I twist my lips. “Then I agree with you. Fascinating, indeed.” Propping my hands on my hips, I drop into a mock curtsy. “Thanks for the help. I’ll be going now.” And I whirl around to make my way back. Oreo stops snarling and follows me.
Unfortunately, the horned stranger does, too. “The same way you came?” he asks, voice dripping sarcasm. “You’re not very bright, are you? They’ll find you easily, even with the tagging hellhound. I mean, you could just surrender. Easier for everyone.”
I whirl back around to face him. He halts, almost colliding with me. “No, I’m not getting caught, but the way back is the only way up.”
A smile illuminates his stupidly handsome face. “Ah! So you want to go back to the human realm. What a coincidence. I would love to go to the human realm, too.”
Suspicion thrums in my ears. Or maybe it’s how hard my heart is beating. A demon in the Light Realm? He definitely has ulterior motives. “So?”
“So, we can go together.”
I narrow my eyes. This guy is extra suspicious. I’ve never seen someone more suspicious than this. “What are you going to do up there?”
“Nothing much,” he says, shrugging. “Dosome sightseeing. Have some fun. Nothing crazy. Nothing bad.” And he smiles what he thinks might be an innocent smile. Something tells me this man has not one innocent bone in his body.
“Let me get this straight.” I take a breath, trying my best to ignore the sound of the approaching reapers. “You want to go to the Light Realm. With me.”
“You’re not slow after all, are you?” He opens that huge smile.
What a jerk. I roll my eyes and huff in exasperation. “Why? I get it. You want to have fun, but why not stay here? You’re not a spirit, clearly.” And I motion for his horns.
“No spirit, but bored to death.” And he chuckles. “See? Death joke. No spirit would do that.”
“Then what are you?”
The thing moving behind him whips closer. My gaze darts to the motion,and Oreo’s light catches it. It’s a freaking tail. Dark as his hair, as his horns, the tipped end curling around his ankle. An icy finger of fear runs down my spine, making me shiver. Oh, no.
“Did you guess it now?” he asks with that same all-knowing smile.
I dart my gaze back to him and shake my head. “Hell, no. I’m not taking a demon with me. Are you out of your mind? Why would I even do that?”
My mind shoots everywhere. Demons. There are demons. Aren’t demons supposed to be in the Abyss? I’m so confused right now. My stomach flips and flips again. What is he going to do with my refusal? Is he going to torture me? Beat me until I accept it? Why can’t he go by himself?
And why am I this unlucky?
Zaki steps closer again. My body freezes as he comes closer, his chest brushing against mine. I have to tilt my head back to keep looking at him. The smell of something burning hits my nose. I think it’s him.
“You have little choice, pet,” he murmurs against my face. “You look like you’re on the run. I don’t know what you did, and perhaps it has something to do with your pup, but the reapers are mad.” He clucks his tongue, shaking his head. “They won’t make things easy for you.”
“I never thought it would be easy,” I reply with much more bravado than I feel.
“They won’t let you leave. They’ll keep an eye on you, and they’ll take your hound from you. Oh, yeah, they’ll definitely do that. Take him back to where he belongs...” He trails off, leaving only fear in the pit of my stomach.
Oreo is the last member of my family I have with me. I can’t let them take him. My eyes go wide,and I close my hands to keep them from shaking. No matter how much Oreo snarls at the demon, he’s right. He’s so damn right it hurts.
I look away. There has to be another way out. A way that’s not so open, a place they won’t easily catch me...
Zaki leans closer. His body is an inch from mine, his lips brushing my ear. I’m frozen to the spot, I don’t know why. Out of fear? Shock? I’m a block of ice, and his warm breath melts me a tiny bit.
“There is another way,” he whispers. “I know how. But I can’t do it alone. You’d have to bind yourself to me.”
I pull back, meeting his eyes. “Bind? What do you mean?”
He’s serious now. “A demon pact. Simple thing, really. We shake hands,and you’ll allow me to know where you are and move to you whenever I want. Demons can’t freely travel out of the Abyss, you know? Pure prejudice, if you ask me. We need someone anchoring us.”
My brows furrowing, I glare at him. “So, you arefrom the Abyss.” Oh, how I wish I could tell lies from the truth. It would make it so much easier to know how to deal with this man. “How did you get here, then? Is there a train between the Abyss and the Underworld? Did you take a cab?”
His stupid smile doesn’t falter. “We’re having a special event at the Devil’s place. The barriers are open to the ones invited. Like me. I’m special like that.”