The bargain

 

Demon

 The heavy door creaked shut behind her. Anna froze.

“You weren’t supposed to see me like this,” the demon said, voice low and velvet-rough. “You just signed your own death warrant.”

“I—I was told to come in through the gate,” she stammered.

“That was no excuse.”

“It’ll never happen again, I swear—”

“But it has happened.” He stepped out of the shadows, skin like scorched parchment, horns curling back from a face that might once have been beautiful. “And you’ve seen what I truly am. There is always a price.”

Anna’s back hit the wall. “I have nothing valuable on me. I’m just here for the job interview.”

The demon laughed, a sound like breaking glass dragged across stone, and took one deliberate step closer. The air thickened with sulfur and heat.

“Please,” she whispered. “Don’t kill me.”

He paused, tilting his head. Then he smiled—an ugly, delighted thing—and a single fang glinted, long as an index finger.

“There might be another way,” he said, stroking his chin with black claws two inches long. “Are you certain you want to live?”

“I’m twenty years old. Yes. I’ll do anything.”

“Anything?” He savored the word. “Even if you don’t yet know the cost?”

“If it doesn’t kill me,” she said, voice shaking but steadying, “I’ll pay it.”

He leaned in until she could smell the brimstone on his breath.

“I don’t want your flesh, little one. Flesh is cheap. I want your soul.”

Anna’s knees buckled. “My… soul?”

“Exactly.” His grin widened. “Sign it over. Serve me. Obey me. When you die—and you will die—your eternity becomes my plaything in Hell. Forever.”

The room spun. Tears burned her eyes, but something cold and sharp sparked beneath the terror.

She lifted her chin.

“No,” she said.

The single word cracked like a whip.

The demon blinked. “What?”

“I said no.” She straightened, forcing her voice not to tremble. “My soul is not for sale. Kill me if you have to, but you’ll get nothing but a corpse. And the moment my blood hits this floor without a contract, the Accords are broken. You know what the Circle does to demons who murder mortals unbound.”

His smile faltered.

Anna took one step forward. “So let’s make a real deal. I walk out of here alive, untouched, and silent. In return, I owe you one favor—one single favor in the future. Something that doesn’t damn me, doesn’t kill me, and doesn’t spill innocent blood. That’s my offer.”

She held his gaze, unblinking.

“Take it,” she said quietly, “or spend the next century having your wings peeled off, one feather at a time.”

For a long moment, the only sound was the low crackle of hellfire in his eyes.

Then the demon hissed, a sound of pure frustration, and the temperature in the room dropped ten degrees.

“Fine,” he spat. “One favor. But I will collect, girl. And when I do, you’ll wish you’d chosen the simpler death.”

He snapped his fingers. The door behind her swung open onto ordinary afternoon sunlight.

“Run,” he sneered. “Before I change my mind.”

Anna didn’t wait. She ran.

And somewhere behind her, the demon smiled again—this time with real hunger—because debts to Hell always come due.