“How much?” I shouted, looking at the sun creeping down the side of the buildings.

“My price hasn’t changed. I need a new familiar, and it’s taking too long to get Nicholas Gregory Sparagmos’s soul.”

My soul. I couldn’t do it, even if it would satisfy Algaliarept and ultimately save Nick from losing his soul and being pulled into the ever-after to be the demon’s familiar. My face went slack and I stared at Algaliarept so intently that it blinked in surprise. I had an idea. It was foolish and risky, but maybe it was crazy enough to work.

“I’ll voluntarily be your familiar,” I whispered, not knowing if I could survive the energy it might pull through me or force me to hold for it. “I’ll freely be your familiar, but I get to keep my soul.” Maybe if I retained my soul, it couldn’t pull me into the ever-after. I could stay on this side of the ley lines. It could use me only when the sun was down. Maybe. The question was, would Algaliarept take the time to think it through? “And I want you to testify before my end of the agreement becomes enforceable,” I added in case I managed to survive.

“Voluntarily?” it said, its form blurring at the edges. Even Piscary looked shocked. “That’s not how it works. No one has ever willingly been a familiar before. I don’t know what that means.”

“It means I’m your damn familiar!” I shouted, knowing that if it thought about it, it would realize it was only getting half of me. “You say yes now, or in thirty seconds either I or Piscary is going to be dead, and you will have nothing. Nothing! Do we have a deal or not?”

The vision of Kist leaned forward and I shirked away. It looked at its watch. “Voluntarily?” Its eyes were wide in wonder and avarice.

In a wash of panic, I nodded. I’d worry about it later. If I had a later.

“Done,” it said, so quickly I thought for sure I’d made a mistake. Relief filled me, then reality hit with a soul-shaking slap. God help me. I was going to be a demon’s familiar.

I jerked back as it reached for my wrist.

“We agreed,” it said, snatching my arm with a vamp quickness.

I kicked it square in the stomach. It did nothing, rocking back with the transfer of momentum but otherwise unmoved. A gasp slipped from me as it scratched a line across my demon mark. Blood flowed. I jerked back, and making shushing noises, the demon bent its head over my wrist and blew on it.