“You’re looking beautiful, sunshine,” my father tells me when I walk into the kitchen. Of course, Pistol is by my side. If Skull had any idea, the man would be dead—and he really needs to be. I thought about bringing a gun with me and doing the job myself. I didn’t, though. One thing stopped me: he told me Katie was alive.

“Please cut the crap,” I say tiredly. “I’ve cried all night and morning. You caused those tears and I look like hell. I’m here because I don’t have a choice and we both know that. You didn’t give me a choice.”

“Elizabeth—”

“I want to know about Katie. You said she was alive. Where is she? Does she know what a bastard our father is? Why hasn’t she ever reached out to me?”

“You need to watch yourself, Elizabeth.”

“You have five minutes and then I’m walking out of here. All thoughts of a bargain is off the table.”

“What makes you think I would let you walk away?”

When he asks that question, I finally see the mask he’s been trying to wear slip. There’s an evil, cold bastard lurking under his attempts to try and be my father. Suddenly, I worry about the life my sister endured. It never occurred to me that I might have gotten the better deal.

“If you don’t let me go, your plan fails. Skull will know that you took me, and he will move both Heaven and Earth to get me back again, because that’s what you do when you love and care for someone, father. You put them above anything—especially yourself.”

“Is that what you think your boyfriend is doing?”

“I know it is. It’s also the only reason I’m here. I love two people in this world, Skull and my sister, so stop pulling your punches. I want proof Katie is alive. Then, I want to know flat-out what you expect in exchange for leaving Skull and his men alone.”

“It’s a pity I didn’t choose you, Elizabeth. I see myself in you. You could have ruled alongside me. Your sister never had a head for business. She keeps her thoughts consumed with animals and that damn farm she owns. I blame Isabel’s genes for that failing.”

My sister owns a farm?

“Your time’s running out,” I tell him. I’m trying to copy Skull; I’ve seen him when he’s ordering his crew around. I do, however, sit down at a stool in the corner because my legs are weak and if they give out on me, there’s no amount of acting in the world that will bluff me out of that. Then the Devil will know he has me. That’s who he is to me now: the Devil. I apparently never had a father. I was just the spawn of Satan. The truth of that hurts me. Then again, my disappointment in my parents is something that’s lasted a long time.

“Your boyfriend is getting ready to attack tomorrow. He will take out several things I hold dear. I’m letting that pass because of you—”

“Naturally,” I interrupt him, unable to contain my sarcasm. It gets me another look from the Devil and another piece of his mask slipping. I don’t know why I find joy in that, but I do.

“I know the time of the attacks and where they’ve planted the charges. I even have the codes and where the cameras and video feeds are. So, you see, I am truly the one in charge here.”

“Let me guess how you would have gotten all that information.” I look over at Pistol and he has the gall to look satisfied with himself. “I really hope I get to see Skull kill you someday,” I tell him directly. “It couldn’t happen to a nicer snake.”

He makes a step towards me, but Satan calls him off. At least I wiped that look off of Pistol’s face. Score one for me, even if it was a small one.

“So, you have all the info. What does that have to do with me?”

“We have the feed at the yacht spliced. I’m going to have it appear that when Skull blows up the yacht, he does so with you onboard.”

The glee in his eyes chills me. He’s such a cold and evil man. How can he be the same man who used to rock me to sleep and tell me bedtime stories? How did this happen?

“So you’re killing me,” I mutter in a monotone. I don’t really have emotion about it. Without Skull, I already feel dead. How hard would life be to live without him? I can’t do it.

“No, sunshine. I just need for your boyfriend and Colin to believe I have, then there’s no more leverage against me, no weaknesses.”

“I don’t get it. Why not just kill me for real and eliminate these ‘weaknesses’ as you put it?”

He looks disappointed in me, not bothering to answer my question. Instead, he looks at me and asks the one thing I’m not ready to answer.

“Do we have a deal?”

“What about Katie? I want to see Katie.”

“When it is safe, I will take you to see her.”

“Safe? What does that mean?”

“I have plans for you, Elizabeth. Katie is my insurance plan. First, you need to walk the line.”

With that, another piece of the Devil’s mask slips. The thought of what plans he could possibly have for me scares the hell out of me. I swallow it down. One thing at a time.

“How do I know that if I agree to this you won’t kill Skull anyway?”

“Killing Skull won’t accomplish anything. He’s just a nuisance—inconsequential at best. It’s the bigger picture I’m trying to secure, for you, for Katie, and for myself.”

Call me crazy, but I don’t want to know what the bigger picture is. I’m afraid of the bigger picture; it’s all I can do to keep my thoughts on this one. I’ve still not decided. Skull asked me to believe in him, and I do.

I take a deep breath and prepare to turn the Devil down, telling him to go back to Hell where he belongs, when he surprises me.

“You’re indecisive. I thought that would be the case. Truly, you are a lot like me, sunshine. Always weighing your options. It’s very smart. Perhaps I have something that will make you decide.”

A cold chill runs through me at his statement. “What’s that?”

“Pistol. It’s time.”

I watch as Pistol walks away to a small supply closet. He reaches inside the closet and, when he turns back around, my stomach clenches, my body quakes with fear, and a cold sweat breaks out over me.

Pistol drags Katie toward me. She’s changed since I saw her last, that’s true. She’s got the same hair as I do, the same eyes, and the same tears—because we’re both crying. Her shirt is torn and smudged with dirt, her hair knotted up, her face bruised, and her pants torn.

I look back at the Devil like he’s lost his mind. “How can you do this to your own daughter?” It’s a stupid question. After all, what he’s doing to me doesn’t exactly nominate him for father of the year either.

“Someday, I will answer your questions, sunshine. For now, all I need is your answer. Yes or no?”

He reaches out his hand. I look at him, then back at my sister. Then, I do it. I strike a deal with the Devil. All I had to promise him was my soul.