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A life ever after with the man I love…
“Following in Casziel’s footsteps perhaps?”
“Never,” I say. “That fool gave up eternity for the love of a plain human girl.”
Eisheth’s dark-eyed gaze bores into me. “We’ve been watching your performance, Ambri. You’re quite convincing.”
My heart jackrabbits in my chest, caught in Eisheth’s snare.
I scoff. “My life was nothing but a string of endless misery. It was pure shite broken by momentary flickers of less-than-pure shite and an orgasm or two. Why would I want to go back to that? Why would I want to grow old and sick and frail, when I can be beautiful and perfect forever?”
She holds my gaze a moment longer, then nods. “I will presume that you’ll not reveal to Cole that we’re allless than human? That would spoil our fun.”
“Not a word,” I grit out.
“Because if you do, we’ll assume it’s in betrayal of our cause. We’ll have no choice but to send you to the Other Side for an eternity of pain while the Vices finish the taskyoubegan.”
Gods, what have I done?
“I don’t need their help,” I blurt, putting up one last defense. “They’re a trio of bloody knobs. You’re telling me they’re responsible for Elvis? For Marilyn? My arse.”
“No, darling,” Eisheth says. “They’re part of a larger sect of Vices. You’ve told Cole Matheson your history as a human, so they’ve taken new names, but they’re quite capable, I assure you. They did, after all, succeed in acquiring that diamond necklace.”
“Theysucceededin getting caught. I did not. I don’t need their interference.”
The demonwitch smiles though her eyes are frighteningly hard and devoid of anything remotely human.
“Asmodai believes otherwise.”
With that, there’s nothing more to be said, and she knows I know it. The devastation I’ve wrought blooms in my gut like a rancid flower. It’s all I can do to not brace myself on the wall. If I ever ate anything, I’d surely vomit on Eisheth’s Louboutins.
But in that chaos, my path is clear: I have to extricate Cole from me. He can’t love me but wounding him too quickly would make him vulnerable. To protect him, I’ll have to break his heart slowly, instead of shattering him in one devastating blow. Stay close to him while I show him I’m not worthy of his love.
Because I’m not. Of that, there is no doubt.
Eisheth places a kiss on my cheek, sticky with lipstick. I smell fire and blood, and the promise of eternal pain burns in her eyes.
“Ah Paris, Ambri, darling,” she muses triumphantly. “Welcome back.”
part ii
Prove yourself brave, truthful, and unselfish, and someday you will be a real boy.—The Blue Fairy,Pinocchio
twenty-five
I frowned after Ambri as he hurried out. Being in Paris was hard enough for him and here I was, surrounded by strangers at every given moment. I wanted to follow him, but Eisheth was already moving to the door.
“I must step out too,” she said. “Enjoy the champagne.”
The people from the agency—I assumed Jane sent them—were very French and very colorful, like characters out of a book. Eisheth seemed to be their boss. They’d brought a bottle of something very expensive in a bucket of ice along with a handful of glasses. Pico poured, then passed them around. I took a glass but didn’t drink any; it wasn’t even noon.
“Tell me again what you do?” I asked.
“We’re here to ensure that you have a marvelous time while you’re in Paris,” said Zerin. He looked to be about sixty-five and reminded me of Bill Nighy fromLove Actually.“How do you say? A welcome wagon. If you don’t mind kicking around with an old coot like me.”
Picollus nodded and beamed. He was an energetic guy in his mid-forties, dark-haired, with a wide, flat face. “All work and no play would make us dull boys, eh?”
“I guess so,” I said and looked at the door where Ambri had gone.I set my untouched glass on the coffee table. “But I have a lot of work to do.”
