Page 2 of The Dame & the Devil

It’s why Thea’s the only one of my siblings who actually knows where I’ll be when the sun sets.

It’s why she’s the one I’ve chosen to live with and who I’ll leave everything behind to if my plans work.

She helps affix the chain at the back of my neck and then smoothes down the rest of them that hang along my spine and from shoulder to shoulder.

When I let my hair down, she makes an irritated little noise. “You can’t even see the details. Let me pin that up.”

Her fingers flutter at my hair, but I turn to her, taking hold of her hands and squeezing. It’s just nervous energy.

“There’s no time. And besides, the dress is for me. I’ll know, and that’s what counts.”

“Fine. At least your hair is fun.” She says, pulling one hand away and tugging at the locks I’ve dyed blood red every eight weeks since I was sixteen.

“Maybe you should try blue. The kids would go wild.”

Giving me a scolding look, she steps away and looks me over with a long sigh and then glances at the sky out the window. “Don’t hate me for hoping you come back.”

“I won’t hate you.” I squeeze the hand I’m still holding and offer her a smile. “I just won’t feel bad if I get to disappoint you.”

Outside, the sky burns a deep gold at the horizon, and deep purple overhead.

I kiss my sister on the cheek for what I hope is the last time, and go to the window seat to put on my shoes and wait.

The minutes tick by and Thea sits with me in silence.

Maybe she hopes it won’t happen this time.

But as the sun finally dips under the horizon, and I smell brimstone the moment before a great crack echoes through the air and my being winds tight.

Between one blink and the next, I’m dragged to Hell and thrust into the arms of a sinner, twirling over the flames of the Devil’s ballroom.

Hundreds of people in their funereal best spin around the dance floor beside me. All of us in the arms of false devils.

Because tonight is the night, the sinners of our city are sentenced.

Those things the Devil deems as sins are not the same as those punished by God.

If we were judged by her rules, I would be disguised with horns and bound wings.

By her rules, I’m a sinner through and through.

For twelve years, I’ve danced with devils, each time choosing the wrong one. But tonight…. Tonight, I will find him.

The devil in my arms is a familiar one. A blunt red, goaty face with tusks and horns that spiral high up into the air. Hooves clop as they turn me up the ballroom.

They watch me with eyes that are nothing but dull black sclera as a deep brown liquid oozes from the symbols cut from their arms.

I have danced with this devil before.

It’s why I know they’re not the one I’m looking for. The sinner disguised as a devil is silent. All of their mouths are sealed by the same infernal magic that created the thin obsidian floor that separates us from the pit.

They lean toward me, a silent plea for the kiss that will transform them back into a mortal man.

Because I could save them.

All it takes is a gentle press of a saintly mouth to furred muzzle or scaled lips and I could save them from a year’s servitude to the dark lord.

But the Devil’s dance is never fair. Kissing this devil would send me back to Thea’s home and make me wait another year.

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