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Once the coast had cleared, Grace fled to her room and tore off the Alastor-alike outfit she’d worn to see Vox. By then, she didn’t want to save any of it, not even the bowtie she’d considered keeping a few hours earlier.
It all disgusted her now.
It had served its purpose in getting under Vox’s skin but in retrospect, all it brought her was shame.
She wished she had the powers to wish the clothing into a cornfield in a lower circle of Hell where it belonged.
Grace stuffed it all into the back of the bottom drawer in her dresser, realizing that throwing it away might offend Charlie. And should Niffty see it while cleaning her room, it would only encourage more questions. Maybe she would sneak it out to the nearest dumpster in bits and pieces over the course of this week.
She slammed the drawer shut.
“So … have you given any thought to my offer?”
Grace squeaked, jumping to her feet and putting her back to the dresser. His Royal Redness had popped up, reclining on his side on her bed. Again, acting like he had every right to be there, like he owned that real estate. Her heart pounding at the intrusion, she gasped, “It’s only been like a day!”
“And?”
“You can’t possibly expect someone to make such a big decision in such a short span of time!”
He grinned wickedly. “Oh, I assure you, I can.”
She stared, frozen in her spot beneath his stare. Not just because of the conversation but because of how close he was to seeing what she hadn’t wanted him to.
The wicked grin transformed into a placid smile as Alastor continued, “I just want to protect you, Little Fawn. I want to be your scary dog privilege. My services never cost much. I promise.”
“Just my soul.”
He shook his head, eyes narrowing slightly. “Such a blasé way of phrasing that.”
“And for you to imply my soul isn’t much cost is incredibly insulting.”
“Sweetheart!” he scolded. “Your soul isn’t the cost. It’s the favors I would request from you, and those are practically nothing, a mere pittance!” he replied with a light little laugh and a wave of his hand. “I would just need the occasional little favor from you and in return, I’ll protect you.”
“I find it hard to believe you’d protect me when the only reason you want me is so that Vox can’t have me.”
Alastor recoiled. He looked genuinely stunned. Dare she believe he maybe even looked insulted? “Oh, my dear! That’s not my motive at all.”
Oh
my dear
That’s not my motive at all.
“It’s … not?”
“Not in the slightest. Such things never even crossed my mind.”
“Oh.” He wasn’t denying he had a motive in owning her soul. She knew it wasn’t worth asking. If he told her—and he wouldn’t—she could hardly trust his answer to be honest. “And what kind of favors, exactly, do you have in mind for me?” Some, Grace would agree to in a heartbeat. Sucking you off, for instance.
“Well, let’s see: Husk and I have an agreement and all I’ve asked from him is that he bartends for Charlie. Niffty and I have an agreement and I brought her to the Hazbin Hotel to do what she enjoys: cleaning!”
“Oh.” None of that was so bad. Neither Niffty nor Husk seemed particularly unhappy at the hotel and in their present roles.
Grace weighed her options.
It’s not like Alastor could kill me. That would kind of defeat the whole purpose of owning my soul. Right?
And I know I can’t be redeemed. So what am I even doing here, then?
“So … Whaddaya say? Do we have a deal?”
“On one condition,” she finally replied to him.
Alastor rolled his eyes and said with a groan, “I won't make you hurt anyone else.”
“Dude!” Grace laughed. A genuine laugh. “I’m in Hell. I don’t give a single fuck about anyone else here.” That wasn’t exactly true. She cared much too much about him. And the others at the hotel weren’t so objectionable anymore. She maybe even thought of them as friends. But as far as this transaction went, that was not a concern on her radar.
He looked nothing short of enthralled by her response. “Well … if not the standard stipulation, then what?”
The ambient noise around them muted, the walls of her room taking on a shimmering gold cast. This was familiar—although she couldn’t place how she knew it—and frightening, her flesh prickling as if charging with static. As if a storm was brewing around her.
“You've got yourself a deal under the condition that you don't betray me.”
His immediate reaction was blatant annoyance. But then he rose to his feet, laughing. “Why, you clever little fawn.”
“If you promise not to betray me, you can have me.” Joke’s on you; I’m already yours. She approached where he stood at her bedside.
Alastor’s appearance was transforming right before her eyes. He assumed his full demon form but without the exaggerated stature she’d seen in the nightmare alley as he extended his hand for a shake. “Then we’ve got a deal.”
That pulsing, prickling feeling through Grace’s body amplified and it dawned on her that she must have been changing forms, as well. She had no clue what she looked like but that was a curiosity for another time. Now was the time to seal her fate.
She placed her hand in his.
Energy blew through her, racing from the touch of his palm all the way through her arms and legs, like she imagined it felt to be struck by lightning. In the space of a heartbeat, glittery, neon green cosmograms appeared in the air around them.
And just like that, everything returned to normal.
Grace exhaled, stumbling away from him until she smacked her back against the edge of her dresser.
“I’ll never tire of seeing this,” Alastor exhaled as he approached her. He maintained her gaze as he lifted her face, pinching her cheeks lightly between his index finger and thumb. “Beautiful Little Fawn.”
She remained so hung up on those three last words he’d exhaled that she couldn’t be bothered to ask what the first remark even meant.
In her silence, he grinned. “I have my first request.”
She scowled. It was unsurprising he would call in a favor; she just wasn’t expecting it immediately. “What.”
With a chuckle, he said, “Smile for me.”
Grace went in a heartbeat from being agitated to grinning wickedly. He's got my soul and he is contractually bound not to betray me. He’s mine now, every bit as much as I'm his! Sucker!
Alastor burst into delirious, crazed laughter. “Grace Bedgood! Do you realize what you’ve just done?”
Her wicked grin faded immediately, breath catching in her throat. What did she miss? How was this going to backfire on her terribly?
“With you at my side, I’m now the most powerful demon in Hell!”
“What? How do you figure?! I’m nothing!”
“Oh, no, darling. You’re my everything. And you’ve just made me invincible.”
She swallowed hard, her gaze darting around the room, seeking something to ground herself with. Nothing made sense anymore, and yet everything fell into place. Grace was overwhelmed as the realization struck: He’s keeping me around to heal him. He’s going to use me to make himself immortal.
She caught and held his gaze with an intensity she’d never before done. “Good!”
“‘Good?!’” he echoed in open surprise.
“I’ve made you invincible?” She whooped. “I wouldn’t want it any other way!”
Grace had vague recollections of losing her virginity. Her still-virgin friends at the time—which was all of them, if memory served—had inquired if she ‘felt’ different, like the rite of passage had somehow physically changed her appearance.
The agreement with Alastor brought to mind those conversations; she was horrified to find that, unlike losing her virginity, this deal had changed her physical appearance.
She stared at herself in the mirror, agape. Any hope she’d had in keeping this contract a secret vanished when she saw her previously grey sclera were now black. Oh, shit. Oh, no. Oh, fuck! How am I going to hide this? How will I explain it? Nobody’s gonna understand!
In theory, Husk and Angel Dust should understand but she suspected since they’d cautioned her so strongly against making a deal with Alastor, they wouldn’t. So what that now they had an additional common thread?
Their judgment and disdain for my choice can’t last forever.
Right?
“Hey Grace!” Kofax yelled from outside her bedroom door. “Pool! Now!”
“I’m—really—not—in the mood for this today!” Grace called back. She squeezed her eyes shut, willing them to be normal, and opened them again. Still black. Dammit!
“Do it anyway! We’re all waiting for you!”
Her phone dinged from the bedside table.
With a heavy sigh, she went to see who’d messaged her, anticipating the daily vulgarity from Valentino.
Grace groaned.
She almost laughed; the emojis had given her a brilliant way around her current dilemma.
So Grace had one problem at least temporarily resolved. Still, she didn’t know how Alastor might behave toward her—in private, or around others—now that he owned her.
The amount of uncertainty about All The Things! with this arrangement made it extra difficult to be around everyone else but Grace knew she couldn’t hide forever.
She picked the not-quite-skimpiest-but-still-pretty-skimpy swimwear she had, threw on a pair of sunglasses, and headed out to the pool with the most confident stride she could muster.
To her benefit—and not so much Kofax’s—the group was already well into teasing Kofax by the time Grace stepped out onto the pool deck. They were so engrossed in their playful ribbing that they hardly even noticed Grace’s arrival.
Less to Grace’s benefit was that Alastor didn’t even seem to notice her arrival, either.
“You tryin’ to get a tan from your laptop screen?” Cherri asked Kofax.
Kofax, cool as always, replied simply, “I have work to do.”
Angel Dust pouted. “Pretty sure it’ll get done even if you take a few minutes to cool off in the pool!”
Niffty, sitting on Alastor’s rattan lounge chair at his hoovies, piped up, “We just don’t want you getting burned out is all!”
That was actually kinda nice of Niff.
“This is what Kofax does for fun. Leave her alone,” Grace said, removing her sandals and leaving them by a vacant chair at poolside.
Kofax raised both hands in thumbs-up gestures for Grace before resuming her work.
Grace took the steps into the pool, keeping her head—and sunglasses—above the water.
“… Grace?” Angel Dust leaned into her field of vision with a raised eyebrow.
She squeezed her eyes shut. Hard. Her now black eyes. Her I’m-owned-by-Alastor-and-everyone-can-tell eyes. “What.”
He pointed out as if she didn’t know, “You left your sunglasses on, ya weirdo.”
Pleased with thinking so quickly on her feet for once, Grace replied, “It’s bright out and I have a migraine.”
“Oh!” Kofax didn’t even look up from her screen but interjected, “Is that why you didn’t wanna join us? You should’ve just said so!”
Grace scoffed, casting a casual glance over her shoulder at Alastor. He was watching the interaction with a smirk; he had to realize the truth and he was enjoying every moment of it. Fucker.
To Kofax, she replied, “Like you gave me any choice?! Remember, ‘don’t forget, you owe me?’”
Alastor’s smirk turned into an impressive smiling scowl.
Really?! Well that’s interesting. Grace bit back a smirk of her own.
While several of the hotel’s residents hung out in the water, Vaggie dozed on her rattan recliner.
Cherri swam to the edge of the pool, leaning on the concrete lip with a devious grin as she watched Vaggie. “Hey guys? Remember the time Alastor actually fell asleep in the middle of one of our activities and Angel drew a mustache on his face?”
That may explain why he always seems hyper-vigilant around the group.
“Could’ve been worse.” Angel swam toward the edge of the pool, popping out of the water at the edge nearest where Alastor reclined. “Could’ve been dicks.” He shook his head, spraying water everywhere.
“Watch it,” Alastor snapped. “You almost got me wet.”
Grace made her way over to Angel Dust, leaning against the edge of the pool and gazing at Alastor. “What are you, a gremlin or something? The Wicked Witch of the West?”
“You read that story?” Alastor replied in surprise.
“No,” Grace said slowly. “I watched the movie. Who didn’t?”
“There was a movie?”
“Oh for fucks sake, you two!” Kofax groaned. “Stop being so damn weird with your age difference!”
Grace shot Kofax eye-daggers even if, one, she wasn’t looking, and two, she wouldn’t have been able to see that with Grace’s sunglasses even if she had been looking. Be cool. Be normal. Everything’s fine. “It’s not an age difference, it’s an era difference,” she said through clenched teeth.
“Grace, if you’re gonna insist on flirting awkwardly with Al, just splash him already,” Cherri yelled.
Alastor’s eyebrows leapt skyward, addressing the group as a whole. At least, that’s what Grace thought as his eyes darted around them. “You wouldn’t really splash a demon wearing a monocle would you?”
Nothing’s weird. “Totally would,” Grace chirped. It’s not like he made a deal for my soul or anything. She put as much force behind her motion across the surface of the water to ensure the splash reached Alastor. “And did.”
“Hey!” Niffty cried, jumping to her feet; she’d taken the bulk of the splash.
The water didn’t quite reach Alastor’s head, much to Grace’s disappointment.
“Oops! Sorry, Niff!” Grace said, covering her mouth to stifle a giggle.
Alastor growled, his eyes narrowing on Grace.
“What?” Grace asked with feigned innocence. “You looked … hot.”
“Okay, you know what? That groaner deserves some retaliation.” Cherri said with a purposeful look at Angel Dust.
Before Grace could stop him, Angel grabbed the tie at the back of Grace’s bikini top and yanked. The next thing she knew, she was bare-breasted in the pool and Angel Dust had tossed the top at Niffty.
Grace slapped her arm across her chest. “What the fuck! Give that back!”
“Bad pick-up lines are punishable by games of keep-away!” Cherri said through her laughter.
“I dunno what you’re so upset about,” Angel Dust commented as he placed a gentle hand on Grace’s shoulder. “They’re nice!”
Grace glanced at Alastor.
He looked on as if he didn’t see what Angel Dust did. Or what Valentino did. Dammit. She really hadn’t wanted to cry over Alastor that day.
Her cheeks heated up; if she weren’t trying to keep the sunglasses on—and dry—she’d have ducked her head into the water.
“You could totally be the next Tiffany T—”
“Don’t you dare!” Grace snapped. “Don’t you dare say it! Take that back!”
“O … kay? Your boobs are small, sad, and saggy?”
“You and I both know none of that’s true. My knockers are flawless.” Shame Alastor was completely uninterested in such things. “I meant don’t you dare compare me to her.” She heaved a heavy sigh, realizing she was taking out her frustration with Alastor on Angel Dust. “I’m sorry.”
“Here.” Angel Dust removed his swimsuit top and handed it to Grace with a tentative smile. “I, uh … I don’t think you’ll be getting yours back anytime soon.” He nodded toward Niffty.
While Grace secured her borrowed top, she glanced at Niffty, who had put Grace’s bikini top on her head, sporting it like a pair of teddy bear ears. “I suppose that’s one way to wear it!”
Alastor looked —
he looked annoyed.
“Y’know, it never ceases to amaze me how similar high school was to Hell,” Grace said, taking a seat on the pool’s steps. “Next, I’ll be having nightmares where I can’t find my locker, finally get to it but can’t remember the combination for the lock, and then I get to my class only to realize it’s a Calculus final and I haven’t attended a single session all year.”
Kofax poked her head up from her laptop. “That is truly evil!”
“Yeah, well …” Grace glanced at Alastor. Never-gonna-be-able-to-get-what-I-want-most-from-him-Alastor. “That’s my subconscious for ya.”
And Grace knew that she and her subconscious belonged exactly where they’d ended up.
Stay sane, deer friends!
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