“A lie,” Laurie said.
“The three of us have played many improvisational games together,” Zara said.“We didn’t know why Skye was pretending to have been tricking you, but we knew how to play along.”
Their faces were so blank, their deliveries so neutral, that Remi wouldn’t have been able to tell if they were lying or not.
It didn’t matter though.He trusted Skye.He’d always trusted her, even if it was bad for him.He loved her.
In that moment, his eyes had caught on the gleaming black diamond resting at the base of Skye’s throat.Shadows seeped out and swirled around him as if trying to provide additional reassurance for his trust.
“I thought those were gone?”Zara asked.
Skye tapped the diamond gem, and the shadows returned to their place.She smiled at Remi.“I think these ones became mine at some point.They weren’t Remi’s to bargain with.”
“I’ve read stories about fated souls and their powers intertwining in my research,” Laurie said.“I always just assumed it was a euphemism for fucking, but maybe that’s why your magic is compatible.”
Remi had just grinned.
He shifted their positions on the bed, rolling them to their sides so he could look at the sexy, manipulative, infuriating, wonderful demoness in his arms.
He hadn’t said anything at the time, but he was pleased beyond words that some part of him had integrated with Skye long before he’d realized the truth—that he was hers in every way.
Remi put his hands on the back of her head and pulled her lips to his, kissing her slow and deep, whispering on her lips.“Love you, Skye.”
She blinked her sleepy and sated eyes open.Marbled black shadows swirled in her demon-red irises.“I love you too, Remi.”
Epilogue
Excitedanticipationhummedthroughthe tiny bar in New Orleans where it all started.Mike’s was packed to the brim with people.People who’d always known Tilted Haze would be huge.People who would tell their grandchildren they were there when the band was starting out.
Skye sat in the middle of it all, sipping her whiskey neat at a high-top table.As she put her drink down, she stared at the pale spot on her inner wrist that no longer bore the Devil’s mark.Remi’s bargain for her freedom remained unbroken; his shadows and soul hung in the Devil’s throne room in Hell.
For now.
Skye ran her thumb over her necklace, the shadows within vibrating in recognition at her attention.Fate had magnetized Remi’s soul to Skye, and it’d escaped its containment twice now—the second time, releasing the souls that hung on the Devil’s walls in the process—just like his music freed the damned, the outcasts, the broken, who walked Earth.
And Skye vowed to herself, when the time was right, she’d break the bargain, whisper to the shadows that dwelled within her to unleash their brethren and save Remi’s soul from its eternal spot at the Devil’s side, just like Remi had saved her.
But that wouldn’t need to happen anytime soon.Skye planned on living out the rest of her life beside Remi.And souls and bargains and their ultimate demise were faraway thoughts.
For tonight, she was only thinking about hearing some good music.
The crowd cheered as the lights darkened.Four dark figures climbed onto the stage as smoke billowed out from the corners.Liam, West, Ollie, and Remi took their positions and rolled into the first song without an introduction.
They didn’t need one.Everyone knew exactly who they were seeing tonight.
The boom of the bass pounded through the speakers, the thumping vibrating the stage and the walls around them.Tilted Haze’s fans screamed as anticipation reached a fever pitch.
The spotlight burst down, shining on each of them.Liam tossed his drumsticks into the air while keeping the beat.West’s fingers danced up the neck of his guitar.Ollie strummed the rhythm and nodded along.
Remi grabbed the microphone.He scanned the crowd until he found what he was looking for.He smiled, the same mischievous smile that had sparked Skye’s demon instincts the first time she’d seen him on that stage.His ice-blue eyes twinkled under the lights.His presence robbed her of breath each and every time.
Remi held her gaze.His deep voice pulsated through her, singing straight to her soul—if demons had such a thing.
It was pointless to resist
I’d do anything for just one more kiss
Sold my soul the second I laid eyes on her
