Page 22 of Hell-Bound

It took a beat for her to realize that this wasn’t rhetorical.

“Oh. Ugh, naivety? Desperation?”

At least these were the reasons she had assigned to herself.

“Yes, yesssss, that is right,” he nodded enthusiastically. “You know, Icouldhelp you find who you need,” he crooned, “but why would I do so much work for free?”

His wicked smile appeared again.

“How about we play a game? If you win, I take you directly to your master.” Jester made a point of pausing for dramatic flair. “And if I win...well, then let’s say you owe me a favor?”

Ren snorted.

“Absolutely not. Mortals may be naive, but I’m not stupid. I’m not making a deal with a Devil.”

She made another move to walk past him but almost tumbled, stepping on her long gown.

How is it that I can leap in the air almost twice my height and can’t walk in this damned thing?

Jester laughed gleefully.

“Haven’t you already sold yoursoulto a Devil? A very dangerous Devil at that. What’s a littleagreementwith aLesserDevil going to hurt?”

He pouted his lip and blinked his eyes innocently.

Ren took a mental note of this expression to use for later.

“And obviously, nothing would bebinding.I’m not asking for a contract.I’m just playful!”

Another grin.

She processed his words, surprised at herself for even considering.

“Wait. You’re a Lesser Devil?”

She tried to recall the few details that Leo had told her.

Jester looked smug.

“Idolove the green ones. Butyouaren’t as innocent as you seem, are you?” He squinted his eyes. “You’ve seen death. So so much death.”

Ren stepped back with a start, once again snagging her dress below her heeled boots.

The fiend didn’t elaborate on the point, ignoring Ren’s reaction.

“A Lesser Devil doesn’t have wings for one, and our magic is a bit more, lets say, benign. I couldn’t compel you to do anything you didn’twantto do, for example.”

He then purposefully walked towards her and leaned down, inches away from her face.

Ren wasn’t particularly short, but she had noticed a pattern in the stature of Devils being quite imposing.

“And if I do say so myself, so much more majestic and unique with our lovely shades,” he said, touching his red skin. “High Devils aren’t nearly as lucky—muddy, muted skin like youMortals.”

“I don’t want to play your games,” she said, this time successfully pushing past him and stalking off.

Great, turn your back to a Devil. Where are you even going?

Jester did not follow. He just stood in the foyer, giggling.

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