Page 18 of One Hell of a Deal

“Maybe we give it a shot,” he says, shrugging. “There’s no harm in trying. If it doesn’t work out, then we just go back to the previous plan.”

His eyes are fixed on the road ahead, so he doesn’t see the cheesy grin spread across my face. “What made you change your mind?”

He blows out a raspberry. “It’s been nice having you around. We mesh well together. It would be a shame to go back to how things were before we met.”

“I think that’s more true for me,” I say, laughing at the absurdity of my past. “I think being a lonely workaholic is a reality that most would find more appealing than being an imprisoned crossroads demon.”

He chuckles. “I suppose you’re right. Guess we both needed each other. But the good news for you is that no matter what, you would only have to put up with me for thirty years at most.”

My heart swells with the fact that he imagines us together in the long term, but also shatters at the reason for his statement. “Don’t worry, Max. Just because I’ve roped you in with my shower moves doesn’t mean I’ve given up on finding a way out of your contract.”

He takes my hand and squeezes it. “Your shower moves are worth it. Last night was incredible.”

“Wait until you see what I have planned for when we get home.”

I’m thrown back against my seat as he presses the accelerator, zooming us faster ahead.

“Hey, slow down,” I giggle. “Where’s the fire?”

“In my pants,” he says, laughing as he resumes a normal speed. “This is going to be the longest hour drive ever.”

I smile at him as he squeezes my hand again. This must be what heaven feels like. I can’t believe this is my life now.

Chapter 16: Max

If anyone told me a couple of weeks ago that I would be falling for a demon-turned-human girl who was responsible for my best friend’s early demise, I would have either laughed myself to death or punched them in the face. But here we are.

Life with Daphne has been strangely comfortable. I spend my days slogging away at the office and coming home to her and her daily cuisine experiments, which have been, for the most part, culinary marvels. She definitely has a knack.

We spend the evenings sipping wine and talking over movies, blissfully procrastinating the research we need to do about my contract. Most nights, we go to bed around eleven but don’t sleep for close to an hour. That’s our fun time, and man, is it fun.

I’m exhausted, though, not the young buck I once was. She wants to go out tomorrow and see more of the city, so I’m trying to come up with a plan as we sip wine on the couch.

“You look stressed,” Daphne says, setting her glass on the coffee table. “Is everything alright?”

I run my hand through my hair. “Don’t mind me. I’m usually pretty burned out by Friday night. But I’m fine. I was just trying to figure out where to take you tomorrow.”

She claps her hands, bouncing like a schoolgirl. “I’d really love to see Central Park if that could happen. And maybeeat lunch at Brechon Fire? I’ve read that it’s one of the best restaurants in the city, and I'm dying to try their foie gras.”

She really cracks me up. “Foie gras at Brechon Fire?”

She nods excitedly, with a wide, cheesy grin on her face and her hands clasped together as if in prayer.

Reaching to snatch my cell off the table, I chuckle at her enthusiasm. “I’ll call them now and see if we can even get a table. Might be impossible, for a Saturday lunch on such short notice, but I will try.”

“Thanks, Max,” she almost shouts as she crosses her fingers, dramatically waving them in the air as I look up the number.

“Found it,” I say, but then my eye catches a sudden flickering orange glow on the floor in front of the television. “What the…”

Daphne and I pop to our feet and watch in horror as the glow spreads into a perfect circle of dancing flames. My mind fights to rationalize what I am seeing. It doesn’t seem possible for a perfect ring of fire to form on my floor. I don’t see or smell any smoke either, which is adding to my bewilderment. I shake my head, snapping myself into action. “I’ll get the extinguisher, and you call 9-1-1!”

“No,” Daphne says calmly, “we aren’t in any danger.”

“What the hell are you talking about? The damn building is on fire!”

“Just watch,” she says, nodding toward the flame circle, and I reluctantly obey. “We are about to get an out–of–this–world visitor. And it’s not a good thing.”

I move beside her and take her hand as we watch a spiral of the blackest smoke form in the center of the ring, turning and growing, until the circle is filled completely with solid darkness.

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