Page 7 of Death Deals

“I’m afraid to ask, but what do you need me for?”

“Security,” he said. “And a bit of extra muscle. We saw what you did to the attacking Omaris in the street. Even as they drained you. That light you emit is powerful.”

Thinking back to my last moments of consciousness, I remembered seeing light flashing and feeling the push of release. It must have been my power’s last attempt to save me. I hadn’t even realized I’d done it.

“We’re assuming Imani won’t trust us immediately,” Andre said. “It may take some smart thinking and…persuadingto convince her to listen.”

I didn’t like the sound of that.

“And Imani is…?” I asked.

“The oldest living Omari,” Andre replied. “Their Queen.”

Queen? Hm… I didn’t know vampires followed a royalty idea when it came to their families. Then again, I just knew the basics when it came to their kind, like I did with most things.

“So, let me get this straight,” I began. “You want to make some sort of peace treaty with the Omaris out of the blue, yet you were fighting them the other night? Sounds counterproductive to me.”

“Like I said before, old habits die hard. They don’t exactly want to sit down and talk it out. All our attempts have ended in death. On both sides,” he explained. “It’s why I’m asking you for your help. We can’t keep going on this way.”

“And is your Queen on board with this plan of yours?” I asked.

“King. And yes, he is,” he said. “And so are the Perezes.”

That surprised me.

“I have their King’s delegate downstairs as we speak, waiting on me. We had planned on taking a trip up north tonight with some others to begin,” he said.

A couple of tense minutes of silence went by as I considered everything he was saying. Was there any way this could end badly for me? With a bunch of blood-hungry vampires and my track record? Yep.

“So, if I agree to this craziness, you’ll help me kill Monnie and get out of my contract?” I asked.

“Yes. You’ll have the DeMontes and the Perezes behind you.”

Sounded like a better plan than the one I currently had, which was to keep running for my life forever.

Did I fully believe this wasn’t some kind of hostile takeover of the Omaris? No. But I’d have to figure that out if it came. For now, I needed them and, lucky for me, they needed me, too.

I went to lift my arm again, only to grunt when it didn’t move. Still bound to the bed.

Andre moved closer to me. “Do we have a deal?” he asked, his gaze running over me once again.

My heart flipped at his nearness and the sudden rush of adrenaline through my veins.

Cole had said Andre was a man of his word, but that did little to ease my apprehension about the whole thing. Looked like I was stuck between a deal with a demon and a deal with a vampire. A supernatural version of a rock and a hard place.

“How can I be sure you won’t screw me over the very second you get a chance?” I asked him.

“You can’t, I suppose.” His lips spread into a full-toothed grin. I shivered all over. “That means you’re just going to have to trust me.”

That’s what I was afraid of.

After Andre undid the straps, he left me alone to get dressed. Good thing, too, because with his blood still running through my veins, I didn’t have full control of my emotions or my body. Who knew what I would do. It was better if he wasn’t in the room while I scrambled butt-ass-naked to find my clothes and put them back on.

My body was covered in small bandages, which I guessed was from their attempts to heal the bites. When I ripped them off one by one, I found my skin completely unblemished underneath. Andre’s vampire blood must have helped there. Their rapid healing properties were handy that way.

If only it didn’t make me want to strip every time I saw him, I might have actually said thank you.

Fully dressed, I glanced back at the bed and wondered if I was doing the right thing with accepting this trade. As much as I didn’t want to get tangled with the vampires and their complicated relationship—as innocent as they claimed their intentions to be—Monnie’s contract was a dark cloud looming over me. Only this cloud was going to lock me in the pits of Hell and make me a demon baby maker.

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