Page 18

I don’t bother responding. The Bargainer is crooked through and through, so his words don’t surprise me in the least.

But what he does next does.

The air behind him shimmers and coalesces until a set of folded wings appear, rising above his shoulder blades.

My breath catches in my throat.

All my animosity, all my hurt, all my pain—it all quiets as I stare at those wings.

Dark, silvery skin stretches over bone, so thin in certain areas that I can see the delicate veins beneath. His wings are tipped with bone-white talons, the biggest of them nearly the size of my hand.

I’ve only ever seen Desmond’s wings once before, and then it was because he lost control of his magic. This doesn’t seem spontaneous; this seems deliberate. I can’t imagine why now of all times he’s decided to unveil them, and to me of all people.

I reach over his shoulder and run my fingers across the smooth skin of one. His arms tense around me, and I can feel his breathing still.

“They’re beautiful,” I say. I’d meant to tell him this a long time ago; I just never got the chance.

The Bargainer’s eyes travel down my face to my lips. He stares at them for a beat. “I’m glad you like them. You’re going to be staring at them quite a bit tonight.”

Chapter 5

October, eight years ago

I twist mybracelet round and round my wrist, anxiously playing with the single black bead strung along it, an IOU that I owe the Bargainer for getting the authorities off my back.

Ahead of me, the man himself appears for the second time in my dorm room. He’s clad from head to toe in black, the vintage AC/DC T-shirt he wears hugging his sculpted shoulders and broad back.

As soon as he sees me, he folds his arms over his chest. “My magic is still holding strong,” he says, “so what else could you possibly need from me?”

I twist the bracelet around my wrist again, my heart thumping like mad at the sight of him. “I want to make another deal.”

He narrows his eyes at me.

I wait for him to say something, but he doesn’t.

Time to soldier on. “I, uh …”

He raises an eyebrow.

Just spit it out, Callie.“… want to buy you for a night.”

Oh. My. Sweet. Lord.

Fuck you, mouth. Fuck you to the fiery pits of hell.

All expression wipes clean from the Bargainer’s face. “I’m sorry,what?”

My cheeks and neck flush. I’m going to die of embarrassment. Scratch that, I wish Icoulddie of embarrassment. Better than just standing here, my mouth opening and closing like a gaping fish.

The Bargainer begins to smirk, and somehow that makes this all even worse.

Should never have done this.

“I just want to hang out with you,” I rush in to say. “It would be completely platonic.”

Ugh, and now I sound desperate. But who am I kidding? Iamdesperate, desperate for companionship. When I came to Peel Academy, I thought I’d fit in and make friends, but it hasn’t yet happened. And I’m so lonely.

“That’s too bad, cherub,” he says, beginning to poke around my room. “I was liking your offer better when it wasn’t platonic.”