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She spun back to face the wardrobe, her heartbeat going haywire.
“Is our contract over, then?” she asked, deliberately trying to sound light and breezy and like she didn’t give a single fuck.
Malachi’s gaze on her made the spot between her shoulder blades prickle.
“Not yet,” he said, after a tiny pause that could have filled the river Niger. Joy hated the relief that flooded her, so intense it left her weak-kneed. “I have not yet completed my end of our bargain; to make your revenge look like an accident.”
Right. Right. That was true. She supposed that meant he had to go back to do something with the body. Make it less bloody; remove all evidence of her presenceand all that. Maybe use his magic to stage a break-in? Or was he going to make it look more natural, like a heart attack?
Whatever he did, it meant that as long as he didn’t fulfil his end of the bargain, their contract remained.
And so did he.
Joy’s stomachsquirmed with emotions she refused to unpack. She began to rifle determinately through her wardrobe. This was going to end at some point,butbefore that did, Joy was going to satisfy her curiosity.
After this was all over, she was going to do what she’d planned to do after she’d finished enacting her revenge; rebuild her life, and resume living instead of merely surviving.
Malachicouldn’t bea part of that plan, no matter what her foolish heart thought.
Malachi had no idea what was going on. When Joy had put on a t-shirt and jogging bottoms that frankly had no business hugging all her curves like that, she’d placed her hands on herhips and practically demanded to see his house.
Malachi hadn’t been able to deny those eyes, that pursed mouth—not that he’d even wanted to—so, he’d simply taken her elbow and marched them through the aether.
“Malachi,” Joy said when they rematerialized.
Malachi felt his lipstwitch.
Joy turned to look at him, her expression twisted with dismay. “This is a forest,” she said.
Malachi couldn’t hold it any longer,he laughed. Joy’s eyes lit up at the sound, though she still looked confused.
“Do demons and humans have different concepts of what a “house” is?”
Malachi laughed again. God, her scent when he laughed. He reached out, and she easily tangled their fingers together, the action ruining him completely.
“Come on,” he said gruffly.
Strangely, he felt nervous. He had wards placed around his houseatabout a thousand metre radiusintothe surrounding wilderness, which was why he couldn’t appear directly in front of it when he went through the aether.
Malachi felt gratified when Joy hissed under her breath, “Yes,” her scent bursting bright with elation when they finally spotted his abode.
“You live in a fuckingcastle,” Joy continued, voice awed. “God is real.”
Malachi bit his lower lip, fondness spreading underneath his breast.
She let go of his hand so she could race up the wide, marble staircase leading to the front doors. She spun around when she was at the top.
“Okay, not to say we don’t have castles inNigeria, but what the fuck. There’s no way this was here when you found it.”
“It was not,” Malachi confirmed, lips twitching.
Her eyes grew ten times wider, reminding him of apuppypleading for snacks. “Did you … did youbuildit yourself?” she asked, her voice breathy.
“Yes,” Malachi said, though it had taken up a lot of magic. He’d practically had to prowl through the nightclubs in the city for a week before he felt nourished enough to not feel like he was going to collapse right where he stood.
“Wow,” Joy breathed.
Malachi’s wings flared without his control, preening. He cleared his throat, forcing them back to his sides.
