Deal with the Devil - E.D.

VII

Ethan gnawed on the inside of his cheek as the whip hit his arm, feeling the skin burn. He hoped that would be the only hit.

"You've got one more week, Ethan. One more week to fix your mistake, get rid of the mortal, and squeeze information out of that angel," Dagon shouted, stepping closer to grab Ethan's throat. He coughed, trying not to squirm. "If you don't have news in a week, you're done. I'm done with you."

He tossed Ethan's body to the ground, watching him skid across the floor into the wall. Ethan didn't stand up.

"...you want me to kill her?"

"I want you to do something. After this week, she's gone. Whatever you do I don't need to know. And if you don't fix all of this, you're gone." His boss left right after.

Ethan slowly stood, taking a second to catch his breath.

His arm was throbbing, and his head was spinning. One week? It seemed too soon.

Eden didn't really know how urgent this thing was. Or that she wasn't going to be seeing him again once the week was up.

And because she didn't know, she wasn't even going to see him for the next two days. She'd said she was busy and would call him over when she was free.

Ethan was going to use the next two days to torture the hell out of some angels.

He still didn't know how he was going to fix the mistake of helping Eden without making a deal, but he'd figure that out later. What kind of deal could he have given her?

It didn't matter right now, what mattered was blowing off some steam with torture.

His arm still burning, flesh around the wound partially melted, he narrowed his eyes and approached the iron door.

—

A couple days later, Eden still hadn't called. So Ethan took it upon himself to show up at her apartment—after making sure Daphne wasn't home.

Of course, neither was Eden, so he just sat in her bed and stared at the ceiling.

"What the—"

Eden jumped as she entered her bedroom, seeing Ethan lying there. He smiled as he stood up to greet her.

"I was at work, Ethan. I was going to call for you when I got home," she rolled her eyes.

He just shrugged and gently kissed her, groaning when she pulled away after only a couple of seconds.

Eden furrowed her eyebrows and grabbed his arm. It still wasn't healed.

He just pulled it out of her grasp and walked out of the room, ignoring her calls. She had to chase him and grab it for him to acknowledge her.

"It's not a big deal, Eden," he shook his head, but gasped as her fingertips grazed the wound.

"What happened this time?" She frowned.

He obviously didn't want to talk about it. But she didn't really care.

"Just got some pressure put on me the other day. No big deal, I can handle it." Ethan told her, pulling her into his arms. But she glared up at him, waiting for a real answer. "Alright, fine. You wanna know?"

Eden scoffed, but pressed him to continue.

He paced, running his hands through his hair and tugging on his own horns. This was a lot to tell someone, especially a mortal.

And he was already two days into his seven day limit. No progress anywhere.

Ethan wasn't one to worry much, being a demon and all, but impending death and losing someone you've come to care about can do that to anyone.