“I thought you’d be happy to hear that,” he said.
She ducked back behind the curtain, taking a moment to disguise her emotions before she replied. “You’re right. I am glad.”
“Liar,” he said in a low voice.
She didn’t respond to that, because she wasn’t sure what to say.
“If you wanted to return, you shouldn’t have told your little witch friend about me.”
She stuck her head back around the curtain again. “How did you know about that?”
He just smiled that creepy smile. “I can have eyes anywhere if I wish.”
His souls, she realized. How lovely to know she’d had ghosts tailing her for the last two days.
“She figured it out on her own,” she said.
“Were you hoping the other demons would protect you from me? You didn’t even activate your wards.”
She snorted. “I figured there was no point trying to keep you out. And I’m not afraid of you anymore, remember? We have a deal.”And maybe I wanted you to come back for me.
“I always keep my promises.”
She made a face into the stream of water as she washed her face. “Like when you promised Mist, Lily, and Iris you wouldn’t trace them back to Earth?”
“Ididn’t trace them. My spell did.”
“That’s such a twisted interpretation.”
“Mishetsu was at fault. He should have been more careful in his negotiating, but he was weak from blood loss and torture, and I took advantage.”
“Youtortured—?”
“Ididn’t torture him.” Murmur scoffed. “Paimon did. In fact, I did him a favor by raiding her lair and leading the twins to the Hunter to rescue him. If not for me, they would both have failed. They ought to be thanking me, but instead they chose to fixate on the fact that I made a deal with Valefor in order to retrieve my book.”
Well, that was interesting. “Why couldn’t you get it yourself?”
“Because then it would have been known that I wanted it.” He said it like it was obvious. “I always disguise my trueintentions. Had I not done this over the years, my plan would have been discovered a long time ago, and I would likely be dead.”
“You’re paranoid.”
“Yes.”
She bent and turned off the shower. Climbing out, she grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her middle. They returned to her bedroom where she threw on a robe. “So are we actually going to do this here? I don’t mind going back to Hell. I want to see your spell when it’s successful.”
“What if I change my mind and decide not to let you go?”
“I’ll find a way to escape.”
He smiled, but it faded quickly. Suddenly, he wouldn’t meet her eyes. “As much as I enjoyed your assistance, this is something I must do alone.”
He crossed the room and picked up his coat from a chair, where he must have discarded it while she was still sleeping. He pulled a holster from beneath it that contained a long knife. Then, from a pocket inside the coat, he pulled out a narrow, cylindrical jar.
“So how does this seal work?” she asked, eyeing him warily. “I’m not sure I like the sound of you sapping power from me from a distance.”
“It’s simple. I’ll carve the mark into your skin, and then I’ll carve the matching one into my own when I return to Hell. A drop of your blood applied to my mark will activate it.”
She sat in the chair his coat had been draped over. She couldn’t deny that she felt uneasy about the whole process, but she reminded herself again that Murmur had vowed not to harm her. Whatever he was planning had to fit within the terms of their contract.
