Page 32 of Devils Don’t Deal

I stared at him. “What?”

He winced. “That doesn’t make things clearer, does it?”

“No. Devils don’t have souls. Everyone knows that. They particularly don’t have souls inside rabbits.”

He gave me the slightest glimmer of a smile while his dark eyes sparked and my mouth felt really big on my face. Kissing a devil was worth dying for. “You see,” he said in his low, silky voice, “I was given a split soul.”

I stared at him. He was so nice to stare at. “That makes literally no sense. You make deals with lots of whole souls. Why would you make a deal for half?”

He cleared his throat. “It was a long time ago, my first soul-exchange, and I kept it for myself. It seemed like having a soul would be a good idea.”

I squinted at him then shook my head. “But how did the soul get into a rabbit? You’re saying that you’ve had a rabbit soul hopping around biting people for hundreds of years? How old are you, anyway? Never mind. Let’s focus on the most relevant bits.” I frowned down at Divinity, and he was ridiculously glowing and ethereal. Very soul-like. “Why does your soul bite me?”

“Ah. That’s also something I should explain.” And then he didn’t explain.

I stared at the devil with his cut cheekbones and mesmerizing eyes.

He stared back.

I cleared my throat. “Aren’t you going to explain why your rabbit soul bites me? If it is your soul, because that part still makes no sense. Also, splitting my soul to give to someone would kill me. Why would anyone do something that stupid? Does that make them your soulmate? And why would your soul be so judgmental? Is it really yours if it’s part of someone else’s? And how could they possibly make it yours?” I shook my head. Ow. That took stomach muscles? Annoying.

He gave me a blinding smile. “So you see,” which I absolutely didn’t, “you don’t have to worry about hospital bills or anything else because I owe you for saving my soul. Consider us even.”

“How did I save your soul?” I looked at Divinity again. The thing glowed like he could save other people’s souls. “Are you really his soul?”

Divinity glowed at me.

“Because if you are, don’t you think you should be inside his body where you can be the most use? Like, you could be his conscience. Judgmental looks aren’t nearly as good as pressing against his brain in long diatribes listing all the reasons he’s doing stupid things. You could’ve kept him from releasing the Lady of the Wild Woods before she turned my cupcakes into confetti.” I looked up at the devil and found him staring, but the expression on his face was soft, amused, like he found me talking to his soul charmingly sweet. “The Lady of the Wild Woods had no respect for my baked goods. That’s what happens. You stop enjoying life, go on too many diets, cut out too many pleasures, and the next thing you know, you’re slaughtering transients and happy bakers. Oh! How much money did I make?”

He stared at me. “Um. Am I supposed to know that?”

I gave him a look. “I’m paying you back. Shouldn’t you be concerned about my profit margin?”

“My soul is in a very good state. If you’d like to cancel the deal, and⁠—”

“What? Just because the rabbit’s not dying doesn’t mean you’re out of the deal. I’m keeping the bakery. In five years of profits, it’s mine!”

He gave me a soft smile. It had to be a lie because devils weren’t soft, but it looked real. Creepy. Also incredibly beguiling. “Of course it’s yours. I’m saying that…” His smile faded. “The rabbit soaked up your life force, particularly when you cuddled it to sleep all night. It was a bit like cuddling me.”

I stared at him while the caramel kiss hit me and made me want to burrow under my pillows and never emerge. “Oh. You didn’t mention it.”

“No. I never had to say anything to his last keeper. Prudence believed strongly that animals should stay in their proper place.”

“So she put your soul in cages. Didn’t that hurt?”

He stared at me. “I don’t mind pain, particularly when it’s deserved. I shouldn’t have made that deal. There were a lot of deals I made that thoroughly destroyed people.” He raised a hand with rings, many with glowing stones. “I still have their souls. Some here that won’t be forgotten.”

I stared at those rings, which were now quite creepy thanks to knowing that they held souls. Super creepy. Like sleeping in Divinity’s dead mistress’s bed. With his soul.

“So, why did your soul bite me?” I asked, staring at my hands, not him, not the rabbit, which was his soul, just my normal, ordinary, impossible fairy-goblin hands.

“To take your love.”

I looked up at him, confused and weirded out. “My love isn’t in my blood.”

He studied me evenly. “You put your love into everything you make, everything you do, everything you are. My soul has been feeding on your love. Taking pieces of you physically is too much, but my soul craves love.”

I stared at him while my heart beat too fast. He looked sad about it, but why should he be sad when he ran around messing with other people’s lives, deaths, souls? “Tell me more about the person who gave you this half-soul. What were they like?”