Page 3 of Malice

Two

Darkness closes around me and the world spins. Only a few seconds later, I’m back on my feet, standing in the warehouse. Only, it’s a different version of the warehouse. Everything is quiet. I’m alone, and there’s no crack in the floor in front of me. The building is muted and dull, and misty, red clouds cover the ceiling.

“Xavier?” I call out, spinning around. I am alone, right? I whirl around—wait—no, I’m not. Antonio is lying on the ground. He’s in a puddle of blood but my jacket isn’t on his face anymore. This time, I can see his lifeless eyes staring up at me. My heart is beating faster and faster, and the energy of this place is so oppressive, it’s like I’m underwater.

“You made the right choice, Florence,” someone whispers. I can’t tell where the voice is coming from. It’s like whoever is speaking is in front of me and behind me as well as inside my head all at the same time. I spin around again and chill runs down my spine.

It’s the demon.

“Your brother,” the demon starts, voice rattling right through me. A shadowy figure starts to emerge from the corner of the warehouse, taking on a human form. “I can bring him back.”

Holding out my hands, I try to summon energy. I can’t. Then I realize that my clothes are dry and there are no sprinklers raining down on us. Right. I’m not really here. This is some sort of demon dimension.

“At what cost?” I ask, heart skipping a beat. “I’m not selling my soul.” Antonio would never forgive me if I made a deal like that in exchange for his life. And my soul…I…I just can’t. I won’t.

“Perhaps we can come to another arrangement.” The demon’s form solidifies into that of a young woman. She’s petite with short brown hair and pretty blue eyes. She’s dressed in a mid-length blue and white dress, making her appear normal and nonthreatening.

Demons take on the appearance they think will benefit them best, and a non-assuming woman about my age is exactly the kind of person she’d assume I’d overlook if I didn’t know better.

But I know better.

“Any other arrangement made by a demon benefits you, not me,” I retort.

“I won’t deny that,” she says, black eyes wide as she stares at me. “But this time, I think I can come to something that is mutually beneficial.”

“I highly doubt that.”

“You want your brother back. I want to be freed from the grasp the Order has on me.”

“What?” I ask before her words fully sink in. Because—what the fuck?

“For nearly half a century now, the Order has kept me on a leash, so to speak. I want off.” She tips her head, looking me up and down. “They’ve done the same for you. In a different way, of course. You’re a witch by birth. You have more power in your little finger than they do in their whole bodies and they fear you. Such typical human men, fearing what they can’t control. The power—your power. They cannot control that so instead they control you. But they don’t have to. No…you let them. You allow them.”

“Insulting me isn’t going to help get what you want.”

“Is it an insult if it’s the truth?” She blinks rapidly and her eyes go from inked-over to clear, making her look fully human. “Look at what your blood alone did. You brought me here.”

“And I can send you back.”

“You can,” she agrees, knowing there’s no point in arguing. “And I will take your brother with me. Or,” she pauses, lips turning up into a smirk. “We can work together.”

“Tell me what you’re proposing,” I say, doing everything I can to keep my eyes on the demon and not look at Antonio’s lifeless body.

“Sign a contract, your life in exchange for your brother’s,” she starts, holding up her hand so I won’t interrupt her. “I’ll bring him back, and once I am freed from the grasp the Order has on me, I will tear up the contract and you will be free from it.”

“And Toni?”

“He will stay alive. I don’t have ill intentions here. If anything, it’s selfish. I want to be freed. You are vulnerable right now and I’m using that to get you to help me.”

“Gee, really selling it.” I roll my eyes, hoping I’m keeping a poker face. Because this offer is tempting.

“I wouldn’t just ask anyone. You’re a witch,” she goes on. “A powerful one at that. Like I said, your blood alone was enough to open a portal to hell. You don’t think the Order chose you at random, do you?”

“I know they didn’t. Tell me the terms,” I rush out before I have a chance to think this through.

Her smirk grows. “Sign the contract. I will bring your brother back. You have until the next moon phase to free me. Do that, and I tear up your contract. Your soul is yours to keep. Your brother stays alive. I am free.”

“And if I don’t free you?”