Grace surprises me. Instead of practically tackling me to get more information, she pulls a sleeve of crackers out of her purse, hands them over, and waits until I tentatively nibble on one to start questioning me. “You summoned Azazel.”
“Yes. I tried the blood circle and it failed miserably, but he ended up showing up anyways.” I haven’t had a chance to think about that too closely, which was likely best. I can’t imagine Azazel noticed every time someone says his name. It isn’t common, but statistically someone had to use it occasionally in a way that had nothing to do with summoning the demon himself, which meant he was either close or he’s keeping an eye on me. Maybe he was hoping I’d change my mind about the original bargain and try to summon him without my men around.
The thought isn’t comforting in the least.
Another thing to add to the list of worries. I don’t think Azazel can force me to agree, but he seems overly invested in it. Maybe it’s just to mess with Wolf, but I can’t take anything for granted now. Maybe the demon simply has a quota of deals to meet. The thought is strangely hilarious.
“Mina.”
“Sorry. Right.” I shake my head, trying to focus. “He said he could help with getting Malachi, Rylan, and Wolf out, but he won’t budge on the terms of the bargain. It’s seven years’ service in another realm.” I sigh. “I can’t risk it. It’s not even about time moving differently. It’s about the bond. It might just flat out kill all four of us, which kind of defeats the purpose of rescuing them in the first place.”
It takes several long moments before I realize Grace hasn’t responded. I look over to find her staring off into the middle distance. “Grace?”
“Just thinking,” she says slowly. “Did you reject the bargain?”
“He’s coming tomorrow to collect his answer.” It speaks of long experience that he gives his marks time to consider the offer. It’s easy enough to reject something with such a high cost, but given enough time to realize how few options you have? Seven years begins to sound much more reasonable. “It’s not going to matter. I might be willing to pay the price of time, but I won’t pay with our lives.”
“We’ll think of something.” She still sounds strange, distant, as if her mind if jumping forward a thousand times faster than mine.
Considering how woozy I feel, that’s not saying much. I finish my cracker and set the package down, waiting for my stomach to decide if it will hold. I don’t have high hopes. Nothing stays down. I press my hand to my neck where Rylan bit me in the dream. It doesn’t feel any different, but I can’t get the memory out of my head. Even if my blood didn’t suddenly become poisonous, my vampires won’t agree to drink from me when they see how haggard I look. I hardly have blood to spare at this point.
“We keep saying that, but no solutions are magically appearing.” I look down at my stomach. If I had my magic under control… If I could even access it…
Then I think about how fierce Malachi was at the thought of my being pregnant. That was before it even happened. I press my hand to my stomach. If I lose them… My brain tries to shy away from the thought, but I force myself to power through. If I lose them, this baby might be my only connection to them.
Selfish thought. Horrible in so many ways. I still can’t shake it.
I squint at the sky lightening through the cracks in the curtains. “What time is it?”
“Early. Five.”
Five? I slept through the night, even if I hardly feel rested at all. That seems to be happening more often than it’s not. No matter how many hours I sleep, I still wake exhausted. I shake my head slowly. “Wait a minute. It’s tomorrow. That means Azazel—”
The lights go out.
“Fuck!” Grace scrambles for the lamp on the nightstand between our beds. It clicks, but the light doesn’t come on. “What the hell?”
“Little hunter.” Azazel’s voice seems to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. I twist, trying to see, but even a vampire needs a little light to see. A dhampir needs more yet, and there is none to be had in this room.
“Little seraph.” His breath tickles the shell of my ear. “Did you think to trap me?”
Fear surges through me. Azazel has always been scary, but it’s nothing compared to what he is now. I try to swallow past the need to scream. “No. No one’s trying to trap you.”
“And yet you are here with her.”
“Not for that!” I can’t guarantee Grace isn’t here for that. She’s overly interested in Azazel and has good reason to be. She wants answers about her mother. Would she try to kill him, even if it meant I failed?
I don’t know.
“Do you know what I do to people who try to cross me?”
I can’t move, can’t think. Panic bleats through me, as worthless as the ever-present exhaustion weighing me down. It builds and builds, a rising tide that washes away all rational thought. “Stop!”
Flames lick at the air around me, Malachi’s power manifesting out of my pure desperation. The flames are nowhere near as strong as I’ve summoned in the past, but they’re enough to break the unrelenting dark. I get a glimpse of a monster crouching behind Grace, massive shoulders and arms, horns like a bull coming from either side of its head.
No, no it.
Him.
Azazel.
My flames go out, but this time the darkness only last a moment. The light at the bedside table flickers on, weakly doing battle with the shadows seeming to gather in every corner of the room. And there Azazel is, once again wearing his human skin, standing at the space between the ends of our beds, his hands in the pockets of his slacks. His eyes flare red, not quite managing to keep things under wraps. “Explain yourselves. Quickly.”
There’s no explicit threat tacked onto the end of that sentence, but there doesn’t need to be. It hangs in the air, thicker than smoke.
I exchange a look with Grace. She seems shaken but determined in a way that does nothing to reassure me. If she attacked Azazel, neither of us will survive the next few minutes. “Don’t do anything foolish,” I snap.
Her gaze flicks my way and she tenses. “You took my mother.”
“I don’t take people. I make deals.” He sounds bored. His tone is a lie. From the careful way he holds himself, he’s half a breath from attacking us. He turns his attention to me. “I’ll have your answer now.”
All this mess and I feel like I’m just digging in further. I can’t say yes. I’m not sure what he’ll do if I say no. “I—”
“I’d like to propose a new bargain,” Grace cuts in.
Azazel’s interest sharpens on her. “How forward of you.”
“I’m just that kind of girl.” Her smile is a challenge. “You help Mina get her men back. I’ll pay the price.”
He sighs. “What do you think you can offer that would replace a half-seraph? You’re hardly a catch, darling.”
“Don’t call me darling.” She straightens. “I’m the last of the Cel Tradat family. I might only be human, but that means something, even to a monster like you. My family has a long history with the people of your realm. Don’t try to pretend securing me in a bargain isn’t a coup.”
“Calling me names is not the way to get what you want.” He stalks forward, darkness flowing around him. It’s enough for me to realize how tightly leashed he kept himself up to this point. He’s not even trying now, though he’s managed to get control of his form. Either that or there’s not enough light for his shadow to betray him.
“Mina won’t accept your deal. I will. That already makes me the better bet.”
“Hmmm.” He glances at me, expression shuttered. “You’re probably more trouble that you’re worth at this point. Not to mention I’ll have to suffer through Wolf attempting to summon me repeatedly to demand you back.” Azazel shakes his head. “Very well, let’s discuss terms.”
I can’t tell whether Grace looks victorious or sick to her stomach. She lifts her chin. “Rescue Malachi, Rylan, and Wolf, and kill Mina’s father in the process. Then I’ll go with you.”
He chuckles, the sound low and unamused. “You presume you’re worth that much, last Cel Tradat or no. Pick one.” He pauses. “And you will pay up front.”
That snaps me out of my daze. “No. You’re not going to take her before you rescue them.” Seven years under my father’s tender care? Unacceptable. “You should rescue them simply because Wolf is a friend.”
“I’m a demon, little seraph. I don’t have friends.”
“How sad for you.” Grace shakes her head. “But she’s right. What’s the point in saving them if they’re broken by the time you do? That’s a shitty deal.”
“Ladies.” He sighs again, even more exasperated this time. “I’m under a deadline and I don’t have the luxury of this song and dance. I will fulfill my end of the bargain within twenty-four hours of time here. The lovely…Grace…will leave now and come to my realm to fulfill her seven years.”
I want to be relieved, but I can’t. I can’t. Too many people are paying debts that should be mine. I press my hands hard to my thighs and look at Grace. “You can’t accept. You don’t even know what you’re walking into. I don’t care if…” I hesitate. I doubt Azazel is ignorant of the fact he made a deal with Grace’s mother, but if by some miracle he is, I’m not going to be the one to out her. I clear my throat. “You can’t pay this price for us. The cost is too high.”
“I’m not doing it for you.” She says it firmly, but not unkindly. “No offense, but I wouldn’t pay this price unless I wanted to.”
There will be no reasoning with her, then. I turn to the demon. “I want assurances that she won’t be harmed or killed, not by your hand or anyone in that realm. If you can’t assure her safety and comfort, she’s not saying yes.”
“Mina—”
It’s hard to be certain, but I think Azazel actually rolls his eyes. “If you weren’t so busy throwing out accusations, I would have already laid out the terms in detail. There are formalities to a demon bargain, after all.”
“If you try to trick her—”
“Your opinion of me is truly staggering.” He shakes his head. “In three days, you will be auctioned off to one of the leaders of the territories in my realm. You will agree to serve them in whatever way they need, but they will not harm, hurt, or otherwise mistreat you, under pain of death.”
I narrow my eyes. “How can you guarantee that? If they harm her, even if they pay a price afterward, she’s still harmed.”
“I’m a demon. My bargains have meanings.” He sounds so exasperated, I almost forget to be scared. Almost.
“Serve them in whatever way they need,” Grace repeats. “You want me to fuck demons.”
“You will not be coerced against your will.”
She snorts. “Nice dodge, but by agreeing to this bargain, I’m agreeing to the sex.”
Azazel speaks through gritted teeth. “You will allow them the chance to seduce you, but they cannot force you. To do so would qualify as harm.”
It sounds like a sneaky loophole from where I’m sitting. I’m about to say as much when Grace shrugs. “Fine. I agree.”
“Wait!”
“Perfect.” He offers his hand. “We seal it with a kiss.”
“Grace, no.”
But it’s too late. She slips her hand into his. He raises it to his mouth, flips it, and presses a kiss to her wrist. A mark blooms there, black and red, painting itself across her tanned skin in a pattern that seems to shift in a way that defies comprehension.
Azazel glances at me without releasing Grace. “I’ll return to pay my end of the bargain tomorrow. Stay out of trouble until then.”
Darkness surges and I throw up my hand to cover my eyes. One blink and the room is empty except for me, the shadows returning to the normal faded ones from early morning.
Grace is gone.
Fuck.
