“Your quota? You don’t get to apply any souls from thesoul market until after we’ve collected enough to pay back her debt, so you’re still on the hook for Q3. But get the demo to work and we can discuss.”
“No,” he said. He grabbed Morgan’s hand and squeezed it so tightly it hurt, but still did not meet her eyes. “I mean my soul.”
Her breath caught in her throat.
“Your… soul?” Bel’aliol sounded genuinely puzzled.
Lucareoth nodded shakily. “I’m on this side. There’s an arbitrage slope. What if I sign a contract? With Morgan?”
He couldn’t be seriously offering to sacrifice himself for her. Could he? “Luke, you can’t do that.”
Bel’aliol looked amused. “You want to come back home as a power source instead of a salesdemon?”
“If it would clear Morgan’s debt so we could forget this whole soul market thing, yes.”
“Do… Do your souls go where ours do when you die?” she whispered urgently.
“No, they do not,” Bel’aliol said. He snorted. “Depending on how the contract was interpreted, it could be argued that his obligation would be eternal.”
“Luke, you can’t do this,” Morgan turned to him, grabbing his hands back.
“It’s my fault,” he said, searching her face. “We both know you wouldn’t be in this position if it weren’t for me. I can’t let you be punished for my problems.”
“Why?” She wanted the answer and dreaded it.
“Because I love you,” he said simply.
“She wants to believe you,” scoffed Bel’aliol. “I don’t, because that’s the stupidest desire I’ve read off one of my staff in a century. What’s so special about this creature?”
Morgan didn’t like agreeing with Bel’aliol, but she couldn’t help agreeing with Bel’aliol.
Lucareoth kept looking into her eyes, though. “She got me axolotl slippers.”
“You’re throwing away your immortal life for footwear.” Bel’aliol did not sound impressed.
“She can’t sense my desires and she figured them out anyway. And made them come true without looking for anything in return.”
“Small, incredibly stupid desires.”
“That’s why they’re beautiful. Because they’re small, and because satisfying them is actually satisfying. Because she isn’t looking for big things and doesn’t expect me to either. Because she bakes even when it doesn’t further any goals. Because being with her is restful. And teaches me things I never knew to want. And thinks it’s OK for me to want them. And because she wants me, even though I don’t understand why, even though I’m terrible at my own job, and will probably never amount to anything, and have brought nothing but fear and disruption to her life.”
Oh. She swallowed against the lump in her throat. He’d said from the start that her life seemed familiar—why was it that she had been so resistant, thinking that just because she wanted him he couldn’t want her for the exact same reasons?
And if she thought he should have what he wanted, why was she so determined to believe that she should not?
Oh. Right. Her heart cracking into a million pieces, she shook her head. “I’ll get out eventually. You didn’t ask for any of this. I can’t let you do this.”
“You can.” He clutched her hands.
“Actually, you can’t.” Bel’aliol snorted. “It’s an amusingconcept, to be sure, but demon souls are only edible. They don’t have the energy potential of those from the Plane of Consumable Souls. It doesn’t matter which side of the portal you’re standing on, your soul will never be worth what hers is.”
Devastation bloomed across Luke’s face.
How dare he shatter Lucareoth like that, she thought. If Bel’aliol had been physically present, she would have tried to claw his eyes out, even though she knew she’d lose.
“Besides, this has gone far beyond your little pet’s soul. We’re not going to give up a potential gamechanger for the sake of one soul. I’m ensuring our investment pays out. You have one hour,” Bel’aliol repeated. “Starting now.”
The image winked out.
