A Deal in Darkness (Dark and Devilish #2)

39

A FUCKING HUGE MISTAKE

ADRIANA

M y fingers type furiously, replying to Emily’s email as fast as I damn well can. She’s got some meeting with a publishing house and she wants a summary of all the books on my list. I really ought to have had this ready, but I’ve been distracted recently. For damn good reason.

I manage to compile a document with the blurbs and synopses for the five books I’ve taken on. One’s already under consideration by a publisher, but that shouldn’t stop us pitching it to another, and Anna added a second book to my list a week after she signed with me.

I hit send and breathe a sigh of relief, only to find I’ve missed three text messages and a phone call from Enzo. I’m going to be in so much fucking trouble and my ass is going to be pretty darn sore.

He only agreed to me going to work if I promised to message him hourly. I got distracted and my heart sinks as I call him, dreading the telling-off I’m about to receive.

I don’t even get a moment’s silence or a chance to say hello before it begins. Before he begins.

“What is the fucking point of making a promise if you don’t fucking keep it?”

I swallow.

“I mean it, Adriana.”

I lift my eyes to the ceiling and pray someone will save me.

“And don’t look up and hope that one of those cunts up there will save you.”

“How do…”

“I fucking know everything,” he snarls. “Thank fuck I’ve made damn sure I could keep an eye on you.”

“Enzo…”

“Don’t try that tone of voice with me, baby girl. It won’t do anything. Your ass is in for such a fucking hiding when you get home. You’re leaving work. Now.”

I sit in silence and push my weight into my chair.

“You’d better not be thinking about defying me, Adriana. I’ll double your punishment if you are.”

“This isn’t fair, Enzo.”

He growls and my fingers grip the desk, holding on for sheer damn life. “It isn’t meant to be. You need to learn to do what I say when I fucking say it. Now get your ass out of there before I march over there and haul it out of your office. Over my fucking shoulder for the whole damn office to see.”

“But…”

“I’ll tell Emily your mother is sick. You can work from home. Now fucking move.”

I hang up, and he calls back. Instantly.

“Never. Ever. Hang. Up. On. Me.”

I hang up again and drop my phone into my bag, gathering up my belongings as fast as I possibly can. I grab some manuscripts and my laptop, stuffing them into my oversized tote bag, before packing my handbag. Within a few minutes, I’ve packed and I’m heading for reception.

Lucinda chases after me, calling after me until I’m forced to stop. She’s waffling on about needing to get approval for some event we’re throwing in a week or two, and this is the very thing I don’t need. I stare blankly at her, hoping her endless monologue will end—and when it doesn’t, I take matters into my own hands.

I interrupt her.

“Just do what you think is best. You’re great at this, Lucinda. I’ve got to go. My mother’s ill. It’s an emergency. I’ve got to go. Sorry. Just sort it.”

I turn and race away, grabbing my phone and calling Enzo back.

“You hung up again.”

“I needed to pack.”

“You did not need to pack,” he says, and I note the tension in his tone. “I’d have got your stuff later. How much fucking stuff did you need to bring with you, anyway?”

I roll my eyes and get into the elevator—and the signal cuts out.

I emerge and my phone rings. Instantly.

“I thought you said you knew everything,” I sigh.

“Oh, I do, darling girl.”

I recognize the voice, and my blood turns cold. Eva’s tone is harsh and calculating, the tone of voice someone uses when they know they have you in their grasp. She’s fucking with me and she’s enjoying it.

“He won’t be coming for you.”

I swallow and walk into the entrance lobby. My eyes dart around and nothing looks unusual. Everything seems the same as it did this morning. The man on reception smiles and waves as he looks up and I smile back, trying to pretend that I’m okay.

I’m far from it.

My heart’s racing and there’s so much adrenaline pouring into me that I’m shaking. Visibly. My hands tremble and my stomach twists, knotting itself so damn tightly that I want to be sick. My mouth is dry and my throat burns, and my muscles tense, primed to respond to a threat. I know I have no chance of beating.

Eva and I are unequally matched, and the odds aren’t in my favor.

I run my fingers over my neck, playing with my collar in the hope that Enzo realizes there’s a problem. It ties me to him and connects our emotions. They might not always be easy to interpret, but I’m guessing that the sheer terror of my situation ought to be as clear as fucking daylight.

“Clever girl,” Eva snarls, making it clear she’s watching me. “It won’t save you. I can’t remove that damned collar, but I can prevent Amaymon from responding to you.”

“I don’t want…”

“It doesn’t matter what you want, darling. He made you a part of this the moment he took a shine to you.”

Heels click as they march across the tiled floor.

“It’s nothing personal. You’re bait, darling. Nothing more.”

I back away from the sound that marches toward me like death. My head darts around and I still can’t find anything out of the ordinary and I hurry to the door, certain that my car will be waiting outside. Enzo always makes sure there’s a driver to collect me and he’s assured me several times that they’re highly skilled demons.

My feet hurry across the floor, and I throw the door open, searching for the sedan. It’s already waiting and the driver gets out. He’s my usual driver and I race toward him, trying to cover the ground quickly.

“You can run, Adriana,” Eva says, taunting me down the phone, “but you can’t hide. Not forever.”

“I don’t need to hide forever,” I snap back. “Just long enough for Enzo to find and kill you.”

Eva laughs and pure evil sounds down the phone.

I quicken my pace and yell at the driver, asking him for the code word. His eyes deepen in color and their scarlet makes my chest tighten and my heart race faster. The demon recites it and I exhale, suddenly aware I’ve been holding my breath.

My hand covers the phone.

“Eva’s…”

“I know,” the demon hisses. “Get in. Quickly.”

I dive into the car and he slams the door shut, driving off before I’ve fastened my seat belt. My heart’s still pounding hard enough to make my chest explode and my hands haven’t recovered. If anything, the shaking’s getting worse as the adrenaline kicks in and the terror I’m experiencing won’t abate until I’m with Enzo. Until I’m safely back home.

“Do you honestly think this will work?” Eva asks.

I hang up and stare out the window, watching as we race through London. The buildings turn into a blur of colors as the car moves at an unnatural speed. This isn’t normal, but then nothing about my situation is.

My heart sinks when I realize we’ve been traveling for far too long. It’s only a few minutes, but we should be home by now. We should easily have reached the loft if we’re traveling at this speed—and that means I’ve walked straight into the trap Eva set for me.

I’ll bet Lucinda had something to do with it.

The fucking bitch must have sent Eva a message and then tried to stall me on the way out. I make myself a promise that if I get out of this mess, then I’m sure as fuck making sure the first thing I do is fire her ass—and then I’m going to let Enzo do whatever the fuck he wants to her.

But I’ve got to survive this first.

“We’re not going back to the loft, are we?”

The driver lowers the divide between us. “Sorry, princess.”

“What did she offer you?”

His eyes meet mine, and for a moment I wonder if I see shame in them. Or maybe doubt. It’s probably too much to hope for given he’s a fucking demon and he’s already chosen a side, and he knows the consequence of betraying Enzo.

“A better job than this one,” he says, “with significantly better benefits.”

I sigh and sink back in my seat. “I don’t suppose I can persuade you to change your mind?”

He smiles and it’s sad. “We both know that Amaymon won’t forgive this, and there’s no way back from this for me. For what it’s worth, I like you. I really do. I might even ask to play with you after Mordecai’s had his fun. If you promise to behave for me, I’ll see if I can keep you.”

Another wave of nausea creeps over me as the repulsive thought takes hold of me. It’s one thing to trade myself for something I wanted, but it’s quite another to be traded like a fucking object. I’m so fucking tired of this shit and my anger begins to rise, pushing my panic to one side.

Anger’s good.

Anger is a potent motivator.

Anger might be what I need to make it through this.

“You’ll only make it harder for yourself if you carry on like that,” the driver says.

Fuck that shit.

Fuck it twice over and damn them all to hell.

There is no way I’m going to roll over and take this. That’s what they want me to do. It makes it easy for them. My surrender means they’ve won. And I fucking refuse to give them an easy victory.

I’ve already survived one demon and he sure as fuck didn’t make it easy. I haven’t beaten Amaymon, but I didn’t lose, and that’s a victory in and of itself. It’s the proof I need that I can endure and survive this, even temporarily—and that’s all I need to do.

I just need to hold out long enough for him to come.

Because he promised he would come. Whenever I called. Whenever I needed him. Even if I didn’t perform the rite or say his name properly. The demon gave me his word and now I’m risking everything in the idiotic belief that I can trust him to keep it.

I’ve lost my fucking mind.

This is madness, but it’s the insanity I need to make it through what lies ahead. My reality holds little semblance to sanity and I might have lost all goddamn reason, but this is the only thing that makes any sense anymore.

Enzo will come for me and I have to hold out until then.

“You’re going to fight her, aren’t you?” the driver sighs. “She’ll make it hurt, princess. Give her what she wants and it’ll hurt less.”

I shake my head.

His eyes flash another warning and we turn a sharp corner, heading for a part of London I’m not familiar with. Its rundown warehouses and abandoned offices are creepy as fuck and I’m sure Eva fits in this shithole. She’ll be right at home and I focus on my surroundings, playing with my collar as I will Enzo to get my message.

The car stops and the door opens. I draw back and Eva’s fucking hideous face beams with glee as she pokes her head into the car.

“You’re so fucking precious, darling.”

“You’re such a fucking bitch.”

Her eyebrow shoots up, and the smile momentarily falls from her face. She recovers, but I’ve drawn first blood. It’s an insignificant win and it might not matter in the long run, but it shows I can surprise her, and I might need to remember that later.

When she’s using me to lure Enzo into whatever fucking trap she has in store.

When she’s trying to make me believe that there’s no way we can win this and it would be easier to surrender than endure.

When I’m exhausted and in pain and on the verge of breaking.

Eva slides in and there’s nothing elegant about her expression. She’s pure venom, unbridled hate. I don’t know what I’ve done to offend her, but there’s more to this than a power grab.

This is personal.

Deeply personal.

“Such a pretty face,” she snarls, leaning closer. “It’s almost a shame to ruin it.”

I smile, and she blinks, and then she has the fucking nerve to reach for me. I pull away, cowering against the car door. I look every inch the frightened human girl I want her to believe I am, and my trembling only makes the picture more perfect.

Eva smirks as she closes the distance between us, her fingers reaching for my face.

I whip my hand through the air and the slap as it collides with her face rings out through the car. She shrieks, caught by surprise for a second time, and I hear the fucking driver’s eyebrow shoot up and his mouth fall open.

If I was sensible, I wouldn’t have done that.

But I’m not sensible, not anymore. I lost any sense I ever possessed when I fell for Enzo and I’ve descended into a deep enough madness that I stopped giving a shit about what makes sense a while ago.

“That was a mistake, darling,” Eva hisses, closing the door behind her. “A fucking huge one.”

It’s my turn to smirk, and the demon sitting next to me doesn’t like it. Not one fucking bit.

“I know,” I reply, letting my grin stretch from one ear to the other. “You’ve made more than one today and Amaymon will make you pay for all of them before he’s finished with you.”

Her face twists in anger and my vision fades as pain sweeps through me. I cling to consciousness, but the agony is unbearable and I slip into darkness, still trying to find my way back to the light.