A Darker Past (Entangled Teen) (The Darker Agency) by Jus Accardo Page B

been plainly obvious.
    One of my relatives had trapped him in a mirror. Not quartzed his ass, but trapped . That should have been a neon yellow flag if ever there was one. Whatever his deal was, he was obviously too powerful for a simple takedown. Mom kept telling me I acted first and thought second. She was dead on. The sad part? I never seemed to learn from my mistakes.
    The demon snapped his fingers, and with a grunt, Lukas was thrown backward by a crackling trail of electricity. He took out several tables on the way, knocking ancient trinkets in every direction. His left foot clipped an opulent-looking dresser, too, sending it toppling sideways. It crashed to the ground, pieces coming lose and bouncing cross the floor as he smashed into the wall on the far side of the room. The static left in the air made the hairs on my arm and back of my neck jump to attention. I tried to scream.
    Focus back on me, the demon sniffed the air again, then smiled. Every time his eyes met mine, I felt a ravaging chill course through my limbs. Like a total-body ice cream headache. His gaze roamed my body, and I had to bite down on my tongue to keep my teeth from chattering.
    With his free hand, he lifted the hem of my shirt and bent to my stomach. I couldn’t see what he was doing, but a second later, a warm, moist trail flicked across my belly, and it was all I could do not to howl and thrash. But that was it. One slimy lick and it was all over. He straightened and released his hold on me, taking a step back. I didn’t try bolting. There was no way in hell I’d make it more than a half centimeter. I’d underestimated him before. It wouldn’t happen again.
    “You belong to Lucifer’s lapdog. How interesting.”
    “I don’t belong to anyone,” I said with bite. Stupid to talk back to the über-demon? Probably. But this was one area where I just couldn’t keep my mouth shut. I was an independent contractor who’d made a deal to save people she loved. I’d rented my soul out for the next fifty-five years. Rented —not sold.
    He leaned close and sniffed again. His acting like I was one big scratch and sniff was starting to get annoying. “You are an anomaly. Because of that, I won’t kill you yet. I have more important things to tend to.” He placed a meaty hand on either side of my head and leaned in close. His breath, warm and with a hint of sulfur, streamed across my face. “But tell your Master the tides are about to change.”
    He took two steps back, and his form blurred. Within seconds, he was nothing more than the purple smoke that had puffed up from the broken glass.
    I dashed forward and dragged a semiconscious Lukas over to the pile of antiques. I snatched up the boxes, shoved them at Lukas, and then shadowed us the hell out of there.
    …
    By the time we got the back to the office, Mom and Dad were waiting impatiently like typical overprotective parents.
    Mom held the door open. “Everything go okay?”
    “Of course not,” I said, losing the small box I’d stuffed precariously on the top of my pile. It fell to the floor with a soft thud. With the toe of my sneaker, I carefully nudged it over the threshold and across the hardwood floor. “We ran into a little bit of trouble…”
    Mom rolled her eyes. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to go looking for trouble?”
    “Of course,” I replied, winking at Lukas. He told me all the time. Sometimes three or more times a day. His nose did this little scrunching thing, too. It was all very cute. “But what fun would that be?”
    Dad came up beside her and unwrapped the tablecloth I’d used to transport the Darker items from the table display. He picked up several trinkets, cringing when he came to a small silver comb. “It’s a good thing we got this stuff away from them. It’s humming with energy.” He set the comb down and looked up. “What kind of trouble did you say you had?”
    “I didn’t say, actually.” I gritted my teeth. Apparently not telling