She picked up her necklace and hissed as the gem burnt her hand.“Stupid thing.”
Shadows seeped out and soothed the burn on her fingers and at the base of her neck before returning to the gem.She furrowed her brows.The shadows coated the blue within the necklace and swallowed it.She flicked her finger over the diamond, and the shadows parted to show her the blue soul underneath.
“Okay,” she said, elongating the word.“Thanks, shadows.”They were protecting her.They healed her before she bothered to use her own magic to do so, and by covering the blue of Remi’s soul, they were keeping it from trying to burn through the bargain.
She relaced the ties to her necklace.
Laurie had said Remi wasn’t human.When Zara had pressed him for his theories, he’d reminded them that while the only magical beings on Earth were demons and angels and witches, others had existed, maybe still existed somewhere else in the universe.Remi probably had an ancestor from a hundred thousand years ago that got mixed up with a magic that wasn’t from here.Though why only Skye’s powers could interact with Remi’s shadow soul was anyone’s guess.
The steady thump of drums pounded through the room.Remi’s voice came in and out as the boys played and tested the sound on stage.Even with the bargain in place, Skye had a million things to get ready for the show tonight.
She reapplied her lipstick and fixed her clothes and hair in the mirror before leaving the dressing room.On her way to the tour bus to grab her laptop, the scent of smoke caught her attention.
She skittered to a stop, turning to find two demons eyeing her.
Zara’s face brightened.“Naughty, naughty girl!”
Laurie stood beside her.His eyes scanned her from head to toe with a less than amused expression on his face.
“You fucked him!”Zara said.
“I didn’t!”Skye lied automatically.
“We can smell him on you,” Laurie said.
Skye sucked her teeth.“Fine.Yeah, I did.So what?”
“You don’t fuck the soulless,” Zara said.
“I had to distract him to get him to say he wanted the bargain,” Skye said.“And it worked, so that’s all it was.”
“Hmm,” Laurie said.
For a tense moment, Skye crossed her arms over her chest, while Zara’s eyes flicked between her and Laurie.
“Well,” Zara said, breaking the silence.“We brought you two leads.Even simpler than the last one.”
“Really?”Skye said, dropping her defensive stance.
“I’ve been working on someone,” Laurie said.“Run-of-the-mill wannabe rock star.”
“You’re giving up a lead for me?”Skye asked.Zara was only helping because she enjoyed the drama and entertainment.Skye didn’t know what Laurie’s motives were, but he never did anything for free.
Laurie rolled his eyes.“The sooner this bargain is fixed, the sooner things will go back to normal.”
Skye pressed her lips together.Maybe Zara had been right about Laurie.He was just jealous and didn’t like that Skye left him out.
“AndIfound someone who wants to fuck a demon,” Zara said.
“Great,” Skye said.“Who?”
Zara smirked and pointed.
They all turned and watched the band jump down from the stage, pushing and shoving each other good-naturedly.
Liam’s face lit up when he saw Zara.
Skye grabbed Zara’s arm and dug her fingernails in.
