Page 10 of The Devil

He won’t hurt me, I tell myself.

As if I were waiting for an answer, my subconscious replies instantly.

You don’t know this version of him.

We turn off onto a gravel road I’ve never been on.

“Where are we going?” I ask as the road narrows. It’s a few more miles before Jet slows the car and from my window I can see the eternal crashing of ocean waves against the rocks.

He pulls to a stop, the headlights illuminating the rocks of the cliff.

Jet steps out and walks around to my side, opening my door while I’m trying to get my bearings.

I shake my head because the question that so pissed him off now has me panicking.

“Out, Amal.”

“Where are we?”

“Out.”

I look around at the darkness, then back to him. He sighs. “I’m not going to hurt you. I wouldn’t. I can’t fucking believe you’d even think that.”

“Then where the hell are we?”

“My house,” he says.

That surprises me. It’s about the last thing I expect. “Your house?” I look at what the headlights illuminate and sure enough, I see a large steel door carved into the stone. “You live at the club,” I say.

“Not really.” He steps backward. I think he’s trying to look not dangerous. “You coming or am I carrying you out?”

I climb out. The instant I do, wind whips my hair around my face and I hug his jacket to my shoulders.

He closes the car door and leads me to the steel doors. He punches a code into the keypad. Something whirs and beeps several times before there’s a final click and the door opens onto an elevator.

I glance at him, raising my eyebrows, hoping to diffuse the situation.

He smiles but I can see it’s forced. Unnatural. He gestures for me to step inside.

I do.

He follows me in, pulls the steel door closed and punches another code into the keypad. When he does, a chrome door slides closed and the elevator begins its descent. Our reflections are blurred on the shiny surface. Once we arrive and the door opens, my breath catches.

Because this is not what I expect.

Because I’ve never seen anything like this.

“You live here?” I hear myself ask, looking around at the impossible space.

“Yeah,” he answers like this is the most normal thing in the world.

A sound captures my attention. Turning, I see a dog with a wildly wagging tail coming toward us, nails clicking on the cement floor. At first glance it looks like an attempt to gain purchase as she tries to run but realize it’s a slight limp that keeps her from going full steam ahead. One eye is half-closed and pale blue, the other eye black.

“There you are, gorgeous,” Jet says in a voice I don’t think I’ve ever heard from him. He drops to one knee to pet her. She knocks her head against his face, sniffing and licking as he tries to avoid her tongue directly on his mouth. It’s makes me laugh but there’s also a level of emotion between them, a very clear love, that takes me by surprise. He’s so free with her, talking to her, petting her in a way that makes the dog whine excitedly trying to get her own love for him across as she laps up his attention.

“You have a dog?” I ask.

He straightens, his smile fading as he looks at me as if he had forgotten himself for a moment. Or maybe he’s just remembering what I said.