The Demon's Bargain (A Deal With a Demon #4)(6)

I only thought about poisoning her new girlfriend once or half a dozen times. It’s not like I did it.

“Lenora.”

I silently curse myself and start forward in my spike-heeled boots. “Keep up, demon.”

The “haunted” house is a normal house so covered in Halloween decorations, it’s nearly impossible to see its proper shape. Someone spent a fortune in fake spiderwebs and several smoke machines. It’s a little tacky but in a fun way. Gods, I love this holiday.

There’s a line out the front and curving around the block. It’s tempting to ignore it and walk straight to the entrance, but there’s no reason to bring more attention to us than we’re already getting. Ramanu studies the line and then follows me to the back of it. “Lots of humans. Lots of nonhumans, too.”

“It’s a convenient entrance for the people who live in this area.”

They turn their attention to the house itself. “I can’t see anything indicating this is different than the other buildings in the area.”

I blink. “Can you sense magic?”

“It’s not as simple as that,” they say absently. “Magic, emotions, auras. However you want to describe it. Both people and places have them. My mother is bargainer demon, but my parent is gargoyle. I get this little quirk from them. Along with these.” They drift a finger over their second set of horns.

My skin heats. If they’re saying what I think they’re saying… “Exactly what can you see? Or sense? Or whatever?”

They focus back on me, a slow smile pulling at the edges of their lips. “I could see your lust earlier, little witch. So thick, I could taste it on my tongue.”

My skin heats, but I refuse to look away. “Emotions aren’t intention.”

“No,” they agree easily. “But they’re the first seed of action.”

I’d like to say they’re dead wrong and I wouldn’t be so foolish as to jump into bed with a bargainer demon. Unfortunately, I know myself well enough to acknowledge I am exactly that foolish when it comes to love. Or at least when it comes to lust.

Dangerous, sweet, cuttingly ambitious. No one would gather my exes into a room and immediately draw a line of similarities between them. The only thing they have in common is being utterly unsuitable for me. Even so, Ramanu would win the prize for most unsuitable. They don’t even live in this realm.

And they want seven years of my life.

“Not this time.” I try to say it firmly, but it comes out almost like a question.

Their grin goes downright wolfish, and they ease a little closer. “Come now, Lenora. Sign my contract and come away with me. Sex and games and maybe even some murder thrown in to spice things up. It would be fun.”

Of that, I have no doubt. The chemistry sizzles between us like a live wire and we’ve barely touched. I give myself a shake and glance at the line. It’s moved quite a bit while I was distracted with Ramanu. “Let’s go.”

Neither of us speaks as the line inches its way to the entrance of the house. It’s a relatively quick process. The woman who’s dressed as an angel and is dividing the groups has a glint in her eye that isn’t quite human, and when she surveys Ramanu, I’m sure of it. “Nice costume.”

“Thanks.” They smile sweetly. “I like yours, too.” Is that flirtation in their tone?

I’m bristling, and I have no right to bristle. Nothing about this evening is going right. “We want the special pass.”

She finally focuses on me. “Of course.” She rips a ticket from the roll in her hand and waves it through the air. A shimmer sizzles over it, there and gone again in an instant. She hands it over. “Follow your number.”

I glance at it and roll my eyes. “Sixty-nine. Really?”

She shrugs. “You get what you get. Go ahead.”

Ramanu falls in behind me as I approach the door. There are more fake cobwebs strung about inside, thick enough that I hope someone has cleaning magic, or they’ll be finding bits of it for years to come. Arrows made of glow-in-the-dark tape point us down the narrow hall lined with doors. I take one step and stop short. “Hey, Ramanu.”

“Yes?” They’re so close, I can almost feel the heat from their body against my back.

I look over my shoulder. “You know how a haunted house works, right? They jump out, we scream, they go away. No murdering the actors.”

“Spoilsport.”

I narrow my eyes. “I’m serious. And don’t wander. I imagine there are a lot of portals in this place, and even you won’t want to end up where some of them lead.”

They hesitate then finally nod. “I’ll attempt to keep the murder to a minimum and will follow along like a dutiful pup.”

That’s not exactly the reassurance I was looking for, but I suppose it’ll have to do. “Good puppy.” As soon as the words leave my lips, I regret them. Dear gods, am I flirting with this demon? I snap back to face the front. I’m not in the habit of feeling shame, but I just got done telling myself to leave this demon alone, yet my first instinct is still to shift closer and look up at their fascinating face and tip my head back and…

Ugh. No.

I charge forward, following the taped arrows. The first room is done up like a doctor’s exam room. A human jumps out from behind the table, a saw in one hand and fake blood covering their surgical scrubs. Behind me, I feel Ramanu tense. “Back the fuck off,” I snarl.