Page 129 of Hell Bent

“No,” she said. “I’m done for the day. I was going back to the dorms.”

“We’ll go with you.”

That was one step too far. No way was she bringing these assholes anywhere close to Mercy and Lauren.

“What do you want, Eitan?”

“Let’s be nice, Alex. Be polite.”

“You almost got me killed. That does something to my manners.”

“I’m sorry. You know this. I like you. You do good work for me. Reiter has been difficult.”

He did sound genuinely sorry. The way someone would be sorry for eating the last slice of cake or being late to a dinner party.

“Do you have any idea what he really is?” Alex asked.

“I don’t need to know,” said Eitan. “He is problem. You are solution.”

“You want me to go back there?” Not a chance. It had been bad enough seeing Reiter lurking in the courtyard, but if Dawes was right, he was weaker when he had to hide from daylight and when he was away from his nest. In his lair, he had the advantage. Even the thought of that big white house made her lungs tighten, caught her breath, wound it fast on a spool. What had the Gray teacher said? He’d killed hundreds, maybe more.

“You’re happy here,” Eitan said.

Alex wasn’t sure what happy looked like. She was pretty confident it didn’t involve being hounded by demons or losing her scholarship. “Happy enough.”

“Fix Reiter for me, we can be done. You can have new life. You don’t have to worry about Tzvi showing up at your door.”

“That’s why you came here? To send me to die?”

“I had business in the city. And this is a good market. Lots of young people. Lots of pressure. Everyone trying to have fun.”

That felt like a threat. Was Eitan going to push her to deal on campus? There had to be a line somewhere. There had to be an end to this. Alex felt too aware of the people around her, their vulnerability, their weakness. Easy prey—for demons and for men like Eitan. He didn’t belong here and neither did she. They were serpents in the garden.

Alex weighed her choices. “I take care of Reiter, we’re done. That’s the deal. No more jobs. No more bargains.”

Eitan smiled and patted her shoulder. “Yes.”

“And if I don’t come back…” Alex dug her nails into her palm, remembering the feeling of Reiter’s fangs entering her body. “If I don’t come back, you throw some money my mom’s way. Make sure she’s okay.”

“Don’t talk like this, Alex. You will be fine. I see what you can do.”

Alex held his gaze. “You have no idea what I can do.”

He didn’t flinch. Eitan wasn’t going to let her get him alone, but he wasn’t scared of her. She might have sway with the dead, but he ruled the living.

Again he patted her shoulder, as if he was offering encouragement to a child. “Finish this job and we say goodbye, yes?”

“Yes,” said Alex.

“This is fair. You make amends. Everyone is happy.”

She doubted he was right about that, but all she said was, “Sure.”

“Good girl,” said Eitan.

He wasn’t right about that either.

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