Page 17 of Devil Bound

“Nelly.You’re here.”

“That’s because I work here.What, you dropped by to buy an apple?You can do that elsewhere.”

He walked toward me, scowling.“No, it’s not that.Something terrible happened.Someone slashed my tires.I hope the police can find out who and… Hm.I’m not sure.What happens to people who slash tires, exactly?Are double the slashes made in their skin?”

I crossed my arms.“The fuck is wrong with you?Which means, no, that doesn’t happen.I guess they’d get a fine or something.Slashed tires are not my specialty.”

Although, if they were, I wouldn’t have fainted when I ended up with a front-row seat to Christine—Detective Rice—taking down that murderer.I wouldn’t have fainted at the sight of the blood, and Lily and I would’ve never talked about my shitty sex life.

The Devil’s left eyebrow rose.“Oh, silly.Don’t you know a joke when you hear one?”

For all I knew, he was full of bullshit.The problem was, he was also really well built, and after talking about all the sex I wasn’t having, his timing showing up here was really, really bad.

Did I want casual?I had no idea.I knew asking Lucy for anything like that would probably end up a pain in my ass, no pun intended.

“Haha.Very funny.You know you can’t report your tires here though, right?”

He nodded.“Of course.I just had a few minutes to spare.While I’m here, can I buy you an apple?”

No owing the Devil.Ever.“No, thank you.”

He frowned.“Did you bring your emergency apple to work, Nelly?”

I blushed.Had I taken to buying eight fucking apples every week since I’d run into him while shopping?Maybe.Would I ever tell him that?Not over my dead, zombified body.

“I don’t know what that is.”

“Ah.Well.Bobbing for apples is quite fun, and around this time of the year, around Samhain, it’s something you should do.Have you ever tried it?”

Bobbing for apples.We’d never have been allowed to make that big of a mess at the orphanage, and the only things the people at the Collegium ever seemed interested in bobbing for were rum-soaked cherries at the bottom of the punch bowl.

“Nah, I was never that basic.”

Lucy licked his lips.“There is a get-together at my house.If you are free—”

“I’m not.Work.I have so much work, I really can’t.”

I really couldn’t, because what if everything I had told Dr.Lily came true?What if I got slightly buzzed and accidentally asked the Devil to have sex with me?That would be bad.So, so bad.

“Hmm.”He made that odd noise again, that dark, not quite human growly sound.

“In fact, I have work now.”

I turned, but before I could leave, he put a hand on my shoulder, the softest touch that still filled me with heat I hadn’t asked for.

“What did you want?”he asked.

“Huh?”

“Nelly, focus.You came here.You must have wanted something.Don’t you remember?Do you know your name and address?”

My jaw dropped.How in the fuck were we back at amnesia again?He hadn’t brought that up, like, the last three times we’d run into each other.

“Of course I know who I am and where I live!”

“Which is…?”

“I’m Lionel Hawkes, okay?I’m not telling you my address, for fuck’s sake.”