Page 56 of Deal with the Devil

Amelia blinked, staring at the slime man in mechanic’s overalls. Black and white slime that swirled beneath the fabric, he had two massive eyeballs stuck in his head, and he was vaguely people-shaped. But there was something gelatin-like about him when he wiggled in place. He flashed her a grin before handing over a long, metal tube to Brayden. “Put that in the center piece you have.”

“Got it!” Brayden beamed. Putting the pieces together like little blocks when he was a baby. Amelia almost got teary eyed at the pure excitement in the pre-teen’s face.

“Well, uh, you two have fun and try not to upset Denver more, okay.” She kissed the kid on top of his head and gave Eddie another wave. “Where’s your mom?”

“In the dining room, she’s on the phone with someone.”

Amelia took that as her cue to leave the preteen to the cool thing he was doing with someone not his aunt or mom. She climbed to her feet and slid into the dining room. A plate was left out for her with a bunch of little platters covered in silver domes. She sat down and was immediately poured a glass of orange juice and a mug of coffee by a fluttering pixie woman. Amelia grabbed a little bit of everything before it was just her and Penny. Her sister was pacing the other side of the dining room, speaking with someone in a hush over the phone.

She was practically done with her bacon, eggs, and hashbrowns when Penny dropped into the chair in front of her.

“That was my boss,” Penny answered without having to be asked. She stole Amelia’s untouched orange juice and downed it.

“Is he unhappy with you?” Amelia grimaced.

“There’s this big client he needs my help on, and while he respects my need for safety, he also needs me on this.”

Amelia pushed the bits of muffin she’d been picking at around the plate. “Aravis Blightwood called, said he needed to talk to us, and it was urgent. Maybe I should go tell Denver we need to go into the city. I mean, if we’re in the Council Building and the bank, both super public, both super crowded. Declan would be stupid to come for us in broad daylight…I don’t think he can, right? Being a vampire and all?”

Penny eyed Amelia with confusion. “Is Declan the guy?”

“Yeah, apparently Knox stole his empire from him and now he’s out for revenge.” Amelia proceeded to fill Penny in with the gruesome details. From Gael and her escape to Buttons and her betrayal, all but the part where Knox turned into a nightmare-fueled terror and ate Buttons. Then, Amelia waited for Penny to speak. Her sister didn’t. Instead, staring into the empty glass in her hands. So, Amelia broke the silence first. “You okay?”

“I knew Rick had his faults. And you know, prior to this, I kept telling myself… ‘this is it, Penny. This time, we’re divorcinghim. Brayden understands, he’s draining us financially, we can’t withstand keeping him around’ …Then he’d come home and smile at me, tell me how much he loved me…and I’d forget to kick him out that time. Or the next. Or the next.”

Amelia pushed her plate, “Where’s this going, Penny?”

“Nowhere if you don’t leave Knox when this is over.”

“Not this again,” Amelia groaned, pushing away from the table. “That ship’s long gone, Penny.”

“It’s never gone!” Penny spat, sliding the glass across the table and out of reach.

“It is!” Amelia put up her hand. As if knowing it was needed, her contract lit up with inky magic around her hand. Penny’s eyebrows furrowed.

“What’s that?” She reached across the table to snatch Amelia’s hand and inspect it. “This is a magic contract.”

“Knox and I made a deal—”

“Are you fucking serious right now? Amelia! You have absolutely lost all sense of self preservation, haven’t you? I thought you were just shacking up with him, thinking of some fantasy romance with the guy…not selling your soul to him.”

“I didn’t sell it,” Amelia scoffed, ripping her hand back. “It’s collateral.”

“And what could you possibly get out of it?” Penny snapped to her feet.

“Him.” Amelia climbed to her own feet. “And your safety; Brayden’s safety.”

Penny’s ego deflated, but she glared nonetheless. The two stood in a stare down for a long moment. Eventually, Penny gave in and rolled her eyes. “Fine, fine, I’ll hop off my soap box. But I don’t like him.”

“I didn’t like Rick,” Amelia retorted.

“Yeah, well…” Penny trailed off with her tongue stuck out as she walked around the table. “So, let’s get dressed and see if wecan con our way into going into town. The bank first, then we’ll go see the Lord Commander.”

The sisters left the dining room, finding Brayden already elbows deep in the engine. It was coming along nicely. Eddie hardly glanced up as they walked by and trotted up the steps. Penny kept glancing back with pride at her baby putting together something with enthusiasm. Brayden had a blasé way about life, barely took interest in anything. His grades meant nothing but an allowance. His friends only cared about video games, but none of them liked the same video game. His favorite sport was the one he didn’t have to participate in.

Penny whispered as they reached the top step. “I’m so glad he’s into it. I just want him to like stuff. Rick never liked anything, and I was so afraid he ruined Brayden’s enjoyment of anything. I can get behind cars. Cars mean so many options. Engineering, mechanics, coding, design; there’s so much there he can explore…I just want him to like stuff, Amelia.”

“I know.” Amelia pulled her sister into a side hug before slipping into Knox’s room.

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