“I didn’t kill him,” I blurted out, and Samael shifted his gaze back to me, scanning me from head to toe. His gaze lingered on my face and I wiped at the blood smeared above my lip.
“You broke my ward,” he mused. I didn’t know how he could make such inane words sound like a death threat, but my hand tightened on my knife. At the very least, I could go out fighting.
“It wasn’t easy,” I admitted. “Listen, I think I have some explaining to do. This isn’t what it looks like.”
“You didn’t come into my territory and threaten one of my patrons with bodily harm, even though violence is forbidden without my permission? That patron wasn’t killed by someone who managed to escape my ward while you were trapped in it?”
I blinked. “Fine. Turns out it’s exactly what it looks like.” I attempted a nonchalant shrug. Samael ignored me and turned his head as another demon approached.
“Get Sitri,” he ordered, and the demon faded away. Just a few seconds later, another demon appeared.
Where Samael was beautiful, this demon was almost pretty. His dark hair fell over his face, hiding his eyes, which were a pale purple— almost lavender. Those eyes seemed lost, even as he focused on my face, his lips forming in a pout that told me clearly, without words, that I was in deep shit.
“Invitation,” Samael ordered, and I tensed. “Please,” he murmured, “disobey me. I haven’t gotten my hands dirty forweeks.”
I shuddered, opened my tiny purse, and withdrew the invitation.
Samael jerked his head and the other demon stepped forward, taking the invitation.
He smiled at it, like a kid who’d been given a lollipop. “Ooh,” he said. “Whoever made this isinteresting.”
I shuddered again. Appearing interesting to these demons could only be a bad thing.
“Give it to the witch,” Samael told Sitri, and I froze. He wasn’t talking about me. I shouldn’t be surprised that the scariest demon on the East Coast had a personal witch doing his bidding, but I was.
Samael’s eyes met mine. “Wipe that disgust off your face,” he ground out, and I forced my lips to untwist.
Sitri disappeared and I stood still, waiting to hear my fate. I wasn’t stupid enough to try to escape just yet. I’d only have one chance, and until then, I needed to appear non-threatening.
Samael stepped forward and yanked my purse off my shoulder. He rifled through it, snorting as he shoved a collection of small throwing knives aside. Finally, he pulled out my ID card.
I hadn’t had time to get a fake. I’d burned my last fakes a few months ago on a job in Mississippi, and these days, fake IDs were expensive and time consuming to get.
“Danica Amana,” he read. “I’ve heard of you, bounty hunter. You’ve made quite a name for yourself in the past six months.”
Yeah, because unlike most other bounty hunters, I wasn’t motivated by money but by something much more important.
I stayed silent as he studied me. His voice was an amused purr. “It won’t work, you know.”
“What won’t work?”
“Waiting for your chance to escape. There are no chances here.”
I bared my teeth at him. He bared his back. His teeth were scarier.
Sitri reappeared. “It’s a fake,” he sang out. “A very good fake, but a fake all the same.” He held up a picture of Steve. “According to the witch, this man is responsible.”
Sickness rose, and I felt the blood drain from my face. It was one thing for the consequences to be my own, but I couldn’t let Steve die for my actions.
“You have two choices,” Samael said, and I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like either of them. I tilted my head, refraining from waving him on. Being a smart-ass wouldn’t win me any points with this guy. “Your first choice? Both you and the traitor die. ThisStevedies harder, begging for death for daring to cross me.”
He’d do it too. I could see it on his face. He’d squash me like a bug, and leave my corpse lying here on the floor. He’d make Steve wish he’d never met me before he died. Then he’d have a drink or two with his associates before he tucked himself into bed, where he’d sleep like a fucking baby.
Dread filled my stomach. “And the second choice?”
“You work for me.”
“In what capacity?”
