Page 77 of Devils Don’t Deal

I flinched. “You killed her?”

He smiled at me. “Yes.” There was a flicker of unease about him. He hadn’t liked killing the oracle.

I sniffed and cuddled my rabbit close. “Well, good riddance. Who wants an oracle who gets you pregnant when you’re trying to become the ultimate weapon? People will start to think that home and family are more important than power and revenge. We can’t have that.”

He sneered at me. “You know nothing of power and revenge.”

“And you know nothing of home and family. At least I have the excuse of not being an old, ancient, decrepit person like you to know so little.”

The daffodil fairy snorted. “You’re ridiculous.”

“And the king won’t let you kill me. Too bad.” I snuggled my rabbit, burying my face in his fur while my heart beat all over the place. I was an accident? Impossible. One thing I’d always known was that my parents had sacrificed so much for me. How else could I exist? Because some oracle had decided to play a joke on the vengeful fairy princess? But was it a joke? My mom really had been happy with my dad and me. Hadn’t she? Why would she have stayed with us if she was still driven by vengeance? Why would she have kissed my dad every day when he got home from work and told him all about the art I’d drawn or the cookies we’d baked? And why had he listened to her with glowing eyes like she was the center of his universe, like he looked at me sometimes? Love.

It was how the devil looked at me. Did he love me, or was it all a lie? My heart felt like lead in my chest. Ah. The devil’s heart was heavy because he didn’t believe in love, and me. How could I possibly change his mind after he’d been betrayed so completely by the enchantress?

Chapter

Twenty-Two

The car stopped outside the most boring house on the expensive street, and I followed the prince out, sliding slowly over the leather, scooting awkwardly with the rabbit in my arms. He felt so heavy. No, that was me.

“You can walk yourself to the door,” he said, leaning away like I might accidentally brush against him again.

I nodded and walked slowly to the door that looked more ominous and terrifying the less personality it had, and it had none. The evergreens took the shape of monsters, dragons, and other things guarding the fairy king’s castle.

When I finally got to the door, I felt like eyes were watching me. Which was silly because of course eyes were watching me. The prince was standing there looking at me like I was an idiot. I sighed and knocked on the door. It opened, and the fairy king took my hand and pulled me into the shadows.

He felt like ice and hunger. It took forever to cross the darkness and step through the falls and come out into the circle of mossy cliff faces and the devil floating there, looking dead in the rainbow pool.

I held the rabbit tight and took a shaky breath. “I don’t like the darkness,” I said, looking up at the fairy king.

He smiled at me, so deviously delighted. “I know. Your discomfort is such a pleasure to me.”

I shook off his grasp and stumbled off the stone onto the blanket that was once more spread for us. I opened my boxes from The Cat’s Pause and started eating.

“You brought dinner?” he asked, raising a brow.

“I’m a fairy-goblin. I can’t live on fairy food. Don’t you need to eat human flesh from time to time so the siren doesn’t fade away?” I took a large bite of noodles, slurping them up like I had no manners. I had so many manners, but I didn’t want to use them on the fairy king. I wanted to eat my noodles and take a nap. With the devil. Not the vicious creature who sat down opposite me.

“You didn’t bring anything for me?”

“You want some rice?” I hesitated then handed him a box.

He opened the box, sniffed, then took a bite. He made a face and put the box to the side. “It’s terrible.”

“It’s not nearly as bad as the Chinese place near the laundromat. That place is toxic. I’ve gotten food poisoning three times from eating there.”

He stared at me. “Why would you eat there more than once if you got food poisoning?”

I shrugged. “It’s cheap, and it’s between my apartment and the department store. I mean my old apartment.” Where my dad had stayed with me the last year while she was in the hospital. He went to visit her every day. Wasn’t that love?

“I see.” His voice was a low dance of mockery and mercilessness.

I smiled brightly. “The daffodil fairy told me that I’m the miraculous fruit of vengeance and whimsical oracles. But maybe I’m actually, secretly the true downfall of the fairy king.” I winked at him then took another bite of noodles with my chopsticks, losing a few in the process. Oh well. This dress could use more sauciness. Only half the skirt was missing from being caught in the door.

“Maybe so,” he replied, amused. He didn’t eat, just leaned back, poured himself a glass of rainbows and broken dreams and watched me.

It was unnerving for those dark liquid eyes to focus on me with so much intensity, but I ignored him and focused on the noodles. After I’d eaten enough to feel mostly solid, I looked at him.