Page 26 of In Between Death and the Devil

His eyes had turned completely black, and I felt shadows wrapping around our hands and wrists like vines.

“As the Devil, God of the In Between, I offer you this deal.” His voice had a resonance to it that vibrated against my ribs. “To teach you how to control what you call your curse in exchange for you spying on Death for me, and to not reject everything I tell you outright for the duration of this deal. The decision on when and how to use your curse or not will be yours. I will not force you. The deal will end once you can successfully call on, actively use, and release your power, and when you’ve gone at least two weeks without it making an uncontrolled appearance. Do you accept and swear to uphold your end of the bargain?”

I swallowed. I was really making a deal with the Devil. He’d added everything I’d argued for, but I was under no illusion that he was coming out ahead. If there were any other choice—I stopped myself. There wasn’t. I wouldn’t be agreeing otherwise.

“I swear.” My skin prickled as his power rose.

“This will hurt, but only for a moment.”

Before I could ask what he meant, the shadows around my wrist sharpened, slicing into my skin. A gasp escaped me. My eyes widened as something red and glittering surfaced from the cuts and soaked into the shadows. As he said, the pain only lasted a few seconds. Then the shadows loosened, slipping off and snaking back into the Devil’s skin. I felt him tremble, as if sealing our bargain had shaken him. The cut on my wrist sealed itself and faded. His grip on me loosened, and I withdrew my hand, letting it fall to my side.

My shoulders slumped. The deal was struck. I’d bound myself to him. An intense weariness settled over me, and I wished he’d leave so I could lose myself to sleep and forget about everything for a while.

“I’ll be in touch about where and when to meet for our first lesson.”

“It’ll have to be at night, after Death dismisses me. She’s confined my duties to her quarters and given me a babysitter, like she threatened.”

His hands flexed at his side. “That won’t be a problem. Have a good night, Maeve. I’ll see you soon.” With one last lingering glance, he turned and disappeared into the shadows.

I knew as soon as he was gone from the way the room brightened, though I walked into the corner and thrust my hands through the remaining shadows to be sure I was alone. Damn. It looked like the Devil could travel through shadows.

The fire crackled and Star, my salamander friend, poked their head out of the flames.

“Waited ‘til he was gone, did you? Smart choice.” With a sigh, I retrieved the crust of bread from my apron and laid it on the floor by the hearth. Then I retreated to my bed and collapsed, leaning back against the wall.

As soon as I was settled, Star scurried down and examined my offering. I’d never seen them eat it, but Star seemed to appreciate the gesture, always taking it with them.

“Must be nice to be able to have a place to hide where no one can get to you.” I didn’t know where the fire led, but I imagined some sort of salamander-sized network of passages connecting all of the fires here and in the Orders of Death in the World of the Living.

Star cocked their head.

“If I had a place to hide, I wouldn’t be stuck in an arrangement with that manipulative bastard.” I let my head fall back against the wall and closed my eyes. It had been a long day. Had the incident with the tea tray only been this morning?

I felt sleep tugging at me. All I needed was to surrender to it and I could lose myself to oblivion for a while. I slumped to the side until I was lying down. My mind wandered, skipping through memories of the day, lingering on the Devil’s face as he sealed our deal. In response, something twitched in my chest.

In my mind’s eye, a thread appeared. I could feel it, anchored to my heart and stretching into the distance. Instinctively, I put my hand on my chest, but all I felt was the rough fabric of my dress. I attributed it to my tired mind conjuring things that weren’t there, until the thread pulled hard enough to make me gasp.

Reaching out a mental finger, I gently plucked it. The vibrations made my whole body hum pleasantly. A feeling of rightness settled in my chest, as if something I hadn’t known I wanted had slotted into place. My muscles relaxed and I melted into the bed.

Right as I began to drift off, a different vibration came down the thread, deeper and more resonant. Masculine.

My eyes flew open, but I could still feel it. It was unmistakably him. The Devil. It felt like his presence: solid, firm and powerful. It had to be the deal we’d struck, a tangible symbol of it. Did that mean that he could feel me through the connection?

Gods.

I looked at Star, who still watched me from the floor. “What have I gotten myself into?”

CHAPTER 9

My days with Death took on a new kind of urgency as the Devil’s deal made me hyper-aware of everything I saw or heard. Knowing I’d have to recount them made me jumpy. I couldn’t shake the feeling that Death could tell I was betraying her, even though her behavior towards me didn’t change.

Having a constant shadow didn’t help. Talia had introduced me to another female servant who now followed me around, helping with my duties. We didn’t speak any more than necessary, but I could feel her watching my every move.

I was also aware of the thread that connected me to the Devil. Every time I moved, it pulled, and sometimes I thought I could feel him on the other end. Out of nowhere, I’d get a strong sense of him, the feeling so startling I’d look up, expecting to see him standing nearby.

It was intolerable, being in his thrall. I needed to end it as soon as I could, which meant doing whatever it took to get control of my curse. Except, I couldn’t do anything until he decided to hold my first ‘lesson’. Nothing but grit my teeth and keep my head down, praying my curse didn’t make an appearance in front of anyone.

Fortunately, the Devil didn’t make me wait long. A few nights later, Marcus was waiting for me in my room when I returned for the night. At least this time I saw him the minute I opened the door instead of him appearing out of the shadows.