Deals With Demons by Victoria Davies

Chapter One
    “The master has ordered you home.”
    Talia tipped her mug up, savouring the last mouthful of beer before she slid the empty glass to the waiting bartender.
    “Bully for him,” she told the unwelcome man perched on the barstool beside her.
    “I’m to bring you home at once.”
    Slanting a glance at the nervous man, Talia smiled her most vicious grin. “You can try,” she replied, twisting her body to show him the glint of the dagger strapped to her waist.
    The man gulped.
    She shook her head in disgust. He was a disgrace. Why had Devlin even bothered to send him?
    “You can tell your master he is welcome to try and force me back. But it will take a braver man than you to get me there.”
    Talia slid off the stool. She stalked through the crowded bar without a backwards glance.
    Once outside she pulled her black coat tightly around herself to ward off the chilly night air. A single thought burned in her mind as she set off in the direction of her modest apartment. Why did Devlin want to see her after all this time?
    Talia had been nineteen the night she fled Devlin’s mansion. Not once in the six years since had he tried to contact her. And she’d know. She’d been waiting for him to make his move practically from the moment she’d left. The fact that he’d never come for her merely underscored what she’d known all along.
    To Devlin St. Clair she was not, and never had been, of any importance.
    So why did he want her now?
    She picked up her pace, trying to run from the unwanted memories.
    Two things were special about Devlin. The first was simple. She’d been utterly in love with him since she was sixteen. The second was far more unusual. Devlin was a demon. As if that weren’t enough, he also happened to be the most powerful demon in the city. Some might even argue the country.
    The world Talia lived in was very far from the one most people thought they knew. Her life revolved around blood, death and magic. It had since the night her family had been murdered when she was fourteen.
    Talia shook her head to try and repress the memories. It had been a night much like this one when her life had changed forever. The nip of autumn hung in the air and overhead the bright moon was almost full.
    She’d been in her room when the demon broke into her home. Her parents’ screams had woken her.

    Because of her rather unusual talents, she’d known immediately what was in her house and she’d known which way he would turn when he climbed the stairs and reached the landing. Her room was to the right of the stairs, her younger brother and sister’s was to the left. Talia had thrown herself out the window with the sound of the squeaky floorboard in the left hallway echoing in her ears. Saving herself had torn her apart, but she’d known, even then, she was no match for the demon. Unable to do anything else, she’d run until she was too exhausted to move.
    And there Devlin had found her. Huddled in an alleyway, Talia had been trying to hide herself behind a garbage can when he rounded the corner. She’d known what he was, of course. She always knew. But unlike the monster in her house, this demon had crouched before her and silently held out his hand.
    “I swear, child, I will never harm you,” he’d whispered to her. He said nothing else, merely waited.
    Eventually Talia had crawled forwards and put her dirty hand into his.
    In one night she’d lost everything she’d loved and gained a new life unlike anything she’d ever imagined.
    Devlin had brought her to his mansion on the outskirts of the city and she’d lived there for five years.
    He’d found her the very best tutors to teach her since he refused to let her go to a normal school. And after her academic classes he trained her himself in all varieties of combat styles. Thanks to him she was one deadly woman. But he’d done more than train her. Devlin had been the first person to explain what she truly was.
    Talia was a senser. She was gifted