Page 61 of Deal with the Devil

“I write to get the anger out. To get the red out of my eyes. I thought I was better. Then, when I was fourteen, a man tried to steal Penny’s bag after a dance recital. We were walking back on the sidewalk, he grabbed her duffle and tried to bolt. I broke his legs and was bashing him with Penny’s tap shoes when Dad pulled me off him. Then Rick…and now the driver.”

Knox rubbed her back, allowing her the space to cry and scream into the shower. A quick silencing spell and a firm arm wrapped around her, he let her unleash it. He knew what it was like. Unleashing all that pent up energy. Pent up pain. It took a chunk out of the soul.

“You can stay here. I have to take care of my employees.” Knox turned off the water once she’d rinsed off completely.

“No, no, I’m...I'm good.” She shook out her wet locks of hair. “I just...it hit me hard, but I’m good.”

He kissed her temple, not sure if he should call her bluff. Instead, he let her dry off and pull on clothes. Knox dried his own hair, brushed it back between his horns, and straightened his suit.

This was going to be ugly.

Chapter Twenty-four:

Amelia

Amelia swallowed down airas she came down off the rush of sadness and the high of beating someone’s face in.Literally.

Penny and Brayden were holed up in the theater while Knox and Amelia headed for the dining room. The second Knox entered the room, everyone turned to a frightened statue. A normal person might suggest something different. Yet, Amelia couldn’t find the words. Or the will to stop him. Whatever was about to happen, she would sit back and watch it happen...because why would she intervene? Whoever the rat was, they didn’t care for her. They tried to get her killed. A rotten, cruel hate filled her chest.

Knox pointed to his seat at the head of the table and she sat down. One leg draped over the other, she stared down the row of house staff.

“Someone here wants me dead. Or, at least, wants to hurt me. Someone here works for Declan. So, I have a simple question. And you’re going to give me a simple answer. If you answercorrectly, you’ll be fine. Who do you work for?” Knox called across the room and everyone watched him with concern.

One by one, he walked down the left row of employees. Murmurs of ‘you, sir’, ‘Knox Zrazduel’, ‘you’, and ‘Knox’. He stalked through the room, every employee forced to answer. That was till he rounded the table and a blond-haired fiend covered her mouth with her hands. Knox grabbed her peachy fingers and ripped them off her mouth. “Answer me,” He growled.

“I...can’t...” She bared her teeth, fighting the truth potion. Then, all of the words poured out, “Declan made me swear not to tell.”

“Maevin,” Knox hissed, snapping his fingers. Amelia’s eyes snapped to the moving shadows on the western wall. Maevin stepped out from the inky paint, crossed the room, and snatched the woman. “Make her explain.”

“Gladly,” In a puff of wispy smoke, the pair disappeared. Knox continued his steady prowl around the room. Three other people confessed and screamed in pain as Knox ripped them out of the line. The shadows on the walls took hold of them and sucked them into the wallpaper. At some point, Amelia figured she’d feel bad. She didn’t.

As the house was plucked clean of traitors, she sat there and watched their faces. After an eternity, everyone was told to sit. Knox gestured to her and Amelia stood, following him out of the room. While the staff was served by floating platters and magic hands holding up wine, Knox led her to the small kitchen nook. Amelia sat on the barstool, letting Knox stomp around the kitchen.

After a long time, her body finally felt grounded. Hoping off the stool, she stepped up beside him and wrapped an arm around his waist. Knox stilled by the stove. She slid behind himand wrapped her arms around him. He sagged back into her, a broken sigh falling off his lips.

“Declan took everything from me once.” He twisted, throwing an arm around her and pulling her to his side. Her face pressed into the side of his chest, inhaling his clean scent deeply. He rubbed her back rhythmically. A low growl rose from his throat. “I won’t let it happen again.”

“I know,” she breathed, kissing his shoulder cap affectionately.

“I’m sorry for the danger I’ve put you in, but I can’t let you leave my sight. So tomorrow you’ll go with me into the casino. I can promise Brayden and Penny’s safety here, but only if they stay here. Our vampire spawn is still loose and under the control of a man who wants my blood.”

She took the spatula from his hand, slipping between the stove and him. He’d tossed something akin to stir fry into the pan. Sliced vegetables and rice mixed with saucy chicken. Knox leaned against her back, his cheek pressing into the back of her head. Hands wrapping around her, he hugged her tight.

“I know I made you swear to tell me the truth, so I won’t ask it of you. I don’t want to force you to tell me...but I think I should know who Declan is?”

Knox nodded, nuzzling his nose against her hair. “Are you sure you want to find out?”

Amelia nodded softly. Knox exhaled heavily before his hands moved up her torso. Past her collarbone, across her chin until she was trapped in his arms. Purple tinted hands covered her eyes and she was ripped from the kitchen. In her mind, she was looking through the eye sockets of a small Knox. Hung upside down for only a moment before he was cut down. From the ground, he glanced up and saw Declan.

The elf was beautiful once. Pointy ears, sharp cheekbones, accentuated chin, piercing eyes, Declan was the kind of person who got everything he wanted. A tall, broad-shoulderedbusinessman in a pressed suit, a violent gleam in his gaze as he stared down at a bleeding child.

Then the image changed again. She was Knox, much older, standing in the back room of some warehouse. He crept along the wall, climbing up into the rafters. Declan was below, snarling and yelling in someone’s face. A woman was screaming in pain under his knife.Where is my money! I know you know where it is!The woman begged for her life. A waitress at the casino. The same one who told Knox where to find Declan. She took one look in the box, looked at Knox, and told him where to go with a wicked smile.She knew he’d be killed for sending a message, even if it wasn’t his message.

The image changed one more time to Knox stepping into the casino, several employees gagged and tied up while a wave of other people spilled into the building.Anyone who keeps their loyalty to Declan will die like him.And Amelia watched as he cut through neck after neck, watching them snarl their hateful words at him before dropping to the floor. Then Knox ordered the floor redone.

Slowly, his hands slipped back down her face. She gasped for air, sucked back into her own body. Amelia looked down to the stir fry, fully cooked now. Rushing, she snapped the stove off before dropping the spatula into the pan.

“One of his many enemies sent him a message, and he punished me for it. I was a starving kid, living off every dime I scraped off the sidewalk. I made a deal with a god from the Nightmare Realm to make him pay. And now he’s back to get his revenge. He should be dead. I gutted him and left him to bleed out but maybe I should have hacked him to bits.” Knox pulled away only to stop as Amelia took ahold of his hands.

---