Read Online Devil's Bargain by Christine Warren - Free Book Online

just about enough time to answer one more question for Aaron.
    â€œTell me again why this idea is not completely ridiculous and suicidal,” he urged, leaning against a bookcase with his arms folded defensively in front of him. He was trying not to stare at her ass while she crouched down to draw her circle, but frankly, it was an extremely fine ass, and he could still remember the way it had felt cupped in his hands upstairs.
    Aaron swore and shifted. The erection he’d sported then had finally subsided and he really didn’t think now was an appropriate time for its return. Unfortunately, the fire that fed it seemed disinclined to go out as long as Lilli was anywhere within a fifty-foot radius of him. It was becoming damned inconvenient.
    â€œI already told you, I’m sure this is going to work,” she said, setting aside her chalk while there was still about a twelve-inch gap at the base of the circle. “The prophecy says so. You’re going to kick Samael’s ass, the apocalypse will be averted, and then we can call live happily ever after and you’ll know you’re the one who made that possible. Think of the sense of satisfaction that will give you.”
    â€œI’m too busy thinking of the sense of pain I’ll feel when Samael decapitates me with his bare hands and uses my head for an impromptu game of Hacky Sack.”
    Lilli shot him a quelling look as she began to place white and black candles around the perimeter of the ten-foot-wide circle. “Your pessimism is not going to be helpful.”
    Aaron threw up his hands. “You know what would be helpful here? Automatic weapons. Before today, I was always an advocate of strong gun control laws. No one needs a machine gun to defend themselves unless they’re being invaded by the Turkish army, I told myself. But you know what? I’ve changed my mind. Give me an Uzi; give me an AK-47. Hell, give me a Gatling gun. I don’t care. Just give me something that will allow me to pump the maximum amount of lead into Samael’s body in the minimum amount of time. That’s all I care about. Just call me Charlton Heston with a death wish.”
    â€œOh, relax. You know as well as I do that bullets are like mosquito bites to a devil as powerful as Samael. A gun wouldn’t do you as much good as a letter opener with a good steel blade. An iron fire poker would work even better.”
    â€œReally? I’ll just run upstairs and get one, then.”
    She stood and put her hand on his arm. “Aaron, it will befine.” Her fire-colored eyes, the ones he now knew came from a true devil of a father, glowed up into his, warming him. “I’ll be right there with you. And I believe in this prophecy. You have nothing to worry about, because you’re going to beat him. I promise.”
    Aaron felt the predictable tightening of his body the instant she touched him, but this time he felt something else, too. Something just as strong, but softer somehow. Something new, like a kernel waiting for the right time to flower.
    He uncrossed his arms and lifted one hand to her cheek. Cupping her face in his palm, he lowered his head and brushed his lips over hers. When this was all over, he promised himself, they were going to finish what they’d started on the table in the kitchen. He didn’t care if Lucifer himself interrupted.
    â€œOkay,” he said softly, lifting his head. “I still think that deliberately summoning Samael in the flesh is the dumbest thing that any human being has ever attempted in the entire history of human stupidity, but if you think this is what we have to do, why don’t you run me through it?”
    Lilli smiled, and despite all her reassurances, Aaron thought he detected a hint of nerves. “Sure.”
    She stepped back and gestured briskly toward the area she had set up in the center of the open area of the floor. The white chalk stood out starkly against the dark