by Debra Dunbar
“I’m supposed to have two hours,” I reminded the demon. “We’ve still got at least ten minutes.”
She shrugged. “Demons lie. And I wanted to see if you managed to collect your sister or not. That way I know whether the contract between us is binding or not.”
“Contract?” Nevarra squeaked. “Eden—”
“There is no contract,” I blurted out, hoping Desiree didn’t catch that my sister had called me Eden, not Andrea. “Bishop called in a favor.”
She leaned against my bike. “That favor bought you the hours, it didn’t get you out of the contract. I offered. You accepted. An Owned soul or a bound demon cannot enter into a contract, but you’re neither of those things.” She pushed away from the bike and took a step toward us. “Demons aren’t the only ones that lie. You don’t belong to Bishop--which means you now belong to me.”
Like fuck I did.
I steadied my aim with the anti-magic gun. “You’re two shots away from dead, bitch. Then I won’t belong to either of you.”
Desiree stopped, eyed my weapons, and chuckled. “True. And as you pointed out earlier, you still have a few minutes left on the clock—time enough for you to scurry to the safety of your home. But you still owe me, little one. You have your sister back, and that would never have happened without my telling you where she was and who had her. Even if the contract is in dispute, the fact that you owe me a favor is not.”
Fuck these demons. Were they all like this? It was like verbally sparring with a goddamned lawyer.
I took a deep breath and slowly let it out. There was no good way out of this, and the more we stalled, the more sand ran out of the hourglass. I could shoot her and be done with it, but I had a feeling those dozens of glowing eyes behind me would tear Nevarra and me apart before Desiree’s body hit the ground. I didn’t spend the last two days trying to find my sister only to have her die because I refused to pay the piper.
I was so going to regret this. “There is no contract between us for my soul or anything else. If you let the whole contract thing go, then I will accept that I owe you a favor.”
She smiled, the jagged teeth brilliantly white. I had no idea what toothpaste the woman used, but it was really doing the job.
“Done.”
The word had barely left her lips before she was gone, vanished into a shimmer of air before us. I held my breath and looked around, still feeling the presence of things behind and beside us. She’d gone, but she hadn’t taken her minions with her.
“Hurry.” I kept both guns out and ready as Nevarra put on the helmet and climbed on the back of the bike. Then she covered me with the Glock as I tried to start the fucking thing. Three tries and a lot of swearing, and the bike finally roared to life. Nevarra wrapped one arm around me, still covering us as I pulled away from the curb.
I picked up speed as we turned onto a main road, then opened up the throttle on the highway. Once we hit Burbank, I pulled over to the shoulder and hopped off the bike, motioning for Nevarra to do the same.
She pulled the helmet off and shot me a puzzled look. “What are you doing?”
“This.” I pulled the anti-magic gun from my waistband and shot my bike. A splat of blue spread across the gas tank, making my ride look even more like cheap trash. I had no idea what the radius of effect was on these magic bullets, but hopefully this would negate any sort of demon tracker Desiree most likely put on my bike. She didn’t know my real name. The cell phone number I’d been using now went back to the original owner. If she couldn’t track me home, there was a good chance she couldn’t find me to collect on that favor.
Not that I believed any of that, but the longer I could delay her finding me, the longer I’d have to pay off Bishop and get us the hell out of here—hopefully somewhere Desiree couldn’t ever sniff me out. There were roughly seven billion humans in the world, and over two million still living in the greater Los Angeles area. If she didn’t have a homing device on me, her chances of finding me were slim.
Hopefully.
“Okaaaay.” Nevarra eyed the dripping splotch of blue, put her helmet back on, and climbed onto the bike.
By the time I pulled in the driveway it was nearly dawn, thanks to whatever decided to pile a lovely arrangement of mangled construction equipment on the northbound lane of the freeway. Somewhere in LA there was a demon who really did not like the highway system.
I’d waved to Dave Rickard, patrolling the streets with his shotgun as I’d pulled into the neighborhood. Three houses down, Linda sat in a lawn chair perched in the back of her pickup truck, drinking coffee, a pistol in her lap. The neighborhood had our back, and as I nodded to Linda, I vowed to have theirs as well. They’d helped us when we needed it, and that was a debt that wouldn’t go unpaid.
A light came on in the kitchen as I helped a sleepy Nevarra off the bike. The back door opened, and Bea’s head appeared.
“Oh!” Moving faster than I’d ever seen, Bea was down the steps, across the backyard, and through the gate. With a flood of tears, she grabbed Nevarra and held her tight. I stood and watched as they both cried all over each other. Then Bea reached out with one hand and pulled me in.
“My girls are all home,” Bea announced with a watery voice. “Tonight, I can sleep knowing all three of you are safe here at home.”
Safe. For now. Sadie was healing. Nevarra would heal as well. Bea would go back to work, and we’d slowly start saving again so we could leave this hellhole and start a life somewhere else.
Who am I kidding?
So they could leave this hellhole and start somewhere else. I still had a price on my head with the tax collectors. I probably had a price on my head with the Disciples. I owed Bishop. I owed a fucking demon. Trying to make money when I had Fixers out to get me, when no legitimate pawnshop would fence my salvage, was going to be damned near impossible. But even if I managed to make things right with the taxing authority, I’d be little more than dead weight to my family. I couldn’t leave until I paid off Bishop, and even then, I’d constantly be worried that Desiree would find me and use my family to force me into some sort of hellish servitude to her.
I owed a demon a favor. And I got the feeling that “favor” was going to be a whole lot more than I’d bargained for.
Dave Rickard and Linda were making sure we could all sleep without worry. Nevarra was home. I’d bunk down for the night on the floor of the girls’ room with her on one side and Sadie on the other. I’d read them stories from the Gilgamesh book, do their hair, watch them share Sadie’s get-well chocolate.
Tomorrow I might be back in hell, but for tonight…tonight I’d relax and enjoy the closest I’d ever come to heaven.
Acknowledgments
Sending a big shout-out to Melissa Marr who read my very clunky first draft, saw the diamond in the rough. Her suggestions made this book really shine!
Thank you to my friends and family who were my sounding boards and helped me connect with resources as I did my research.
I really appreciate the help of Adam Richardson from the Writer’s Detective Bureau who gave me a cop’s view on how the police might word in a dystopian LA.
Also, big thanks to my copyeditors Kimberly Cannon and Jennifer Cosham whose eagle eyes catch all the typos and keep my comma problem in line, and to Damonza for cover design.
About the Author
Debra lives in a little house in the woods of Maryland with her sons and two slobbery bloodhounds. On a good day, she jogs and horseback rides, hopefully managing to keep the horse between herself and the ground. Her only known super power is 'Identify Roadkill'.
For more information:
www.debradunbar.com
Also by Debra Dunbar
IMP WORLD NOVELS
The Imp Series
A Demon Bound
Satan’s Sword
Elven Blood
Devil’s Paw
Imp Forsaken
Angel of Chaos
Kingdom of Lies
Exodus<
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Queen of the Damned
The Morning Star
With This Ring
California Demon Series
California Demon
Sinners on Sunset
Hollywood Hellion
Half-breed Series
Demons of Desire
Sins of the Flesh
Cornucopia
Unholy Pleasures
City of Lust
Imp World Novels
No Man’s Land
Stolen Souls
Three Wishes
Northern Lights
Far From Center
Penance
Northern Wolves
Juneau to Kenai
Rogue
Winter Fae
Bad Seed
The Templar Series
Dead Rising
Last Breath
Bare Bones
Famine’s Feast
Royal Blood
Dark Crossroads
Accidental Witches Series
Brimstone and Broomsticks
Warmongers and Wands
Death and Divination
Hell and Hexes
Minions and Magic
Fiends and Familiars
Devils and the Dead (2020)
White Lightning Series
Wooden Nickels
Bum’s Rush
Clip Joint
Jake Walk
Trouble Boys
Packing Heat (2020)
