“Most certainly,” Az said, catching my hand in his. Shivers stormed through me. Even while he said I needed to stay away, he pulled me in. “It will take a week for Rafael and Michael to reach Hell, and then another week for them to return. Lucifer will want to see what me and my Legion are up to with his own eyes. And if you are in my life when he gets here, he will want to dissect you. What kind of human would motivate Asmodeus to destroy a soul contract?”

I loosed a shuddering breath. “Okay, well. We’ll figure that out when it happens. Two weeks, right? That gives us some time.”

“No, Mia.” He pulled his hand from mine. “We have enough time to stop the soul sacrifices, but after that, we need to go our separate ways just as we originally planned. We might even need to draw up a new contract. One I don’t destroy. It might trick Lucifer into believing me.”

Pain ripped through my heart. “But you said angels don’t lie. So, anything they tell him, he’ll know it’s true.”

“I might be able to convince him that they were mistaken and nothing more. As long as we have a real contract in place.” He closed his eyes. “I didn’t want to have to do this again, Mia. Another contract. It means your soul will be on the line.”

“Not if I fulfill my part of the bargain,” I whispered to him. “And I will, Az. I’m not going to walk away from this now.”

“After the ball, you’ll have to, Mia.”

“Why?” I fisted my hands and pushed up from the couch, irritation boiling in my gut. “Because I’m human and too weak? Because you don’t think I’m brave enough to face Lucifer? All this time, it seemed like you saw that I’m more than that. After everything I’ve been through, I have a skin of steel. You said it yourself. And now you want to throw me away like…”

Like it meant nothing.

He stood with flickering eyes. “I think you’re brave as hell, Mia, but you don’t know what you’re asking to face. You know what he will do to you? Do you have any idea? He will peel your skin off your bones and feast on it while your heart still beats. He will find every single soul you love, and he will do the same to them. Right before your eyes. You think you know about demons because of me. Because of Caim and Phenex and the others. But you have no idea.”

Shuddering, I took a step back. Images flashed in my mind. Tormented souls screaming. Bright gleaming eyes full of hate. Az was right. I kept thinking of Lucifer as someone like him. Dangerous and violent when provoked…but kind and heroic beneath all the shadows.