Auggie ducked his head. “It could be fun.”
I smiled. “Okay, then.” I gathered up my bag and Therese slipped back into the pocket she’d claimed for herself. Her head poked out to take in her surroundings.
“I do enjoy celebrations,” Therese admitted. “Do you think they will have a puppet show? I’ve always enjoyed them.”
“Puppets?” I wrinkled my nose. “Gods, I hope not.”
Auggie elbowed me in the ribs. “Be nice.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“Oh!” I satforward on the log I shared with Auggie at the back of the crowd. The ground at the center of the sea of people was covered in soot and scorch marks, as if bonfires were often built there. Men were loading rockets into the area. Already, one had exploded into the air, bursting with a dazzling white light. “I’ve never seen fireworks. They’re so pretty.”
“They are,” Auggie agreed. He leaned back and smiled.
“For humans, I mean,” I amended. “It has nothing on true magic.”
“Of course not,” Auggie said, snorting.
I glanced at Narcissa, who sat primly beside me. I watched the next firework reflected in her eyes.
“Oh, it is very much like magic, Mr. Witch,” Therese sighed.
I grinned. She was right. It was special.
I returned my attention to the center of the audience, noting the children staring up at the sky expectantly, wide-eyed. Parents too. These were the people Auggie had saved with his selfless actions. The very people I would have condemned because I’d been too stubborn. Perhaps Auggie and I were similar in that regard, stubborn in our own ways. And the humans hadthankedme. They weren’t afraid of me, hadn’t challenged me or threatened me. I’d almost wanted them to, to prove me right, that they were irredeemable.
I’d been wrong, but it still rankled me that they’d treated Freya so poorly.
Auggie clapped when another rocket exploded in the sky and his face was temporarily lit up by the brilliance. He was so beautiful. Inside and out. I didn’t understand why he had found it necessary to make any sort of pact with Lucifer.
“You’re missing the show,” Auggie said, grinning at me. “I know I’m pretty, but the fireworks have the edge.”
I flushed, returning my eyes to the sky as two rockets exploded at once, showering sparks raining down. I felt like a child watching them, even though I’d seen much more amazing feats than this over the years. The cheers and gasps of the crowd were infectious.
One firework spilled red light across the sky, and Auggie leaned into me. “It’s amazing,” he said, sighing. Then he jumped as another went off, and his hand found my knee.
I swallowed hard. “It is.”
Auggie’s eyes shifted to me. “Thank you for coming with me. Even if you had to. You probably could have forced my hand to leave Kingsbury to their own devices.”
“You just have this way about you that makes people want to do the right thing.” I shrugged, then stiffened as he scooted closer.
“I understand why you don’t trust us easily. You’ve lost a lot to us.”
I smiled, suddenly feeling very tired. “More than you know. Do you want to hear how I lost my soul?”
Auggie blinked. “You lost your soul?”
“I sold it to the Devil.” I sent him a significant look. Would he echo that he’d done the same? Would he tellmewhy? But he remained silent, waiting for me to continue. I sighed, disappointed. But I couldn’t leave him in suspense. “When the mob to burn my parents at the stake gathered outside our home, my mother forced me to hide. I did as I was told. Like a coward. She hoped they would forget about me and be satisfied with killing just the two of them.” I blew out a breath. “So I took a concealment potion and hid in the big tree behind our shop. I had a perfect view of my parents’ final moments, and I was frozen in terror the entire time.”
“Callum …” Auggie’s hand squeezed my knee.
I ignored the lump in my throat and continued, “But I knew that the humans wouldn’t be satisfied with just my parents. They knew about me. I was a loose end, even though I was but a child still. A loose end who would likely return to destroy them all out of revenge one day. So, fearful for my life, I went to the crossroads at midnight, just outside town and begged for an audience with the Devil himself.”
“And what have we here?”
The desolate streets were so quiet this time of night. A shadow slipped from the fence post behind me. I turned to regard the handsome man, blond with blue eyes that seemed to see straight through me. “I’ve come to beg a favor,” I said, my voice squeaking, despite myself. Even though he appeared human, I could feel the power radiating from this man.
