Page 34 of Devils Don’t Deal

“Perfect! All right. You can go now while I rest.”

He raised a brow. “Can I? In that case, I’ll take Divinity,” he said, voice low, then my warm, comforting, silky rabbit was taken away from me, leaving me feeling more miserably alone than I had in ages. Since my mom died.

“Leave him,” I whispered, because if I didn’t have my rabbit to cuddle, I’d probably burst into tears, and there was no way that wouldn’t kill my stomach considering what shaking my head had done.

The warm weight returned to my side, and I put my hand over it, catching the devil’s fingers in the process. I didn’t let go of him or the rabbit, just held on tight.

“I’ve never had such a devoted caretaker for my soul. Miss Prudence would never have cuddled a rabbit.”

I sniffed and kept holding onto his fingers. “Miss Prudence probably wasn’t a fairy-goblin.”

For a moment, he was quiet then his hand shifted until we were holding hands, legitimately two people clinging to each other. “No, she was mostly an angel.”

My heart beat faster while I held onto him, and he held back, almost as tight. “Angels shouldn’t make deals with devils.”

He gave me a soft smile, eyes like melting caramels. “Neither should fairy-goblins. You were right about releasing the Lady of the Wild Woods. I should’ve hunted her down immediately, with or without a deal. I’ll never do such a thing again.”

The glow of being told I was right shouldn’t have affected me, but it did. I wanted to hold his hand forever. “Why did the goblins want her released? Why did they want me so much in the first place?”

His eyes flickered with shifting flames. “I can’t imagine anyone not wanting you,” he murmured.

Gulp. “Stop it. You don’t want me.”

“That’s right. We agreed that I needed your love, not wanted it,” he said with eyes like pools of deepest aching.

Um. “Is this seduction? That’s not part of the deal,” I said weakly.

He studied me with a very still expression on his face. “You’re right, that’s not part of the deal.” He slid his hand out of mine despite how tightly I was holding on, gave me a slight incline of his head, then left the room, walking out briskly, forked tail flicking, leaving me alone with his soul and no hand.

I looked down at Divinity, who met my gaze with bright eyes. “Are you really his soul? Is that how you devoured that lady? Did you eat all of her or are there pieces still floating around that I don’t want to know about? Also, how can I go back to the bakery after that happened? I’m a target because you’re a target. You’re his weakness, and I’m your strength, particularly after I’ve gotten addicted to having a fluffy bunny with me all the time. You’re really soft.”

He stared back at me.

“I’m going to sleep now. Stop looking so cute.” I tugged him up and kissed his head then held him close under my chin while I inhaled his scent. Toffee? Now even the rabbit was too delicious. Life was way too confusing. Upside down was right side up; everything was topsy turvy. But at least my first day in the bakery had been profitable.

Chapter

Eleven

Islept a lot over the next few days, but when the Grand Sorcerer came in with an older red-haired guy, both of them in doctor’s coats, I considered if I was well enough to leap out the window. Since I was on one of the top floors, probably not.

Anna grinned at me while she examined her clipboard, flipping papers then handing it to the man. “So, you’re here. At my mercy.”

“As if the Grand Sorcerer has such a thing as mercy.” I tried to smile sweetly and failed. Was I cranky? Yes. I needed to be in the bakery a week ago. Just because I’d been skewered by a blood sword didn’t mean… I mean, it did mean that I needed to rest and recover, but it wasn’t fair. All because some rabbit had taken a liking to my cake box.

She laughed like I was hilarious then the smile vanished and she leaned forward to frown at me. “Tell me about the creature that attacked you. Corporeal or incorporeal? Your file says a blood infection and corruption, but you seem fine other than the huge hole in your belly.”

I sighed heavily. It didn’t hurt as much as it had, and I felt better with my rabbit snuggled up beside me. “What will you give me for the information?”

She squinted at me. “Always with the bartering. You’d think you were a devil. I can heal you more quickly. It’ll hurt like the devil, but you’d rather get out of that bed than not have a little pinch of pain.”

The man grunted and shook his head. It would be more than a pinch of pain, but she was right about my priorities.

“She’s called the Lady of the Wild Woods. She hangs out in parks or woods or whatever, making it darker than usual, and takes out transients and other weak creatures until she’s stronger. The goblins arranged her release in exchange for my debts. So that’s on me. The rabbit ate her, but not until after she got annoying.”

She looked at the rabbit in all his pulsing ephemeral perfection. “Describe what annoying looks like.”

“Blood swords, but I broke the first one with a teapot, and that got blood everywhere when the sword exploded. So gross. The second one didn’t explode until it was inside my stomach.” I made a face. “Not hygienic.”