Page 13 of One Hell of a Deal

“But, Lulu…

“But nothing,” she interrupts and points at me, my heart now about to break out of my throat. “And I think I know exactly what happened to him. And you had something to do with it.”

Panicked, I jump to my feet. “Why would you think that?” I want to leave, but Max isn’t moving. I bent down and take his hand, but he doesn’t budge. He is just staring at her with his mouth wide open.

“I’ll tell you why, so sit your ass down.”

Without any other viable option, I obey and cautiously take my seat again.

“Every night for the past month, I’ve had the same dream. And you, my dear, have been in every single one of them.”

“What?” Max says, looking frantically between us. “That’s crazy, Lulu. You must be mistaken.”

“I suppose I could be,” she says, but her tone is sarcastic, so I don’t believe she thinks so. “There is something very different about you in the dreams.”

“And what’s that?” I ask, notreallywanting the answer.

She lowers her face and speaks in a creepy deep growl. “Your eyes are black in my dreams, and I think I know what you are.”

“That’s enough, Lulu,” Max shouts. “I can’t believe you are being so rude to my…

“Demon?” Lulu shouts back, standing and pointing at me again, as the air plummets out of my lungs. None of this makes any sense at all.

I think I’m going to be sick.

Chapter Twelve: Max

I cannot control the shake in my voice as I shout back at Lulu. “You are out of line. Think about what you are saying.”

Inside my head I’m freaking out.How can she possibly know any of this? How can I convince her that she’s wrong when I know she is right?

Lulu’s face reddens. “Those dreams are not normal dreams. I know she’s a demon, and I don’t care what you think. I need to know what the hell is happening here, and why is thatthingwith you?”

“Just stop,” Daphne’s cry catches me off guard, and I spin to look at her, slightly shaking my head and pleading with her silently not to reveal our truth. “I’ll tell you everything.”

Lulu’s face relaxes, and she sits back and crosses her arms. “I’m listening.”

I slowly return to my seat beside Daphne as my heart threatens to pound out of my chest. I place my hand on her knee and notice a slight tremble. “Are you sure about this?”

“She needs to know,” she mumbles. “It’s only fair.”

I nod but think this could be a mistake. I guess I’m about to find out.

Daphne takes in a deep breath and meets Lulu’s sharp eyes. “I am not a demon. But I used to be.”

“I freakin’ knew it,” Lulu yells. “This better be good.”

“Your son conjured me at the crossroads, ten years before the night he died. He made a deal, and there was nothing I could do about it. It was my job.”

“So that explains how his life became so damn perfect all of a sudden then,” she grumbles as she nibbles on her fingernails. “My boy sold his soul to the devil.”

“I’m sorry,” Daphne says, and her eyes pool with tears, which isn’t something I expected. I give her knee a squeeze and pass her a soft smile.

Lulu stays quiet. Her eyes dart back and forth as she continues her nibbling. I’m not sure if I should say anything. And what could I say?

Lulu’s next words surprise me. “Sounds like Garrett is the one to blame. I can’t believe he did something so stupid.”

I want to tell her that he was young, and that he was probably drunk, and that kids do stupid shit all the time and she shouldn’t blame him. But the fire in the room is dying down, and I don’t want to stir things up again.

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