Page 22 of Infernal Hearts

He smiles as he goes to open the door. “I did settle. Ferraris are way more fun.”

I roll my eyes and get out of the truck. That’s when I see how fucked up the rental car really is.

All four doors are open. Two tires are slashed. Everything from the glovebox and center console is scattered onto the seats and all the way to the dirt outside.

The sight of the damage runs a chill up my spine, but I keep my shit together despite the grim feeling making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

Levi licks his lips, and I could swear a few beads of sweat appear on his forehead. He takes in the disaster before us, rendered speechless for the first time since I’ve met him.

I cross my arms, trying to give him some levity and bring him back to logic. “Well, I hope you got the extra coverage.”

He continues to blankly stare ahead. “Someone was looking for something,” he says quietly to himself. “And from the looks of the tires, they didn’t want me leaving town anytime soon.”

“Apparently.” I think back to him showing up on my doorstep in the middle of the night, bloody and ragged. “Think they’ll try and attack you again? Should I be watching my back?”

His eyes find mine, a light smile twisting on his lips. “You know I can protect you, right? Strength, speed, plus I can be very persuasive.” His eyes flash violet for a split second. “And that’s just in my human form.”

“I’ve never seen a demon’s true form before.” The thought of it makes my heart pick up speed, but I still have this gnawing want to see it once in my lifetime. For science—as sick as that is.

He shrugs and goes back to searching the car. “I wouldn’t call it my ‘true’ form. Just the form I use in emergency situations.”

What might that look like? What could the full extent of his powers be? I shake the thoughts off and quickly remind myself that I’m done with magic so it really shouldn’t matter.

I move my shoe around in the dirt, making small circles. “Okay, so I don’t think we’ll find anything here. Since it seems like I’ll be the one driving for the foreseeable future, tell me—where to next?”

He stands, scratching the back of his neck. “I need a phone. Then I need to call a tow truck to come get this mess. Plus research will go a lot faster if I have technology.”

I nod decisively, focused on exactly where we can go. “There’s one phone store in town. They should be able to help you.” I turn to get back in the truck. “Coming?”

He lets out a deep, resigned sigh. “I s’pose.”

“You okay?”

“This is just getting messier than I had thought it would be.” He shrugs, his voice barely above a whisper. “Two weeks isn’t a long time, and right now things are just getting murkier.”

I can tell he’s really worried about this, but so am I. To him two weeks seems like a short time, but as far as I’m concerned, I hope with all my being that I find my dad way before then. A lot of bad things can happen in a period of weeks. I hope none of them happened to him.

I clench my jaw for a second but quickly release the tension once I realize I’m getting too riled up. “Let’s just focus on getting you a phone first. Then we can worry about the rest.”

He nods, walking toward the truck. “Sounds good to me.”

He’s completely silent for the twenty minutes it takes for us to get to town and to our destination. A strip of small shops lines the street in the center of Windy Peak, my home for the last twenty-eight years. It’s always felt so comfortable. So safe—even with magic hiding behind every corner. But now I can’t shake the feeling that things are about to change in a big way.

…

Levi

I wish I could sense what Jason is feeling. Ordinarily I could, but like my persuasion, that doesn’t seem to work on him, either.

I may already be getting to him in an organic way, though. It almost seemed like he was actually concerned for me. It seemed like he might even speak to me at times, before changing his mind. I can’t help but wonder what he was going to say. Was it another joke? Was it a thoughtful question? I almost resign myself to never knowing when he finally speaks.

He shifts uncomfortably. “So I probably should have asked sooner, but our deal left me with some questions.”

“Questions? I would have pegged you more as a visual learner, but oral is fine, too.”

Clearing his throat, Jason purses his lips tightly and ignores my words. “First question. Where did demon deals come from?”

I contemplate for a moment, thinking of how to explain it without sounding like a monster. After all, I’m a lot of things, but a monster isn’t one of them. “Okay, so you have two types of demons. The ones that make deals to punish, and the ones that make deals to gain something. Sometimes they overlap, sometimes they don’t. A lot of powerful people throughout time have been successful due to demon deals, and not all good ones. But they usually get what’s coming to them.”

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