Page 191 of Just One Little Bargain

“He went home.”

“And where’s that?”

I drain what’s left in my glass. My better judgment disappeared somewhere around drink two.

“Hell.”

Daisy chokes on her cocktail. “What?”

“Hell. With demons, eternal torment, and a bureaucratic nightmare that makes the DMV look efficient.” Alcohol and exhaustion have apparently loosened whatever filter should’ve stopped me from saying it so casually. “Milo was a demon. Marmalade somehow summoned him with a novelty Ouija board guests had left as a gift. He got dragged back to Hell on Saturday night by what I can only assume was their version of HR enforcement.”

Maddie stares at me like I’ve grown a second head.

“Explain it again,” she says slowly. “Because I’m pretty sure I hallucinated that entire part.”

“I’m not explaining it again. You heard me the first time.”

“Is she having a breakdown?” She looks at Daisy, who shrugs with glazed-over eyes.

“I’m serious.” I slur the last word just enough to undermine my case.

“Sure you are. What’s next? Bigfoot’s real, and he’s been filing your taxes?”

“Maddie.”

“Evie, come on. Demons aren’t real.”

“They are.”

Daisy leans forward. Her eyes are bright with fascination instead of concern, which is so her it makes me smile. “What did his real form look like? Could he do magic? Did he have horns? A tail? Could he turn into smoke?”

“Daisy, focus.” Maddie snaps her fingers. “Your sister just said she was dating a demon.”

“I know! Isn’t that romantic?”

“Romantic? They’re evil. That’s literally their entire purpose.”

“Milo wasn’t.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I lived with him for a month.” My voice cracks despite every effort to keep it steady. “He was kind and curious, and he cared about things that didn’t benefit him at all. He got excited about grocery shopping, asked permission before touching anything in my house, and looked at me as if I was the most fascinating thing he’d ever encountered. Not once did he make me feel like I was too much or not enough. He saw me and decided I was worth risking everything Hell could do to him.”

For once, neither of them has a comeback. The jukebox feels too loud.

“And now he’s gone,” I finish. “I can’t get him back because there’s no customer service line for demonic retrieval.”

Maddie exhales. “Shit.”

“Yeah.”

Daisy reaches across and grabs my hand. “Tell us everything.”

So I do.

It all pours out: the summoning, the bargain I refused to make, the way he stayed to help when he didn’t have to, how he learned to fold laundry and cook and live like a human because he wanted to, not because he had to. Then the festival, Krell, and the soulmate revelation.

Daisy’s eyes are bright, soaking in every word, while Maddie keeps throwing questions at me.