“I need to get out of this market,” she said firmly. “Tell me how to do that.”
“There’s a mild spell on the entire area to keep the customers shopping for as long as possible. You have to really want to leave before you can break away from it.”
“Trust me, I really want to leave.”
“So you can go to the Void.”
She kept her mouth closed. Andy began to growl again.
Stefano drew closer, inhaling. “I smell something sweet.” His eyes narrowed. “Something that shouldn’t be here. What are you really, Eden?”
“A visitor.”
“Whose visitor?”
“Lucifer’s.”
Stefano flinched at the name, but he didn’t look as if he believed her. “I smell angel. An angel in the Netherworld. Not a very good idea. Much too dangerous a place for a sweet little thing like you.”
Before her very eyes, he shifted his form until he grew taller, broader. His skin became leathery and the red of bricks, his horns long and curved and shiny black. His lips peeled back from sharp yellow teeth. “Maybe I should have a taste of that sweetness. I hear angels are delicious.”
He grabbed hold of her arm. Andy clamped his teeth into the demon’s shin.
And Eden summoned magic into her hands and blasted the incubus back from her. He landed on his back ten feet away, looking up at her, dazed.
She looked down at the demon. “I’m not that sweet anymore.”
“What the—?” He tried to get up.
Eden held out her hand to stop him. “Follow me and you’re going headfirst into the Void. Hear me?”
He stayed on the ground. “Yes, ma’am.”
“That’s more like it.”
She touched the cold surface of her amulet, but didn’t risk looking at it. A little black magic was worth it sometimes when she could avoid being a demon’s snack.
“We’re out of here, Andy. Come on.”
“You got it.”
Stefano said she had to really want to leave the market. This time she walked out with purpose, with no hesitation, and with every ounce of determination she could summon. There was a slight pulling sensation as she reached the outer breaches of the crowd and noise, but then with a small pop, she broke through.
Out here there was darkness, silence, and a look over her shoulder now showed the market far in the distance even though she’d only taken a few steps away from it.
“I hate this place,” she whispered.
“Me too. But I have good news.”
“Yeah? I could use some of that right about now.”
“He said that once we were out of the market we could feel the pull of the Void.”
She shook her head. “I can’t feel anything.”
“Well, I can. I bet Lucifer made me into a hellhound for that reason. I can guide you there.”
Eden let out the breath she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding and nodded. “Then lead the way.”
“Well?” Theo asked. “Not to hurry you along, but I do have stuff to do.”
Darrak glared at him, feeling the pull of the Void behind him. “And you’re trying to convince me that you’re not Lucifer.”
“I’m not Lucifer.”
“How do I know that for sure?”
Theo inspected his fingernails for a moment. “Because if I was Lucifer I would have already gone Sparta on your ass and kicked you into the Void just to see the look of shock on your face.”
He had an excellent point.
“Does everyone get a deal like this before they’re gone forever?”
“No,” Theo said. “Most are introduced to the Void like a balled-up piece of garbage tossed into a garbage can before they have any idea what’s going on, rather than moseying up to the edge like this all subtle-like.”
“Then why me?”
“Because I think you could still be useful to me.”
Darrak wracked his mind, trying to find the answers he needed. “Are you one of the other demon lords? You want me to work exclusively for you if I agree to this? Keep the soul energy away from Lucifer?”
“I’m not a demon lord. And your time is ticking away. Just over two minutes left.”
The draw of the gaping chasm of darkness behind him was growing stronger, he felt it like long fingers sliding underneath his skin, like branches growing up over the jagged cement sides and wrapping around his ankles. It would be pointless to try to fight it. It already had him in its clutches, but now it was waiting before yanking him that last bit backward.
But something kept Darrak fighting, hoping for a solution.
A demon who hoped. Sure, that made sense.
What was down there? Would he land somewhere eventually? Is that where the rumor of the torturous pain came from before you were finally gone forever? Who started that rumor if no one had ever survived the plunge? He was in pain right now, but it was still manageable. He’d experienced much worse in his long existence.
“What do you care about, demon?” Theo asked.
Strange question. “Care about?”
“Is it only yourself? In these last minutes, are you only concerned about yourself and your own well-being?”
“It is top of mind.”
“But not completely. If it was, then you’d already have given me your answer. I need you to speak the words, demon. Say you’re willing to devote your future to killing innocent humans in order to save your own skin. Come on, it’ll be totally fun. Any normal demon would have already jumped on this opportunity, and you know it.”
“Can’t it be evil humans?” Darrak hated the catch in his voice as he said it. “Criminals, serial killers, blackhearted assholes with no chance at redemption?”
Theo laughed. “You’re hilarious. Of course not. What value does a black soul have down here? Zero. Just more cannon fodder. The true value in a place of ultimate darkness comes from the smallest infusion of light.”
He wanted to say yes. He did. But something stopped him, something apart from the invisible ropes that now tied him to the Void. Something else wrapped around his chest and squeezed tight.
“Thirty seconds, demon.” Theo crossed his arms.
Thirty seconds to decide his ultimate fate.
That redhead… had he really seen her? Was she just a figment of his imagination? Why did he think of her now when he was so close to the end? This was it. If he wasn’t able to wrap his mouth around the word yes—such a simple word considering how much it would mean — then it was all over.
His mind went again to the kids — his first assignment after saving his own sorry neck. It was a deal he once would have taken in a second and not given it another moment’s thought.
But he wasn’t that demon anymore. And he never would be again.
Oh, hell.
“That deal of yours?” Darrak said.
“Yes?”
“Why don’t you go ahead and shove it right up your ass?”
Theo’s lips curved. “Is that your answer? Are you saying no to me?”
A small part of him was screaming, wanting to change his mind while there was still a chance to survive, say anything to get out of this. But a larger part of him knew without any doubt that this was the right thing to do.
The right thing. A demon choosing to do something because it was the right thing to do. Hilarious.
“I’d tell you to go to Hell,” he said firmly. “But that would be a bit moot. My answer is no. Capital N, capital O. And that is my final answer, asshole.”
For emphasis, he gave the grinning entity the finger.
Theo cocked his head. “So it’s true, you have changed.”
Darrak just glowered at him. Then he staggered back a step as the Void’s hold on him tightened another notch.