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She dabs at her eyes and sniffles. Oh, shit. Is she crying? Well, that’s not okay. I hug her tighter against my chest and press my nose into her hair.
“I can never hit my quotas,” she mutters. “I’m supposed to bring back at least thirty souls a month.”
“Okay, so how many do you usually bring back, then?”
She stiffens in my arms. “Two this month.”
Ouch. I let out a long sigh. Yeah. No wonder she’s on the firing line. Unfortunately, at the office, it’s not about how hard someone works but their output. Even if she’s putting in the time and the hours, it doesn’t mean much if she’s not delivering. I don’t have the heart to tell her any of this, though, because I’m sure she already knows that.
“I’m doomed,” she laments, hanging her head.
“Hey,” I whisper, and now it’s my turn to grab her chin and tilt her gaze up to mine. She looks into my eyes with such tenderness it’s like a kick to the gut. “You’re not doomed. This is fixable, Faith. You said you needed truly black souls, right? The worst of the worst?”
She nods.
“Then you need to stop fucking around with me and buckle down. I told you that I’d help you out if you helped me.”
“But I haven’t,” she says, her voice trembling. “I haven’t helped you at all. Your soul is still wounded.”
My brows slam together, but I don’t release her chin. All I want to do is kiss her and take her pain away, but that’s not going to help her. “That’s not true. You’ve helped more than you know. You made me think about things. Things I’d rather leave buried in the past. That’s worth plenty. Just because my soul is still wounded doesn’t mean I’m hopeless.”
She says nothing in response to any of this, so I continue.
“You asked me why I sleep with women, why I treat them the way I do. You goaded me into thinking about it, so I’m going to give you the same treatment.”
Faith raises a confused eyebrow.
“Why do you want a penthouse so badly? Why do you want to be a succubus?”
Faith lets out a soft squeak as she pulls away from my chest and hugs her knees. Placing her chin on top of them, she says, “I… I’ve always wanted it, I think.”
“Okay, that’s a solid start. Butwhy?” I ask.
She goes quiet then, and I’m worried maybe I’ve broken her brain again. But she just regards me sadly and shrugs. “I don’t know. I’ve never actually questioned it. It’s what lesser demons do. We work hard, we get promoted, we get a penthouse.”
“But do you actually… want a penthouse on the… what was it?”
“Lake of Fire,” she replies flatly.
“Lake of Fire, right.” That doesn’t sound pleasant to me, but I’m also not a demon. “I think that might be something worth exploring, don’t you think?”
She shrugs again. This chaotic, crazy woman who was destroying my cock just a few minutes ago suddenly looks so small. Like a normal woman, with rose-tinged cheeks and sweet-smelling hair with a hint of spice. Unlike any woman I’ve ever met before. Her strength so far has been inspiring. But her vulnerability in the face of failure is probably even better. It shows me more about her character than I think she realizes, and I think now I know what the actual problem is.
“Faith… is there a possibility this job isn’t right for you?”
The pit viper I’ve come to know is back, and she shoots me a dangerous glare. I put my palms up in surrender and shake myhead. “No, I don’t mean you aren’t right for it. I’m asking if the job isn’t a right fit foryou.”
Faith puts her fangs away and blinks. “I… I don’t know. I’ve never thought about it that way before. I always just assumed that I’d end up with my wings one day and keep going like this.”
“Okay. Say you do get your wings. What then? What’s the end goal?” I ask as I re-position myself by crossing my legs. We’ve been on the floor talking it out for so long my legs have started to cramp.
“I don’t… I don’t know! Oh, gods,” she wails, then buries her face in her palms.
My heart lurches, and I put my arm around her again. “Faith. Sweetheart, look at me. We’re going to call a time out, because just like earlier, when I didn’t realize my limits, you stepped in to protect me, right?”
Faith looks up at me and nods as her eyes well with more unshed tears. I wipe her cheeks with my thumbs and press my lips to the top of her head.
“Okay, it’s my turn. C’mon. Get up and snap your fingers to make a jacket or something. We’re going out.”
