Page 91 of Heart Over Heels

“Rachel,” Narcissus grumbled while peeling his jacket open to inspect the ruined shirt inside.

“Rachel,” Antonella confirmed. “And this is sweet Molly.” She looked at the photo again. Admiring it. Admiringher.

I wanted to spring forward and tear the picture from her hand, but my sole weapon had been rendered ineffective, and Narcissus’s threat to smite me presented a concern I hadn’t had before.

“You gave me your word, Mister James,” Antonella continued, her tone threaded with steel. “When you went to work at the Dollhouse, you agreed to help me. To keep me informed.”

I didn’t bother reminding her that she’d hardly given me a choice in the matter. I followed orders like I’d been trained to do, and I’d been given cause to regret it.

The angel’s gaze swept over me, slow and unblinking. “I know the devil has his temptations. He preys on weakness, but I thought you were a stronger man. Not so susceptible to such…wickedwhims.”

My jaw clenched as memories bombarded me. Darby bouncing in his seat like a kid over a toaster oven, Zephyr swinging in Beck’s office with a lollipop in his mouth, and icy Elliot reduced to a state of panic over being manhandled by a guest.

Darby and the dolls weren’t wicked. They were kinder and more human than demons had any right to be, and I’d promised to protect them.

Antonella’s nails tapped against Molly’s photograph like a metronome of threat. “I don’t intend to negotiate with the damned,” she mused. “So if they’ve made you any offers, I won’t counter them. But I will make myself clear.” Her eyes flicked up, her pupils shrunken to pinpoints in the light. “You are mine, Mercer James, and though you have stumbled, I won’t let you fall. But you must earn your salvation.”

“Kind of you to offer grace I didn’t ask for,” I growled.

“But you need it. For yourself. For darling Molly.” She tilted her head and considered the photo again. “I wouldn’t want anythingunfortunateto happen to such a precious child.”

That was a threat, clear as glass. The angel knew too much—likely even more than she was letting on.

I flicked my eyes to Narcissus, who appeared gleeful over the whole exchange, and then to Stefano, who stood apart, his gaze distant.

The room felt darker suddenly, the half-light thicker.

Finally, I gritted out, “What do you want? The contract? I’ll look, but I can’t promise?—”

“If you find it, yes,” Antonella cut in. “But there’s something else. A simple task, really. Perhaps one more suited to your strengths.”

The pause stretched, and I hated that she made me wait for it.

“I need you to get everyone out of the club building,” she said at last.

My brow furrowed. “Why?”

Her lashes flicked, almost a flinch at having her authority questioned. “I believe what you meant to ask waswhen.”

“No,” I said, my tone sharp. “I meantwhy. Someone is always there. Usually several someones. It’s their home?—”

“Then convince them to take a vacation.” She waved a dismissive hand. “Surely even demons need a day off every once in a while.”

My mind jumped to Darby, who’d just taken a night off for the Bingo game—his first in five years. The dancers were surely all overdue for a break, but my gut told me that whatever Antonella was planning to do with an empty Dollhouse wouldn’t be good.

“Why?” I repeated at length.

She smiled, amused. “Why do they need a day off?”

“Why do you want them out of the club?” I pressed.

“Because if they were there, they would be in the way.”

My eyes narrowed. “Of what?”

“Nothing that concerns you,” Antonella replied. “Yourchild, Mister James, is your responsibility. Not safeguarding a house of whores.”

The words struck me, and I felt the hook in them, sinking in and twisting.