Laurie pressed his lips together and shook his head once.“I’ve been trying to find my father.He killed my mother.He tried to kill me too, but your mother sacrificed herself to save me.That’s why I took her journals.Our mothers were friends.I thought there might be clues as to who he was or where I could find him.”
Skye wrapped her arms around her torso.“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Laurie didn’t say anything.His eyes flicked from his feet to the Devil and back again.
“He threatened your wings if you told anyone the truth,” Skye said.
“Both of your mothers were destined for destruction,” the Devil said.“One fell for a human.The other, an angel.They were infected with a disgusting disease that I wouldn’t allow to spread through my domain.”
The Devil had them all at his mercy, threatening their wings and turning them against one another.
“Now, this is all getting rather Orphean,” the Devil said with a sigh.“And I don’t see a lyre anywhere to put us into a trance, so let’s move this along.I want my power.Either hand it over, or I’ll take Skye’s wings.”
The ashes of Remi’s powers swirled in the air and then were swept into a jar.The jar hummed as the ashes transformed into inky black shadows, alive with an essence that was wholly Remi.The blue, glittering orb of Remi’s soul floated beside them.
Remi looked at the jar and the physical manifestation of his soul.“The deal isn’t done?”
“He can take his shadows back?”Skye asked, hope pitching her voice higher.
“The deal isn’t done.Remi has to be the one to transfer his powers,” Laurie said.“He isn’t a demon.His powers aren’t under the Devil’s control.The hellfire stripped them from his body, but Remi has to willingly give them over, just like his soul.”
Remi swallowed.He looked at the jar, then at Skye.
“You don’t have to do this,” she said.“We don’t know what will happen.How you’ll react.If there are consequences—”
Remi gave her a rueful smile.“Have you ever known me to be worried about consequences?”
Skye’s laugh was a pained groan.“Remi… What about the band?What about West and Liam and Ollie.They mean more than me.They deserve—”
Remi kissed her forehead.“They deserve a kick-ass band manager who is one hundred percent dedicated to them.We don’t need demon or devil magic to make an impact.I don’t need these shadows or my soul, but I do needyou.”
He clutched the glass jar and held it in the air, but kept his gaze centered on Skye as he declared, “I want to complete the bargain.I’ll trade my shadows and my soul for Skye’s freedom and safety.”
The glass jar flew toward the Devil, and Skye’s wrist burned.She turned her hand over and watched as her birthmark faded away and released her from the Devil’s control.
Power returned to her—the fiery heat of her own demon magic intertwined with the dark energy of something else, something that had been working its way inside of her this whole time.
Remi smiled as Skye looked up at him.He curled a piece of her hair around her ear.“You were right, you know.From the first night you entered my dreams, I knew I’d trade my heart and soul for you.”
A strange lightness filled her as something that she’d never known she’d been holding lifted.Tears sprang to her eyes from an effervescent joy like she’d never experienced.
“I love you,” Skye said to Remi.
“I thought demons didn’t love,” Remi teased.
“They aren’t supposed to cry either.”She said through a teary laugh.
Remi just smiled, and he kissed her cheeks until they were dry.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Remiwassoullessandshadowless and without a magical bargain to make his music famous.His band had no label backing them, no money coming in, and no fan support, but none of that mattered.
He had Skye, the sexiest, most infuriating and manipulative and perfect woman in Hell, Heaven, Earth, and in all of the goddamn universe as far as he was concerned.
And Tilted Haze had a demon for a band manager.
How much more rock ’n’ roll could they possibly get?
