Morgan ducked back behind the wall, her breath short. The fact that the angel was draped in at least three different branded totes full of swag and had a large paper cup decked with whipped cream and sprinkles in one hand somehow had not blunted his air of menace.
Brad was wrapping up his spiel, the ex-Keurig in its fake housing having successfully dispensed the smoothie also hidden in the case. He took an ostentatious sip. “Delicious! Any questions?”
“You have failed to deliver,” Bel’aliol intoned.
“Well, this is just the demo version,” Brad said, sounding uncertain for the first time.
Bel’aliol glanced at the angel. Was the demon nervous? “Failure means consequences.”
The crowd murmured. Morgan took the risk and peered around again. Gisele scooted up next to her. Not to be left out, Rix poked his nose out, tail whipping excitedly into Morgan’s face.
“Hey now, buddy. Partner. A little hiccup, that’s all.” Brad spread his hands disarmingly. Bel’aliol stepped forward. Brad’s face paled. “You have to give me another chance.”
“I don’thaveto do anything, little man,” Bel’aliol started, less than impressed.
Brad caught sight of her. “You! What did you do to my demo?”
If he’d left it at that, Morgan would have been ruined. She’d just quit: she no longer had an employee badge. A dozen industry reporters and venture capitalists and one department head demon were watching as a rising star of the industryaccused her of sabotaging a demo that she absolutely had sabotaged. All he had to do was smile and point any of this out.
But with the fury of a mediocre white man who had never been told “no” in his life, he strode right up to her. Grabbed her hand. And tried to enter her name on the iPad.
Rix sank his teeth into Brad’s calf.
Brad howled and dropped the tablet. But he didn’t release Morgan’s hand. He twisted her wrist painfully until her knees started to buckle.
“She is not a valid target,” Bel’aliol noted, his lip curling.
“Shut up!” Brad screamed at him. “She’s mine, she works for me, she’s a target if I say she’s a target. I make the rules here. I get to be a unicorn. That’s the Deal!”
He grabbed the tablet and, limping, dragged Morgan back to the Kaleo in the middle of the booth. Rix jumped around, barking ineffectually. She tripped over her own feet, pulled forward by momentum and Brad’s surprisingly strong grip. The audience stared in shock.
“Sign! The! Contract! Bitch!” he screamed in her face.
Far too aware of the audience, she focused her wants on her desire for Brad to let go of her hand and did what humans do best. She lied. “It’s not my fault your stupid idea didn’t work.”
The angel stepped forward.
Fiona launched herself at the angel, a dagger in one hand and a budding fireball in the other. He casually backhanded her. She went straight through the wall of a booth several spots down the row, which had certainly not been built to withstand the force of a flung body. Several tech influencers found themselves splashed with coffee dregs and sprinkles. Bel’aliol took a step back, grimacing. Luke tried to push forward, but Bel’aliolgrabbed his arm, letting things play out. Kelly and Carter exchanged glances and started forward, but Ronaldo grabbed their arms as well. Justin and Josh looked back and forth like they were watching a tennis match. Brad twisted her wrist further. Tears made her vision swim. Brad slowly forced her thumb toward the acknowledgment tick box. Why was she resisting? The contract was still invalid and it wasn’t like she could sell her soul anyway. It was already sold.
She relaxed her arm suddenly. Surprised by the sudden lack of resistance, Brad smashed her finger painfully against the screen. Then he yanked her hand and slammed it against the button on the Kaleo.
“Don’t double-load the serving packet!” Kelly and Carter both shouted.
“Don’t mansplain my own product to me!” Brad yelled back.
“That’s still not what mansplaining even means!” Kelly threw up her hands.
The Kaleo started to whistle with a rising pitch. Luke took the opportunity to pull free, slamming into Morgan and yanking her free of Brad’s grasp.
The angel opened his mouth.
But before he did whatever it was he’d come to do, the Kaleo exploded.
The audience ducked, screaming, as shrapnel flew through the air. The angel held up a hand; the chunk headed for his head swerved to embed itself in a monitor across the aisle. Luke covered Morgan’s body as best as he could. Morgan peered over his shoulder.
Brad clutched his neck, a chunk of repurposed metal and plastic protruding from it. The wordKeurigwas clearlyvisible. He fell to one knee, then the other. Blood bubbled around his fingers.
“I was going… be… unicorn…” he gurgled before falling on his face.
