Page 14 of Just One Little Bargain

He blinks, genuinely confused. “The police can’t undo a summoning. That’s not how this works.”

I fumble behind me until my fingers close around something solid on the counter. I swing it up between us.

“Stay back. I have a weapon.”

The statement would be more effective if I wasn’t holding something I use to make pie crust.

“A rolling pin.” His gaze shifts from it to me, eyes widening. “Are you going to hit me with that?”

It trembles in my grip and I squeeze harder, trying to steady it. I couldn’t actually hit someone. The thought alone makes my stomach turn. The closest I’ve come to violence is smashing spiders, and I feel guilty about that for days, apologizing to their tiny corpses as I flush them.

But he doesn’t need to know that.

His shoulders loosen, and I hate the suspicion that he’s figured out I’m bluffing.

“You need to leave. Now.” This time, my voice holds steady.

“I can’t leave. Believe me, I would if I could. But the summoning binds me to the mortal realm until we make a deal. Hell tracks this stuff. It’s not optional.”

“You’re insane.”

I lunge for my phone on the side table, fingers closing around it as he moves toward me. The screen lights up my palm.

“Wait—” He freezes when I flinch back, my spine hitting the wall. “I’m not going to hurt you. I just need to explain.” He retreats instead, hands raised in surrender. “Sorry. I’ll stay over here.”

“Get out before I hit you with this!” The rolling pin is ridiculous in my hand, but I raise it higher.

“Please don’t.” He backs up fast and trips over his own feet, catching himself on my couch with an awkward scramble. “You could hurt yourself, and that would be my fault.”

I advance on him anyway, every instinct screaming at me to look bigger, more threatening.

“This all makes sense, if you let me explain.” He’s still backing toward the door. “Hell’s HR updated the guidelines last year. Added a whole section on positive first impressions, which I’m clearly failing at.”

“Stop saying Hell is real!”

“But it is real, and extensively documented. The organizational structure spans multiple departments, with distinct hierarchies.”

His gaze drops, then snaps back to my face. Red floods his face, spreading across his cheekbones and down his neck.

“Are you serious right now?” Oh God. He’s noticed what I’m wearing. Or, more accurately, how little of me it covers. My bare legs are fully on display, and the silk camisole has ridden up to show a strip of stomach.

“No!” He whips around so fast I hear his neck crack and his glasses go sideways on his face. His hand shoots up to correct them. “Sorry. I wasn’t . . . I didn’t mean to . . . I’m going to look at your bookshelf.”

Marmalade saunters between us, tail high. He winds around the stranger’s legs, purring so loudly I can hear it from where I stand.

“See?” He gestures down. “Your cat knows I’m safe. They can sense danger. He wouldn’t be this comfortable if I were going to hurt you.”

“My cat is an idiot who would cuddle a serial killer for chin scratches.”

“That’s harsh.” His mouth falls open a little. “He’s the one who summoned me. He knew exactly what he was doing.”

“Marmalade summoned you?” The rolling pin lowers another inch.

“Yes!” He turns to me, careful to keep his eyes on my face. “The Ouija board activated Hell’s summoning network and initiated my transfer.”

I stare at Marmalade.

“Cats can’t summon demons.”