All Chapters of I Made a Deal With the Devil: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

The night before we left, Julian did something unheard of and filled the tank of that Mercedes G550, even tossing the spare fuel cans into the back. I stood at the floor-to-ceiling window in the living room, looking down toward the garage. Maine's early-spring wind still carried a bite of ice, and it set the bare branches of the old oak outside creaking.I turned to go get him the heavy Barbour jacket from the study. The wind on the northern coast could cut to the bone, and he never took it seriously.The jacket was draped over the back of his desk chair. I had just picked it up when his phone lit up on the desk.A calendar reminder popped onto the screen, black on white, like a small verdict."April 12, 8 p.m. Vivienne Cole, private dinner. The Danforth."Today was April 5. Seven days round trip, and he had it timed to the minute. We would be back on the seventh day, just in time for Vivienne's private dinner the night of the twelfth. So that was why he was willing to take this trip w

We checked into an old log-cabin inn near Acadia. Julian booked two rooms.In my room, I opened my suitcase to get my pajamas. His silver case was propped in the corner, the zipper not fully closed, a corner of pale-pink silk showing through. Vivienne's scarf. I looked at that scrap of silk for two seconds, then zipped my own case shut.In the middle of the night, a phone rang.Not mine. Julian's phone was on my nightstand. That afternoon he'd tossed it onto the passenger seat, and when I grabbed my coat I'd swept it into my pocket and forgotten to give it back.The screen lit up, and a face popped onto it.Vivienne Cole.Eleven at night, and his lover was video-calling, while his phone sat by my pillow.I didn't answer. A voicemail came through. I pressed play."Julian." Vivienne's voice was thick with tears. "Can you come back for a bit? Oreo hasn't eaten or had any water since this afternoon, just keeps crying. I'm so scared. Do you think she misses you? You know she only listens to

By evening, we reached the lighthouse town on the northern coast.The town was small. One main street, two rows of wooden houses, the church steeple pricking the low-hanging clouds. The air smelled of seawater, diesel, and fried clams.Julian parked in front of a nautical-themed inn. The exterior was painted deep blue, the shutters white. The landlady was a plump woman in her fifties, and she kept looking at the two of us while we checked in."One room or two?" she asked.Julian glanced at me. "Two."She slid two brass keys across the counter.I took one and went upstairs. The room was on the second floor, the window facing the harbor. The harbor lighthouse stood right across the bay, white tower, red top, like a silent sentinel in the dusk.I sat in the window and felt no urge to sleep.I thought of the moment I had woken at the bottom of the cliff seven days ago. Gravel digging into my back, the blizzard already stopped, the moon emerging from behind the clouds. Then I had heard that

The seventh day. Dawn, the sky not yet fully light. The seven days the Devil gave me would end today.Julian parked before a stone-walled courtyard gate across from the lighthouse. Above the gate hung a hand-painted wooden sign. "Sea Burial."I didn't get out. From the moment I woke that morning, my body had begun to grow heavy, a draining that seeped out from the marrow, like an hourglass.Julian cut the engine and turned to look at me."You look terrible," he said.I opened my mouth, my voice very faint. "Take that bag... give it to the old man."He didn't catch it and leaned in closer. The back of his hand brushed my forehead, and he paused."You're so cold."He looked at me, then pushed the door open and got out.I leaned against the seat, turned my head, and watched his back through the window. He went around to the rear, opened the trunk, and lifted out the army-green bag. He hefted it, and his motion stalled for a moment. He must have thought again that it was lighter than it lo

Julian didn't drive back to the inn. He didn't know where he was going. He only knew he couldn't sign.He drove for about twenty minutes and pulled into a roadside rest area. He picked up his phone and dialed a number.It rang three times and connected."Henry." Julian's voice was rushed. "I need to ask you something. Three days ago, the morning I left for the north, did you see Eleanor?"The other end was silent for a few seconds."Sir, that morning, you went out alone. I did wonder why Madam wasn't with you."The hand holding the phone began to shake."Are you sure?""I'm sure. You carried the luggage to the car yourself. Madam," Henry's voice turned hesitant, "wasn't Madam upstairs?"Julian hung up.He didn't believe it. He drove back to the nautical-themed inn. It was full daylight now, and the landlady was watering the plants on the porch.Julian got out and left the engine running."Ma'am." He walked over. "The night before last, my wife and I stayed here. You took a photo of the