“Trying to make a good life . . . is that why you did all this?” I remembered Greg’s comments about how anyone assisting a demon in this affair would be getting paid in concubines and TVs. In Dante’s case, it had been much more basic. He’d simply been paid in money, enough to buy me jewelry and flowers and start talking about sharing a home with me.

“Succubus, what else was I supposed to do?” He was still speaking to me in a mocking tone, but I could see the raw anguish on his features. It tore at my heart. “You can enslave kings and rock stars. There was no way you were going to stick with me forever, not where I was going. The palms barely pay the bills, and the window for when my spells could really pay off has passed.”

“None of that mattered,” I said resolutely. “I would have stayed . . .” Yet, even as I spoke, I recognized the contradiction. So did Dante, as he gestured at a thus-far silent Seth. Seth seemed very intent on something.

Dante rolled his eyes. “Yes. Clearly.”

“I never wanted this . . . never wanted you to literally make deals with the devil.”

“What did you expect from me? You know what I am. You got involved with me because you wanted to walk on the dark side. This deal was my biggest chance—the biggest payoff I was going to get for my power. She needed the best, and she could pay for my services.”

“She . . . Grace.”

Dante gave me a twisted smile. “I should have known you’d figured that part out too and had been sitting on it. Even when you trusted me . . . you still didn’t really trust me. Maybe you aren’t as oblivious as I thought. And when I got to your place and saw the atlas—well, that’s when I knew I’d underestimated you. You’re lucky Grace just sent me up here and didn’t come herself. We might get you out of here alive after all.”

Seth and I still stood close, close enough that when he spoke into my ear, he barely had to raise his voice at all. “The watch,” he breathed. “It’s in the watch.”

I had no time to process that further because suddenly, Seth broke from me and advanced on Dante. “Look, just leave her alone, okay? You caught her. She caught you. Call it even, and let us go.” I stared. It was uncharacteristically aggressive for him.

“Even?” exclaimed Dante. “It is not even. I did what I did because I love her.”

Seth’s voice was level yet hard. “Love her? You got her caught up in that cult mess. You nearly got her killed by a demon.”