Anything for the Devil by Aurora Graves

Author:Aurora Graves
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Weathervane Press

Chapter 17

Rope

–40 Below Summer

A headache forms somewhere above my teeth and behind my eyes after seeing Kris Ramos-Dempster at the doorstep of the twins’ place—la lechuza in the flesh.

“We thought she had it under control.” Zak gingerly situates me by the bar. “Guess you visiting put her over the edge.”

“What the fuck do you mean, ‘we thought she had it under control?’ When the fuck did this happen?”

“Remember when she went off the deep end and disappeared for a couple of months? Said she checked herself into psych?”

My expression turns severe, skin drawing taut. What I did to Zak may have set her off today, but what she did to Shannon is something I’ve never forgiven her for. She wasn’t the one distracting Andrea with every single puzzle available between the store and second-hand shop. She wasn’t the one making sure Shannon didn’t turn back to old vices and had a shoulder to sob on when he didn’t have to be strong for Andrea after she went to bed.

“Yeah,” I reply through gritted teeth. “She said she was getting evaluated.”

He presses gauze against my arm. “She was visiting our tias down in Mexico. I don’t know what happened—she’s never said how or why. I just know that’s when the change happened and they knew how to help.” He glances up at me. “Shannon’s forgiven her. So should you.”

“Shannon’s a sweetheart obsessed with a hot-headed bitch,” I spit, glaring at him.

Zak is gentle as he traces the gauze, sealing tape onto my skin, despite me speaking ill of his older sister.

“He deserved better than what she put him through. I don’t care if she’s his baby mama turned into a man-eating owl or whatever the fuck.”

He grabs the amaretto from the counter and takes a step back as he sips. “So I deserved you cheating on me?”

“No.” I cross my arms and look away from his intimate gaze, down at the gauze covering the puncture wounds on his neck. “What got you out there?”

He says it so simply: “You know that story about fang baby off Old Pearsall?”

My eyes bug out of their sockets. “I’m not fucking playing—”

“Neither am I!”

Glaring at him, I say loudly, “Vampires aren’t real. That’s just an old urban legend to scare kids into staying at home after dark.”

“Just like la lechuza?”

I scrub a hand over my face. “Zakary, I swear to fuckin’ God… Old Pearsall is, like, fifteen miles away, for Christ’s sake!”

“Yeah, well, guess it went out for a night drive or fly or whatever vampires do.”

“You’re a big dude. How the hell could a baby attack you?”

He shrugs. “I’ve had a lot to drink.”

I throw my hands in the air when he reaches for the glass half-full of amaretto. “Maybe you should lay off the fuckin’ bottle, huh?”

He scoffs, returning the glare. “Don’t you think you showin’ up out of nowhere’s got me fucked up? Huh?”

A baby cries at the door.

The hair on the back of my neck stands at attention.

“Did you make a deal with the devil?” I whisper.

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