Dee maneuvered Cora into the backseat and shut the door behind her. Gravel crunched behind her and she flinched, but it was only James; he jogged up beside her, gesturing for her to get into the passenger seat.
The car was still running. Exhaust fumes hung in the cold, damp air and Dee was glad to slide into the warmth of the car. She glanced through the window and saw the Daemon.
He stood over Cal, gazing down at him.
Fear bloomed in Dee’s stomach; they should have brought him, too. Some irrational part of her didn’t want to leave Cal behind, to see him splayed out on that dirt and gravel, alone but for the creature that took his heart.
James put the car in drive and hit the gas. Dee jerked in her seat as he drove away, hastening to get back on the highway, to take them back to Portland, back to civilization and lights and humans.
But just before the trees blurred around them, Dee saw the Daemon kneel beside Cal, placing the tattered remnants of the knitted heart on Cal’s empty chest.
TWENTY-THREE
Cora Meyer had met three demons before she decided to sell her heart.
She had gone to several states in search of them—a nightclub in LA. A casino in Lake Tahoe. And a coffee shop in Seattle. But the only thing that ever came of it was a few more thousand miles on her hand-me-down Toyota. She walked away from the encounters with all her limbs.
Cora knew she was pretty. Her body was lean and muscled and she had good skin. She was vibrant and healthy, an ideal candidate for a demon. And that was why three different ones had approached her, asked her price.
Every single demon’s eyes flashed with alarm when they heard her answer.
They would decline, either with a look or a curt no, and then they would depart.
But Cora was determined—and she kept listening. And when rumors of a place to find demons in her own hometown arose, she followed them to a transitory farmers market.MEPHISTO MARKETread the hand-printed sign.
It was a bright spring day, and the booths were full to bursting with strawberries and lettuce, and at first Cora was skeptical. This couldn’t be real. All the other places she found demons were darkened rooms with heavy, sweet smoke. She could not imagine finding a real demon in this sunlit, open space.
She bought strawberries and ate them sitting on the hood of her Toyota, watched as the passersby came and went. There were many hopefuls—people who scrawled their prices on the limbs they were willing to offer up. With a sigh, Cora tossed a strawberry stem over her shoulder.
And then a man behind her cleared his throat.
Cora whirled around so quickly she nearly fell off her car. She reached for her purse, but then she froze.
The man was in his late twenties or early thirties—pale with dark hair and scorchingly blue eyes. Chiseled cheekbones, clean-shaven, and he wore a suit. An umbrella was tucked beneath his left arm. And a strawberry stem stuck to his lapel.
With a flicker of disapproval, he took the stem between thumb and forefinger and dropped it to the ground.
“Please be careful where you throw things,” he said, then began to walk away.
She knew what he was; she’d recognized him the moment she’d turned. She slid off her car’s hood and hastened after him. “Wait!” she said, catching his arm.
He paused. Looked down at the place where her fingers were roughly digging into his sleeve. She released him.
“You’re wrinkling my suit,” he said with a resigned sigh. “You know what I am, don’t you?”
“Yes,” she said. “And you’re here looking to buy.”
His voice was distant, uninterested. “Am I?”
“Of course you are,” said Cora, looking around at the market—with its dirty pavement and the smell of freshly churned earth. “Or else you wouldn’t deign to be in a place like this.”
A small smile flashed across the demon’s mouth. “True.” He turned to face her fully, gazing at her as if she had caught his interest. She gazed back, unafraid. “Tell me,” he said silkily, “what did you come here for? What price would you ask for a limb?”
There was no hesitation in her answer.
“I want you to kill someone for me,” she said simply.
He blinked. It was the only sign he was surprised; the rest of his face remained impassive. “Is that so?”
