“The killer tried to attack her tonight,” Az said quietly as he palmed the table. “After murdering Willow at the party. I tried to save her. It was too late.”
The third demon paled, and his hands clenched around the cards. “The dancer who started working here last week? That’s two in a row. First, Allison. Now, Willow.”
Oh. So, that was why the other dancers had paled at the mention of Allison. The serial killer had gotten to her, too.
Az’s hands fisted. “He’s targeting people close to me. The closer we get to catching him, the bolder he gets. If I hadn’t heard Mia scream, she would have died tonight.”
Valac and Caim both turned to stare at me. I gave them a weak smile. “It’s true. The guy backed me into an alley and—”
“Why exactly were you wandering around in alleys, Mia?” Az suddenly asked, whirling toward me, as if it had just occurred to him. “Why weren’t you at the party? Why did you run off?”
“Um, it’s complicated,” I tried.
“Explain.” His eyes flashed.
I glanced from his face to the others. They were all looking at me with expectant curiosity. It reminded me of the looks I’d seen from the neighbors, from my old classmates, from random people in Walmart. It made me want to crawl under the table and hide.
“Later,” I said, clearing my throat. “When we don’t have such a rapt audience.”
Caim’s brows arched.
Az folded his arms and leaned back into the chair. “Absolutely not. This is my Legion. Everything I know, they know.”
“Yeah, about this whole Legion thing, I don’t really know what that means.”
Valac frowned. “How muchdoyou know?”
“You’re all demons. From the underworld, I guess.” I drifted further into the room and shrugged. “I know you make deals for souls, but I don’t know what you do with them. Or what your powers are. Or what a Legion is.”
Caim let out a low whistle and glanced at Az. “Think we should fill her in?”
“Yes,” I said, at the exact time Az said, “No.”
We glared at each other.
“Look,” I said. “You’ve dragged me into this whole thing without my knowledge, and now the serial killer wants me dead, too. He made it clear it has something to do with you, so I think it’s time you explained to meexactlywhat it is you’ve gotten me into.”
Caim grinned. “I like this one.”
“Me too,” Valac said with a strange, twisted smile. “Most humans go screaming in the other direction.”
“Because you steal souls.”
“No,” the third demon said quietly, still staring down at the table. “We save them.”
Az swore, and Valac dropped his head into his hands.
Caim sucked in a sharp breath and stood. “Honestly, Stolas. Think before you speak. The last thing we need is a human to tell someone what we’re up to in here.”
I blinked. “Wait a minute. You…savesouls?”
Caim let out a heavy sigh and shot another glare at Stolas. “We’re trying to help people instead of corrupt them. Lead them away from a path of destruction. Sometimes, that means we end up saving their souls. Other times, just their lives.”
“We shouldn’t be telling her all this,” Az said, voice hard, eyes cold. “If Lucifer finds out what we’re up to, he’ll drag us back to Hell. And I know none of us want that. We can’t help humanity there.”
Um, what?!This was a lot to take in. Numbly, I stumbled forward and sat hard on the only empty chair left. My gaze locked on the table. Not only were these actual, literal demons, but they were somehow working against the King of Hell himself. And I was all mixed up in it.
“Wait a minute,” I said slowly, raising my eyes to Az’s face. “If you’re saving souls, then why did you trap me in a demon contract with you?”
