Page 39 of Devils Don’t Deal

“Did he? That’s not good.”

“Yeah. He’s not good. That’s why he released the Lady of the Wild Woods.”

“No, he released her to consolidate your debts. He didn’t pursue her because he was focused on keeping you safe and happy. If he’d realized that she’d come back to kill you, he would’ve stuck you in a cage to keep you safe while he hunted her down. That’s what I smell when I look at him. A scary level of devotion and fixation. But he doesn’t want to put you in a cage, or you wouldn’t be here on your own.”

I gave her a mild smile that didn’t reflect the tumultuous state of my heart. She made him sound almost good, but that couldn’t be right. He’d put my dad in a cage. Who did that?

We pulled up in front of the enormous granite stone building, the most secure place in the city—and not just because it was made of solid stone. Most of it was the goblins that worked there. The gray stone reflected the gloomy day as we walked up the steps toward our doom.

It was hard to get up all the stairs, and I was moving slowly, so Sato had to adjust her pace to stay with me.

“Are you okay?” she asked, frowning at me. “Now I feel stupid for not asking earlier. When did you get out of the hospital?”

“I’m fine.” I just hurt all over and was miserable without my rabbit. I needed to do this on my own, although Divinity had given me a look when I left him that made me feel so incredibly guilty. I’d bake him some nice rabbit cakes later to make up for it. Maybe I’d let him bite me.

Then I remembered biting the devil on the stairs. So delicious, like… Nope. I was focusing on the steps I was climbing up to the double doors instead of my recent bad choices. One bad choice at a time.

Sato patted my shoulder. “It’s going to be fine. I’ll stay with you so nothing bad happens.”

I shook my head. “I need to see them alone.”

She sighed heavily. “We’ll see what we can do.”

Inside, a hush fell over everything as the goblins looked at her, focused with so much intensity, it made my skin crawl.

“My dearest heart, what brings you to my bank?” the goblin king himself said, stepping out of the shadows, wearing a gray suit that screamed boring banker, but his eyes held a world of trouble that I wanted absolutely nothing to do with.

“My good friend Kesty wants to question the goblins in your vault. You know the ones.” Her eyes were hard, like she was forcing herself not to get distracted by his scent or whatever she liked about the terrifying creature.

“Of course,” he said smoothly, and then he looked at me. He looked for a beat too long before he turned his smile on his wife. “Ebon can escort her. You know how comfortable he is with fairies.”

“I do know. But she isn’t a fairy. I’ll be staying with her.”

His eyes flickered slightly, but his smile remained steady. “Such a good friend for such a short acquaintance.”

“She’s a neighbor. And she makes the best chocolate cake.”

“Ah.” He glanced at me again, but there was amusement this time. “In that case, a friend of my wife’s is a friend of mine.”

Sato hissed and pulled me away from him. “You do not want to be friends with the goblin king,” she whispered to me, but he could obviously hear her.

“You wound me,” he said, amusement in his voice as he looked at her in a way that made me think of predator and prey.

“Good.” She sniffed at him, but her eyes were shining. She liked him chasing her. And she liked chasing him.

After that weird stand-off, we took the elevator deep down into the earth and stepped out in a tall metal hall with assassin goblins all over the place. Like hanging from the walls and ceiling. I tried not to notice them, particularly the ones directly above me. I had to focus on my goal before I ran away screaming.

Another goblin stepped in front of us, something less goblin about him. Maybe the expression on his face, which was less guarded.

The goblin king nodded at him. “Ebon, join us. We’re going to visit the prisoners. The individuals have been secured in the observation rooms?”

The new goblin nodded then saw me. For a second, his nostrils flared as he tried to figure out what I was and then he nodded. “You’re the fairy-goblin who recently opened a bakery. My wife bought some of your crystal thingies. I don’t know what they’re called. Look like mini-ice sculptures, only more intricate. She wanted to talk to you, but she’s too shy. She would’ve said how well you bake and how much happiness your delicacies gave her.”

I smiled at him. Compliments for my baking were always more than welcome. “Thank you. I hope she comes back and stays for tea sometime. You could come with her.”

He shrugged. “Goblins tend to put off customers.”

“I’m half goblin. If you’d like to come, you’d be welcome. I have things designed for goblins too.”