“You sure? Because Victor just asked me to set up building access to his apartment, and I nearly choked. Nobody gets access to Victor’s place. Nobody. I’ve worked here four months and I’ve never even seen his building.”
“Temporary arrangement.”
“Right. Temporary.” Derek’s gaze dropped to her chest, and his eyes went even wider. “Oh my God. You’re dating him. That’s the protection he meant. That’s why Lilith looked like she wanted to set the building on fire.”
“How did you…”
“Four months here. I’ve seen things.” He pointed at her collar. “Also, that mark is glowing through your shirt. Like, visibly glowing. You might want to do something about that.”
Ava looked down. He was right. Faint silver light, visible through the fabric.
“Is that normal?”
“How would I know what’s normal? You’re dating a demon. I file contracts for souls. The coffee machine growled at me this morning.” He pulled out a keycard. “Here. Victor’s building. Penthouse, obviously.”
“Obviously.”
“Could be worse.” He grinned. “Welcome to the deep end, Ava. Try not to drown.”
The rest of the day passed in a haze.
She reviewed contracts, real ones this time, without the demonic clauses. Her eyes kept drifting to the mark, visible whenever she moved wrong. She’d buttoned her blouse to the neck, but the outline of it seemed to glow through the fabric anyway.
At lunch, she hid in the break room and ate a sandwich she couldn’t taste. At two, she passed Victor in the hallway. He nodded. She nodded. Neither of them stopped.
At four, Lilith walked by her desk without a word. But her eyes lingered on the spot where the mark hid beneath Ava’s collar, and her smile said everything her silence didn’t.
Fifty-six days, Ava thought.I can do this for fifty-six days.
By five-thirty, the floor had emptied. She gathered her things, pulled on her coat, and walked to the elevator withoutlooking back. She’d survived day one. That had to count for something.
In the lobby, she pulled up a calendar on her phone and started marking X’s.
Her phone rang. Victor.
“Forget something?”
“Yes. Tomorrow night. The firm’s quarterly client dinner. Black tie.”
“Tomorrow? That’s not much notice.”
“Welcome to my world.” A pause. “Lilith will be there. We’ll need to be convincing.”
“How convincing?”
“Very.” A pause. “Can you handle that?”
She thought of his hand in her hair. The fire she hadn’t expected. The way her body had responded before her mind could catch up.
“I’ll manage,” she said.
“I know you will.” Something in his voice she couldn’t identify. “Until tomorrow, then.”
“Victor?”
“Yes?”
“That kiss. It won’t happen again without warning?”
