Page 1 of Death Deals

Run.

Nothing else mattered in that moment. Nothing besides getting away from Monnie and Fairport’s cemetery.

Run as fast as you can. Don’t look back.

But where I was supposed to go? I had no idea.

Kay’s apartment or shop were both out of the question. After my unwanted visit last time, I couldn’t bring any more of my mess into her life. Sean’s trailer was a possibility since it was covered in magical wards from every supernatural species and religion imaginable, but how was I supposed to get to Smithfield on foot? It’d take forever without a car.

There was Divine Magic, my witch friend, Marla’s, touristy magic store… but that brought up the same issue as before. Did I really want to give Arianna any of my headaches, or my danger? Getting my friends involved in my demon deal could—no, would definitely—end badly.

I just couldn’t do that to them.

How had I gotten into this situation in the first place? One minute I was in Heaven, facing my Trials and about to gain my wings, all my powers, and my memories, and the next I was running for my afterlife from the Greed demon, Monnie. All because of a stupid kiss that he’d tricked me into, which had signed my soul away. Now, he wanted me to co-ride with him into the apocalypse.

Oh, and have his demon babies. Let’s not overlook that nightmare fuel. It made me want to hurl just thinking about it.

Seven days. That was my time limit. In exactly a week, my contract was up and Monnie was coming to collect on his debt.

No matter how I looked at it, I was screwed. Royally.

The whole thing pissed me off. Mostly at Monnie—that lying snake—for his dirty trick, but if I was being honest with myself, I was just as guilty for falling for it. What did I expect from a demon? Fairness? Ha! I was an idiot, plain and simple.

Since I was still new to this angel business, when it came to demons and their deals, I was green. Monnie had seen that and used it to his advantage, but that left me to figure out how to get out of his deal by myself. How to do it? I had no clue. All I knew was that I couldn’t just sit around and wait for Monnie’s Halflings to track me down. I had to find a way to break the contract.

My mind raced as I spirited through downtown Fairport. Light snow flurries were beginning to fall now, and the wind was picking up speed, promising a storm. If this were any other time, I’d probably marvel at the idea of a white Christmas, but since I was currently running for my life from the Greed demon, I couldn’t revel in it. So, I continued to sprint with no destination in mind.

Glancing up at the dark sky, I wondered if Eli or Michael could see me from Heaven’s magical oasis. Monnie had said they wouldn’t be able to track or contact me in any way while I was under his contract, but he could have been lying.

Man, I hoped he was lying.

Despair sat heavy in my gut. As much as I wished it to be true, I knew that if Elicouldfind me, he would have by now. I was on my own.

Exhausted, I slowed, checking over my shoulder for any signs of the demon or his Halfling creatures. To my relief, it seemed like he had kept his word about giving me a head start and I wasn’t being followed. Everything still hurt from my failed Ascension and fall from Heaven. Let’s not forget the Trials and the hell that maze had put me through. My mind whirled and my muscles ached as it all crept up on me.

When my vision blurred and heat crawled up my neck, I knew I was about to go down. I stopped, hands on my knees, and sucked in short breaths. The cobblestones under my feet swayed.

Shit.I closed my eyes as the wave of dizziness swept through me. It took a few minutes, but once the bout of sickness stopped, I rose slowly and took in my new surroundings.

To my right, the crumbling remains of a building stood, blackened by fire and surrounded by yellow caution tape and orange barriers. Around one of the nearby gaslamps were a cross, a bunch of candles, and a picture of a middle-aged woman with the words ‘We love you’ written across the frame.

I crept closer. As my gaze roamed over the debris, taking it all in, dread gripped me. A fire. A dead woman. A collapsed building.

Iknewthis place. I’d been here before.

This was the church from my second Trial.

I backpedaled so fast, I tripped over myself and fell onto my backside.

It couldn’t be. Itcouldn’t.The Trials weren’t supposed to be real. They were supposed to be created just for me. Manifested. Designed. Fake.

I thought back to the moment after the Trial, when I had asked Michael if it’d been real or not. He hadn’t given me a straight answer then.

My gaze roamed over the condemned church, unable to believe everything that’d happened to me and those people in there had been real. And that poor woman, the one in the picture. I hadn’t been able to save her.

If this Trial really happened, then did that mean the one with Kay and Zach and the bridge had?

My chest tightened just at the thought. I was still having a hard time erasing the image of Kay’s face as she fell to her death out of my head. The crushing emptiness it’d left me with, too—it was unshakable.

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