Page 83 of The Final Deal

Jay approaches Charlie and holds up his microphone for him to speak into. “Special thanks to our friend runnin’ the show and asking us to participate,” he says as he looks my direction. “So we’re here for somethin’ extra special tonight because this New Year’s Ball is better than the rest. Y’all wanna know why?”

All sorts of excitedyeses clamor from the crowd.

I clutch myself tightly and hold my breath.

“Everyone in this place tonight has the chance to win tickets to NYB for the rest of your life.”

The crowd collectively gasps, and then everyone starts shouting uncontrollably.

“Thereisa small catch though,” Charlie warns in a teasing tone. A sinister smirk pulls up the corner of his lips. “You have to sell your soul for the chance.”

Chapter 33

The Hell I Overcame

–Bad Omens

“Y’all haveuntil midnight to text ‘sold’ to six-six-six-six-six for a chance to win,” Jay finishes as he steps up onto a riser. “And trust me: you don’t want to miss out on this.”

The second he takes a deep, lung-filling breath of air, a heavily-distorted chord drones low from Charlie’s guitar like a funeral toll.

“Abjure your god!” Jay screams into his mic. “Abjure your god!”

Hands grab my shoulders and spin me around. Zak gapes at me, slack-jawed and wide-eyed. “What the hell is going on?”

A quick peek shows Adrian mirroring Zak’s shock appearance. He shakes my shoulders, bringing my attention back to him in front of me, and he asks again, “What are you doing?”

“If my mother gave my soul to the devil without my consent,” I explain, “then I’m getting something out of it.”

“What’re you getting?” Adrian demands.

My tongue wets my bottom lip, instinctively wanting to chew on it out of anxiousness, but I take a deep breath, instead. “Timeless is off the hook. For everything.”

Staring into Zak’s confused eyes, I wrap a hand around his thick bicep and finally admit, “You’re not a vampire anymore. Robbie’s off the hook for his deal. Shannon’s not a devil.” I reach for Adrian’s hand, pulling him toward us as Abjured plays their most popular hit. “You’re not a devil anymore. All of our deals have been reversed.”

Shrieking in the distance becomes piercing as a small group of people round the corner of the stage. I focus between the twins, where Mom and Dad barge through backstage toward us.

“What did you do?” she screams with bright blue eyes aflame. “What did you do to my festival?”

“Yourfestival?” I yell back, stepping around Zak. “This ismyfestival, and it has been from day one, thanks to you.”

A hand wraps around my jaw and forces me to look away from my screaming mother and into the emblazoned eyes of my husband. “Why would you sell out thousands of people like this?”

“I’m not forcing anyone to sell their soul. What they’re doing is of their free will, their own choice. We didn’t get that choice—none of us did. I’m just giving them an opportunity to make it worth their while.” I pull him closer, searching his eyes for any little crumb that will hint at forgiveness. “I’m already the bad guy. Let me make it count for a good reason.”

“Why?” Adrian demands. He appears as shocked, upset, and angered as his brother. “Why are you taking the fall for all of us?”

“Because I fucked up beyond repair when I quit the band and left,” I remind them. “If all of this is because the devil wanted me, anyway, then this is how I can make things right.”

“And if we don’t accept it?” Zak questions.

Tears sting my eyes, welling up until my vision blurs and the twins are nothing but dark blobs.

They may not forgive me after all, especially not after I orchestrated other people taking their place in the devil’s grip. But this is the only way I’ve been able to see out: by replacing them with others who are willing to throw themselves into the fire and flame. Because all of them—all of us—have been forced into it.

And it’s all because of me.

My shoulders slump in defeat. If they don’t forgive me and hate me more for what I’ve done, at least I’ve done what I could to right my wrongs—even if it makes me the worst bad guy.

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