Her eyes widened, then narrowed. She tightened her arms across her chest, which squeezed her breasts together, amplifying her cleavage. I had to look away.

“I’m an infernal guinea pig?” she asked, incredulous. “I’m not sure whether to be flattered or horrified right now!”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. Why had I chosen this particular woman to be my test run? Clearly, I was the one who should have been horrified, because my experiment seemed to be going spectacularly sideways.

Except I wasn’t horrified at all. I was … intrigued.

Yes, that was as good a word as any for this need to know more about her. And I had other things I really needed to be doing. Things related to a certain Ratty-Man, who was, by current accounts, well overdue for a visit from the Devil … well, a devil, anyway.

“Do you wish to return to your brother and your breakfast?” I asked, hoping that would distract her from further interrogation about the Soul Token or anything else she might decide to start questioning me about.

She blew a strand of pink hair out of her face. “You promise that you’re not keeping score with my soul today?”

“I promise,” I said sincerely, meeting her eyes with what I hoped was an earnest expression of my own. I’d never tried to be earnest before.

I had no idea why I was starting now.

“So, I can leave … I don’t have to go out there and pretend everything is okay with Joe? I can just walk out of this place, and it won’t count as points against me?”

I dragged a hand through my hair. “That’s not how this works, Mouse. There are no points. There are only tasks passed and tasks failed.”

She nodded, pinching her bottom lip. “And today isn’t a task.”

It wasn’t a question, but I shook my head anyway.

“So … I still have three more to go?”

“Indeed,” I muttered. I wasn’t sure I would survive three more tasks with her. “If you want to slip out without your brother … or Ratty-Man noticing … I can take care of things here.”

Her lips parted. “Really?” Then her brows lowered into a glower. “What are you up to?”

I bridled at her suspicious tone despite the fact that I was, most certainly, ‘up to’ something. “What makes you think I am up to anything?”

She pointed an accusing finger at me. “Because you’re Satan, and your favourite game is tricking people into selling their souls to you.”

I couldn’t help the smirk that tilted my lips then. “It’s only my favourite game when I’m playing it with you, Mouse.”

“Ugh! You’re the worst!” she snarled, throwing her hands up in the air.

“I believe you have told me this before. More than once.”