Page 25 of In Between Death and the Devil

“When I ask you what you’ve seen and heard in Death’s rooms, you’ll be forced to answer,” he said. There was no warmth in his eyes, only cold calculation.

The idea made me queasy. Being forced to speak, unable to hide anything. I wondered if it would allow me to choose the words I used, or to hold anything back. “Will it force me to comply if you ask me to find specific information?”

“No. Though your curiosity might.”

I pressed my lips together. There was no way I would be roped into doing anything extra for this damn deal. “And what will it make you do?”

“Drive me to spend time with you until you are able to control your… curse.” The way he pronounced the word was indecent. So was his smirk.

A shiver rolled through me at the idea of him being driven to seek me out. I pushed it away. At least he would be motivated to fulfill his end of the deal. “And when does it end?”

“When I decide the conditions have been fulfilled, I will release you from it. Or when one of us is physically unable to uphold our end of it.”

“Absolutely not. I’m not agreeing to an open-ended deal.”

“There’s no telling how long it will take for you to learn control, Maeve.”

“Define an end or I won’t agree.”

He raised one eyebrow. “And what will you give me if I do?”

I opened my mouth to object but shut it at the pointed look he gave me. I had no leverage. If I didn’t agree to his terms, he would tell Death what I was hiding. I didn’t have the stomach to find out if he was bluffing. The prospect was enough to make me feel like the walls were closing in. I was going to have to give him something if I wanted him to fix an end point for the deal.

“What do you want?” I tried not to focus on the hundreds of horrifying possibilities my mind wanted to conjure.

The way he studied me for a moment didn’t help, his expression intense. I had no idea what he was thinking.

I swallowed as he took a step towards me.

“I want you to not reject everything I tell you right away. Keep an open mind.”

“You want to force me to believe everything you say?” My eyes went wide.

“No. I’m not taking your free will. You’ll be able to agree with something I tell you or come to the conclusion that it’s false. I just want you to consider that it might be true before you reject it.” There was something I couldn’t parse in his expression, exasperation or resignation maybe.

His clarification was not reassuring.

“Will the deal force me to fulfill it the same way as the rest?”

“Yes.”

I gritted my teeth, knowing he wouldn’t accept anything else. “I will keep an open mind for the duration of the deal.” At least that way I wouldn’t be in his thrall for any longer than necessary.

“Fine.”

I pressed my hand to my stomach. “The deal ends after six lessons.”

“It ends when you can successfully call on, actively use and release your… curse, and when you’ve gone at least three weeks without it making an uncontrolled appearance.”

“I told you, I’m not using it.”

“You won’t have full control unless you can use it. My offer that it be your decision if and how you use it stands.” He took another step towards me, but I stood my ground.

“Two weeks without an uncontrolled appearance and we have a deal,” I said, determined to wring one concession from him.

“Deal.” Satisfaction rolled off him as he held out his hand for mine.

I eyed it like it might bite me but placed my hand in his, wanting to get this over with. Ignoring the way his skin scraped gently against mine, I met his gaze.