Page 22 of In Between Death and the Devil

“Maeve?” The Devil’s voice was a caress that I felt everywhere.

My gaze snagged on his and held.

His eyes were full of concern, with an intensity that made me shiver. If it weren’t for the crown of horns on his head or the power thrumming around him, I could pretend he was human. That he cared about me.

But he wasn’t. And didn’t. He was the Devil. A master manipulator. And now he knew about my curse.

Dread settled in my stomach like a rock. This was my worst fear come to life, only it was ten times worse, because there was no escape. I was here for the rest of my existence.

My chest tightened and I fought to breathe as my mind spun, wondering what he’d try to make me do with it, and how he’d coerce me. Would he try to seduce me? Threaten to reveal my secret to Death?

“Are you alright?” It was such an unexpected question, it brought my spiral to an abrupt halt. I expected the Devil to be pleased with his discovery, smug, to see him plotting all the ways he would use me. Instead, he studied me with a furrowed brow, as if trying to figure out what I needed.

It tugged at something in me, my heartbeat slowing, but I brushed it off. He could be trying to manipulate me by convincing me he cared. I couldn’t forget how dangerous he was.

The door behind me opened, and I was knocked forward. My hip caught the tray and knocked it to the floor, again. This time there was nothing to stop it. The teapot and cups smashed and broke into pieces, sending liquid and ceramic shards all over the carpet. The tray skidded under a chair, out of sight.

“Maeve,” Death said. “What…” She stiffened when she saw the Devil.

The hair on my arms stood on end. I shrank into myself, wanting to be anywhere but here, and praying that Death hadn’t seen the tray and the way it had been deformed.

“You’re early.” Her words were coated in ice.

“Last time you accused me of being late.” The humanity in the Devil’s expression was gone, replaced by the dark god of shadows.

I shivered.

“You’re early,” she repeated, turning to me, “and yet the tea is not set out.”

“No, my goddess.” I knew better than to argue by now. Death was never wrong.

“If you can’t execute a simple task like this, Maeve, perhaps I should confine you to my quarters and have someone keep an eye on you. Show you how to do things. Make things easier for you.”

My heart sank and chills ran through me. I didn’t want to think about what would happen if my hands started to glow around someone who would no doubt report it back to her.

Death waved her hand. In a flash of light, the mess on the floor disappeared and reappeared on the table next to the Devil’s chair, intact. The tray was gold again, back to normal. “You’re dismissed.”

I looked at the Devil through my lashes as I curtsied, unable to resist the pull of him. I thought I saw a flare of anger in his eyes, but it was gone before I could blink.

Stepping into the corridor, I eased the door shut behind me and fled.

* * *

Death kept me later than usual, until well past dinner that night.

“The Devil is dangerous, Maeve,” she said when she returned from meeting with him. “You should never be alone with him.” Then she told Talia that I was not to be assigned any tasks outside her quarters until further notice, and to assign me a partner to make sure I fulfilled my duties properly. I kept expecting her to reveal that she’d seen the tea tray or to at least scold me further for my inadequacies, but she never did. By the time she dismissed me, I was dead on my feet, anxious to crawl into bed and seek relief in sleep.

The room I’d been assigned in the servants’ quarters was small but adequate, with cloudy, mirrored walls, a narrow bed with a firm mattress, and a fireplace with a perpetually burning fire. And I didn’t have to share it with anyone. The first night, I’d fallen asleep in my clothes since there was no blanket, but I didn’t care. After everything that had happened, I’d been grateful for the privacy. Several nights later, a blanket was waiting for me when I turned in, and two nights after that a pillow. It was now a small sanctuary that I looked forward to coming back to at the end of the day.

I opened the door, expecting Star to be waiting for me. The salamander I’d seen in the room I’d shared with Bea had found me and visited nightly. I knew it was the same one because of the yellow starburst on their snout, hence the name. But they weren’t there.

Something was different about my room. The air felt heavier and it looked darker, even though the fire was the same size as always. My scalp prickled. Part of me wanted to run away, but I had nowhere to go, and I rebelled at the thought of being driven from my sanctuary. Whatever it was, it was better to face it. I hesitated on the threshold for a couple of heartbeats before easing my way into the room and shutting the door behind me.

Leaning against it, I looked around. Aside from being darker, everything looked as I expected, nothing out of place. Until a large form melted out of the shadows in the opposite corner. My eyes went wide as it solidified into the Devil.

CHAPTER 8

“Hello, Maeve.” The Devil gave me a smile that turned his rugged features wolfish, as the gold flecks in his eyes swirled in a dizzying eddy. He wore the same sleeveless black tunic from earlier, with just a hint of silver at the collar, though his crown was missing. The skin on his bare arms gleamed in the firelight, and the room instantly felt ten times smaller than it had before.