Temping Is Hell by Cathy Yardley Read Free Book Online

to cut him loose too early.”
    “He’s that convinced I’m going to screw him over once the names are found?” Thomas asked, shaking his head. “I’ll just sign a contract saying he can stay in the Havens indefinitely, if that’s the case.”
    “No,” Yagi said quickly. “You don’t want to give him that kind of power, that kind of protection. You can’t be linked to him. You’re trying to extricate yourself from a bad situation, not saddle yourself with a worse one.”
    Thomas leaned against the desk. “Al looks like a really old peanut of a man. All he’s asking for is sanctuary from the guys he’s screwed over—guys like Cyril, I imagine. What do you know that I don’t about this guy?”
    Yagi pulled his lips into a tight line. “He’s a demon. Rogue, like his workers, but more powerful because he’s able to create his own construct here.”
    “What?” Thomas turned. “You told me he was a consultant. One you trusted.”
    “I didn’t say I trusted him. I said he could get us what we needed. And he has. But I would never say to trust him.”
    Thomas ran his fingers through his hair, rubbing his scalp distractedly. This was bad. This was really, really bad. “If he’s so dangerous, why is he so afraid?”
    “Because he shifted himself here, he’s very frail—he couldn’t construct a warrior body, as most people who conjure up demon forms do. That’s why he looks like a peanut. If he shifts out or tries to rebuild the construct, he’ll be immediately returned to Hell.”
    Thomas frowned, feeling a headache brewing as he tried to remember all the metaphysical mumbo-jumbo he’d studied up on. “If he’s powerful, why isn’t he a demon lord himself?”
    “I’m guessing he’s working on that,” Yagi said grimly. “If he goes back to Hell, he’ll be hunted by every demon lord who wants him on his team. The fact that Al has made it rogue for this long says he’s very smart. The fact that he’s here at all says he’s powerful. Don’t ever underestimate him. And don’t promise him indefinite sanctuary. Unless, of course, you’re comfortable with a prospective demon lord using your condos as home base for his power-building.”
    “Wonderful,” Thomas said, grim himself. “And he was our best option.”
    “The scanner idea could still work, however,” Yagi mused.
    “Oh? How?”
    “Use disposable people,” Yagi said contemplatively. “People that no one would miss. They will inevitably die from the attempts at possession and the insanity that constant contact with full demon script would cause. But we could move through them fairly quickly.”
    “No,” Thomas said. “What the hell is a ‘disposable person,’ anyway?”
    “Don’t play dumb,” Yagi chided. “It’s not ideal, by any stretch, but we need to be practical. You’ve hired me to regain your soul, and we’ve got one year.”
    “There’s another way. We just haven’t looked for it yet.”
    Yagi tapped his lower lip with his fingertips. “Your workers wouldn’t get possessed if their souls were signed…”
    “No,” Thomas snarled, then forced himself to back down from his knee-jerk revulsion. “I’m not signing anybody.”
    “It’d be temporary,” Yagi said, his deceptively calm voice at odds with the brightness of his eyes. “Once your soul reverts, so would the souls of anyone you had signed. It would be—”
    “I said no.” Thomas grimaced. “You set me up with that ‘disposable people’ crack, didn’t you? Trying to sell me on signing a team?”
    Yagi didn’t try to deny it. “If you had a pool of souls to draw from, you’d be stronger,” he said bluntly.
    “Yeah, and so would the guy who signed me, remember?”
    “He’s strong already. A few more souls will be negligible to him,” Yagi pointed out. “But it could be a game-changer for you.”
    “Not a chance.” Thomas gritted his teeth.
    I don’t care about risking myself. But I’m not dragging anybody else into this. I’m