He stepped back, just out of my reach. His smirk tightened, but his eyes stopped me in my tracks. They roved me like a caress, darkness swirling beneath that silvery grey. I shivered under the intensity of the longing in that look.

And then his gaze slid away, breaking the crackling tension in the air, leaving me breathless and confused. His smile slipped for just a split second, and the expression I caught a glimpse of was so wretched that my throat closed over, and I tore my gaze away, finding Luci nuzzling Bub’s neck. Bub tilted his head to the side to give her better access, his doggy grin looking far more genuine than the never-reached-his-eyes smile SJ had pasted on for me.

Why did my bloody ferret have more luck in love than me? I mean, she was handling her interspecies romantic affair with Bub better than SJ, and I seemed to be managing ours … at least since he’d returned from his little emergency.

Maybe I should just jump into his arms and start nuzzling his neck, too. That might snap him out of this weird fug. But since he’d backed away when all I’d done was reach for his hand, I’d probably end up sprawled across the floor with a giant lump on my forehead if I tried.

“Can I have my surprise?” I demanded instead. The words were sharp as I forced them past the lump in my throat.

He glanced in my direction, his leer pulling his mouth taut as he reached into his pocket, producing a small disc, glowing pink, dwarfed by his big palm.

My Soul Token.

We both watched as it pulsed bright white, then pink, over and over. Was that my anxiety making it do that? This worry that had been simmering while he was away, that should have been alleviated when he returned … except he’d come back all wrong.

“Did you take a trip to the Pet Sematary while you were away?” I blurted, eyeing my Soul Token dubiously.

“I … no, there is no cemetery for pets in Hell.” He sounded so genuinely confused that a tiny giggle started to force its way out of my chest. Until it hit the boulder in my throat, and instead, I gagged.

“Sorry … it’s a movie … where her pet dies, and she tries to bring it back to life, but it … anyway, you don’t want to hear about this. I … are you really returning my soul?”

Why had that not been the first thing that I focused on in this bizarre moment? Oh, that’s right, because in the last twenty-four hours, my soul had become less important to me than the devil who had stolen it.

SJ cleared his throat, closing his fist around the glowing disc. “Yes. Consider it a … a thank you gift.”