The Devil Is a Gentleman Read Free Page B

started the Registry. I knew it was only a matter of time before they identified me as an Abnormal. That was going to be bad enough, but it was worse to think of them ruining Eli too. As an officer failing to report an Abnormal, Eli might have gotten off with a letter of reprimand. Some were lucky like that. But others were suspended indefinitely, or prosecuted, or imprisoned, or even added to the Registry themselves as criminal accomplices. So I did what I thought was the right thing. I left him before they found me. When they showed up in the middle of the night, only one Abnormal, living alone in her own apartment, was arrested. No accomplice, no headlines about a police scandal. The headlines were instead all about the Slobodians. A lot of people wanted the publicity that went with prosecuting a Slobodian, the daughter of a Summoner. It was a show trial, with lots of cameras. Not an easy time for me. Dozens, hundreds, thousands of times I wanted to call Eli but I knew they would be monitoring my calls. I didn’t want to drag him into my problems. My family’s problems.
    It was only later that I found out that Eli was an Abnormal too.
    “Do you love him?” said Sam.
    “What?”
    “Do you love this person? This half demon? ” He leaned forward on his elbows. “You’ve been through so much, Niki. You sacrificed your own life so he could have a chance. I don’t think you’d do that for someone you don’t love. But the question is, do you still love him? After all this time, after the Registry, after your father, after the Dark was inside of your skin. After you killed Abaddon, the being that many thought could not die. But you killed it. Are you the same, Niki? The same woman that loved Eli Cooper? Or have you changed?” He studied me.
    “I don’t know,” I admitted. I set my jaw. “But I have to find out.”
    “Come now, Niki,” he said. “A girl would know if she was in love.”
    “I’m no girl,” I said. I tried to make my face cold, but after a moment I looked away. “I’m not the same, Sam,” I said. I took a drink of Jameson, letting it slide down my throat. “I don’t think I’ll ever be the same. When that Dark was in me, I did something. I know everyone says it was the Dark controlling me, but all I know is I heard the shot. I don’t think I would have heard it if I was being controlled by the Dark. And when Bobby finally got that thing out of me, that janitor, just a boy, was dead. But after that, I killed that demon, and I barely blinked.” I looked up at Sam. “It’s like I’m becoming him . I’m turning into Sasha, turning into my father, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it. The only one that I think can make me feel human again is missing. He left and couldn’t even tell me to my face. He slipped a goddamn note under my door. Probably because he knew I would follow him if he told me to my face. So I need to find him, whether you tell me where he is or not. But I’d like you to tell me, because we’re such good friends.” I wanted to cry, but I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t let Sam see me like that.
    “I’m sorry,” said Sam, his voice so low I had to strain to hear. “I didn’t know.” He looked at me seriously, no sign of a smirk or a smile. His eyes burned into me. It was as though I could feel him inside my head when he looked at me like that. That’s what he’d done that first night, right before he’d offered me a job. “You won’t find him, though. Not even you can find him now.”
    “Is he dead?” I said. I swallowed. “Sofi looked for him with her sight, but she couldn’t see him. That usually means only one thing.”
    “No,” he said. “Not dead. Still very much alive.”
    “Where is he?”
    “Looking for his dear father,” said Sam. He started to smile, but wavered. He took a drink. “It’s not going to be easy for him. But we can’t always take the easy road, can we?” He ran a hand over his face. He looked so tired.
    “He’s in