“Yes. Most of them are being kept in a safe place. Until we can figure out a way to get their souls back.”
“So you can get your soul back from the Devil?”
“No,” Eugene stated. “The Devil has soul bargaining down to an exact science. No loopholes. Totally binding. But the soul taking that has been done here did not follow the legal wording of the contract.”
“So Finola is stealing souls.”
Eugene nodded.
And Finola had a contract with Annie for her soul. A contract she could breach at any moment.
“Yes,” Eugene said, confirming his unspoken concerns. “But we are getting closer and closer to figuring out how to get Finola under control. Annie will be safe. It just requires some stealth, because the goal is always to avoid making Satan aware that we exist.”
“Well, he is the Prince of Darkness.”
“Exactly,” Eugene nodded.
“So are your headquarters below us?” Nick asked.
“Yes. It’s a copper-encased workroom, because demons cannot cross barriers of copper. And the mailroom employees are members of the organization.”
“Because no one pays attention to the mailroom.”
“Exactly.”
“Are they all inhuman?”
“No,” Eugene said, his eerie eyes focusing on Nick more intently than before.
The prickling feeling, to which Nick had almost become oblivious, flared, and he suddenly felt a little uneasy. He gripped the stapler still in his right hand a little tighter.
“Don’t worry. I have no intention of hurting you,” Eugene said. “I cannot hurt anyone unless they are evil. You are not evil.”
“Good to know.”
Eugene actually smiled again.
“But why would you tell me all this?” Nick asked, still feeling not exactly wary, but a little unsettled.
“Because you are a human with special abilities. We have many humans with special abilities working with us.”
“Who?”
“Elton. He’s a seer, meaning he can see demons. We have several other working within
HOT!
And we can always use more.”
“Are you recruiting me?”
Eugene nodded. “In a way. Because of being a detective, you are more likely to be in contact with evil than most people. And having you report any leads to our organization would be of the greatest help.”
So I was never crazy, Nick thought. The Midtown Murderer was a demon.
“Yes. And because your detectives captured him, we were able to get him under control and back to Hell.”
Nick frowned, a horrible idea hitting him. “So the man in jail isn’t really a killer?”
Eugene sighed, and Nick felt a great wave of sorrow wash over him. “The man in prison is a killer now. When a demon possesses someone like that, some of the demon’s evil stays inside him. Not true of all possession, but in this case, the man is a killer.”
“If you gaze for too long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.”
Eugene nodded.
“Wait, was Nietzsche a demon slayer?”
“No,” Eugene said. “Just a smart guy.”
Annie leapt off the sofa as soon as she heard a key in the lock. She stood in the middle of the room, waiting for Nick to walk in.
He did, stopping as soon as he saw her.
“Nick,” she said. Her eyes, already swollen from crying, filled again as soon as she saw him. She’d been so afraid he’d left for good, thinking she was totally insane.
“I’m so sorry,” she cried. “I never should have told you—”
Nick strode to her, pulling her tight into his arms, his cheek nuzzling against the top of her head.
“Annie, it’s okay,” he murmured, kissing her temple. “I know you were telling the truth. I know there are demons.”
Chapter Twenty-five
A
nnie curled against Nick’s chest, listening as he told the story about Eugene and the mailroom.
“I knew there was a reason I liked Elton,?? she said once he was finished. She rubbed her cheek again his broad chest, comforted by the steady beat of his heart.
“And,” she added, “now you don’t have to go to Finola’s party.”
Nick didn’t answer and she lifted her head, eyeing him worriedly.
“You aren’t going, right?”
Nick met her gaze, his eyes grave. “Annie, I’m not going to let her keep abusing you like she is.”
“But this Eugene said they are close to helping us.”
“Not close enough. You can’t handle one more day of her crazy demands with the threat of losing your immortal soul hanging over your head.”
Annie frowned at him, frustrated. “I’ve done it for three years. I can keep doing it. I have to.”
“No,” Nick said stroking her hair. “I will make a deal with her myself.”
“No,” Annie said pushing away from him. “Then we will
both
be indentured to her. What good will that do?”
“I will offer her
my
soul if she will destroy the contract with you.”
“No,” Annie said, unable to believe he would be so stupid. “Then I will lose you completely. She’s obsessed with you. What do you think she’d have in mind for you as her indentured slave?”
Nick sighed, realizing Annie was right. “I suspect it would involve whips and chains.”
Annie moved back against him, relieved he was seeing reason.
“I will be fine,” she assured him again. “And soon it won’t even matter, because she’ll be gone, banished or whatever, by the slayers.”
Satan sat on his balcony in a lounge chair. His head rested on the back, his eyes closed. A pleased little smile curved his wide lips. Heat wafted up from the fiery lake below his balcony and he waved his hand in the air in time to the sounds echoing from the countryside.
“Master?”
Satan raised his hand for silence. Then he continued to enjoy the cacophony of tortured screams from thousands of damned souls.
Finally, after a few more choruses, he opened his eyes.
“Don’t tell me,” he muttered.
“She is to see the mortal male tonight.”
Satan roared, his angry bellow drowning out all other sounds. And when the echoing stopped, all of Hell was silent.
Annie checked her phone. She’d texted Nick nearly a half an hour before to tell him she was headed out the door. She’d hoped to be home long before the party started. Not that she didn’t trust Nick. But she’d just feel better knowing he was at home. And she was with him.
She’d even bought a sexy little outfit to guarantee he would be too busy with her to think about playing the hero.
But she was still stuck at Finola’s apartment, making sure the florist was placing the dozens and dozens of white roses, which Finola had finally agreed to instead of the white lilacs, in the right places.
She’d also had to be sure the linens were correct, since the caterer had originally brought ivory tablecloths and napkins with golden accents instead of winter white with silver accents.
But finally it looked as if everything was close to complete. Tristan had arrived, and he would take over helping Finola, since her lowly personal assistant was not allowed at such an elite party.
Annie was happy to be Cinderella for the night.
She adjusted one last vase of roses, then went to find Finola. The diva demon was in her bedroom suite, a maid helping her into her gorgeous custom-made gown.
“Finola, the flowers and linens are all set.”
“Good,” she said, not looking away from her reflection in the mirror. “Just bring me a martini with three onions, and then go.”
Annie nodded, repressing a sigh. She just wanted to get home and be alone with Nick for a whole, blessedly quiet evening.
She went to the bar, looking around for the bartender.
“He went outside for a smoke,” Tristan said, appearing beside her. “Let’s see how many times he does that tonight, before he finds himself cast into the universe’s biggest ashtray.”
Annie’s eyes widened at his open reference to Hell and Finola’s penchant for banishing souls there willy-nilly.
He sighed. “Don’t mind me. I’m in a mood.”
Annie didn’t say anything, mainly because she didn’t know what to say. She slipped behind the bar and started to make Finola’s martini.
The door chimed, announcing the party’s first guest. Annie hurried to finish the martini, knowing Finola would be very upset if the guest saw her still there.
She scooped two onions into the liquor mixture, and was just ladling out another when she heard Tristan’s greeting.
“Rossi, what are you doing here?”
Annie looked up to see Nick in the doorway of Finola’s apartment. He wore the tuxedo Finola had provided for him. And Annie was sure her pulse would normally have sped up at the sight of him, if it wasn’t skipping with dismay and fear.
“Finola invited me as her date,” Nick said smoothly, not having spotted her yet.
“Really?” Tristan sounded almost as dismayed as Annie. “She did not tell me that.”
“No, Tristan, I did not.” Finola glided into the room in a cascade of white silk and diamonds. “I thought I heard your voice.”
Nick smiled at her, but his smile slipped, just slightly, as he finally noticed Annie behind the bar. But the slip was enough to draw Finola’s attention to Annie too.
“Anna, why are you still here?” she asked, her voice sharper than usual.
Annie didn’t answer her, and Finola frowned, clearly furious at her insubordination.
“Anna, you may go now.”
“No,” Annie said.
“Annie, don’t,” Nick warned.
Annie stepped out from behind the bar, moving away from Finola toward Nick.
“I’m not going without you,” Annie told him.
“Don’t do this,” Nick said, real fear filling his brown eyes.
Finola’s pale gaze moved back and forth between the two of them, clearly confused. “Whatever is going on?”
But it wasn’t either Annie or Nick who explained. It was Tristan. He moved to stand beside Finola.
“They are lovers,” he said, then lifted his head as if he was sniffing the air. “Yes, definitely lovers.”
Finola’s eyes narrowed as she looked at Annie. “You dared touch what you knew was mine. Well, sweet little Southern Anna, you will pay dearly for that.”
“No, she won’t,” Nick stated. “You aren’t going to do anything to her, Finola.”
“Aren’t I?”
Annie stared at her boss, realizing that she looked different, her eyes becoming almost reptilian. Fear filled her. Both she and Nick were going to end up banished to Hell.
Why hadn’t he just stayed home?
But Nick didn’t seem to be afraid of Finola. He stepped forward, placing himself between her and Annie.
“I will make a deal with you,” he said calmly.
“No,” Annie whispered, reaching out to hold Nick’s arms as if she could physically drag him back from Hell should Finola decide to cast him there.
“What kind of deal?” Finola asked, clearly intrigued.
“Release Annie from her contract, or I will go to my superiors at the NYPD with the fact that you are a demon.”
Finola stared at him for a moment, then she laughed.
“Why would I ever agree to a deal like that? There’s nothing in it for me.”
“That’s true,” Nick agreed. “Nothing except for the fact that you will spare yourself from being called a demon.”
“They wouldn’t believe you anyway,” she pointed out.
“That’s true, but the news will run the story even if they think I’m crazy. And a rumor like that is sure to pick up steam when the fact comes out that over twenty people in your employment have gone missing.”
Again, Annie was surprised when Tristan added, “That could very well be a problem. I can think of at least one of your superiors who would be very unhappy with a rumor like that.”
“As can I,” said a booming voice from behind them.
Annie turned to find a tall, slim man standing in the doorway of the apartment. He was balding, with a thin moustache and a beard that was groomed to a point. Behind a pair of wire-rimmed glasses, his small eyes appeared almost black. He stepped forward, a gold-handled walking cane in his right hand.
“I have to say—” his deep voice did not match his slight build—“I very much admire your ingenuity.”
Both Nick and Annie remained silent.
“I’m sorry,” he said offering his hand to Nick, who accepted it without pause. “I have not introduced myself.”
He turned then to Annie. She hesitated before accepting his handshake, but when she did, his long, narrow fingers curled around hers, smooth and almost slithering, like several small snakes.
She fought the urge to brush her hands on her skirt once he released her.
“I am Satan,” he said, offering her an amused smile almost as if he’d known what she’d been thinking. “Or Lucifer, if you prefer. Prince of Darkness always strikes me as so formal.”
Annie inched closer to Nick and he pulled her against his side, his arm protectively around her waist.
Satan laughed, another booming sound that filled the room. “Oh, believe me, you two have nothing to fear from me. In fact, I have a real fondness for young love. And I want nothing more than to see you two lovebirds happy.”
Nick’s hold tightened around her waist, but they both listened, watching Satan pace back and forth in front of them, his cane thudding on the carpet.
“I actually have a deal for you that you both will like very much.”
“We’re listening,” Nick said calmly as if he was talking to a used-car salesman rather than Satan himself.
“I will destroy the lovely Miss Annie Lou Riddle’s contract with Finola White in return for your agreement that you will never discuss any of this with another living soul.”
Nick frowned. “Discuss what, exactly?”
Satan chuckled, seeming pleased with Nick’s need for clarification.
“You will not discuss the existence of demons within the fashion industry. You will not discuss the missing employees of
HOT!
and you will not discuss the fact that anyone working for Finola White Enterprises, including Finola White herself, is a demon.”
Nick considered that for a moment. “And Annie will be free and clear to walk out of here today, no longer under contract, her soul completely her own?”
“Yes.”
“And in return for our silence, no demons will bother us ever again.”
Satan considered that, then smiled broadly. “Absolutely. Like I said, I enjoy a good love story. And all I want from you is silence on this matter.”
Nick nodded, but before he could even finish the first bob of his head, Satan held out a contract and a pen.
Nick read the contract, then signed. Annie did the same.
“And the pink copy is yours,” Satan said, handing them the bottom sheet of the contract.
“Now run along, you crazy kids,” he said, gesturing to the door with his cane. “I have some things to sort out with my employees.”
Annie and Nick immediately headed for the door. They did not have to be told twice.