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CHAPTER FIVE: LOOPHOLES - PART ONE
Harri’s hands fisted the steering wheel as she stared up from the parking spot at the rather rundown-looking duplex Azel lived in.
“I guess this is goodnight then,” he said, even though he made no move for the car door. She could feel him looking at her, could practically feel him trying to piece her together like a puzzle. “Unless you want to come in.”
She shook her head. She shouldn’t. It wasn’t like her. And yet… She sighed and ran nervous palms over the leather wheel. “I don’t want to go home.” Nate would be there. Next door. Forever hovering around her. He might even knock on her door. Expect to come in. Her phone — which she’d turned off notifications for — likely held messages from Katie or Emma or Carrie. Or, more likely, from all three, since she’d left the bar — with Azel — without saying goodbye to any of them. Hell, it might even have messages, panicked and scolding, from her mother and her aunt.
She’d been able to escape it all during dinner. Had been able to let the food and Azel’s quiet, comforting company keep it all at bay for a bit.
But the second he stepped out of her car, it would all come flooding back in. She’d have to face it all again. And she simply didn’t think she could take the pressure. Not after tonight.
“You could come in,” Azel told her again. “It doesn’t have to be for anything.” Sex. He meant sex. They both knew it. It was what normal couples would do. Was definitely what other people would normally do with him.
Harri caught a glimpse of herself in the rearview mirror and frowned. But she wasn’t normal. Wasn’t what he wanted. She couldn’t even say for sure what she wanted. Only what she didn’t.
Next to her in the tiny, oblong reflection, she saw his lips smile sympathetically. “Remember, boss, whatever you want, however you want it. No questions, no judgment.”
That was their deal. Her brow knit. What did she want? “I don’t want to go home.” Her voice was small but sure. The sound of unspoken truth.
Azel stared at her for a moment before nodding. He opened his door and stepped out of the car. She watched him walk around the front of her car to open her door. She blinked up at him as he bent low and held out his hand. Worrying her lip, she narrowed her gaze at his outstretched palm. “Are you sure?”
He grinned at her encouragingly. “I can’t guarantee it’s as nice as you’re used to.” He raised a wry eyebrow. “In fact, having seen your place, I know it’s not.” He shrugged. “But it’s quiet and empty and free.”
She frowned. “Free?”
He crouched down so he could look her in the eye. “No extra price. No hidden costs. Just… free. Of and from anything you’re worried about.” He tilted his head, his tousled hair falling into his eyes in an innocent yet no less seductive tease. “You don’t have to spend the night. You can stay however long you like,” his voice was soft and easy on the icy night wind, “and leave whenever you please.”
She should be careful. Cautious. Something, before him, she’d never had to remind herself, much less struggle to convince her own foolishly longing brain, to be. But she should. She’d always heard that deals with devils were traps. Inevitable doom wrapped in temptation and tied up with obvious folly.
Then why did Azel always make her feel so safe? Why did he give her every choice? Leave open every option? And why did being so freely given an out draw her so deeply in? “Okay.” She held out her hand, watching as he wrapped his larger, warmer one around it to help her stand.
She hadn’t really looked at his place, when she’d picked him up earlier in the night, too panicky and anxious about the party to really notice much of anything. The old brick building was crumbling and in definite need of some repairs and maintenance but, as they walked the streetlamp-lit walkway toward it, she found herself feeling strangely more settled with each step.
She followed him inside the spartan unit. Taking in the mismatched, clearly second — or third, or maybe even fourth or fifth — hand furniture, everything seemed almost too big or just a touch too small for the space. A frayed rug mostly covered the stain ruining the hardwood floors. Several cabinets and dressers — from ornate chipped vintage to utilitarian filing — stood staggered against the walls. A kitchen table with at least three different chairs was cluttered with papers. Azel moved to the large, but very old fridge and peered inside. “It’s a good thing we already ate,” he said with a self-deprecating chuckle. “I don’t really have a lot on hand, but I can get you something to drink. Water or a soda?”
“A soda would be nice,” she said as she took off her coat and sat down on the faded but still cozy couch.
Looking down at his coffee table, she squinted at the piles of papers covering the scratched surface. Phrases like Final Notice and Past Due were printed, harsh and bold, over several of them. She frowned as he shoved and shuffled them aside to make space on the table. He shook his head. “Here, let me get rid of those.”
“Azel,” she said softly, not sure what to say or how to say it so she didn’t offend him. She bit her lip. “Are you okay?” She watched as one of the bills fluttered from his fumbling fingers to fall face-up and demanding on the floor. “If you need money—”
“No.” He snatched the bill off the rug and shoved it and the others into a nearby drawer. “Don’t—” He shook his head. “I don’t—” His scarlet skin flushed a deep, ruddy burgundy. “It’s fine. Really.” The smile he flashed her didn’t reach his eyes and seemed to etch tense lines around his mouth. “Don’t worry about it.”
But she did. She leaned in. “I can give you an advance.” She shook her head. “If you need it, it’s not a problem.”
“I don’t need an advance,” he said, his tone dark and hard. “I don’t need—” He shut his mouth with a sharp snap, his fangs biting his lip. He shook his head. “Look, demons never had to worry about this kind of stuff before. Bills. Due dates. Overdraft fees. And time doesn’t mean the same to us as it does to humans. When you live practically forever, what’s the difference between a month and a minute?” His lip curled with disgust. “So, sometimes…” He rubbed one of his horns in an agitated tick. “I just forget, you know?”
She did. Her brain didn’t really comprehend the passing of time well either, especially when she was engrossed in a new project or task. “Me too. That’s why I have all my bills set up for autopay. Takes care of itself every month without me having to remember.” She shrugged. “I can help get you set up too, if you want?” People were always asking for her help with stuff like that. She was good for that sort of thing.
Azel just shook his head. “I tried that once. Ended up overdrawing from my account. So not only did the bill-collector get mad at not getting their money, but I had the bank on my back for insufficient funds.” He shook his head. “At least, this way, only one person’s got it out for me at a time.”
Harri frowned. “That’s why I offered to pay you in advance. If you need the money now, I can give it to you.”
Azel’s face set in stubborn lines. “I can’t ask that of you.”
She raised an eyebrow. “You’re not asking;” she pointed out, “I’m offering.”
“I don’t need your money,” he bit out as he turned away from her.
She looked at his table then at the drawer. “Kinda looks like you could use it.”
He gripped both of his horns and tugged in frustration. “The last thing you need is one more person using you for their own advantage.” He waved his hand. “I’ll be fine.”
Harri studied the worry lines marring his handsome face. Yeah, she knew all about being fine. How much effort and energy and time it took to be fine all the time for everyone else. Sometimes, just keeping up the act felt like a full-time job unto itself. She bit back a grimace. “How’s the job search going?”
A short, scathing scoff escaped his lips before he bit it back. “Fine.”
She watched him begin to pace, his wings fluttering tightly, and tried to believe his words. But all she could think about, while she watched him stiffly fidget, was what he’d said about how some people react to him. Always seeming to either see less or ask too much of him. She couldn’t imagine it was easy finding a job when too many ignorant folks didn’t see him as a person just because he wasn’t human.
Honestly, Harri had no idea what that was like. She’d been recruited right out of college, using the contacts she’d made during internships and academic networking to do very well for herself. Even before she’d graduated, she’d had several companies court her. Then, once at her job, she’d always been treated like a valuable asset, an expert respected for her skills and opinions.
She couldn’t imagine being treated as disposable or worse. And she hated the idea of anyone making Azel feel that way. If she could make things easier for him, she was more than happy to. But he certainly seemed unhappy about it. Not that she understood why. “I’m going to pay you for the month anyway; what does it matter, if it’s a few weeks early?”
“It matters.”
Okay. She frowned at his defensive, definitive tone. “Want to explain why?” He didn’t. She could see that. She shook her head. “It’s only money.” It wasn’t like she was doing much with it. She lived a fairly simple life. Most of her assets sat in various accounts — checking, savings, money markets, IRA, stock, bonds — making more of itself through some kind of economic magic she barely understood and didn’t much care to learn.
Azel rolled his eyes at her. “Only someone with money can say that.”
Whatever that meant. She shrugged. “Then you should take it. If we both have money, we can both say it.” Simple solution. Clean. Efficient. Easy.
Azel shook his head. “I’m not taking your money, so just stop.”
“You know,” she said innocently enough, “if I give it to you, it’s not really mine anymore.”
He grunted. “You’re paying me for a job. If the job’s not done, you don’t have a reason to give me your money.”
Seemed like a silly distinction to her. “I mean, if it’s mine, I can do whatever I want with it.”
“Harri.” Her name became a warning on his tongue.
She held up her hands. “Okay, okay. Just…” She looked at him seriously. “If you change your mind, my offer stands. No questions, no judgment.”
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