Page 4 of A Single Soul

“Okay, okay.” I put up my hands. “Slow down for a second.” I took a seat on the armrest of the couch. “How, um… How exactly did this happen?”

He stopped pacing and rubbed the back of his neck as he stared at the carpet.

From over his right shoulder, the angel spoke up, fluttering his wings and smiling brightly as he said, “Oh, I do believe I can explain!”

Matt and the demon said in unison, “No.”

The angel glared at both of them, folded his arms, and muttered something I didn’t catch. If Matt hadn’t been so upset, the scene would’ve been comical. But it was hard to laugh when my friend was hanging by a fraying thread.

Matt started pacing again, rubbing a hand over his scruffy and somewhat pale face. “I should never have let that client take me out to dinner.”

“Client?”

But then some pieces clicked. Matt represented a lot of magic users in his practice, especially fae. And this? I didn’t know the how or the why, but ithadto be fae. I could feel it in my bones. Only a trickster could get past Matt’s carefully honed defenses, and only a fae would’ve come up with… that.

I worked in the Fae District myself, so I heard and saw a lot of weird shit. People made careless requests of the fae, not thinking about every imaginable way their words could be interpreted. That was how they ended up getting their identities stolen—like seriously, how many times do people need to be told to never give their name to a fae? I mean, it kept me in business, since my entire career revolved around helping people start new lives with new identities after they stupidly—and legally—gave their name to a fae. I paid my bills via people’s carelessness with tricksters.

And so did Matt, which was why I was so surprised he’d fallen for whatever the hell his client had done. He had to have known that wouldn’t end well. It never did. Though an actual angel and devil on someone’s shoulders? That was… new.

“Okay.” I folded my hands in my lap. “One thing at a time. Did you… Did you actually accept food from a fae?”

“No, no.” He waved that away. “I might be stupid enough to”—he gestured at his winged companions—“but it was at a restaurant, and I told her I wasn’t coming unless we split the check.”

I nodded as he spoke. “So, what happened?”

Matt made a miserable sound and sank onto the couch. Pressing his elbows into his knees, he covered his face with both hands. “I hadwaytoo much to drink. And then she asked how in the world I was single.”

I grimaced. So did the angel. The demon might’ve too, but I couldn’t see him as well from where I was sitting. Honestly, I’d wondered that a number of times, too. Not enough to discuss it in the company of a fae, though I wouldn’t lie—in a moment or two of weakness, I had been tempted to ask a fae to help me turn his head and win his heart. But I didn’t, because love magic was just manipulative awfulness that I wanted no part of. I didn’t want Matt unless it was mutual. And after five years of close friendship… Well. It wasn’t happening without magic or divine intervention, so it wasn’t happening at all.

Shame. He was the sweetest and smartest man I’d ever met. When he’d had boyfriends, I’d coveted those soft smiles and gentle touches. Even now I was tempted to make a deal with the fae—or with the Devil himself—just to be on the receiving end of one of those longing, heartfelt looks he gave a man he loved.

Matt wasn’t hard on the eyes, either. He had a few years on me—forty-three to my thirty-five—and he was just… God, he was hot. Right now, he was just wearing jeans and an old T-shirt, and he rocked that look the same way he did those bespoke suits he wore to work. Time, genes, and law school had started turning his near-black hair silver. Sharp blue eyes melted my brain whenever he met my gaze and melted my heart whenever he was smiling. One laugh from him could scramble my thoughts for days.

And seeing him like this… Fuck, it broke my heart. Even if he had stupidly brought it on himself.

I wanted to grab him by the broad, perfect shoulders and shake him as I said,“It’s the fae, Matt! The fucking fae! What did youthinkwould happen?”

But I didn’t. Because he was a wreck right now, and he was coming to me for help out of a mess he was already in. Kicking him while he was down wouldn’t help anyone.

“So, you got drunk with your fae client,” I said gently. “And she asked about you being single.” I inclined my head. “Then what?”

Matt lowered his hands and sat back, staring miserably at the opposite wall as the angel and demon fluttered on either side of his head. “I just… I don’t know. I guess I got drunk enough to start yammering on about it, and how I was so fucking done being single, and then—” He stopped, expression suddenly sharpening, and he tensed as if he were having some kind of revelation.

I moved from the armrest to the cushion, though I left some space between us. “What?”

Matt swallowed. As he closed his eyes and swore, some color rose in his otherwise pale cheeks. He swallowed hard before turning to me, his expression full of embarrassment. “I asked her if that matchmaking magic really works.”

“Oh, no,” I breathed.

“Yeah.” He sighed with defeat and despair. “Oh, fuck me.”

“He could!” The angel pointed at me. “Then the spell would be broken and—”

“Oh my God,” Matt groaned, turning even redder. “No.”

My teeth snapped shut, and I was pretty sure I was blushing too; that heat was pretty unmistakable. Every time someone joked about the two of us getting together—and our friends wererelentlessabout it—I died a little inside because I wished we could, and because of Matt’s predictable response.

“He’s afriend,” he growled at the angel. “I’m not going to sleep with him just to get rid of the two of you.”

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