Mae

Finishing my signature with a flourish, I felt a little of the control I’d lost seep back into my bones. Was this the stupidest thing I’d ever done in my life? Possibly. But desperate times, right? And this would give me the most options, power, and sweet revenge that stung like a bitch.

I stood and handed the signed copy back to Azrimin. “And I want a copy of that.”

Azrimin nodded and stood as well, our bodies inches from each other, his smokey scent floating under my nose. “One second, we’re not quite finished.” He held my gaze for a few beats before the pages appeared in his hand, and he lifted them up between us. “Here…” He flipped to the last page and pointed to a new box under my signature.

“What the hell are you trying to pull? Some bait and switch crap?”

“Not at all. This is for your protection. If you ever need to air grievances about any of the contractual terms, just slice open your thumb and bleed on the paper right there.” He pointed.

I narrowed my eyes on him. “And what? That’ll get me Hell’s customer service?”

Azrimin’s mouth quirked up at one corner. “You’re funny.” Then he waved the contract for a second, and it became two identical sheafs of paper, one of which he handed to me.

I nodded and said, “Whatever. I just signed my soul away. What could go wrong?” I snatched the paper from him and set it on the coffee table. “Thanks. So, what do we do now?”

“What do you always do after signing an auspicious deal? We celebrate!”

“Another piece of gum?” I said sarcastically.

Ignoring me, he snapped his fingers, and a bottle of champagne and two flutes appeared on the table. He punctuated his trick with a head tilt.

“Impressive,” I said, but then felt a chill on my shoulders. When I glanced down, I let out a small gasp at seeing that I was now wearing a form fitting, red dress that barely covered my ass. I shoved Azrimin’s shoulder before I thought better of it. Then I backed up a step to put more distance between us. “What do you think you’re doing? Don’t change my clothes! Especially if you’re going to put me in some barely there dress.”

“I think you look beautiful.” He cleared his throat. “I mean, that dress would be eighteen hundred dollars in a boutique.

Pretending I didn’t like the compliment, I shot back, “Don’t you need my permission to do stuff now? I mean we just signed the contract and you’re already reneging on the terms?”

“Let me be clear, Mae.” He rubbed his jaw and I wondered why I hadn’t noticed his five-o’clock shadow before then. “I need your permission to do things for your revenge. But this”—his gaze moved up and down my body, his eyes darkening, if that were even possible—“this is for me.”

I straightened my shoulders and stepped around Azrimin so I could grab the champagne bottle from the table. Turning with it in my hand, I gave him a cool look. Then I pointed the top away from us and popped the cork, without having spilled a single drop. I grinned at myself, even if he gave no indication he was impressed, I knew that was impressive.

Azrimin picked up the glasses and held them one after the other for me to fill. I couldn’t help noticing the extreme strangeness of the situation. There I was, celebrating with the damn devil after being tossed aside by my family and company. I might not be proud of what I’m doing, but I will see this through and right all the wrongs they’ve dealt me.

Azrimin raised his glass, his eyes firmly focused on mine. “To our new partnership.”

“To my revenge,” I added.

We clinked our glasses together, and then I took a much-needed sip. I’d drunk my fair share of champagne over the years, but this delicious variety was unlike anything I’d ever tasted. Curious, I reached out for the bottle again, intending to read the label. But it was in some kind of script I’d never seen before. “Where is this from? It’s amazing.”

Azrimin collapsed onto the couch and laughed.

Waiting for the answer, I took another sip.

“Dear, sweet Mae… It’s from Hell, of course.”

“Of course,” I whispered, pulling the glass away from my mouth and examining the liquid inside. This is all too real. But there’s no turning back now. “Damn, then I guess at least I’ll have access to good booze after I die.”

Azrimin laughed, his expression so relaxed, his tone sounding so genuine it seemed to catch us both off guard. He snapped his jaw closed after a moment, as if he hadn’t meant to do it—maybe even thought it was a mistake. Did devils do anything mistakenly? Did they have regrets?

I grinned to myself, realizing this might be a good time to find out more about this devil, Azrimin. He knew so much about me and I knew so little about him. That put me at a decided disadvantage. So, I dropped down onto the cushion beside him.

Strangely, he seemed like someone I could have definitely been friends with, maybe business associates…or even more—in other circumstances, of course. But that wasn’t what this was about, so I needed to arm myself with any knowledge I could gain. After all, more information typically meant more power. Not to mention, I couldn’t let my guard down and trust him completely. “So, tell me about yesterday…in the elevator. What’s with the mailroom guy thing?”

Azrimin smiled, no trace of shame on his face for lying to me or for pretending to be an FCA employee.

“Why, though? Have you been watching me?” Then an ugly thought slammed into me, and I leaned back away from him. “Wait… Did you, did you do this to me?” My heart stuttered with trepidation. Had I just been played by the devil himself?

Azrimin rested a hand on my arm, shaking his head.

I couldn’t explain it—maybe I had imagined it—but his touch was almost too hot to bear, and I instinctively shifted away from him.

“Just like…the guy upstairs” he gestured with his head—“we don’t orchestrate events. But unlike him, we do take advantage of things that humans are already doing.”

Something about the way he said the word humans made me uncomfortable. Maybe because it was a reminder to me that he wasn’t one. I mean I never trusted men anyway, but this was another level to manage. Re-focusing on the matter at hand, I pushed back. “But you knew, right? You knew this was going to happen?”

This time, Azrimin nodded. “I knew.” His voice was matter of fact, like he was telling me the weather report.

I huffed out a breath, and though I knew it was ridiculous to expect anything from this man or whatever he was, I still had to ask. “But why wouldn’t you tell me?!” This all could have been avoided, but like Harriet and Clinton, Azrimin had used me. I slammed my drink onto the table and stood, my body vibrating once again with anger.

Azrimin leaned forward, peering up at me, his brows furrowed, like he couldn’t understand why I was angry. “Because that’s not my job, Mae. You of all people should know how selfish and self-centered everyone is.”

I drew my head back. “Excuse me?”

His hand reached out like he was going to touch mine, but he clasped his hands instead. “When you picked up that small electronics company, did you tell them you were going to push them into financial ruin, so you could sell them for parts?”

My jaw dropped but I didn’t deny it.

“No,” he continued, “because that was not your job. Your job was to take advantage of the situation they were in. To profit from it…from someone else’s misfortune came your fortune.”

I frowned even though I saw the logic. Maybe I should have appreciated his honesty, but all it did was serve as another reminder that I couldn’t trust this man…no matter how charming or handsome he was. I also didn’t trust myself to respond because I didn’t want to give him any more ammunition to use against me.

“There’s nothing wrong with what you did. It was just business, right?”

His hard press was getting to me and I nodded before I could stop myself.

“It’s why I knew this would work out between us.” He reaches for me again, with no hesitation this time, and ran a finger along my forearm, leaving a trail of tingles in its wake. I didn’t move away from his touch but I resisted the urge to shiver. I would not allow him to think he was getting to me. But, if I were being honest with myself, keeping up an air of unconcerned aloofness might be a hell of a lot more difficult than I’d thought.