The Daemon closed his fist.
The gun shattered. Shards of metal and plastic fell to the ground.
“Do not try that again,” he snarled, and for the first time, Dee was truly afraid of him. She watched as the torn flesh of his chest and throat began to knit together. “You think this is a game? You think I do this for my own pleasure? You try and stop me—and your kind will suffer as much as mine will.”
He gave the group one last cold once-over, and then the air pressure changed. With the fresh heart in hand, he vanished.
“No,” snarled Cora, and rushed to where he had been standing. She looked desperate for a moment, then she rushed back in the direction of the market.
James glanced between Cora and Dee, his expression torn. Then he appeared to make up his mind. “Cora, damn it! Do not—” He sprinted after her. The shouting died away, until all Dee could hear was the sound of the rain.
She forced herself to breathe. She felt quivery, shakenfrom the sound of the gunshot. It would draw people here. They needed to move.
Dee picked her way through the mud to the girl’s side. She was still on the ground, her hand on her chest, as if feeling for something that wasn’t there.
Dee squatted next to her. “What’s your name?”
The girl looked up at her with steady eyes. “Riley.”
“Right. Riley.” Dee pushed a hand through her soaked and tangled curls. “We need to go somewhere. Out of this damn rain.”
Riley rose to her feet. She was covered in mud, but she didn’t seem bothered by it. “I’ve been couch-surfing,” she said. “But the owner of my current couch made it clear that if I ever did a deal with a demon… well. It’s time to find a new couch.”
Dee uttered a quiet curse. She’d just remembered something—something that this girl was going to need. She scanned the ground, turning in a circle. Then she caught sight of something red.
There was a knitted heart resting in a puddle. It was soggy with moisture and Dee carefully picked it up. She walked up to Riley and placed the heart in her open palm.
“You’ll want this,” Dee said.
THIRTY
Gremma stood just outside Whiteaker dormitory. She lounged against the brick wall, her arms crossed. She wasn’t smiling. “Well, well, well,” she said. “I think I’ve heard this story before.
“It was a dark and stormy night. A girl does what she should—she stays inside and minds her own business. Only, she hears a wailing at the window, a ghostly cry. So, tell me. Does our intrepid hero venture outside to see exactly what kind of swamp creature would try to coax her into the terrors of the night? Or does she leave the creature on its own?”
Dee shivered. She was soaked through, her hair caked with mud and rainwater. They’d had to slog all the way back to the road from the market, where Dee had called a cab. The driver hadn’t been happy to have two muddy girls clamber into his backseat, but he’d taken them to Brannigan without comment.
“I didn’t wail at the window,” Dee said through chattering teeth. “I texted you.”
Gremma nodded at the girl standing a few feet behind Dee. “And who is this?”
“Please,” said Dee. “It’s an emergency. Can you distract the dorm monitor while I sneak her inside? She needs a place to stay tonight.”
Gremma’s pale, freckled arms were crossed over her chest. “Tell me what’s going on,” she said. “No bullshit this time.”
Riley stepped forward. The rain dripped off the edge of her hood. “Listen, if this is going to cause trouble—”
“Not you,” said Gremma, shooting Riley a quelling glance. “Dee.”
Dee looked at Gremma, at her red hair bundled into a frizzy bun, at her pajama shorts and her slippers shaped like bears. The faded remnants of red lipstick edged her mouth, and she looked like some beautiful wild creature, her mouthed stained with old blood.
To hell with it, Dee thought.
“I’m working for a demon,” said Dee. “My scholarship ran out, and I’m working for a demon in exchange for money.”
Gremma went still. It reminded Dee of the times she watched Gremma cut into a dead frog—her body frozen, eyes narrowed and focused. Those eyes now slid over Dee, presumably checking for missing body parts.
“My heart,” said Dee, and Gremma sucked a sharp breath between her teeth.
