Page 82 of Death Match

“Oh, don’t tell me you’ve forgotten about me already.” When the person leaned forward, into the glow of my power, the light revealed the shiny buttons on an expensive maroon suit, eerie red eyes, and the all too familiar wide grin of a very pleased Greed demon.

I scolded myself for not recognizing the voice sooner. “Monnie.”

He held out his hands, as if presenting himself to an audience. “The one and only.”

I refrained from rolling my eyes. Still wearing the same human “skin” he’d possessed when I’d first met him, he sat perfectly perched on the edge of a tombstone, with his long legs crossed and his pimp cane stuck in the ground nearby.

“I thought I smelled something fishy,” I said. “And not from the harbor, either.”

He grimaced, looking almost offended by that. But he shrugged it away just as fast. “You’re a clever one, Jade,” he said. “Have you figured out that I brought you back to the place where it all began? It’s where we first met. Do you remember? Fairport’s oldest cemetery.”

So, I was in Fairport again…

And what was he implying, exactly? He made it sound like he was doing something romantic by us being here.

Then something struck me. Did he say hebroughtme here? What did that mean?

I remembered the strange pulling and pushing I’d felt before. The heaviness. It was as if something—or someone—was wrenching me out of Heaven.

And then I had ended up here. In the living world. In a cemetery with Monnie.

Could he be telling me the truth? Was that even possible?

Couldn’t be.

As if he read my mind, he drawled sweetly, “That’s right, Jade. I am the reason you are here.”

“You’re bluffing.”

He shrugged his shoulders like what he was suggesting was no big thing, and the gesture seemed strange in his overstuffed, tacky-ass suit.

“Me? Lie?” Monnie threw his head back and let out a short laugh. “Never.”

I ground my teeth. He always knew how to get under my skin and test my patience. If he was telling the truth, though, he had found a way to take me out of Heaven and pull me to earth. I never heard of a demon having that kind of power. I had always assumed Heaven was off limits to his kind.

The only way I was going to get the answers I needed was if I went with his stupid back and forth game and gave him what he wanted.

“All right,” I said after a moment. “I’ll play along. So, you brought me here. Why?”

Monnie examined the many rings on his fingers, suddenly very interested in them. “I brought you here because it’s coming time for me to collect on your debt,” he said simply.

Um, what? A debt? What debt? What was he talking about?

Growing more annoyed by the second, I clenched my fists. My white light glowed brighter, pushing the light further out. It illuminated him and his spot completely, and I was relieved when no headache followed. At least I had my powers with me now, powers I could call on with a thought. Powers that would protect me.

Monnie winced a bit at the brightness, his red eyes flashing, but then he cleared his throat. “Do you mind?” he asked and pointed to my glowing hands.

With a silent command, I was able to get the light to dim. Not extinguish completely—I didn’t want to lose him in the darkness or get rid of my upper hand—but just lowered the dial down a notch.

He sighed in relief. “Thank you. It’s appreciated.”

So polite for an original sin demon.

“So, tell me, Monnie. What do you mean by debt? I don’t owe you anything,” I said. Monnie hadn’t hurt me so far. We’d made a couple of deals together, like when he helped me get out of Hell or told me about the last ingredient for the demon cure, but as far as I knew, I had repaid them all. We were even-steven.

Monnie’s smile captured his entire face, as if he’d been waiting for me to ask this very question for a long time. “My dear, sweet Jade,” he purred. “It’s quite simple really. I own you.”

I laughed. He wasn’t being serious. “Excuse me? Own me?”

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