twice cursed mage 05 - claimed (25 page)
“Is that so?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at me. “Because I think you’re fucking with me. I think you have no intention of keeping your promise, and do you know what that makes you?”
“What?” I asked, glancing from him to Jenna. The smart play was to brain her and be done with it. Only I couldn’t. She’d had chances to kill me and she hadn’t done it, sure, but what’s more was I was pretty sure I needed her to help me get out. It might have sounded stupid, but I was trapped in Hell, and I still had to hunt down Asmodai. If I wanted any chance of surviving that little adventure, I’d need her help. While I didn’t trust her much, I trusted her more than virtually any other motherfucker down here.
“It makes you bad for business,” he replied, snatching the cane out of the air and popping the top. Pink light spit from the top of it, arcing between his fingers as he held it by its diamond head. Very slowly he poked my chest with the tip of the pimp staff. “And I do not like people who are bad for business.”
“Look, I’ll need her help to get to Asmodai. She knows him, knows how to get through his defenses—”
“I don’t care.” Mammon shook his head at me. “Either you kill her right now, or I rip your still-beating heart from your chest and toss it into the crocodile tank below.” He stepped closer to me so his gangly form towered over me. “What’s it going to be, Mac?”
I swallowed hard but didn’t back down. Instead I met his eyes for one long moment before turning them on Jenna’s unconscious body. As I watched her chest rise and fall, I knew I was about to be in a boatload of trouble because one thing was immediately clear. I couldn’t kill her. Damn.
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