She gave me a quick hug, and then we pushed back out into the party. The clamor of drunken supernaturals flooded my senses, and the crowd pushed in tight. At least fifty more people had shown up while we’d been hiding out in the bathroom, and the earlier partygoers were swaying and slurring their speech. And I couldn’t help but wonder, how much alcohol did it take to get a vampire drunk?

Az loomed out of the crowd and latched his hand on my elbow. Without a word, he guided me down the hallway and into a dark room I hadn’t yet seen. Inside, blue lights cast a haze around partygoers who were swaying to a live musician on a small stage. The singer gripped the microphone and whispered words in a language I didn’t know. A guitarist sat just behind him, as well as a drummer. All their eyes were shut.

“Let’s dance.” He took my hand in his and pulled me close to his body. My lungs constricted; my heart nearly jolted into my throat. As we began to sway to the music, our chests pressed together and he leaned down to whisper into my ear. “I know all of this is a shock, but I need you to trust me.”

I scoffed, tempted to pull away, but then I just continued on, my body betraying my mind. “You can’t expect me to trust you after you tricked me into signing your demon contract.”

“I didn’t trick you,” he murmured, his breath whispering against my ear. Shivers stormed down my neck. “You wanted the job. You came to my club, begging me to give you an audition.”

“That’s before I knew what kind of club it was,” I replied through gritted teeth. “You should have told me.”

“And would it have made a difference?”

I opened my mouth to retort that it absolutely would have, but then stopped. My heart pounded as his lips stayed close to my ear, teasing my skin with his wickedly hot breath. Would I have turned down the job if I’d known the club was meant for supernaturals? Probably not. I loosed a sigh.

“Fine, I still would have wanted the job, but I never would have signed the contract. It’s my soul, Asmodeus. You say you’re above all the rules, but fuck the rules. It’s not right to make a deal with someone without them knowing what the consequences are. Not when their soul is on the line.”

I could feel his smile against my ear. I had no idea how I could feel it, but I did. I couldn’t see his face, not when he leaned so close to my neck. A strange familiar sensation rippled in my belly, one I’d felt a thousand times, but…I couldn’t place where. Weird.

“You’re talking about right and wrong with a demon, Mia.”