Dancing With The Devil, Witches Anonymous Step 5(22)

And I didn’t take kindly to someone, human or not, threatening those I loved. Ever.

Placing my face in front of Zayfeer’s, I gave him my best badass witch look. “Let me make this clear, Z. You so much as look in any of their directions and I’ll send you back to purgatory faster than you can say, ‘oh, hell.’”

He gave me that Cheshire grin. His face was so close to mine, I could feel his hot breath on my cheek. “And break your vow of no magic?”

There was something hopeful in his eyes now. In the tone of his voice, too. He was manipulating me, but I couldn’t fathom why. Or maybe I could. “You cut a deal with someone on high to redeem yourself, didn’t you? And it involves getting me to use magic again.”

“It involves getting Lucifer to do his damn job.” He ground his teeth, making the muscles in his jaw contract. “You’ve turned the Devil into a freaking pansy. His job is to temp mortals into sinning. Your job is to broker deals for their souls. Neither of you is living up to your potential.”

Behind us, the group at the table grew restless. Over Zayfeer’s shoulder, I saw Liddy frowning at me. “God should be happy about that.”

Zayfeer snorted. “Don’t you get it? In the new millennium, God is in, thanks to you and lover boy. The two of you working together caused earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, the downfall of governments and Oprah’s retirement. The more evil there is, the more people turn to God. With you and Lucifer on hiatus, there’s no need for God.”

“For the record, I had nothing to do with Oprah retiring from daytime television. I was just as bummed as everyone else. And secondly, sin didn’t disappear because Lucifer and I broke up. If God wants Luc and I working together again, all He has to do is deep six the Mark on my forehead.”

Once more Zayfeer’s jaw tightened and his eyes glowed. His nose nearly touched mine as he spoke. “The Mark is nonnegotiable. Take the souls at the table to Lucifer or I’ll use my Friends and Family Plan to take Liddy and the others to purgatory. Where they’ll spend eternity with me,” he added.

The magic in my chest reared, ready to strike him down. The beginnings of a spell sparked in my brain.

I clamped down on both. No magic here. Whatever bizarre game he was playing, I wasn’t about to give Zayfeer the satisfaction of goading me into using it here. “I used magic in my purgatory. Why didn’t that do the trick to redeem you?”

The corner of his mouth made a disappointed noise. “You’re not as quick as I thought.”

I wanted to smack that smugness off his face. “Just tell me why.”

“You answered your own question. You were in purgatory, not on Earth. Your magic affected no one but yourself.”

The rules of Heaven, Hell and purgatory were far too convoluted for me. I needed an expert. One who wasn’t intent on making me screw up.

But Luc wasn’t here and Gabriel had his own scheme going. The souls of people I cared about were on the line. I couldn’t afford to be reckless or stupid. There was only one person on hand who could help me sort out this mess.

“All right, I’ll do the deed, but I need five minutes to prepare.”

Z’s brows shot up and he made a rough noise in the back of his throat. “Prepare yourself? You’ve done this hundreds of times. What do you have to prepare for?”

“In case you’ve forgotten, I’ve been out of the soul harvesting biz for over a year. It’s not like riding a bike. There are preparations I have to make or I could screw up everything. You don’t want that, do you? Your one chance at redemption?”

His eyes narrowed as he searched my face for subterfuge. Then he sighed. “Fine. Five minutes. Not a second more, or I’ll…”

I cut him off. “I got it. You’re big, you’re bad, you’ll do whatever it takes to get back to Heaven. But if you want me to do my job” —I made air quotes around the word— “back off for a measly five minutes and let me focus.”

He took the bait, stepped out of my personal space and grinned. “Knew I could count on you, Amo. If there’s one thing you can’t resist, it’s being the hero.”

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep the hex forming on my tongue from spilling out. “Why in Satan’s name do you angels keep calling me Amo? It’s Amy.”

“Ask Lucifer. Ask him about your mom, too. There’s a lot he’s not telling you.”

A queasy knot formed in my stomach. I ignored it and went to find my guardian angel.





Chapter Seventeen – Where For Art Thou, Mark?





I didn’t get far. Just outside the dining room, in fact, where Adam and Eve lay in wait to ambush me.