Page 133 of Half Dead

“I have no idea what you mean. I work in recruitment. The goal was to recruit you. My knowledge of other departments is limited.”

I whipped the card at her. “Bullshit. You gave me this card, knowing that Lucifer was on his way because you’re the ones who gave him Kane’s location in exchange for helping to deliver me to The Corporation. You gave him information about me, too, straight from my file.” How else could Lucifer have known details about my life, like Matilda’s murder of Solomon?

Posy’s mouth twitched at the sight of the card floating to the floor between us. “I’m glad the card was useful to you. That was the whole point.”

“No, the whole point was to trick me into joining your ranks.” A sickening thought occurred to me. This was Birdie’s discovery. She wasn’t killed simply because she knew Lucifer was in Fairhaven. She was killed by a corporate assassin because she’d figured out Lucifer was in cahoots with The Corporation. The pieces catapulted into place. Lucifer hadn’t come through the crossroads; The Corporation had asked one of the Tien-Wang to open a door into Fairhaven for him to avoid detection. The trials were preplanned. I’d bet all my blueberries that someone at The Corporation likely had tabs on Kumbhakara, which was how Lucifer knew when the monster was dead. If we were preoccupied with passing a series of trials, then we wouldn’t dig any deeper to discover their collusion. Why would we when we thought we had it all figured out?

I glowered at her. “Were the trials your idea?”

The siren snorted. “Lucifer has been making deals since the dawn of time. He hardly needed our input on how to handle his beef with your boyfriend.”

I recalled Belphegor’s uncharacteristic strength. His ability to design a trial around the contents of my subconscious. His two faces, eight arms, and change in eye color.

I broke out in a cold sweat. “You gave Lucifer an elixir.” Who offered it to Belphegor. Not the kind that created avatars, however. This was a variation, one that left the demon in control of himself but with specific powers of deities. A nightmare scenario even I wouldn’t have conjured.

Posy suddenly took a great interest in the magenta polish on her fingernails.

“Tell me, was Belphegor merely a test subject for a new experiment or is this elixir already available to the highest bidders?” Brizo was the Greek goddess of the subconscious. The Hindu goddess Durga had eight arms. Janus was a Roman god with two faces. Was The Corporation holding them captive for experiments? Was I next?

Posy rolled her shoulders, as though the conversation bored her and she was ready to move on to a night of cocktails and karaoke. “I really couldn’t say.”

Her stonewalling only served to enrage me further. “Kami’s vision during our meeting—she said better the devil I know than the devil I don’t are one and the same.” Posy had called her words gibberish, but now I knew they were nothing of the kind.

“Like I told you, our Prophecy Department is right fifty percent of the time.” She shrugged. “We hedged our bets.”

“You deceived me; that makes our contract null and void. At the very least, it’s fraudulent misrepresentation.”

“That requires a false statement. What lie did we tell?”

My mind was too fuzzy with anger to think clearly. “Then it’s fraud in the inducement. Either way, the contract isn’t legally binding.”

“I suppose our legal team will have to hash that out with yours.” She blinked those thick lashes, the picture of pure innocence. “You do have a legal team, don’t you?”

“What I have is a strong desire to kill you with my bare hands.”

She tsked. “Now, now, Mel. You wouldn’t want to get sent to Human Resources for the wrong reasons on your first day, would you?”

“I would if there’s a chance they’d fire me.”

She practically purred. “Getting terminated by The Corporation isn’t what you want. Trust me. It’s right there in the word.”

“I’ll take my chances.”

“You already took your chances and lost, hence the reason you’re here now.”

“You cheated.”

“Oh, sweet summer child. There’s no honor among thieves, or gods. The Corporation does what it wants, when it wants.” She pressed a button on her phone. “As much as I’ve enjoyed getting to know you, my role with you is done. Recruitment achieved.” She shivered. “Oh, I do love that hit of dopamine when I cross another task off the list, don’t you?”

I sank into the chair across from her. “I don’t understand. You helped me win the trial, so what does Lucifer get out of the deal?” The torture he inflicted during the trials wouldn’t be enough to satisfy the supreme ruler of hell. He’d want more.

“As far as I know, Lucifer has decided to extend his stay in your adorable little town. He made so many friends during his visit, I can see why.”

My stomach dropped like Sisyphus’s stone. “He’s staying in Fairhaven?”

“Apparently so.”

Suddenly, I understood. The deal I made with Lucifer was that if I won the trials, he wouldn’t drag Kane to hell for eternal damnation, but there was nothing in the contract to prevent Lucifer from staying in Fairhaven to torture him.

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