word he spoke. By the end of the sentence, he regarded me with the same sour expression as before, and I had the sinking feeling he sported that look for me specifically, rather than being a grouch in general.
I clenched my teeth, fighting the heat of embarrassment rolling through me. Sardonic ass.
“So just live here on Earth, then,” I snapped. “I’m sure it beats whatever shithole in Hell you call home.”
I regretted those words as soon as they’d left my mouth. My sense of self-preservation, it seemed, operated with a delay of a few seconds. Unfortunately, that’s all my temper needed to get the better of me.
The light dimmed, sucked away as if devoured by ravenous shadows, until the only things illuminating the darkness were the glowing storm gray of his eyes and the flames whispering over his wings.
“Careful,” he murmured. “You’re speaking of your future home.”
Relief flooded me when he let the light crawl back into the room. I swallowed hard.
“My point,” I said, taking care to keep my tone polite, “was that it seems the better option for you to live on Earth.”
“No.” His eyes glittered hard.
I stared at him.
He stared back.
Taking a deep breath, I reined in my rising anger. “Why. Not.”
“I’m bound to Hell.”
I blinked. “You’re here now.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw. “There are limits to how long I can stay.”
“Oh.” My shoulders sagged. If he truly wasn’t able to live on Earth, and the contract specified we had to live together...I would really have to go to Hell with him.
My heart leapt into my throat, its beat too fast. The room seemed to close in on me, and this time I was sure it wasn’t the demon’s doing.
I couldn’t let him take me. There had to be a way out, a loophole, something. I wasn’t just going to up and leave my life here for a likely torturous existence in a dimension of nightmares.
I had been inching away from him, and now the backs of my knees bumped into the couch. I almost lost my balance, but caught myself with one hand on a cushion. My gaze fell on my purse, which I had thrown here earlier—and on the mace sticking out of it.
On an impulse, I grabbed the spray, aimed it at the demon and pressed the trigger. A surprisingly long stream of misty liquid shot out. It would have hit him somewhere on his torso...if the agile bastard hadn’t sidestepped the spray with supernatural grace.
The shot hit the wall, leaving a faint stain as if someone had taken a water pistol to the wallpaper.
“Pepper spray?” the demon asked. “Really?”
My eyes flicked to him, and I flinched. He looked outwardly calm, bored even, but there was something writhing underneath his nonchalance, like he was one wrapping-that-doesn’t-open-where-it-should away from snapping like a workaholic who’d run out of coffee.
I wondered what kind of day he’d had, whether he’d run into problem after problem only to be now faced with having to wrangle an unsuspecting, unprepared and altogether uncooperative human woman into marriage and a trip back to Hell. I was probably the cherry on top of his shit sundae, and here I was, trying to attack him with pepper spray. I admit it. Of all the moronic things I’d done, this ranked pretty damn high.
Right under summoning a demon in a joke séance, of course.
I smiled apologetically. Or rather, I tried to. My smile ended in a grimace as I started coughing and wheezing. My eyes watered, and I gasped at the burning sensation. “Stop,” I croaked. “I’m sorry!”
“It’s not me,” the demon said, exasperation in his voice. I couldn’t see it through the tears blurring my vision, but I had the distinct impression he was rolling his eyes. “It’s what happens when someone is idiotic enough to use pepper spray indoors.”
With a flick of his wrists, the windows slid open. A merciful breeze blew inside, and I took a deep breath. Thank heavens.
In my defense, I’d never tested the pepper spray before. How could I have known one pump of it released a stream big enough to paint the wall in Jackson Pollock style?
My eyes were still stinging, my lungs felt like I’d dipped them in acid, but I mastered what I hoped was a propitiatory smile and said, “My apologies for that. Just a case of nerves. It’s all a bit much, you know? I’m sorry for overreacting.” I swallowed, pushing down my anxiety. “I’ll be ready in a few minutes. I just