Page 149 of Anchor

The Devil. He was the Devil, the man that was more myth than man—or so I’d thought. So, they gossiped at Headquarters.It’s a network—not an actual man,some had said.He’s the IDD’s eyes on the inside, that’s all,said others.No way is he real—just stories. Completely made up!

Wrong. They were all wrong. Because the Devil was really real and he was a man, and don’t ask me how I knew but I was as sure of it as I was of my own heartbeat.

As sure as I was that I was going to die.

Silence in the room.

I could see it now, could see the magic that reflected against the many lights, like a veil in the middle of the long room. Except it wasn’t an actual room, or if it was, the entirety of it wasn’t in the same place.

Here I thought I knew what went on in the world, that I’d seen all there was to see out there in my missions, when the truth was that I’d barely scratched the surface.

This man—and the woman in the recliner who had continued to read her book, completely unbothered—were in another place, miles and miles away, andhereat the same time.

And it made me wonder, if only for a short second, what else was out there that I didn’t know? What exactly were the limits of magic—orwas theresuch a thing? Because right now I was pretty sure there wasn’t.

“I was surprised to see your face, I’ll admit. But it does make sense now, it does,” the man said after a moment. He took a step closer, smiled a little.

My goddess, he looked so…normal.

“And I understand that this is all very overwhelming, but do know that I do not grant this right to just anyone. I keep away from sight for the most part, but today…” He said all of it like he expected me to think that he was doing mea favorby showing me his face. “Today, Agent La Rouge, I saw something one really doesn’t see every day.”

Another step closer and he looked down at my hand. Raised his. Moved his fingers to tell me to come closer, too.

Like hell,I thought, except when a second ticked by and I didn’t move, Hakim did.

He grabbed me by the arm and pulled me closer to the middle of the room, to that veil, and so much magic was in the air it was miracle I could still breathe. The guy stopped me when I was still three feet away, for which I was thankful, and thenthe other—theDevilproceeded to look at my hand, my bracelet secured around my wrist.

“Don’t be afraid, Agent La Rouge,” he said, and that smile of his turned up—but the strangest thing. It didn’t look evil. It didn’t look psychotic or anything—it lookednice.Almost grandfatherly. Genuine.

He waved a hand at the shimmer of magic that separated us. “Thisis only a trick I created to give myself a bit more freedom, that’s all.”

I shook my head because I was still trying to understand what my eyes were telling me.

The magic looked almost like a screen, a moving screen, and I still couldn’t wrap my head around it, and so I said, “How?”

Even though it wasn’t important. Even though it wouldn’t serve me.

But the man’s eyes sparkled as if he was pleased by the question.

“Same as I do everything else.”

He raised a finger and sort oftouchedthat veil from his side, and dark flames sprung out, leaving a trail behind where he moved his finger in a curvy line—which told me he was Blackfire.

“Magic is like art, and we’re artists, you and me. You’re given the power and the tools, and I wait and see what you’ll come up with, what you’ll create,” he said, his voice cheerful. Goddess, he lookedhappy.“Much like a painter has a canvas and his colors, I have my magic, and with it, I create.”

Again, he tapped three fingers onto that veil of magic, and the ripples spread all around, to the ceiling and the floor, before they disappeared.

“But the question is, Agent La Rouge, how did you manage to masterall those colorsI just saw? Was it with that bracelet on your wrist?”

I swallowed hard. “Yes.”

Dangerous, dangerous man. Not because he was threatening me but because he was putting me at ease with his smile and his slow movements and his melodic voice. I didn’t think I’d ever come across anyone like him before. I felt his magic, so damn powerful, and we weren’t even in the same place!

“I thought so,” he whispered. “May I ask for another demonstration, please? That first one was hazy—I only saw it through the darkness.” He leaned in his head a bit. “Between you and me, the darkness takes away a lot of beauty from the world—just as much as it brings forward.”

My mind kept screaming for me torun.

I looked the man in the eyes, and I said, “Of course. If you give me your word that you will let us go when I give you this. Unharmed. All three of us.”

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