The Demon's Deadline (Demon's Assistant Book 1) by Tori Centanni Page B

He just stares at me like he cannot believe that someone this clueless can possibly be breathing the same air. “The longer she lives beyond her contracted time, the more she upsets the balance and the more people’s contracts I have to prematurely terminate.”
    “She’s only been skirting the line for two weeks. How many people does it take to even up the score?”
    “It’s a complex equation you can’t hope to understand. But the longer she continues to exist, the more I need to remove to keep the delicate balance.” His eyes meet mine, blue as the ocean and filled with the same quiet intensity that lies beneath the waves. “I will keep the balance at all costs. Do you understand?”
    I open my mouth to say no, but his meaning slowly takes shape in my mind. “Are you threatening me?”
    He shrugs and sips his root beer.
    “You are.” I edge past him along the counters and fridge, keeping as much distance in the cramped kitchen as I can between the demon and me.
    “I’m telling you a possible consequence if she’s not found and Azmos is not released.”
    “My contract is complete and Cam is safe,” I say. “This isn’t my problem.”
    “No? Funny. I thought I just made it clear that it is. Contracts are just paper, after all.” He smirks. I resist the urge to throw my bottle at his head, as I don’t think that would end well for me.
    “This isn’t fair.”
    “This is about balance. Fairness doesn’t enter into it.”
    There’s nothing else to say, so I walk back out of the house, careful not to look at the sheet again. I’m pretty sure it’s already going to haunt me for years to come.
     
    Cam’s car is idling. I want to hug him and kiss him and never let him go, not just for being there, but because the letter doesn’t mean he’s going to drop dead at any second. Me, on the other hand, well, I don’t want to think about it.
    I get in and he shuts off the stereo.
    “Get what you needed?” The question is sincere.
    “Yeah,” I say. It’s half-true.
    “Good.” He puts the car in gear. “Because this is the part where you fill me in. You tell me everything, no matter how small, got it?”
    “Cam—”
    “Nicki. I mean it.” He sighs, puts the car back in park, and then turns to face me. In the dim streetlight, his face is shadowed, his eyes obstructed by the glare on his glasses, but his expression is clear. “I can’t do this if you keep things from me. You get that, right?”
    “Do what?”
    “Anything.”
    My throat is dry. “You don’t need to do anything. This isn’t about you.”
    “That is possibly the most idiotic thing you’ve ever said.”
    “Are you sure? Because I’m such an idiot, I bet it’s hard to narrow it down that quickly.”
    “You’re not an idiot. You just act like one sometimes.”
    “Thanks a lot.”
    He growls in frustration, running his fingers through his hair and tugging, like he might tear it out. “That’s not what I meant. It’s just that you were free of this demon crap, right? He let you go. So I don’t understand why you have to try to go out for the team again. There are better ways to spend your time.”
    “No, Cam, there aren’t. Besides, I don’t have a choice.”
    He sighs. “You always have a choice. You chose to lie to me.”
    “I was going to tell you.”
    “But you didn’t.”
    “No.” My breath puffs out in front of me. I tug my coat tighter and look back at the house, but Xanan is nowhere in sight. This is a different kind of cold.
    “I hate to play this card, but I’ve been pretty cool about the whole demon thing. I’ve only ever asked that you be completely honest with me.” He meets my eyes, his gaze pleading.
    “Okay,” I finally say. “But it might take longer than the drive back to Seattle.” He raises an eyebrow. “A lot’s happened since Saturday morning.”
    “Apparently,” he says. He puts the car in drive and pulls away from the curb. “Should have known you’d get in over your head