Page 117 of The Devil and His Sparrow

“Iyla!”

By some miracle, my eyes peeled open to catch sight of a wild-eyed demon leaping onto the stage and running toward me. He was shirtless with only tight black pants on. Thick metal chainless cuffs wrapped around his wrists. Horns jutting up from raven hair and black-and-red slitted eyes drew closer. Even with my life seconds away from draining from my body, I managed to crack a small smile at the dark-haired demon.

“Zagan.”

I wasn’t sure if the name left my lips or if I’d merely said it in my head. All I knew was one second I was slumped over the piano as nothing more than a limp doll, and the next, I was being pulled into familiar arms—arms that felt like home.

My head fell against his shoulder, and I breathed in the warm scent of spice and fire. “Mmm. Found you.”

The club disappeared, and my vision filled with Babette’s office. Zagan and I were on the ground, my limp body pulled into his lap. His arms tightened around me when Babette towered over us.

The glare she fixed on me could’ve frozen Hell. “This doesn’t mean love is real.”

I met her glare with one of my own. Or at least, I tried. I wasn’t sure if my face cooperated. “I won. A deal is a deal. Give me Zagan back, and make sure my sister stays healthy.”

“Deal?” Zagan snapped. His alarmed black-and-red slitted eyes looked me over. “You made a deal with Babette?”

Babette snarled. “Fine. Take your stupid bond back.” She snapped her fingers, and the cuffs squeezing Zagan’s wrists evaporated in a plume of shadows, leaving only raw red skin behind. “Now get out of my club.”

“With pleasure,” Zagan growled through gritted teeth.

With another swirling of shadows and a burst of cold air, I found myself back in the foyer of Zagan’s place near the summoning circle I’d made. As soon as we were there, Zagan looked down at me, still barely hanging onto life in his lap.

“Fuck, Iyla!”

He gently laid me on my side, facing away from him. He lifted my shirt and let out a string of curses that I was too drained to pay attention to. His fingers pressed into the shredded skin of my back, and the pain flared to life before fading. Like water soaking into a sponge, the bone-deep ache seemed to draw away from the edges of my back and crawled toward the center where Zagan’s hand rested. When the pain faded, not only was the burn gone, but energy flooded back into my system, too.

I sat up with a gasp and turned on my butt to meet Zagan’s eyes. The moment our gazes locked, all the earlier feelings of impetuosity, determination, and need crashed into me.

Tears flooded my eyes, and I climbed onto his lap to straddle him and cup his cheeks. “I found you. I found you, you big, stupid, selfless demon!”

I gripped the back of his neck and pulled his head toward mine until our lips met. His arms circled me and held me with a tightness that seemed just as desperate as my own hold. We’d both feared that moment in the ballroom would be our last together, so now, we clung to each other and kissed with all the unspoken words raging inside us.

Zagan pulled back, just as breathless as me. He gave an incredulous shake of his head, and his thumbs brushed under my eyes to clear the wetness there. “What were you thinking? Why did you go there? Why would you do that?”

I laughed at his ridiculous question and tangled my fingers in the hair at the back of his head. “Do you really need to ask? You can’t think of any reason why I would’ve chased after you and made a deal with a demon for your return?”

Understanding softened his eyes, and he gently stroked my cheek. I leaned into his touch, unable to help myself. Relief unlike any other spiraled around inside me, mingling with a warm, fuzzy lightness.

“We can’t trust Babette to actually uphold the contract that healed Gemma since she didn’t get to keep me,” Zagan said. He looked to the empty space near us and barked, “Coldin.”

I looked around the room to see if the demon was here, but I saw nothing. Facing Zagan again, I explained, “Coldin’s not here. Dante—”

Zagan held up a finger. I closed my mouth and waited like he seemed to be doing. The space he stared at was empty when a blink later, Coldin appeared, as straight-faced as ever.

Ahh. That must be shadow speak.

I grimaced, realizing how helpful that would’ve been if Babette hadn’t blocked his ability while in her possession. It didn’t matter now, though. I had my demon back.

“Coldin,” Zagan said firmly. “I need you to do something. Babette has a contract I made with her. I need you to get it and bring it back.” Zagan paused, and his eyes darkened a fraction. “Kill her while you’re there.”

My stomach dropped with the last order, but then something even more terrifying happened.

Coldin smiled.

“Fucking finally,” Coldin sneered, his features thinning and darkening.

He vanished, gone too quickly for me to see what he’d started to morph into.

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