I mean, it really wasn’t. There was something so much more…intimate about underwear. Still, a soak in a hot tub sounded like a hell of a good idea. Soothing, warm, relaxing. My pent-up nerves were about to pop right out of my skin, and if I went to bed now, I’d just stare wide-eyed out the window until the sun came up.
Before I could talk myself out of it, I slipped into my room, yanked my dress over my head, and pulled a fluffy white robe over my body. One Az kept in the closet for guests. I wondered if any other girls had worn this thing.
“What a stupid thought,” I muttered to myself.
Suddenly, my phone rang. I pulled it out of my purse and checked the number. Serena. My heart squeezed. She was probably worried sick about me.
“Hey, Serena,” I said as soon as the phone hit my ear. “Sorry I didn’t call. I’m okay.”
“Thank heavens,” she whispered back. “I’ve been worried sick. I can’t explain to Noah what’s going on, and he thinks I’ve lost my damn mind. Where are you?”
My stomach twisted. She didn’t know I’d faced the killer in the alley. And I couldn’t bear to tell her. “Az’s apartment.”
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but good. Stay with him, okay? Just until the killer is caught.”
“I will, Serena. You don’t need to worry about me.”
“Not happening. I’m going to worry about you until this whole thing is over.” She sighed. “I’ve got to get some sleep. I have work in the morning. Text me tomorrow?”
I squeezed the phone tight. “Always. Love you.”
I found Az out on his balcony in the hot tub. Steaming water bubbled around him and droplets clung to his stubbled chin. He’d beaten me to it, which meant I wouldn’t have a chance to see if he had a tail. On the other hand, I coulddefinitelysee his bare, sculpted chest. The guy looked as if he could bench press an entire car.
Maybe he could. How strong, exactly, were demons?
He arched a brow as I hovered nervously beside the hot tub. “You coming in?”
“Yeah, I just…” A flush crept up my cheeks. “Wow, it sure is hot.”
“That’s kind of the point.”
“Yeah, I know, it’s just, well, you know.” Ugh. What was wrong with me? With an inward growl at myself, I turned my back to him, pulled off the robe, and quickly dipped into the tub before Az could get an eyeful. As the hot water engulfed me, I met his gaze. The intensity in his eyes shook me to my core.
“Lace,” he said, arching a brow toward my bra. “Interesting choice.”
“I didn’t have many options,” I replied with a roll of my eyes. “I rushed over here with my single suitcase, and I haven’t done laundry yet.”
“Is that one suitcase all you brought with you when you moved to the city?” he asked lightly, leaning back against the edge of the hot tub.
Instantly, I tensed. “Yes.”
“I meant what I said.” He closed his eyes and relaxed into the tub, the water glistening on his tanned skin. “You’ve been brought into the circle. Trust and loyalty are essential for this to work. They are the most important things to me.”
Suddenly, the hot tub seemed like a terrible idea. Here I was, in a small, enclosed space, with a total asshole. Forget all the good stuff he did. None of that erased the bad. “Says the guy who didn’t tell me what would happen when I signed that contract.”
His eyes flipped open. “I was never going to take your soul, Mia.”
“Then, why make a contract at all?” I fisted my hands, and the water slipped through my fingers.
“Lucifer is alerted every time one of us signs a contract. He doesn’t know the details of the deal, but he receives a rolling tally. If we go too long without a deal, he grows suspicious. We have a quota we have to hit.”
Narrowing my eyes, I folded my arms, hiding my lacy bra from view. “And so that’s all I am? A quota.”
“It was never supposed to mean anything more than that,” he said quietly. “But you are impossibly complicated, Mia. And you’ve made things far more difficult than they needed to be.”
“Gee, thanks,” I replied dryly. “I guess you thought I’d be a good little pet human and fall in line just like everyone else.”
“If it weren’t for Serena, you never would have known. You would have walked away from this happy and content. Soul intact.”
