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Dave ignored it. “How do I get back to Earth?”

“You can’t,” was the simple answer Melchom gave him.

“But they have to pay,” he groaned. He’d freak out about what that denial meant later when he was alone. “How do I make them pay?”

“You wait until they die.”

No. That wouldn’t do.

“What do you want from me, as your gift?”

Melchom smirked. “What are you trying to do here, Dove?”

Dave took a step forward. He was probably signing his death sentence but he couldn’t say he cared too much. There had to be an advantage to being stuck in Hell.

“Isn’t Hell all about making deals?” Dave blinked up at Melchom, working his best innocent expression on the demon, hand trailing through his—frizzled—curls included. “And weren’t you pretending to be nice ten minutes ago? So, give me what I want, and I’ll give you what you want.”

“You don’t even know what that is.” Melchom mimicked him in taking a step closer, Dave’s smaller body flush against his. Dave was going to do his best not to think about the part of Melchom’s body that was hitting his stomach. Nope. “I want your fear, tiny human.”

“Why?” Dave’s knees buckled.

So much for all that regained strength.

The demon shrugged, one thick finger messing up the curl Dave had been fidgeting with. “A demon’s gotta eat.”

“Huh?”

“Demons feed off fear, tiny human.” Melchom chuckled when the color left his cheeks. “And you’re particularly delicious.”

That was more than he’d thought he could chew. For some reason, he hadn’t considered that the minions were being literal the day before.

“So you want to scare me awake, or make me watch horror movies, or what?”

“I’m afraid it’s a bit more than that.”

For someone who was afraid, he looked pretty damn happy with himself. Dave was pretty sure that if he had a tail, it would be wagging.

Then again, that was how dog tails worked, and he was pretty sure demons would have cat tails.

“Your mind is fascinating,” Melchom murmured.

That voice shouldn’t have been getting Dave all hot and bothered when he said that, but…

Dave shook it off. No point thinking about it.

In fact, he really should not think about it. If he didn’t think about it, the demon wouldn’t learn about it, right?

“So, I let you do that, whatever that is, and you’ll find out who was responsible and make them pay?”

“Why not,” the demon drawled.

Dave didn’t even care about how ominous it all sounded.

CHAPTER 4

MELCHOM

His gift was the most enticing creature. When consumed by that newfound need of revenge, the most beautiful scents percolated in the air. Melchom could stay there for hours, breathing him in, but he wasn’t surprised when his spiteful human had other plans.