They didn’t get along, but she was a good mother.She always took them to doctor appointments and made sure they got to school on time.They never went without food or new clothes for school.Sure, sometimes she’d give him a slap or two when he wasn’t behaving, but it wasn’t like she abused them.He had no reason to hate her.He needed to be better.For Emerson.His brother would have wanted Remi to take care of their mother.
And if this brick was going to make her feel better, he needed to make it happen.
“Okay,” Remi said.He shifted and dug his wallet out of his pocket.“I’ll give you my credit card number, but don’t charge it until after the fifteenth, okay?”
That’d give him a full twenty-five days to come up with the money to pay it off.
“Oh, good.That’s really the least you owe Emerson,” she said.
“Uh huh,” Remi mumbled and then read out his credit card number.
His mother ended the call shortly after that.Heaviness settled on his chest, making it hard for him to inhale completely.
He stared at the ripped-up notebook pages where he’d arranged and rearranged show dates, trying to figure out a tour schedule that wouldn’t bankrupt them.
Anger that he’d beaten down resurfaced.He groaned in hopeless frustration and swiped his hand through the papers, making them flutter to the floor.
Standing, he crossed the room, dumped out his trash can, and plucked the business card from the pile.
His heart raced.A wave of vertigo made his body sway.He was standing at the edge of a cliff, having made the decision to jump.
His mother was right about one thing.He owed Emerson a lot more than a goddamn brick.He owed a lot of people more than he could give them.It was his fault Tilted Haze lost their first big break.Remi owed this to the band.
Desperation made his fingers tremble as he tapped out the phone number.
He put the phone to his ear as the call connected.
“Hello, Remi,” Skye purred.He gritted his teeth against the way her voice made him shiver.
“You win,” he growled.“I’ll make the deal.”
Chapter Five
Earlier that day
Skyestoodbehindthechain electronics store, smiling manically at the surveillance footage the manager had just sent to her phone.
“That microwave better be capable of sucking dick because why else would you spendthousandsof dollars on it?”Remi yelled on the video.
Skye handed over the five hundred dollars she owed the manager.Cash, in some cases, was easier than using up her demon magic on compulsion.
“What’d he do to you that you wanted to get him fired?”the manager asked, counting his money.
“It’s not what he did,” Skye said.“But what he’s going to do.”
The imbecile manager furrowed his brow.
Skye rolled her eyes and waved a dismissive hand.“Just get out of my face.”
He wrinkled his nose and left.
Skye walked to her drop-top, pulled her sunglasses off her head, and shook out her hair as she slipped the glasses on.
After getting into the car, she started making her next phone call.This task would be the easiest of the day.
She’d already called and got the promoters to cancel Tilted Haze’s shows this summer.It’d been tricky to do but not impossible given Skye’s connections.
Her mother had been one of the first demons to specialize in bargains for rock stars.When she took Skye under her wing and taught her how to make bargains, she’d also passed on all of her contacts in the music industry.
