Wanted Angel - Sadie Moss Page 0,33

from where I stand, and I know I’ve piqued his interest. I name a figure that makes Trinity let out a little squeak of surprise, and the demon’s eyes widen. He takes another step forward, watching us warily.

“And what do you want in exchange?” he demands.

“One of us bears a demon mark. We want you to remove it.”

He grimaces. “Remove a demon mark? You know that goes against my own kind, right?”

I shrug. “That’s for you to decide. We’ve told you what we want and offered our price. You can choose whether to accept it or not.”

To my left, Knight gestures subtly with his hands. And what do we do if he chooses not to accept?

Remi catches his gaze and shrugs as if to say, your guess is as good as mine.

I ignore them both, keeping my focus entirely on the demon. I don’t feed any greed into him, certain that he’ll know if I try to manipulate him. He’s already skittish, and I’m sure that would make him reject our offer. So instead of pushing greed toward him, I just breathe deeply, testing the greed that emanates from him.

It’s strong. He wants this. Badly.

And it’s not just the money he seems greedy for. It’s what the money represents.

Freedom.

“You go to Earth to escape, don’t you?” I ask, watching him carefully. “When Isaac summons you, you’re only too happy to go. If you take our offer, you could escape Hell permanently.”

“What makes you think I want to escape?” The demon scoffs, but I can hear the lie in his voice.

“Very well. We’ll look for a solution to our problem elsewhere.”

I turn to leave. Ryland shoots me a sharp look, and I can tell he thinks I’ve played this card too early, but his pride won’t let him look the fool by staying behind. So he turns too, and the others follow our lead.

My hand is on the doorknob when the demon’s voice cuts through the silence behind me.

“Wait.”

I do. My fingers remain wrapped around the knob, but I grow still, waiting for him to continue.

“I’ll do it,” he says, and if there’s a note of defeat in his voice, there’s a note of excitement too. “If it gives me the chance to get out, I’ll do it.”

All eight of us turn back to face him. Trinity steps forward, her eyes shining. “Can you really remove the mark?”

The demon grins, revealing slightly jagged teeth. “Isaac didn’t send you to me for nothing. I’m the best at what I do.”

Now that a deal has been struck, he seems to relax a little. He ushers us deeper inside his shop, which is little more than a grungy, mostly empty room. He directs Trinity to take off her shirt, which nearly earns him a decapitation at Ford’s hands. This time, not even Trin’s sweet, calming words can get Ford to calm all the way down, but Remi and Knight pull him away, restraining him and keeping him from attacking Flynn as the demon gets to work.

My jaw clenches so tightly that my teeth ache as I watch him trace a claw-tipped finger over her left shoulder blade. Every one of my brothers looks agitated—even Knight and Remi, who are still doing their best to contain Ford.

“Ah. Hmm…” Flynn makes a face, his gray skin wrinkling. “This is a powerful mark. It’ll take a bit of time to remove it.”

“Then we’d better get started right away,” I say, a command in my tone.

He nods absently, his fingers still tracing a pattern over Trinity’s skin. I’m about to pull his hand away and break every one of his bony fingers when he looks up, meeting my gaze. “You know, even though the mark can’t be seen, it has a shape.”

“So?”

I shift my weight in agitation. He’d better not be stalling just to delay removing Trinity’s mark. Every second that it remains on her is a second we’re at risk of being attacked—especially down here in Hell, where there are thousands of demons who could be attracted to the pull of the mark.

“So I can draw the shape for you if you like.” He speaks slowly, like he’s explaining something to a child, and I have to resist the urge to reach out and grab him by the throat. “Whoever put this on her, this is their mark. It’s very likely you’d be able to find out who did it if you found the mark.”

I hesitate, blinking at him. The most important thing is getting the target