?”
“Yes,” he said, his lips near my ear.
“Maybe you should put some more clothes on.”
He leaned back and looked at me. “Or not.”
I choked out a laugh. “You’re awful. When did you become awful?”
He brushed my hair back from my face and cupped my cheek. His tone was low and soft and sad. “When you left me, Liv. That’s when.”
I felt some of my anger melt. “How about you get dressed, we go to the Burger Bar, and you tell me all about you and this angel deal you made? And we can try and figure out just how screwed we are.”
David raised his brow.
I smacked his chest and stepped back, unable to keep my gaze from wandering down the length of his naked torso and to those deliciously unbuttoned jeans. My gaze snapped back to his face. “Go. Get. Dressed.”
“Fine. I’m going.” He picked up the unholy lock. “But first I need to put away this useless piece of crap.” He stared at the bloody mouth of Eve. “I thought it would work,” he repeated. “I thought you’d be free.”
“I’ll never be free,” I said sadly. “Never.”
Chapter 7
David smiled at me as he pulled into the Burger Bar. He’d asked me what happened with Moloch after the demon lord broke free of the trap, and I’d lied like a politician accused of texting his wiener to an intern. How could I tell him that if I didn’t figure out how to get out of my deal with Moloch, I might have to sacrifice him to save my siblings?
At least Moloch had promised no harm would come to my sisters in the meantime. It was small consolation. Still, it was better than them already burning in the pits of Hell thanks to me.
He turned off the engine, and I said, “I’m sorry. I hate that I brought that monster into your home. Then and now.”
David undid his seatbelt. “You didn’t bring him this time. I did.”
“You figured out he wanted the Shedim?”
“Yes. Then I put the word out through various PSPR channels. I figured it would eventually get back to him.” He paused. “A minion’s blood was the only way to set the trap. He kept us apart for so long, Liv, I wasn’t sure he’d send you—even if he thought I was dead.”
“But the unholy lock was on the chest you saved for me.”
He looked at me sheepishly. “I put the Shedim inside the box and the unholy lock on it right after I returned to the living.”
“And if a different minion showed up?”
He frowned. “I would’ve gotten the blood one way or another.”
“You should have told me.”
“I couldn’t tell you the truth, Liv, even though I wanted to the second I saw you standing on the porch. The only advantage I had was that Moloch thought I was dead. Why do you think I de-activated the wards? I wanted him to be able to show his face at the farm.” He put his hand on my shoulder. “What you know he can figure out. You know I’m right.”
“Well, now the lock and the Shedim are toast, and we are more screwed than ever. What kind of mojo did you put on that book, David? It lit up like a bonfire before the Jerkface could even touch it.”
“Jerkface?”
“It’s my current name for He Who Owns My Soul. Something I uncovered a couple decades ago—saying his name gives him the power to find me instantly. I’d rather eat my dinner without demon-interruptus.” I narrowed my gaze at David. There was so much he still hadn’t told me. “Jerkface said the book had an infernal curse.”
“That’s what demons call it when an object has an angel’s blessing. Moloch wouldn’t have come for any old book. He’s wanted to possess the Shedim for centuries.” David ran his fingers through the top of his thick hair. “I never intended to let Moloch near the book, but I also knew the angel blessing would ensure he never got his hands on it. But don’t worry, I made copies of the pages.”
“Smart,” I said. As badly as my demonic boss wanted the book, I figured there had to be something in there that might be helpful to my cause, or at least something to make his life even more miserable. “By the way, Jerkface said he could taste the angel bargain on you.”
“What do you mean by taste?”
“Uhm, yeah.” I squinched my nose and stroked my finger up my cheek the way Moloch had used his tongue on David. “He kind of sort of licked you.”
David pressed his palm to his cheek. “No.”
I winced. “Twice.”
“That’s disgusting.”
“It wasn’t a picnic to watch, either.” I gave him a consoling look. “At least you have the benefit of not remembering.”
His expression was dark, angry. “That demon is a son-of-a-bitch.”
“Probably,” I agreed. “Now, tell me about this angel bargain.”
“Long story,” he said. He studied my face. “It’s so good to see you, Liv. You haven’t changed a day in more than sixty years.”
“Try adding another eighty years to that number.” I wagged my finger at him. “But don’t change the subject.”
“I’ll tell you everything,” he promised. “But not now. We never did discuss your past—even after you told me you were a minion.” He hesitated. “Just how old are you?”
“As of last November, one hundred and seventy-eight years old.”
“Christ.”
“He had very little to do with it.” My problem was Old Testament, not New.
“You kept such a tight lid on your past.” He tapped the steering wheel. “So you lived through the Civil War?”
“I was a teenager, but yes. We lived in a small county in Georgia. My father had been a farmer.” I turned to stare out the window. “He was a good man during a time when there wasn’t a lot of them around. He opposed the war and everything it stood for. He even hid a few runaway slaves and one Yankee soldier that crossed our property.”
“Your dad wasn’t forced to fight?”
“He was too old for the Rebel draft. They wanted young and strong. And having four daughters meant Poppa wouldn’t have to send a son off to war.” Thanks to my father, my sisters and I had learned to read, write, and do math. We helped dad run the farm until he passed away.”
“What happened to your mom?”
“She died giving birth to Eliza and Elise.”
“I’m sorry,” David said.
I turned my attention back to him. Impulsively, I put my hand on his. He turned his palm over and laced his fingers in mine. Heat pulsed between us, and I could hear my heartbeat in my ears. I looked down at our joined hands then raised my gaze to meet his.
“Wow,” he said.
“Wow,” I echoed. We’d never touched like this before, always so careful to keep feelings separate from actions.
The smell of grilled beef and onions penetrated the closed windows on David’s truck. The vehicle had started to warm with the air conditioner off. If I couldn’t find a solution to my hellish problem, I’d be hotter than Georgia on the 4th of July.
Oh, but the way David looked at me, it made me want to confess everything. Heck, I’d already told him more about my life than I’d ever told anyone. Being with David made me feel safe, and that feeling was going to get my sisters and me a one-way ticket to the
burning place if I couldn’t keep my emotions in check.
I unlaced my fingers from his and opened the passenger door.
He grasped my arm. “Hey, what is it?”
I arched my brow. “I’m still mad at you, mister.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “Forgive me, Liv.”
“I accept your apology, suh,” I said with my best Southern charm. I sniffed the air. “The burgers smell good. I didn’t realize how hungry I was until now.”
I’d changed into jeans when David said we were going to the Burger Bar and, looking at the bench seating with tears in the orange vinyl cushions, I was glad I did. One, sitting on vinyl with bare legs is a nightmare, and two, this was not a restaurant where anyone wore fancy attire. Even so, with my stiletto boots, I felt a bit overdressed.
David pointed. “There’s a booth in the back that just opened up.” There were two half-empty soda cups with chunky ice in them, a wadded-up napkin, a butter knife, and a smear of catsup on the surface. However, it was the only seating available.
“I’ll get that cleaned up in a tick,” a woman said as she held up a coffee pot in her right hand. “Just give me two seconds to put this away.”
I scanned the diner, looking for potential threats and emergency exits. I never knew when I was going to have to leave a place fast. The waitress came back, bussed everything onto a tray, and wiped down the table. “There you go, folks.” She set down some menus she’d carried under her armpit. “Have a seat. Do you know what you want to drink?”
“I’ll take a root beer,” David said.
“A sweet tea for me.”
She jotted down the order. “I’ll be right back with your drinks.”
I glanced at David as I picked up a menu. He was grinning at me.
“What?”
“You still drink sweet tea.”
“You can take the girl out of the South, but not the South out of the girl,” I said.
“I like that about you,” he said.
I opened the menu and looked over the food offerings. Several varieties of burgers, which made sense with the name of the place, along with a chicken sandwich, a turkey burger, and a black bean vegan option. Very progressive for such a small town. The sides were fries, cowboy chips, sweet potato fries, and slaw, but for an extra thirty cents, you could replace any of them with onion rings. “What are you getting?” I asked.