Page 62 of Deal with the Devil

“We’ll stop him,” Amelia whispered, twisting in his arms to face him. He tugged her from the stove and into his chest.

“You continue to surprise me, pet,” he murmured. “This is going to get messy.”

She shrugged, offering him a soft smirk, “I’ve always been more morally gray anyway.”

His kiss was suffocating. He slammed his lips into hers, stumbling backward till his back was pressed into the island. Amelia grabbed ahold of his cheeks, his hair, his shirt, anything she could hold to keep him close.This is where things change...this is the point of no return.And yet, she dove in headfirst, kissing him till he flipped them. Amelia gasped as he shoved the small of her back against the island. His hands scraped her up and off her feet. Only an inch of cheek on the counter before he pressed himself between her thighs.

She groaned against his mouth, tangled in his hair and clothes. His hands roamed her back, tugging his way under the fabric of her top. The kitchen was full of burning air and it wasn’t the stove top. Until the door swung open. Knox pulled away from her mouth, whispering a promise to be right back. Amelia slid back further on the counter as he slipped from her touch. Denver and Maevin lingered in the doorway. Maevin took Knox from the room, leaving the centaur butler.

“Ms. Armstrong.” He bowed his head softly.

“Amelia,” she chuckled softly, “Thank you Denver, for trying to stop us earlier. We probably should have listened.”

“I’m almost always right. If only more people would listen to me,” he snorted, trotting into the kitchen with a playful smug smirk on his lips. Amelia rolled her eyes, ready to hop off the counter. The butler put up a hand and moved about to grab two glasses. “Red or white, Ms. Armstrong?”

“Strong. I’ll drink whatever flavor.” She sank back, hands against the cool marble of the counter.

“That’s fair,” he chuckled. Denver pulled out a wine bottle from the fridge and poured them both heavy glasses of rosé. Heoffered her a glass then went about portioning out globs of the food that Knox put together. Amelia sipped the wine.

“Denver...how did you come to work for Knox?” She cocked her head to the right as he raised his wine glass to his own lips.

“Mmm,” he hummed, taking a long sip before turning to face her. “I was chained to Declan’s carriage. Me and another centaur were Declan’s personal joy ride through the woods. So, when Knox took over Declan’s empire with a bloody fist, I jumped at the chance to get free. He put me in a suit and told me to keep his house safe.”

Amelia flinched at the sour look on Denver’s face as he nearly shattered the wine glass in his hand.

“Denver,” she sighed.

“I failed him, Ms. Armstrong, do not pity me. My punishment is well deserved. I swore to never let a single thing escape me. And we had not one but several rats under our noses.” He drained the last bit of wine from his glass.

“This has been an attack, years in the making,” Amelia slid off the counter. “You can’t be mad at yourself, Denver. Declan had Rick from the very beginning. He married my sister for a cover story.”

Denver jerked to peer at her, eyebrows knitted down with concern. “What?”

“Rick, he met me in the car and told me this was all a lie. So, many of them weaseled their way in and have been there, lurking for years.” Amelia took up the portioned bowl he’d made. She offered him a bite, but he shook his head. She took a steaming bite of food and washed it down with wine.

Denver said nothing, sitting back on his hooves as Amelia ate her dinner. The silence of the kitchen was thick with unsaid concern. Declan was out for blood. He’d been at this for years. Inch by inch, he sank his fangs into King’s Fall to get his kingdom back. Amelia wouldn’t let him if she could help it.

And Knox wasn’t going to go down without a fight.

She finished her bowl and set her empty glassware into the sink. Water instantly rushed it and rinsed it out before a wisp of blue magic ripped it out of the sink and put it into a dishwasher. Amelia spared Denver a glance, “Tell Knox I went to bed.”

Denver bowed his head, motioning for her to lead the way. He’d covered Knox’s bowl with tinfoil and put away the dirty pans into the sink. Amelia looked for Knox in the foyer, but found only silence. Denver excused himself, leaving for the dining room full of petrified employees.

Amelia took a step toward the stairs, contemplating actually going to see her sister. Penny would be distraught having seen Rick. It was bad enough for Amelia to see him like that. But she couldn’t make her feet move. She was frozen at the bottom step. Her heart was heavier than a steel bull full of ball bearings.

She’d almost died. Rick came for her life and she barely escaped. Then she chased the driver down and lost all her senses.Am I a monster again?Amelia wanted to console Penny, but the guilt of having to tell her sister she’d lost it again kept her still.

“Pet?”

She glanced up from the steps, finding a heavy wooden door appearing on the side of the steps. Knox stepped out from the doorway. The hinges creaked as it swung shut. He was wiping his fingers clean of blood. His shirt sleeves were rolled up, exposing the throbbing, black ink of his contracts. Amelia climbed to her feet slowly, inspecting him for injuries as he rounded the steps.

“You were going to bed?”

“Trying,” she sighed.

“What’s stopping you?” He cocked a brow, turning the handkerchief covered in splattered blood to ash. A purple flame licked up his hands before all the blood on his forearms was gone.

“Myself.” She peeked up at him, “Denver covered your dinner, incase you were still hungry.”

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