Seduction

“Hm?” she said, turning back to her ledger. “Oh, I
can claim Davriel’s soul once I manage to seduce him.”
Tacenda felt a spike of surprise, then blushed furi-
ously. She clutched her viol, then looked from Davriel to
Miss Highwater. Neither seemed the least bit bothered
by the idea.
“He’s quite stubborn,” Miss Highwater continued.
“I assumed I’d have his soul in under a day. Yet here I
am, four years later. Doing his ledgers.”
“Perhaps I just don’t like women,” Davriel said
lightly.
“Please. You think I’m that oblivious?” She stabbed
her ledger with a particularly sharp punctuation mark,
then looked up. “You are something else entirely.”
“Have you considered that perhaps you just aren’t
as attractive as you’ve always assumed?” Davriel said.
“I’ve claimed plenty of souls using this exact contrac-
tual stipulation. Both men and women.”
“And it was so kind of them to take pity on you,”
Davriel said. “Really, they should be congratulated for
bolstering your self-esteem by seeing the true beauty
inside of you. Commendable people, every one.”
Miss Highwater sighed, glancing at Tacenda. “You
see what I have to put up with?”

Chapter 8