Page 105 of Baking and Angels

The demon nodded. “Yes, a favor, no conditions,” he said. Rafferty knew from experience he was rushing things. Vassago really wantedthis deal.

Looking him over, Rafferty could only come to one conclusion as to why this demon was taking a Hail Mary option. “You’re running out of energy, aren’t you?”

A breath huffed out of the creature who didn’t need to breathe. “Don’t ask stupid questions. Neither of us really have the time, do we? I believe it’s thirty minutes until this show starts?”

Rafferty narrowed his eyes, an expression not lost on Vassago.

He stiffened his jaw, not willing to confirm what Rafferty already realized was true: he was still working on solidifying a deal with Eleanor.

The former demon could very well imagine it; sometimes it took an expenditure of energy, a sort of down payment or “proof of concept,” to smooth the way for a more solid and lucrative deal with a target, especially if that target hadn’t been the original summoner. Summoning gave the demon in question more of a toehold, already putting the target on the hook to pay the cost for thesummoning.

But Eleanor was innocent of that sin. And she had always struck Rafferty as very savvy. Yet, Vassago was talented in getting the overly ambitious someones like her to fall into his traps… as long as hedelivered.

“Oh, I see,” Rafferty murmured, his voice warm in its softness. “And because of your contract with me, you have been struggling to deliver the things that Eleanor would want—like a first-place win. Not if I’m there competing with her since you can’t do anything to directlyharm me.”

“I cut very close to the line a few weeks ago, but that tarnished me in her eyes, yes,” Vassago said through the teeth of his feral smile, which cut his face in half, confirmation and threat all in one. “You have been quite a thorn inmy side.”

“And the mortal agents are on your tail. Evading them must be costing quite a lot of energy as well,” Rafferty added, poking atthe wound.

“Uh, fuck you,” the demonshot back.

Rafferty was completely unfazed. “I’m just saying.”

“Things are different this time. I’m very close to anchoring with this powerful soul, so I just need you to—”

“Put my head on a chopping block for your convenience. Our deal is the only thing that is keeping me safe.”Keeping Helena safe, he didn’t say. “I allow you to dissolve the contract, and you could kill me now. That would solve your problem with Eleanor, wouldn’t it?”

A talon burst from Vassago’s otherwise human-looking hand. Pulling off his glasses, the demon’s whirlpool eyes examined the talon. “You let me do what I need to do to secure myself here in reality, and I will owe you aboon. How about that? More than a favor, an honest-to-whomever boon. You can use it to protect yourself. Or your little old soul if you want, though it looks like you cast her asidealready?”

Rafferty debated that. A boon.Thatwas a powerful gift, to be able to make any wish of a demon without a cost, or rather the cost would be borne by the demon themselves. A favor didn’t guarantee that. A favor was a maybe I’ll do it if it’s convenient to me. A boon had the same binding energies tied to it as a contract itself.

Still, he hesitated. What boon could he ask for that would accomplish the same thing as this current contract? “I could just command you to go back to where you belong,” Rafferty pointed out.

Abruptly, Vassago slashed out with his taloned claw, which had only grown longer as they were talking and was joined by two others more. Three long gashes appeared in the concrete of the wall. The concrete bits clicked as they fell like a minihailstorm.

The claws ended a mere breath away from Raffety’s face.

He didn’t back down from the clear threat.

“Absolutely not!” Vassago shouted.

The only thing holding Vassago back from ripping me to shreds is the terms of the contract,Rafferty reminded himself. He forced himself to chuckle. “You’re not exactly making a convincing argument here. I think you are losing the game more than Irealized.”

Rafferty could see it as clear as glass as he was looking past the whirlpool eyes boring into him through to the dark being trapped in his own prison beyond. His old self would know exactly how to use such a creature, and his longest-hated rival at that, to get the most out of him.

But all he felt in that momentwas pity.

“I know a way out of the game,” Rafferty said, realizing that Vassago wouldn’t like what he had discovered, but unable to do anything else. He felt compelled to say it, like the words were coming through him from… somewhere else. “Just pay your price. Pay what you owe andgo home.”

The demon’s eyes widened.

Then he bared his too-sharp teeth, grinding them with painful squeaks.

Then he laughed. “For a second there, I actually believed that you were going to give me a real answer.” He dropped his threat, the claws retreating back into his fingers.

“I’m sincere,” Rafferty said, amazed at his own words. But he realized that Vassago wouldn’t listen, not yet. He needed to put it another way, one Vassago would understand. “Look, I’ve been here before. You’ll keep draining yourself out until the price gets too high… Cut your losses. Take what you have won already and go back. You will get called again. You will make it back to play the game again.”

That the demon heard.

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