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The demon’s face twists into a brilliant smile.
“Do something!” Jackson yells at Levi.
He shrugs. “It’s his soul to give.”
I don’t accept this. I try to lunge for Brooks, but my body won’t work properly. I manage to roll off the bed and flop on the floor like a dead fish.
Brooks doesn’t even look at me as his fingers brush Freddie’s. Freddie opens his mouth wide, his lips stretching toward Brooks’s forehead to take his soul and leave him a hollowed husk—
“Wait,” I yell.
I manage to actually yell it.
Everyone in the room looks at me. Freddie freezes a mere inch from Brooks. His face flashes with curiosity and… Is that fear?
Why is he afraid of me?
I think about the conversation between Levi and Freddie. The way Freddie looked at me after Levi stopped him with his tattoo. I don’t know what’s going on, but Freddie doesn’t know that.
I take a deep breath. Time to bluff with a demon.
“You don’t want Brooks,” I say. “He’s a righteous, argumentative prick. His soul won’t taste as sweet as the one you really want—the one who made the bargain. So I offer you something different. We are the best monster hunters in the fucking world. We will find the owner, and we will bring him to you so he can face justice. While we find him, the killing stops.”
Freddie twists his head, considering.
“You know that a bargain with me is valuable. More valuable than Brooks’s soul,” I say.
It’s a guess, but I’m right because Freddie smiles.
“Well played, princess. You have six months, six days, and six hours to find the owner and bring him back to me, or I will take Brooks’s soul as payment.” Freddie waves his hand. Flames appear in the air, writing a date. “Do you accept these terms?”
No, I don’t fucking accept. But it’s the best we can do. Brooks will be alive. We will figure the rest out later.
I drag myself over the circle, then I reach up with a shaking hand. Freddie grasps it and shakes vigorously. I cry out as my palm burns. When Freddie finally lets go, I stare at my palm and see he has left a little mark there—a cross. The mark of a crossroads demon.
“Until we meet again, Lily.” Freddie disappears in a circle of flame.
I blink up at Brooks, who rushes over to me and gathers me in his arms.
“I’d do it a hundred times over,” he whispers, holding me close. “A thousand times. I’d give everything I am to see you safe, Lily Dean.”
“All's well that ends well. I guess I’ll be going.” Levi starts for the door, but Jackson flings himself between him and freedom.
“Yeah, you’re not going anywhere until you explain what the fuck is going on.”
Levi yawns. “I’m a demon. I thought it was obvious.”
“Yes, but how did you get Freddie to not kill you? And why are you here in the first place? And what was that about Lily—”
He’s cut off by a loud scream from outside. It’s followed by several more, and the sound of something dark and wild howling.
“What’s going on?” Brooks whirls around.
“It’s Orion.” Becka places her hand over her mouth in horror. “He’s escaped. He’s in the hotel.”
33
THIRTY-THREE: ORION’S WOLF
