“It’s funny you mention that,” she said slowly. “Because . . . well, I did something for you.” I suddenly had an image of Tim Horton’s donuts showing up on my doorstep.

“Er, that’s really not necessary. I didn’t do that much.”

“You did, though. To me, at least. And so . . . I wanted to do something just as big for you. I, uh, went and looked at your contract.”

I caught my breath. “What?”

“We’ve had a lot of paperwork to file, and I managed to work in a corporate trip.”

“Corporate trip” was a nice way of saying she’d visited the inner offices of Hell.

“Kristin . . . if you’d been caught . . .”

“I wasn’t,” she said proudly. “And I found your contract and read it.”

I’d come to a complete stop now. The world around me didn’t exist. “And?”

“And . . . nothing.”

“What do you mean nothing?”

“I mean, there’s nothing wrong with the contract. I went over and over it. Everything’s in order.”

“It can’t be! Niphon was trying so hard to mess with me . . . to get me recalled. Hugh was certain it meant he was trying to shift attention from the contract.”

“I don’t know about any of that,” said Kristin, sounding truly sympathetic. “All I know is what I read. You sold your soul and took on standard succubus servitude in exchange for every mortal you knew forgetting who you were. That sound right?”

“Yeah . . .”

“That’s what it said. All the language was exactly as it should be.”

I didn’t really have any response, so I gave none.

“Georgina, are you still there?”

“Yeah . . . I’m sorry. I just thought . . . I’d been so certain . . .” It had been a foolish hope, that maybe somewhere there was a loophole for me. But then, I seemed to fall for those things all the time, just like I had with Nyx’s dream and the impossible chance of getting pregnant while in stasis. I was as naïve as Dante had said. “Thanks. I really appreciate you looking.”

“I’m sorry you didn’t get what you wanted. If there’s anything else I can do for you—that doesn’t involve breaking into records—let me know.”

“Thanks. I will.”

We disconnected, and I stared bleakly at my surroundings, at the quiet residential block I’d stepped off onto. “There is no way,” I said out loud, “that this day can get any worse.”

A rustle behind me made me jump, and I spun around. I had thought I was alone and now felt like an idiot getting caught talking to myself. I saw no one, though. Then, a bush by the sidewalk twitched a little. I took a few steps toward it and knelt down. Yellow eyes peered out at me, followed by a piteous meow. I made the clicking sound that’s universal to cat owners, and after a few moments, my observer emerged.