Page 49 of The Devil and His Goddess

EVERYTHING WAS A MESS.

My thoughts were a mess.

My feelings were a mess.

My wants were a mess.

And it was all thanks to that stupid golden-haired man.

I’d left Perseus’s house, but instead of heading home, I’d stopped to walk around downtown, hoping that the fresh air and potential retail therapy would help clear my mind.

Because what was happening?

I was letting Perseus weasel his way into my life, and when he said things likeIwas his favorite thing about ballet … It wasn’t fair. I couldn’t fight against the fluttering in my chest, a problem that was becoming more apparent as I spent time with him.

That was a major problem.

At the end of the day, he was still my boss. He believed that a sexual relationship between us didn’t have to be complicated. Part of me understood what he was saying, but I still wasn’t convinced. I mean, the guy was famous. How could itnotbe complex?

I let out a deep sigh and trudged along the sidewalk, breathing in the cool November night air. The streets and sidewalks were fairly empty. Some shops had already closed for the night. I passed a music store, and from the corner of my eye, I caught a flash of gold. I stopped and turned back, and with a small laugh, I realized it was Perseus.

Perseus and the rest of the members of Sinners Do It Better were on a lifesize poster that hung in the shop’s window. I quickly pulled my phone out and snapped a photo to send to the group chat I now shared with Aiysha, Iyla, Addie, and Eden.

Harper: Look who I found

Addie: Not me drooling

Aiysha: Not me cumming

Eden: Not me gagging

Iyla: That’s a big poster

I chuckled and shook my head at everyone’s response, especially innocent Iyla. I nearly sent the same photo to Perseus but immediately thought better of it. Texting him would not help my current mental dilemma.

Putting my phone away once more, I fixed my attention on the Sinners Do It Better boys, though they didn’t look as they had when at my house party.

They were demons.

Perseus, Zagan, and Dante each had black eyes with a red vertical slit, short black horns standing amid their hair, and black claws. Perseus, who smirked in the photo, even had sharp fang-like canines.

Moving my eyes down the poster, I came to Xander. His eyes were gold, and his horns were taller and ribbed.

And Coldin—

All of the air got sucked out of me in an instant as a thousand boulders filled my stomach. I stumbled closer on shaky legs, staring up at Coldin, or more specifically, the mask he wore. Black with a white skull design over top of it, it could’ve been anidenticalmatch to the onemydemon wore.

My heart raced as I studied Coldin’s horns, which were nothing like my demon’s. Coldin’s horns were large and curved like a ram. No, my demon had horns like … I took another shaky step back as I stared at a demon-looking Perseus, frozen in time with a snicker.

“There’s no way,” I whispered to myself.

It was just a coincidence. A really,reallyfucking weird coincidence. Perseus and my demon being one in the same was impossible, if for no other reason than my own refusal to accept it.

My eyes drifted back to the mask on the drummer, and right then, the image tilted its head. I gasped and jumped back, realizing it wasn’t the actual mask of the poster moving, but areflectionin the window.

I spun around faster than any pirouette I’d ever done and found my masked demon standing a few feet away at the edge of the sidewalk.

He regarded me silently from behind the mask, and he stood perfectly still. Despite his frozen posture, I could practically feel the tension coiled tightly in his body, from the set of his shoulders to the clenching of his fists. At any moment, the cord keeping him rooted in place could snap, and he’d come pounding after me.

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