Page 18 of Kisses at the Crossroads

I can’t hear Drake’s response, but there’s a thud of a glass on the bar top.

Pike’s back in the room. It’s just the two of us, and I’m glad I have more clothes on than just a pair of shorts. Pike’s in a dark gray suit that looks immaculate on him. His horns shine in the bright lights. His tail sways from side to side.

“Come, have a seat.” He gestures towards the couch on the opposite wall. There’s a huge bed in the back of the room, and I have to wonder if Drake has been making anyone sleep with patrons or not.

I take a few hesitant steps towards the couch before Pike stops me. “Where are my manners? Have you eaten today? Probably not. Give me a second.”

Before I can even answer, Pike disappears and I’m in the room all alone.

“What is going on today?” I whisper as I drag my hands down the silk shirt. “Presents and food?” I don’t understand.

“Miss me?” Pike says with his arms full of pizza boxes. He’s close enough that his tail wraps around me. “It’s nice outside. Let’s eat on the roof.”

Before I can say anything, we’re on the roof and he sets the pizza on the small bistro table we keep up here.

“Eat. We have much to discuss.”

Chapter 10

Pike

It takes a few slices for Trick to realize I’m not here to do unspeakable things to him. He keeps side-eyeing me as he wanders the roof. I let him do as he pleases since I’m not sure how often he gets the freedom.

“Drake will be mad if I fly away,” Trick says as he sits in the seat beside me. His big blue-gray eyes look up at me as if to challenge him.

“As long as you’re still tethered to him, he’ll always find you. And you can’t leave town if you want to live.”

“I can hide in the woods. Drake hates the outdoors.”

“He may hate the outdoors, but he doesn’t need to go searching for you. He just needs to tug on the tether and you’ll be back in his clutches like the other night.”

Trick slumps and takes another slice of pizza. “He wasn’t so bad in the beginning. But I don’t know what happened. I did everything he asked me to. Then he started hitting me. And…” Trick squeezes his eyes shut. “He started hurting Ava because of me. I don’t know how to make it up to her.”

The knowledge breaks my heart. “I’m so sorry, Trick. Some people are just rotten.”

“Drake’s rotten to the core.” Trick finishes his slice and tips his face to the sun. His wings glitter in the light. His hair rides softly on the wind.

I want to put him at ease, so I chose to tell him my story. “We’re alike, you and I.”

His brows scrunch. “I don’t understand. You’re a crossroads demon with freedom.”

I snort as I swallow my last bite. “How wrong you are. I have more freedom than you do, yes. But I’m bound to a crossroads. And unlike the rest of my brethren, I was bound at fifteen instead of twenty.”

“Why?”

“I was a dumb kid and pranked the king of the crossroads demons. Which may have resulted in a part of his tail needing to be amputated. I swear the prank never should have gotten as out of hand as it did, but it did. Poe punished me by binding me to a crossroads at fifteen instead of twenty, like everyone else. Fifteen-year-olds, demons or not, aren’t mature or wise enough to take on the burden of a crossroads.”

“I’m sorry.” Trick holds out his hand and I take it.

“It’s okay. Poe and I are on great terms now. It probably has more to do with the fact that my first deal I snagged a soul. No demon of any type has been able to bargain for a soul in at least two centuries. Poe gave me a house and let me pick a Hellhound, and he’s been friendly ever since. But the problem is I haven’t had a deal since that first one. No one has summoned me until you.”

“And I can’t even make a deal. Will my soul work? When it’s free, I mean.” Trick’s voice is soft. He’s nibbling on his bottom lip and staring off into space when I look at him.

I rub my thumb along his. “We’ll come to that later. Right now, we need to focus on getting rid of the tether so you can make a deal.”

“How do we do that?”

I explain what Poe told me and watch as Trick’s shoulders slump and his wings droop.

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