“No. Nothing changes on that front.” I down another shot, my mind churning with new plans. I willnotleave them to further suffering at my father’s hands. Not while we’ve still got a fighting chance. “Can you keep up appearances? Act the happy host, play up my absence as some sort of… traveling publicity stunt?”
“I can try, but we still need someone to recruit the guests. Boots on the ground, so to speak.”
“Put Azazel in charge of that.”
“Azazel is a vacuous twat.”
“A well-connected vacuous twat, which is precisely what we need.”
The demon Azazel isn’t one of ours, but we’ve been running in the same circles for centuries. He’s currently serving as a movie producer—lives in the neighborhood, loves popping by to partake in our intimate gatherings, always good for a favor or two.
And yes, you’ve definitely heard of him.
“Fine,” Finn grumbles. “But nowyou’regoing to owe me favors. Lots of them.”
“Noted.”
The evening storm is finally passing, giving the moon a chance to make her appearance. Finn gazes up and sighs. “Seven flaming rivers, Dev. Of all the times to fall into a witch’s snare.”
“Ididwarn you,” I remind him. “I felt the magic calling to me all evening.”
“Yes, and thank your ancientballsthe copious hours of WitchTok scrolling finally paid off.” He rolls his eyes and gestures for another Fireball.
I pass him the shot. “I’ve got this. Trust me. Everything will work out.”
Finn downs the drink. Shakes his head. Curses up at the moon, then at me. And then, finally, a brief nod.
As always, my best friend’s loyalty never wavers.
“I’ll portal back in to check on you tomorrow,” he says. “Bring you some clothing before the Pumpkinville Police arrest you for public indecency.”
I grin and bow. “Public indecency is just one of the many services I offer.”
“Will you be all right for the night?”
“I’ll ask the demon inside to loan me some clothing. Since I can’t be more than thirty or so feet from the witch, I’ll be staying at her place.”
“Aha!” Finn pitches his empty bottles into a trash bin that readsKeep the Bay Beautiful!“Silver lining, there it is.”
I peer inside the storefront, where Violet is currently chatting with the proprietors, Maleek laughing at something she just said, her face lighting up in response. “If by ‘silver lining’ you mean the thing that will keep me up night after night and most likely lead to my downfall…”
“I don’t know about all that, Dev. She’s pretty cute. In that hot nerd-girl sort of way. Perhaps you might come to another sort of arrangement to pass the time.”
“Goodnight, Finn.”
“Yes, yes. I know a brushoff when I see one.” Laughing, he claps a hand over my shoulder. “Try not to cause any more trouble tonight. And don’t worry about things at home. I’ll be sure to keep the company satisfied and the bed warm in your absence.”
“Whichbed?”
“All of them. Floors too. And the billiards table, the infinity pool, the table in the projector room, all seven hot tubs, the croquet lawn, the pool house…” Finn walks down the street, rattling off all the places he’ll be happily debasing in my absence, until he finally vanishes into the darkness beyond, a faint trail of Hell magic glowing in his wake.
Chapter Ten
VIOLET
The sun has barely graced us when I sneak downstairs and confirm that last night wasnot, in fact, a lemonito-induced nightmare.
Gone are yesterday’s first-world-witch problems of finding the Devil card lounging on my counter. This morning, theactualDevil is lounging on thecouch, stretched out in all his gleaming, bare-chested glory, blanket wrapped around his lower half in a way that has me thinkingverybad thoughts.
