it were only long enough to shoot and run.
“I wish to bargain,” I managed to say, thankful that my voice sounded stronger—surer than I felt.
“Bargain?” he repeated. Not like he didn’t understand the word, but like he didn’t understand what place it had here. Which was crazy because bargains were the only ways that a summoning could even work. Not that one ever had.
“For freedom,” I said, a plan developing in my mind. “And . . .”
“And?” the demon prompted, taking a step closer. A chilled brush of something ran up my spine, leaving a trail of gooseflesh in its wake.
“I want you to kill them,” I said. My words were met by a cry of protest from those around the circle. While they were not in it, they were also bound to it. If even a single one ran, the circle would break, and with it, any hold they had in keeping us there. I half hoped they would. It would make it that much easier. “That one lives.” I pointed to Claude without looking at him.
The corners of his lips lifted slightly, but it wasn’t a kind expression. It was amused, if not a little cruel. “Is that all?” he asked, stepping forward once more.
“Yes,” I said.
I was making a deal with a devil. Quite literally.
If I didn’t make a deal, though . . . the consequences would be worse. I couldn’t die. Not yet. Not before I fixed her.
The demon took another step forward, coming to stand directly before me.
“Very well,” he said, softly. “I will bargain with you.” I wished I could say that I was relieved, but had I known that Claude would be here, I never would have let them summon a demon. For what demons gave, they asked so much more.
And this demon? I had a feeling he’d demand more than any of them.
“What is the price?” I asked him.
He smiled, and it was tragically alluring. Beautiful and awful at once.
My heart skipped as he leaned forward, our faces only inches apart.
The silver in his eyes was anything but human. It swirled around the dark pupils like mercury. Unnatural and deadly.
I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach what he would ask in return. That didn’t make it any easier to hear.
“You.”
5
Me.
He wanted me.
My head pounded with the beat of drums. Of battles. Adrenaline flooded my system and my skin became sensitive. Even the brush of air against it felt sharp. Painful. My breath turned ragged.
“You want me?” I asked because my thoughts were scrambled. I needed to buy time.
I could have sworn I saw amusement in his eyes as he said, “I did not stutter.”
“Why do you want me?” I replied, a harder tone entering my voice. The amusement that twinkled slowly bled out as something else took its place. Something dangerous.
“Does it matter?” he replied.
“Yes.”
“You called to me,” he said slowly. “I am intrigued.”
“Intrigued?” I repeated.
Slowly, I edged to the side, taking a single step. Black fire raged in his eyes as I did so. Faster than I could react, his hand locked around my wrist, the one not holding the gun.
A jolt like electricity shot through me.
My heart quickened. I sensed my defenses falling. I was approaching that dangerous precipice where there was no coming back.
I couldn’t let that happen. For a decade, I’d kept my secret from the world.
It would be another decade before I would let anyone reveal it.
“That’s unfortunate,” I said softly, my voice mirroring his own. I mimicked the tone intentionally. Even as my heart rate approached that treacherous line.
“How so?” he asked me, clearly perplexed by my words.
The corners of my lips turned up. I lifted the free hand with my gun and pointed it between his eyes. “You can’t have me.”
Fury flashed through his features. The corded muscle in his neck went taut. The demon’s nostrils flared, and I felt the hand locked on my wrist tighten.
Then I pulled the trigger.
A single shot echoed throughout the cathedral.
The hand gripping me slipped, and I darted to the side. While my knowledge of most of the supernatural world was good, demons were in a league all their own. They didn’t originate in this world, and there were so few of them that information about them was scarce. I had no idea if that bullet would put him down, or—if it would—for how long.
Magic pulsed within the circle, and it had nothing to do with the coven.
I turned and fired my gun at the witch