Page 69 of Hellbound

But the care he’d showed her. Surely—

No. It was all transactional. He wasn’t attracted to her, no matter what her screwed-up signals indicated, or how vivid the dreams were. Vale was a demon. A monster. She should have been disgusted.

But he’s never hurt you, a pathetic little voice chimed inside her.

Her refrigerator had never hurt her either, but that didn’t mean she wanted to fuck it.

Mr. Vale was playing her. He’d arrived at Stellan’s torture party like a savior, offering her a cryptic deal she’d be too desperate to refuse.

Marian needed to figure out where she was among his pawns. But that was a tall task while her head was full of cobwebs.

Fuck, she wasn’t up to putting any of that complexity into words.

She opened the front door to find one neatly packaged black bag and a large black coffee waiting for her on the concrete. She snatched them up and tore the bag open before she’d even done up the locks.

Inside the paper to-go boxes lay the thickest, most mouth-watering slabs of bacon and strawberry French toast she’d ever seen. Seconds later, she was cross-legged on the futon and scarfing down every morsel.

Wherever he’d ordered from included metal cutlery, which Marian ignored. She ate with her hands, giving herself over completely to the ravenous monster that had possessed her.

Her anger at Mr. Vale diminished with every bite of free food. He still owed her answers, and she’d get them. Eventually. Maybe on a day she didn’t feel like someone had scraped out her insides and stuck a hot poker through her shoulder. She was due for some pain meds.

MARIAN:

I HOPE THIS WAS EXPENSIVE.

VALE:

BY YOUR MONETARY STANDARDS, IT WAS. CAN’T HAVE YOU ACCUSING ME OF TREATING YOU LIKE A CHEAP DATE.

Marian sputtered through a mouthful of coffee. Brown droplets spattered across her phone screen. Had he …?

No. Vale had to be referring to using her as a human pin cushion. Not the dream. She swiped at the coffee and typed with a trembling hand. Pull yourself together and get more free food out of this.

Because as disconcerting as the last twenty-four hours of Vale had been, she found she didn’t want as much distance from him as she should have.

MARIAN:

THE JURY’S STILL OUT ON THAT. BETTER ORDER ME DINNER, TOO. JUST TO BE SAFE.

VALE:

I’D RATHER TAKE YOU OUT. PROVIDED YOU HAVE SOMETHING MORE SUITABLE TO WEAR THAN THE TRASH BAG YOU INSIST IS CLOTHING.

Marian stared open-mouthed at her phone.

Had all the oxygen deprivation finally destroyed her reading comprehension? Or was Vale really asking her out to dinner?

That train of thought derailed as her phone chimed again with a message from someone she’d forgotten existed.

ABE:

ANY SIGN OF TORI? SHE MISSED ANOTHER SHIFT AND I THINK SHE’S GONNA GET FIRED. IM WORRIED:(

Marian raised the steaming cup of properly brewed coffee to her lips as she considered a response. But an unsettling feeling twisted in her gut, churning up the eggy challah bread she’d inhaled.

Tori probably just skipped town. But why would Tori do that if she’d fulfilled her bargain? Why would she no-show at work and lose her job just to avoid paying Marian? She was in school, too—why would she leave? Unless she hadn’t fulfilled her bargain, in which case …

Maybe everything Tori had told her was a lie. Maybe she’d lied to Abe, too. Maybe the human lie detector was the greatest grifter of them all.