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He was silent a beat.“If I do that for you, then I’ll have to?—”

“You did it for Willow and her sisters.You won’t do it for me?I’ve been loyal to you for over a thousand years, Lucifer.”

“You know how this works,” he said, his voice hardening.“Immortality isn’t something I can give out willy-nilly, I can’t just hand it out when someone asks.There are checks and balances, Jag, you know this.There has to be good reason, and you haven’t provided me with one.”

I knew this, of course, but still I had to ask.“Will you end my life when Sutton dies?Will you take me out as well?”

There was a long pause.“So you’re going to mate her?”

“Yes.”I was done resisting.“So will you do it?”

“Are you sure you want that?I’d hate to lose you, Jag.You’re one of my children, you know that.”

“Yes, it’s what I want.”

Another pause.“If that’s what you truly want.”

“It is.”I would not live on without her.How I felt now was bad enough, and I hadn’t even claimed her in truth yet.

“Then the deal is done.”

Lucifer ended the call, and I shoved my phone back in my pocket.

Finally, I could breathe.For the first time in a long time, I could fucking breathe again.

Now I just had to get Sutton to forgive me.

Sutton

This is so stupid.You’re going to get yourself killed.

I’d agreed to Rune’s deal, but what choice did I have?I was out of options.Luke could already be dead, and if he wasn’t, he was probably wishing he was, and I couldn’t live like this any longer.

I hid among a large group of human females and, staying low, watched as Lars strode through the warehouse.

My only option was to get intel for Rune.He was the only one who could help me, the only one with the power to get me out of this nightmare.Luke and I wouldn’t be going home until we were free from Tarrant.

Which meant I was currently following Lars.He kept walking, weaving through the crowd, while retro house music throbbed through the room.A DJ stood on a stage at the front, and people danced all around me while lights flashed.

I watched as the demon checked out the room filled with both other and human.Every now and then he’d stop, say something to someone dancing, and nine times out of ten, there was an exchange.He was selling, and though I couldn’t see what he was handing over, I knew it was mine.Guilt filled me.I’d made it, and it was as safe as I could get it without losing effectiveness, but if anyone got sick, or hurt, or worse because of me, I wasn’t sure I could live with it.

That’s when I spotted a group of demons standing against the wall not far from him.They were scoping out the room, paying special attention to the people Lars had just sold drugs to.What the hell were they doing?What were they waiting for?

A moment later, I saw a female veer to the side, stumbling, and like a well-choreographed dance, one of the demons swooped in, flung her arm around his shoulder, and, smiling and laughing like they were old friends, led her toward the exit.

Oh fuck.

They were with Lars, he drugged people, and they were taking them from the warehouse to gods only knew where.

Head down, I rushed up behind him, hooked my foot around the demon’s leg, and tripped him.They both went down, causing a commotion.I ducked and rushed for the exit, and not sure what else to do to stop them, I yanked my keys from my bag and used them to break the glass on the fire alarm.

The siren wailed a moment later, and the lights came on less than a minute after that.The music stopped and everyone ran for the fire escape.I scanned the room, watching the demons and their prey.And, thankfully, people began to notice in the light that their friends were worse for wear, and they were helping them leave.I couldn’t be sure if they were all human or not, but at least some of them were, I was sure of it.

If I wanted real proof, I probably should have let them take one and followed, but I couldn’t live with what might happen, especially if things went wrong.That didn’t sit right with me, so instead I found a place to hide just outside the warehouse.I ducked in among the overgrowth, along the tall fence surrounding the building, and waited so I could follow Lars and his demons.

The place emptied out quickly, and I searched for Lars.

I froze.