Devil's Deal

Prologue

Two figures stood in the clearing. The only things not cast in shadows were their wings: a pair of white and a pair of black. The rest of their bodies were covered in dark clothing, to make sure no one could recognise them. The place they picked for their meeting was small, remote. No one dared to come here as a giant beast haunted it. That was perfect for the pair.

They had to be sure no one could stop them: the ceremony shouldn’t be interrupted.

Are you certain about this? Once we set things in motion, we have to follow through, the one with golden eyes and white wings whispered.

Yes, Hell has been uneventful, and I crave some entertainment. But we need high stakes. The dark figure smiled, revealing bright white teeth and a set of fangs. We both seduce the same human and make them fall in love with us. The loser will surrender their wings to the Devil.

I’m shocked he provided us his blood.

How else will we stay in our human form long enough? So, you agree with the terms?

Yes, of course. Be careful not to fall in love yourself.

I won’t. I’ve done it before, and I’ll stop myself before getting to that point again.

I hope you enjoy being human. The other grinned, showing equally white teeth, but without fangs. True love is and always has been a lie humans tell themselves to be happy.

You’re wrong. Only because you’ve never experienced it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. You’ve seen it before as a guardian angel. I was there. His black wing twitched. Thinking about having to go back to Hell made him shiver.

Doing anything for a thousand years, it becomes tedious. I need something different to get my blood flowing again. My missions are always long and dull. I’ve never had to step in. I don’t understand why I was needed. The golden eyes didn’t blink. It’s not like a human’s death will sentence me to eternal damnation.

It isn’t death you should worry about. Love is what will get you killed. Figure of speech, of course.

Yeah, yeah. You don’t have to share your love history with me. I know what happened to you and to others. It’s not like they will shut up about it upstairs. But I doubt a mere mortal will sway me. Their love is fickle, and they’re easily discarded. They will love one of us before I will be in any danger. His white wings spread, the tips nearly reaching the canopies of the thousand-year-old trees.

Sure. Your hubris will be your downfall. Not that I’m complaining. Let’s get started. Black feathers rustled through the wind and a howl sounded in the distance. The beast was awake.

His pale hand reached inside his coat and took out a candle and matches. He lit the candle, while his friend revealed a small vial containing liquid as dark as night.

Is that…? For real? The golden-eyed shadow held the candle up to the vial. The light scattered on the sanguine shimmer in the substance, mimicking a demon’s face. He grinned with excitement.

You better believe it, buddy. He was very willing when I asked. Especially for a chance to get another set of wings. The one with black wings didn’t share the same excitement. This bet would be his only way out. As he popped the cork, smoke swirled to the sky.

They started chanting in a forgotten tongue. They held the vial and emptied it above the candle while whispering the oath they had prepared. The liquid trickled out and black smoke rose from the now purple flame.

The deal is sealed. I’ll see you soon. You know where. The dark-winged silhouette’s smile disappeared, only showing the tips of his fangs.

The white-winged angel blew out the candle; the wax sticking to his pale skin as it splattered from the breeze.

The bet made that day wouldn’t only change the lives of everyone involved, but would have terrible consequences. Possibly for the world.

Chapter 1

The celebration of something as mundane as going back to school seemed pointless to Nora. ‘Back to school’ campaign posters were plastered all around Lakeside’s city centre. The businesses hoped people would spend their money on this ‘exciting’ event. She didn’t like the marketing, but she had to admit that getting new notebooks and pens with a discount was enticing.

Nora texted Felicia that she would be right over for girls’ night after returning some books to the library. She cycled past the coffee shop, waving to her classmates who were outside drinking iced coffees and eating ice cream. It wasn’t far from her part-time job at the bakery where she worked during the summer break.

Nora wondered why people wanted to draw so much attention to this recurring event that felt like torture to most kids, but one thing she did like about school was the routine. She didn’t have to think about what to do with her days, or what her future would be like short-term. As long as she stuck to her plan, she’d graduate in three years. Going back to school wasn’t an achievement and definitely wasn’t worth celebrating. Graduating was. She only celebrated with her parents because it was the day they became parents which was more of an accomplishment.

She liked her life. A normal teenage life without too much drama. The only drama she wanted was inside the many books she read.

Nora spent most of her time outside of school with her three friends: Felicia, Josy, and Emily. Felicia dubbed them the ‘Fab Four’, but apart from Felicia, they all hated the name.

Their friendship existed because of Felicia. Josy and Felicia had been friends since kindergarten. Emily found out Felicia shared her love for fashion when they met during their first year at school, and the outgoing Felicia adopted Nora, the bookworm. Felicia had two faces, one for the public and one in private. In public, she was proud and didn’t want people to see her as weak. A few weeks after Nora became friends with her, Felicia had a breakdown in the school hallway. Her father had promised to be at her first hockey game of the season, but work had called him away. It was her debut in the first team, and it meant the world to her. Felicia had kept it to herself, bottling up her feelings. That was the first time Emily and Nora saw the real Felicia, a girl who cared a little too much about what others thought of her.

She was heading to Felicia’s place for dinner and girls’ night: facials, mani-pedis, and lots of girl talk.

Felicia’s house was thirty minutes away, and the sun was scorching. Nora was glad she brought a change of clothes. As she cycled past a small beach near the lake, teenagers crowded the sand and water. Some even leaped off the bridge. Everybody wanted to enjoy the last hours of the summer break. Tomorrow they’d all be stuck in classrooms with temperatures asking for ice cream and tanning.

Nora looked forward to the classroom, to the comfort of her safe space. Safe without the peer pressure of taking off her clothes, of bathing suits and bikinis. Ever since she grew into her womanly body, she felt uncomfortable about men seeing her naked skin. Maybe it was her father’s conservative view influencing her, but a bikini revealed too much. She wouldn’t want a boy seeing her in her underwear, and a bikini covered barely as much.

A shiver went down her spine. Nora gathered more strength to race to Felicia’s and wash away that feeling.

Halfway through her ride, Nora spotted a group of young men by the road; laughing, drinking, and smoking cigarettes. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She scanned the area, but no one else was around. This was what she feared. One of her female classmates was beaten up and robbed not a week ago, and this wasn’t the first attack. Both the school and the newspaper had warned women not to cycle alone. There had been attacks on women all summer, and the police were always too late. They had no suspects, but they think there were several groups harassing women. This could be such a group, and who would stop them with no one around?

Nora had no other option but to pass them by, her hands clutching the handlebars as she sped up. She kept her head down and cycled as fast as she could. Her heart pounded as she approached the boys.

They were still laughing at their own jokes. When one of them crushed a beer can against his head, the others laughed even harder. Nora didn’t like drunk people, and these guys were clearly well on their way there.

One of them walked onto the narrow street, lost in his own world, and he nearly blocked off Nora’s path. There wasn’t much she could do but ring her bell and hope he’d get out of the way. One of his friends jumped forward with outstretched hands. Nora avoided his gaze and pedalled hard, hoping to pass them before he reached her.

She held her breath. As she was passing by, Nora’s tyre almost hit him, and his hand touched hers. She squeezed her eyes shut, her arms tensed, and her legs pushed down harder. When she opened her eyes and looked back, another boy grabbed his friend and pulled him away from the bike path.

Sorry! he shouted.

Nora finally let out her breath. Nothing had happened. It lasted no more than seconds, but it felt like hours. She shook the tension out of her hands one by one. They were just boys having fun with each other; they didn’t care for her at all. She had imagined all of it.

A sigh of relief escaped her.

She calmed down when she entered Felicia’s street. Her house was one of the imposing villas on a cul-de-sac. Nora lived in a terraced house, like most others in Lakeside. Villas weren’t as common, and most of the people living in this area were a different kind of wealthy. Celebrities lived here.

The girls wanted to have one last get together before going back to school. Felicia only returned from Ibiza yesterday, which, of course, meant it had been far too long between parties. Nora had worked in the bakery all summer, sharing her parent’s work ethic. She believed hard work was necessary to achieve your dreams. Felicia believed in parties.

Going to a party island, lounging on the beach all day, drinking mocktails, wasn’t Nora’s idea of a perfect holiday. She was saving up for a trip to Italy, to visit museums and see the architecture. Nora loved art history and her Italian roots made her curious about the history of her father’s birth country. She didn’t mind that they couldn’t take long vacations abroad every year. Her parents had jobs that allowed them to spend time with Nora. She valued her family time more than any trip abroad.

Their differences made their friendship interesting. Her father thought Felicia the party girl had a bad influence on her, but Nora would never become like her. It was too far out of her comfort zone. The library was her comfort zone, a place Felicia avoided like the plague.

Chapter 2

Nora! You’re here. Felicia hung around her neck as soon as the door opened.

Yeah, we sold out early. Is it okay if I take a quick shower? Nora took off her backpack and aired her sweaty shirt.

Sure. No problem.

Are your parents home? Nora didn’t see them, but their cars were in the driveway.

Yeah, but I don’t know for how long. My mom is meeting up with her friends. Felicia used air quotes. They all knew those ‘friends’: people she used to get new clients. Dad has been on the phone ever since we got back. I swear he never stopped working when we were in Ibiza. Oh, by the way, you have to come with me next time.

You know I can’t. Nora gave her an apologetic look. Felicia tried to persuade her every year, but Nora always refused.

Don’t worry about the money. I’m sure my parents won’t mind paying if I bug them long enough. You deserve a holiday. A real one. Your shoulders look tense and you could use some colour on your face. You seem pale, even for you!

I’m tense because I cycled through the blazing heat after working a six-hour shift in a store without air-conditioning. Nora sighed as she grabbed her bag. Seriously, I’m fine. And I don’t want to owe your parents anything.

You wouldn’t owe my parents, you’d owe me. For the best summer of your life. Felicia nudged Nora and led the way upstairs. Felicia’s bedroom covered the entire attic, with her own bathroom and walk-in closet. Nora had never met anyone with both. Emily and Josy were already lounging on the bed with magazines and snacks.

Hey, Nora. Is there anything you want to eat? Emily popped a crisp in her mouth.

We’re going to order in, said Felicia. My vote is for Chinese. There’s no decent Chinese restaurant on Ibiza and the buffet gets boring if you eat there for six weeks.

You should learn to cook. Josy laughed, since she was the best cook out of the four. Nora often helped her mother, but rarely made a whole dish by herself.

Felicia threw a pillow at Josy, which ended up on Emily’s head, whose mouth fell open. The look on her face made Nora laugh.

Hey, what did you do that for? Emily threw it back, but Felicia caught it with a giggle.

I’m okay with Chinese, Nora said. Be sure to order me a portion of egg rolls. I’m going to take a shower. Be right back.

Nora went into the bathroom and grabbed a camo green dress from her bag. The olive colour stood out against the light brown skin she inherited from her father. Nora hoped the steam of the shower would help settle some of the creases in the fabric. She turned one of the many buttons in the shower for the large rain shower to activate and lowered the temperature. Her own shower only had one handle, but Felicia’s shower had more buttons than the average TV remote.

She was the only one with curls in their group and fought with it daily to make it look nice. To keep her curls under control, she had to use both shampoo and conditioner. Forgetting either would turn her curls into a fro.

Felicia motioned Nora to sit in front of her when she came out of the bathroom. Come sit. With a hairbrush in her one hand and mousse for curly hair in the other, Felicia said, I’ll brush and braid your hair.

Nora looked at the bottle as she sat down. Where did you get this? It had an expensive-looking design and a brand name she wasn’t familiar with.

My mom got it from one of her many clients. She wanted to toss it, but I figured you might like it. You can have it if you want. Felicia brushed Nora’s hair gently, trying to untangle it.

Yeah, I’d like to try it. Perhaps it’ll tame my hair for once. Nora gave the mousse back to Felicia.

Which colour would you like on your nails? Emily rummaged through a box of nail polishes. They had gathered all their nail polishes in one box and stored it there. It was easier than having the other three hauling their collection with them whenever they wanted to have a girls’ night.

Dark red on my toes and navy on my fingers? Nora had thought little about it and wanted to try something different from her usual pink.

Oh, daring, Emily said with a grin. She grabbed the colours and painted Nora’s toes while Felicia still worked on her hair.

Nora leaned back against the bed and let Felicia and Emily do their thing while Josy was reading magazines on the other side of the bed.

I’ll try a tight braid today. Maybe a loose braid will be better, who knows. Felicia braided Nora’s hair to the side and gave her a hand mirror. Here, have a look.

Wow, this looks great, Nora said. The braid was even and not a single hair frizzled on the sides.

A friend on Ibiza taught me how to do this, and the mousse helped. We’ll find a way to make your hair behave. Felicia hugged Nora from behind.

Thank you, you’re the best.

Emily poked Nora’s leg. What about me?

Nora’s toes were a beautiful burgundy, no stains on her skin, and her feet looked more tanned than they actually were. I’m surprised the colour looks this good on me. Emily grinned and grabbed her hand to start on the fingernails.

Felicia scrolled through her playlist to find the latest summer songs and stopped when an unfamiliar song came on. Felicia got up and danced in the middle of the room.

As soon as Emily finished Nora’s nails, she joined her friend, dancing.

The bell rang, and Emily and Felicia ran downstairs. We’ll get it, Emily yelled. Nora and Josy cleared the floor from nail polish, magazines, and Felicia’s new clothes.

How was your summer break? Josy asked.

It was okay. I worked a lot, and I finished the reading list for Dutch and English. Nora gathered the magazines and put the stack on the desk.

Knowing you, you finished the list in a week. Josy laughed.

Two weeks, actually. I also had a big stack of library books to finish.

Have you read any interesting ones? Ones that weren’t on the list? I thought the library job would eat up all my time, but I actually read more than before. My supervisor encouraged me to read dozens of the new additions.

I thought you weren’t interested in romance novels? Nora asked.

Well, maybe if they include vampires or werewolves.

Nora laughed. I’ve read a book about Eastern mythology that you might like. It’s the closest thing to fantasy I’ve read.

That sounds interesting. Do you still have it? Or did you borrow it from the library?

My mother gave it to me.

Felicia returned with her arms filled with plates and cutlery. What did your mother give you?

A book.

Oh. Felicia lost interest in the subject immediately. Books weren’t her thing.

Neither was history, although it was one of her electives. She had to pass the exam if she wanted to get into fashion school. I love your dress, Nora. The leather belt highlights your slim waist.

Thanks. This is my first time wearing it. It felt like a waste to wear when I wasn’t going out.

You should wear it to school. I’m sure you’ll draw attention. Felicia winked.

Do I want to? Aren’t the boys still the same? Nora sat down on the bed