Page 84 of Death Deals

His gaze hardened on me. “You should have let me, then.”

His words shook me to the core. And the way he was looking at me, with such irritation, told me he meant every bit of it. Death didn’t matter to him.

I thought of Kyle, the teen half-demon I’d reaped, and how he’d committed suicide for that very reason. He needed to escape from the corrupting demon within. He’d done it out of an act of desperation.

But a person was judged on their character after death. Not their blood. But unlike with Kyle, Cole was a mercenary. He’d killed many people and gotten paid to do it. I severely doubted all that would be overlooked and he’d be granted a cushy afterlife.

Either way, he was doomed to Hell.

He must’ve known that. Unless he performed the cure properly and saved whatever was left of his life, he didn’t think he was worth saving.

“Shit!” Cole’s gaze flew past me and terror flashed behind his eyes.

I whipped around to see an eight-foot demon with pointed ears, greenish skin, and an overstretched mouth full of too many teeth standing over us—Mammon, the Greed demon, in his true form.

Cole’s hands flew to his belt, but when he found no weapons, he cursed. Wincing, he climbed onto his feet and shifted to move in front of me. I stood, too.

“You got what you wanted. Romeo’s back,” Monnie said, his words directed to me. “Now it’s time to get mine.” He held out his scaly hand with long-nailed fingers. Behind him, the water off the dock began to swirl, creating a cyclone that sank into blackness. An entrance to Hell. “It’s time to go, my dear.”

Cole’s head whipped toward me. “What? No. You aren’t going with him. You can’t.”

“She doesn’t have a choice,” Monnie snapped his way. “Her soul is mine.”

Cole wavered on his feet, the simple action still a difficult feat for him. “I want to make a deal,” he blurted out. “My soul for hers.”

“Your soul is already claimed for, Halfling,” Monnie spat at him. “It isn’t even yours to barter with.”

“I’ll give you whatever you want,” he said. “Let her out of the deal.”

Aggravation flared in Monnie’s gaze. He threw his hand out, a black power swirled in his palm.

Terror shot through me. I tried to move around Cole, but his extended arm held me back. “Our deal!” I shouted up at the demon. “You said—”

“I said I’d leave his body without further harm, which I fulfilled,” he growled. The black smoke expanded, and I was instantly reminded of the spikes Azrael had hurled at me during our fight. Those things hurt like a bitch and Monnie was about to shoot one at Cole. “I said nothing about not killing him after.”

“Forget him,” I told Monnie and stalked forward, shoving Cole away. My heart was beating so fast, it might just explode. “It’s me you want. I’m right here.”

To my relief, the power in his hand reabsorbed into his palm. “Come then.”

I stepped forward.

“Jade—” Cole’s pleas made my chest clench, but I kept walking along the dock toward the swirling vortex in the harbor. The boats leaned toward it, pulling against their tethers.

At the end of the pier, I stopped and looked out. A spark of white light caught my eye, fading in and out, like a floating star, and I smiled.

About time.

I turned and faced Monnie again.

“You said you would come willingly this time, Jade. Go on. In you go,” he said and waved toward the spinning Hell pit.

Behind him, the shadows moved on the tops of buildings and fire escapes. Cole caught sight of it, too. Not Halflings this time. No, it was my friends.

“You’re right, Monnie. I did say I wouldn’t fight you this time. But I said nothing about them.”

On cue, Eli landed in front of me like a human—well, angel—wall, his spear in hand. He whipped it through the air and stabbed Monnie straight through the stomach. Monnie roared in fury, grabbing the weapon’s shaft with both hands and yanking it out. Tar-like blood gushed from his new wound, but without showing any signs of slowing, he tossed it and Eli off the dock. I ran for the street, and when Monnie’s talons grabbed for me, I tucked and rolled out of reach.

The blare of shots rang out, and I ducked. Sean and Kay hurried out of their hiding places and emptied their weapons in a haze of gunfire. Monnie’s body jerked and sizzled as the Holy Water ate away at his skin wherever the bullets landed.

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