Page 65 of Death Deals

“I’ll do it,” Eli said. Glancing at me one last time, he vanished in a blaze of white light. It engulfed the room, bright enough to blind, before extinguishing again.

“I really hate when he does that,” Sean mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

“Mm, mm, mm, I hate to see him go, but I love to watch him leave.” Arianna stared at the spot Eli stood a second ago. “That angel is something else.”

“Arianna,” Kay scolded.

“What? It’s true.”

At any other time, I would have found her reaction humorous—Hell, Eli’s beauty still stunned me sometimes—but right now, all I was thinking about was Monnie and the time ticking on by. Monnie had said my contract was up after the New Year, but if he didn’t mean immediately after midnight, he could come for me at any time.

A surprise attack.

That was a hundred times scarier.

Andre came to my side. “Jade,” he whispered. The sound of my first name in his French accent was a strange thing to hear.

“If you need to go back to the party, I understand,” I told him. “You shouldn’t leave Hector and the others there by themselves. Just in case.”

He bowed his head as if he knew he should but didn’t want to. “I’ll come right back,” he assured me. “In the meantime, I think you all should move to The Grand. It’s safe there.”

Arianna raised her hand. “Oh yeah, I’m all for camping out in a five-star hotel. I can draw my magical wards pretty much anywhere.”

“Me too,” Sean made sure to add.

“I’ll make sure there are rooms for all of you,” Andre said before turning to face me. “I won’t be long. I promise you.”

“Okay.”

He took me by the hand and pressed his lips to the back of it. The memory of our steamy sex session in the storage closet popped from my memory, and desire stirred awake again. When his hooded eyes peered up at me and a smirk appeared, heat crawled up my neck.

From across the room, Cole snorted. Loudly. “We can’t miss you unless you leave,” he said. “So go.”

Without missing a beat, Andre grabbed me around the waist, pulled me in, and kissed me. Knowing Cole was watching this time, he made sure to make a show of it, cupping the side of my face and sweeping his tongue into my mouth.

Instantly, my knees weakened. I felt woozy, my head spinning, but whether it was from the lingering effects of blood loss or my ever-growing craving for this vampire, I didn’t know.

In the background, I heard someone’s satisfied whistle—Arianna, if I had to guess—because Kay’s hard shush followed right after.

“Get a room you two.” Sean let out a disgusted grunt.

Finally, Andre stepped back, releasing me from his spell. My lips felt swollen from the kiss, and I touched them, dazed.

He said nothing. He didn’t need to; his message was clear. Then, with one last smug look Cole’s way, he strolled down the steps and disappeared.

As an awkward and tense silence settled over the room, the scent of fire rose and Cole’s fists glowed dangerously red.

Standing in the balcony doorway in the Grand Piazza, I watched as the early morning sun peeked over the horizon along the water. I was really pushing the limits of my phobia, but as long as I stayed with one foot inside the room, it wasn’t too bad. Quite beautiful, actually. From the height of Kay and Arianna’s room, I could see a harbor much like Fairport’s a few blocks away, where massive sail and fishing boats docked for the winter season.

Since their hotel suite was only two floors down from the one Andre and I shared, the wind blew harder up here, throwing my hair about and stinging my nose and eyes. But I didn’t mind it. Having these few moments alone, watching the rising sun, it was peaceful, despite the cold.

With my head start over, as Monnie called it, and the contract up, the Greed demon would be coming to collect my soul. Ironically, in the same city I’d lived and died in. Funny how things had worked like that. My past and future colliding again in Laurel Heights, Michigan.

For now, our plan was to bunker down in The Grand, but there was the unspoken truth that we couldn’t stay here forever. We all knew it. I didn’t want my friends to continue to hinder their own lives because of me. The fact that they’d jumped to rescue me at all was shocking enough. And humbling.

Honestly, I hadn’t expected it at all. But I appreciated it, more than they probably knew. From all of them.

Yes, even Cole. As aggravating as he was.

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