Read Online Love Knows No Bounds by Brooke Moss, Nina Croft, Boone Brux - Free Book Online Page A

glowed under the black light, making his smile a hundred times more unsettling. He took a sip from his drink, staring at her over the rim. “Now that’s real refreshing.”
    “What do you want?” She tried to take another step back, but her feet seemed glued in place.
    “It’s my job to make sure you’re settling in and understand the—” He nodded toward the bartender, who had resumed a normal level of tending. “—the benefits.”
    “Listen…Vern, isn’t it?”
    “Ah, you remember.”
    Kind of hard to forget somebody who made her skin crawl. People crowded the bar, but a bubble seemed to surround the two of them.
    “Sorry to inform you, but I’m not interested in men falling at my feet.” Even though the experience had been rather enjoyable, staring into the face of evil clarified exactly what was at stake. She’d rather end up as that cardigan-clad corpse than give up her soul for a lifetime of false adoration.
    “No?” His brow furrowed in what looked like genuine consternation. “You prefer to remain invisible, rather than loved?”
    “It’s not love.” Her foot moved and she took a step away from Vern. Like being released from a magnetic pull, her other foot shifted. The distance between them widened, but he didn’t follow her. “Not when you take away somebody’s will.”
    “Your time is running out, Faye.” He took another drink and set his glass on the bar. “There’s no escape.”
    Sitting between Fabio and Max would be more desirable than continuing their conversation. “I need to get back to my friends.”
    “What friends? Whitney?” Vern’s smile was full of pity. “Can you really call her your friend? The only reason she likes you is because you make her look good.”
    “That’s not true,” she snapped, but knew he was right.
    “Oh, but it is. She’s as shallow as a saucer.” He tilted his head to the side, his expression turning sympathetic. “I’m the only true friend you have. The only person who really knows you.”
    She scrunched her brow in confusion. Vern was as crazy as the rest of the men. Maybe he was just as affected as the others. “Until today I’d never seen you.”
    “Not true. You just didn’t notice me. They never do—until they need us.”
    Great, he was referring to himself in third person. “Well, I don’t need you, so…” She took another step back. “Bye.”
    “Faye?”
    She stopped.
    “The contract is binding, so you may as well enjoy it.”
    Cold dread poured over her. “What do you mean?”
    “Thousands have tried, but nobody has ever broken the contract. Embrace your destiny.”
    Every cell in her body wanted to scream in denial, but she knew who—or maybe what—she was looking at. “Are you Satan?”
    He executed a slight bow. “No, just a lowly servant. My Lord wouldn’t dirty his hands with the menial task of one woman’s soul. He has bigger irons in the fire.”
    “So what, you’re like a recruiter?”
    “Exactly, and I’m afraid that once signed, the contract is unbreakable.”
    Years of being ignored, taken advantage of, and manipulated bubbled to the surface. “We’ll see about that.”
    He did one of those horror movie laughs and Faye couldn’t be sure, but she thought she saw flames flicker in his eyes. “I love a challenge. It’s so much sweeter when they’re dragged to Hell kicking and screaming.”
    His words knocked some of the defiant wind out of her and replaced it with a breath of pure fear. Maybe taunting one of Satan’s minions wasn’t the wisest plan. A thousand questions crowded her mind, but only one made it to her lips.
    “And when will that be?”
    “That’s for me to know and you to find out.” He tapped his watch. “Tictock, Ms. Albert, tictock.”
    A warm hand settled against her arm. “Faye?”
    Christopher’s voice was like a net cast into a tumultuous sea. She clung to its reassuring tone and looked at him. A sliver of reality slipped back into place. She took a deep breath