Page 83 of Devils Don’t Deal

He cupped my face, trailing his fingers along my jaw as he leaned on the door, hanging over me while he stared at my face, studying every line and curve. “Am I yours, Mistress Impossible? What do you intend to do with me?”

My mouth went dry and my whole body turned to lead. He leaned down slowly, slowly, and my eyes drifted closed while my face lifted, ready to be kissed.

The door opened, and we both fell through, him landing on top of me and crushing my lungs. He lay there for a beat, our noses brushing, eyes filled with endless, eternal hunger that made my toes curl then he looked past me, and the rage and malevolence in his eyes made me shiver.

He stretched his wings then, in a blur, he struck the enchantress in her place across the room, ripping her to pieces.

It was so fast. And then he burned her to ashes. He turned to look at me, claws dripping with her blood, chin splashed with dark red that bits of swirling ash were starting to stick to.

“And now the wedding.”

I looked around at the casino, the blood-red felt tables, the red-and-black striped walls, and the floor’s black-and-red checks. Everything was death and violence. And I was still on my knees, because everything had happened before I’d had time to stand. Or breathe.

I gasped a breath and held my rabbit close. Was he okay after the original owner of his soul was killed? He snuggled under my chin as if to reassure me.

“I don’t have a dress,” I said while the devil came toward me, black suit hiding the blood but not the ashes.

He walked slowly, frowning as he came closer.

“Don’t you have an entire rack of ballgowns in your room? Or you could wear your mother’s fairy dress. Personally, I think you look perfect exactly as you are.”

I looked down at my torn and stained blue dress with its shredded skirt, one part of it quite short, showing a lot of thigh. How had my thigh gotten so soft and curvy? When was the last time I’d seen myself in a full-length mirror? Had I gotten fat? I blinked when I realized what he’d said.

“You think I’d look good in my mother’s dress?” He remembered?

He reached me and held out his hand to help me to my feet. “Wear whatever you’d like.”

I smiled and squeezed his hand while my heart beat faster and faster. He remembered my dresses. He was still there, the devil I’d always love. “Let’s get married right this second then. Do we need a priest or just a license? We can go to the night court.” We needed to hurry before he changed his mind. The devil wouldn’t agree to marry me, would he? But his heart would, because he wanted to mess with me. So we had to move fast while his heart was still mostly in control. He was losing his grip, though, or he wouldn’t have remembered my mother’s dress.

He looked down at my feet. “You don’t have shoes.”

“Neither do you. We match, as a wedding party should. Come on!” I tugged him toward the door on the other side of the room, beneath the cages of people who looked curiously down at us. I stopped at the door and pointed at them. “Maybe you should let them out before we go.”

He glanced up, then the cages all fell to right above the floor, doors opening. “Of course.”

I tucked my hand around his arm and kept pulling him through the door. “What’s the quickest route to the night court?”

He swept me up into his arms, grinning at me with his fierce eyes and sharp teeth. “This way.” And then he spread his wings and the world became a blur around us while he tucked me close to his chest, my cheek against his throat, the scent of him making me delirious and delighted. I nibbled on his throat, licking his sweet skin until, with a lurch, we stopped, dropping down to a sidewalk outside the night courthouse in Song.

He didn’t put me down, just carried me, getting looks from all the people we passed—guards, other people who didn’t recognize this version of my devil.

When we stepped inside, we were stopped by a vampire female, who flashed a hard smile at us. She wore a badge, so she must’ve been a guard. “How can I help you?”

“We’re getting married,” I said quickly. “Don’t they do that here?”

She stared at me. “You’re the goblin-fairy.”

“Fairy-goblin,” my devil corrected, giving me a slight smile before he gave her a hardened look with absolutely no expression. “Is there a judge available to perform the honors?”

“You’re the Devil of Wonderland. I thought you sold out to a fairy enchantress.”

He stared at her until she shifted nervously.

“Judge McCoy might agree to take you so you don’t have to wait for the regular office to open. You smell like blood and ashes.”

“That was earlier,” I said quickly. “We’re all done killing people tonight.”

“Unless we’re unduly delayed,” my devil said, giving me a slight smile while those eyes flickered with mischief.