All Chapters of The Devil’s Contract: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Chapter ElevenEvelyn“Hello?”Nothing.I pressed the phone harder against my ear.“Hello?”Static.Then breathing.My hand started to shake.Lucian crossed the hallway toward me.I held up a hand.Stay back.For once, he listened.“Dad?”The word came out before I could stop it.Silence.Of course it wasn’t him.Thomas Bennett had been dead for seven years.I’d seen his grave.I’d watched my mother place flowers on it every year.I’d just watched a video he’d recorded before he died.Lucian had watched him die.This wasn’t my father.But the number was.“Dad?”A sound came through the phone.Then—“Evie.”My knees gave out.Lucian caught me before I hit the stairs.“No.”I grabbed the railing.His arm stayed around my waist.I didn’t tell him to move it.“Evie, can you hear me?”I couldn’t breathe.That voice.Older.Rougher.But—No.No.I knew my father’s voice.I knew the way he said my name.I knew the tiny pause before the second syllable when he was worried.I knew his laugh.H

Chapter ThirteenEvelyn“Grand Central.”Andrew nodded.“Grand Central.”I looked at the clock.11:47 p.m.“Let’s go.”“No.”I turned toward Lucian.“I wasn’t asking.”“I know.”“Then why are you answering?”“Because you’re not going to Grand Central at midnight after someone planted a microphone on your phone.”“Technically, the microphone was under my phone.”Lucian stared at me.“That’s the distinction you’re making?”“I’m tired.”“Exactly.”Andrew stood.“He’s right.”I looked at him.“Oh, absolutely not.”His eyebrows lifted.“You don’t get to appear from the dead, refuse to tell me who my biological father is, announce that the answer is sitting underneath a train station, and then tell me to go to bed.”“I didn’t tell you to go to bed.”“You were going to.”“I was going to suggest we wait until morning.”“Same thing.”Martin leaned against the doorway.“She’s not going to wait.”“Thank you.”“That wasn’t support.”“I’ll take it.”Lucian rubbed a hand over his jaw.“We need time

CHAPTER FIFTEENEVELYNLucian stared at the photograph.So did I.There was no mistaking us.His hand at my waist.Mine twisted into the front of his shirt.My face tilted toward his.His mouth on mine.A moment that had belonged to us for approximately sixty seconds before Victor turned it into a threat.Now I know what he has to lose.Lucian's hand tightened around mine."Daniel.""I know."Daniel was already working on the replacement phone.Andrew leaned over the front seat."When was it taken?""Less than two minutes ago.""From where?"Daniel enlarged the photograph.The angle was high.Across the street.Maybe a second-story window.Lucian looked through the tinted glass."Keep moving."The SUV pulled away.Two security vehicles followed.I looked at the picture again."Delete it."Lucian took the phone from Daniel."No.""Why?""Evidence.""Of my terrible judgment?"His eyes lifted to mine."Is that what you think it was?"I regretted the joke immediately."That's not what I m

CHAPTER SEVENTEENEVELYNThe drive to Westchester took forty-three minutes.I knew because I counted every one of them.Not intentionally.My brain had simply decided that if it kept track of something ordinary, like minutes, it wouldn't have to think about the fact that we were driving toward a property owned by Blackthorn.Or that Martin's phone had somehow appeared there.Or that March 17, 1983 was apparently the day Blackthorn recruited my biological father to protect Lucian's mother.Or that Lucian and I had kissed again less than twenty minutes ago.That last one was especially inconvenient.I looked out the window.Lucian sat beside me.Close enough that our knees occasionally touched whenever the SUV turned.Neither of us acknowledged it.Daniel drove.Andrew sat in the front passenger seat staring at the dark road ahead.A second security vehicle followed behind us.Three more men were already heading to the property from another direction.Lucian had wanted six.I had asked

CHAPTER NINETEENEVELYN"Catherine."Victor said Lucian's mother's name like it was nothing.Like he hadn't just accused her of murdering my biological father.Lucian didn't move.Neither did I.The speaker crackled above us.Finally, I found my voice."You're lying."Victor laughed softly."I wondered which of you would say it first."Lucian stepped toward the speaker."My mother killed Gabriel?""Yes.""Why?""Ask Helena."Every head turned.Helena went still.That was enough.My stomach dropped."You knew?""No."It came too quickly.Lucian heard it too."Careful."Helena's eyes narrowed."Don't threaten me in my own archive.""Then answer her."I stared at Helena."Did Catherine kill my father?""I don't know."I laughed.Not because it was funny.Because apparently that sentence was contagious.Victor's voice filled the room."She's protecting Catherine."Helena looked toward the speaker."And you're manipulating her.""Both can be true."I hated that he was right."Victor."He w