"It hurts, just to pretend. But the devil fell, and so have I."

- Turnpike Troubadours

                                                                                  ***

Galloway pulled to the edge of the road, sliding into the thin screen of trees on the side of the hill. She killed the engine, then slumped back into her seat. The tiny rural town spread out below them, lights shining brightly to ward off the darkness. The door creaked as Sirius opened it.

He didn't shut it, and she turned to find him still sitting in the car, his hand on the door, one foot on the ground. He was looking down, his chest expanding slowly as he breathed in. 

"Is she alone?" Galloway asked, voice toneless and professional.

Sirius turned his head to the side, the movement small as he watched her from the corner of his eye. Carefully, he said, "Smells like it. But I'm also getting a lot of interference."

She raised an eyebrow, reluctant to engage in any further conversation. 

Sirius scowled. "Smells like goats or sheep or something woolly."

Dryly, she said, "Well, I don't think they're going to cause any problems with the collection unless you have a sudden, irresistible urge to play the Big Bad Wolf and eat all the little sheep." She pulled out her phone and tapped the screen. "You've got three hours."

His mouth skewed to the side, but she looked away as soon as he opened it, and he sighed. Finally, he got out, closing the door gently behind him. Wind rattled the branches, and his breath steamed in the chilly air. "Are you watching?"

She shook her head. "I need to call Logan."

Sirius melted into the shadows around them without another word, the sound of paws thudding over dead grass fading swiftly away. With a sigh, she leaned forward, resting her head on the steering wheel. Winter air was sharp in her nose, but she didn't bother rolling up the window.

The last two days had been some of the worst since she'd met him. And she couldn't decide if it was his fault, or if it was hers.

Swallowing against the lump in her throat, she dialed Logan's number, flopping back into her seat. It rang five times before he finally answered, sounding breathless. "Galloway?"

She peered out the window to find clouds attempting to roll over the star blanketed sky and started to shiver. "So does Rhys have any other thoughts about what can leave a mark on my Soul?"

"You know, Rhys isn't the only one working here." Logan huffed, then loudly said, "Turns out Caleb and I are doing all the running around while he sits on his lazy ass."

Pulling the phone away from her ear, she waited until he was done shouting, then said, "I'm guessing that was for your brother's benefit more than mine?"

A muffled laugh and what sounded like swearing answered her question before Logan did. "Seriously though, he's such a dictator when it comes to stuff like this."

"So any luck?" she asked, not very hopeful.

Logan sighed heavily. "Even pooling our resources we can't find anything reliable enough to give us an answer. Hold on."

She waited while Logan listened to something on his end. 

"Caleb wants to know what the things were that the Hound said would leave a mark again," he finally said.

Briefly she wondered why it was so impossible for them to say Sirius' name, then wondered why she was wondering. She could barely stand to say his name at the moment. "Didn't you write them down the first time I told you?" she said with a groan.

"Nope," Logan answered candidly.

"Why?" She stifled a yawn.

"'Cause we didn't know how reliable it was," Caleb's voice said, and she realized Logan had put her on speaker.

Galloway rubbed at her temple and opened her mouth to snap at them, then gave it up as a losing battle. Getting out of the car, she put the phone on the roof, hitting the speaker button as she dug her jacket out of the backseat. "Um, killing a family member."

"Well that's not going to be a problem," Rhys chimed in. "Not for you at least. So we can check that off the list."

"Caleb, throw something at him for me," Galloway said. She waited as there was a dull thud, then a laugh from Rhys.

"Ha, missed."

"Doesn't count when you can just shazzam your ass out of the way," Caleb said. Then, "Okay, next?"

Galloway tugged her jacket on, rolling her shoulders. She turned the speaker off in favor of holding the phone to her ear and paced deeper into the trees. "Breaking an oath."

"What kind of oath?" Logan asked. "Blood oath, oath made under an eclipse, oath blessed by a priest, pinkie promise?"

"Does it matter?" Caleb inquired. "Pinkie promise?"

"It might," Galloway said. 

"Of course it matters, idiot," Rhys snapped at the same time.

Caleb sighed. "You might find yourself with one less witch by the time you get home, Galloway," he muttered.

She thought she heard that particular witch say something back, but was distracted by a nearby rustling in the trees. Taking the phone away from her ear, she looked in the direction of the noise but couldn't see anything. A chill crawled up her spine and she took a step backwards.

"Galloway!" Logan's voice made her start, and she put the phone to her ear again.

"Yeah?" she breathed. An unpleasant prickling sensation skittered over her skin, raising the hair on her neck.

"Anything else?" he asked.

Quickly, she said, "Betraying someone who trusts you or killing an innocent. Those are all he could think of."

"Rhys?" Logan asked. "Any of those square with what happened to you?"

Galloway was only half-paying attention as the shadows around her shifted. The blackness seemed to move, twisting like snakes underwater.

"Why pretend like you don't know which of those I did, Logan?" Rhys said bitterly.

"I wouldn't call what happened a betrayal, Rhysland." Logan's voice was soft. "Stupidity, sure, but not betrayal."

After a moment of silence, Caleb asked, "Anyone care to read me in here?"

"No!" Rhys snapped at the same time that Logan promised, "Later."

"Logan, I—," Galloway started, just to stop, turning quickly to the right as a faint growl slithered in her direction. The darkness under the trees thickened, moving unnaturally.

"Is something wrong?" Caleb asked, astutely picking up on the change in her tone.

"Hold that thought," she gasped, lunging through the open window of the car to yank her gun free from where it was tucked in next to her seat. The phone fell into the passenger seat as she whirled around, gun cocked.

Sirius twisted to the side, away from where the muzzle was pointed. Her breath rushed out and her heart beat frantically in her chest. 

He ducked, hands raising. "Jesus, whoa, don't shoot."

Slowly, with a harsh breath, she lowered the gun. "Sirius?" she hissed.

"Who else would it be?" His eyes narrowed in irritation.

"I..." She trailed off, looking around him to the patch of darkness that had been wrong. When she didn't see it, she walked around him to the trees. She pulled a small flashlight out of her pocket and clicked it on, sweeping the thin beam back and forth over the undisturbed leaves.

"Galloway?" Sirius asked, making her jump and turn back to him. His eyebrows were furrowed in concern now. "Are you okay?"

She shook herself, biting into her lip. "I... It felt like something was watching me." Looking up at him uncertainly, she said, "That wasn't... Did you just get back?"

Sirius went over to where she had been looking.

"I thought I heard something growl at me," she said softly, wrapping her arms around herself to fight off another shiver.

He tilted his head in acknowledgement then shifted, darkness wrapping eagerly around him. After a moment, he shook himself free of the blackness and paced over to the trees, nose to the ground, large ears swiveling back and forth. 

After watching him for a second, she realized that a distant voice was calling her name. She frowned, then remembered that she'd dropped the phone and scrambled over to the car, snatching it up. "Sorry!"

There was a clamor as they all asked questions or berated her. 

"I thought something was watching me."

They all fell silent, then Caleb said, "Sulfur?"

Galloway inhaled deeply, but couldn't smell anything. She whistled softly, making Sirius look up, and asked the same question. He shook his head before turning back to his examination. 

"I can't smell any and neither can Sirius," she answered.

"He's with you?" Rhys asked.

She bit her lip, understanding the question under the question. "Yeah. He's looking around."

"EMF?" was Caleb's next question, and she told him to wait as she dug into the trunk of her car.

Before she could find a meter though, Sirius said, "No ghosts. No nothing. Are you sure you heard something?"

She stared at him, blinking slowly. "No ghosts, Caleb," she said. "It might have just been a raccoon or possum or something."

The Hunter scoffed as Logan said, "But he's with you now? It wasn't him doing the watching?"

"Yeah," she almost whispered, still looking at Sirius. "Don't think so."

"Okay." Logan sighed. "Well, for safety's sake, why don't you get the hell out of wherever you are. Let us know if you can get home anytime soon."

"Sure thing," she said numbly as Sirius continued to look around. She heard the click as he hung up, then did the same, shoving the phone into her pocket.

"You really didn't smell anything?" she asked tentatively, and he dragged his gaze back to her.

He shook his head. "Not a possum."

Biting her lip, she said, "I swear I heard something. It just... Something was watching me."

He pressed his mouth into a thin line, looking around one more time. "Well, there's nothing here now. And I mean, it doesn't smell completely right, but there's not enough here to call it wrong, either."

"Well, what does that mean?" she asked, voice getting a little shrill.

Sirius shook his head, wincing. Rubbing at his ear, he said, "It smells like there was something there. I just can't tell you what it is."

She shuddered again, not caring to hang around to find out about anything that even Sirius couldn't identify. "Can you drive while I call Theron?" she asked, tugging her jacket tighter around her. 

He blinked twice before holding his hand up. She tossed him the keys and slid into the car, once more pulling her phone out. Sirius started the car, backing onto the road with care as she dialed the demon. She leaned against the door after rolling up the window, waiting for him to answer.

It rang for an interminably long time until finally, there was a small click as he picked up.

"The collection in Arkansas is done. Are we headed anywhere else?" Galloway asked, her eyes on the rearview mirror, watching as the creepy trees disappeared behind a bend in the road.

Theron sighed, and she waited as he shuffled through some papers. She made a conscious effort to stop chewing on her lip, sure she was going to end up wearing a hole through it at any moment. Sirius' claws tapped against the gearshift, and her eyes wandered up to find a small spot of blood at the corner of his mouth.

She reached out to him with her mind, surprised by how violently he recoiled before his consciousness relaxed and he let her say, Nothing crazy happened, right?

He rolled his eyes. I'll be smelling sheep for a week, but no. Nothing crazy. She begged a little, but I wasn't interested.

She jumped when Theron said, "No. You're not slated for anything until early next week."

"It's Friday, Theron," she responded dryly. "Early next week like Monday? Or like I might as well leave now because you're going to expect me to be halfway across the country by Wednesday?"

Theron made a sound of annoyance, then snapped, "If that were the case I would have just sent you. You seem to have trouble grasping the fact that Hell does not revolve around you." Her lips parted, but before she could say anything, he said, "Nor does it find you particularly useful as you are now. Don't bother me again. When you're needed, you'll be called."

The click as he hung up seemed abnormally loud. She shook her head before hiding the phone away in the glovebox. 

"You think he meant to say that?" Sirius asked, glancing at her.

"I don't think Theron does anything by accident," she replied, rubbing at her temples. "Which means...he either knows that I know—"

"Or he doesn't care that you know," Sirius finished for her, frowning. He squinted as they passed someone who refused to turn their brights off, then looked at her once the darkness had been restored.

Pursing her lips, she said, "The other guys have no clue what to make of the branded Soul thing. They can't really find any information on it."

"I don't know if they will." Sirius rubbed absently at the corner of his mouth, scrubbing away a spot of rusty blood. "I know it's something that can happen, I'm just not sure it's ever been documented since humans can't see Souls. I've seen some with brands on them, though, it's not very common anymore."

"Anymore?" Galloway echoed.

"They were more common back when god mostly started with a little 'g' and was a way to explain nature," he said. "If someone pledged themselves to a god, their Soul would be marked with that god's insignia."

"Then how did they end up in our Hell?" she asked.

Sirius laughed. "Oh, Christ, sweetheart. Hell's been around since the big bang. Heaven didn't used to have such a loose border policy back in the day and anyone who didn't toe the line—whatever that line was at the time or place—got a one-way trip south. Called it Hades or whatever. Same place, different aesthetic depending on your beliefs."

He passed a Honda. "It doesn't have anything to do with God. He created everything, then sat back for a couple thousand years watching it all play out before He decided to step back in. But they still needed a place to put the bad ones."

She sat in silence for a moment, digesting that, then scoffed. "You aren't that old."

He smirked. "I just aged with grace." Galloway shook her head and he relented. "No. But we do have history classes. Like I said, I've seen Souls with brands on them, some with stains. Story's still the same."

"The question is which of those is most likely to be the bear trap I step in?" she pondered, speaking mostly to herself.

"So we're talking again?" he asked randomly, making her spine stiffen.

She sighed, drumming her fingers against her thigh. "You said you'd help me keep Hell off my back. That's what we're talking about, Sirius. Unless you have a burning desire to say something else?"

He looked to the window, checking the side mirror. "You know everything I said was the truth. I was just beating you to the punch."

"That's what you thought I was gonna say?" she asked, fingers curling into a fist.

"It's what you always say. I just thought it was my turn to be the bad guy. And like I said," he sighed, "nothing was untrue."

Her eyebrows pulled together, her lips tugging into a tight frown. The dark pressed in against the windows. "What do you really think of me?"

He choked on an unamused laugh. "I am not having this touchy, feely moment. No."

"Please," she hissed with disgust. "Don't be dramatic. Just answer the question."

Sirius looked at her, his expression flinty before it mellowed into plain frustration. "I think you're the most dangerous fucking thing I've ever met. I think you have an extreme talent for stripping away every shred of self-control I manage to scrape together, and you do it without even realizing it. I think I used to be good at lying and hiding what I really wanted or thought."

"I think you should stop the car," she said abruptly.

He went faster. "I think that's a terrible idea."

"For who?" she demanded. She was done putting up with this. Things had changed and she needed to know where he stood.

"You. Me. The world. All of it," he said through clenched teeth. "Hell needs a stain on that pretty Soul of yours, and I've never been able to touch anything without tainting it."

Now she laughed. Shaking her head, she said, "God, why are you all so...so freaking hung up on yourselves? Pull the damn car over!"

She screeched the last words on purpose, making Sirius release the wheel to cover his ears. She grabbed it and guided the car to the side, forcing him to slow the car down. Dust puffed up behind them as she slid the car to a stop on a wide, gravelly shoulder.

Sirius shoved the door open, shooting out of the car. She took a moment to bury her face in her hands, knowing this was stupid. But she just couldn't bring herself to play the game anymore. She raised her head to find him pacing back and forth in the glare of the headlights, waiting for her. He looked like a trapped animal, his eyes glowing in the beam of light, his claws stark and black in the harsh illumination.

Taking a fortifying breath, she stepped out of the car and approached him. He grew still and bristled, his fangs peeking out. He growled a warning, but she refused to be cowed. 

Stopping only when she was barely a foot away from, she looked up at him, her mouth dry. "If it came down to it, would you pick me or Hell?"

His lips parted and he tried to skitter back a step, but she grabbed the collar of his shirt, keeping him right where he was. Not allowing him to break eye contact, she said, "If I said I wanted to run, what would your answer be?"

He quit trying to pull away. "Is this hypothetical?" he asked.

"Sure," she breathed.

His jaw tensed and he trembled, like he was struggling under some impossible weight. His breath came out in a small burst, and she leaned forward, inhaling through her nose. 

Sirius shivered. "You're going to hate my answer," he said, sounding hoarse.

Her hands shook where they were wrapped in his shirt. "Try me," she said, straightening her shoulders like she was bracing herself. 

His hands gripped her elbows and he backed her up until she was pressed against the side of the car. Breathing hard, he said, "You are the single most infuriating thing I've ever seen, and it makes me insane to think about how much control you have over me. You could ask me to stroll right back into the pit and I would, no questions asked."

She shut her eyes, gnawing at the corner of her lip. His fingers bit into her through the long sleeves of her jacket, and he said, "Hell could do whatever it wanted to the people up here for all I care."

Her eyes flew open. A fire was burning in his eyes and the muscles in his neck were corded as he shook and fought for control. "And fundamentally," he said through clenched teeth, "that's something you could never live with. Because you care and I don't, so it's just easier to act like I'm probably the reason Hell would take you for the spell. But by this point I think we both know that's not true."

"What do you mean, you don't care?" Galloway whispered.

A small laugh escaped him, and he bared his teeth in a terrible facsimile of a smile. "Just that. The world could burn and I would laugh just as long as you weren't burning, too."

Her heart thrummed nervously in her chest as she saw the honesty in his gaze. 

He smiled that awful smile again. "See? You hate it. Which is why you keep pulling away."

Looking down, she realized she had, in fact, tried to shrink back, but the unyielding metal of the car wouldn't let her. Sirius grasped her chin gently, tilting her head back up. In a near whisper, he said, "I can only hear no so many times before I give it up as a lost cause. And I don't think you could live with yourself if you said yes."

"Two days ago you were saying that it didn't mean anything," she reminded him.

He shook his head, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Galloway. I am a liar. Because it's easier to hurt you than pretend like you would abandon your principles for something as flimsy as what I want."

"Flimsy?" she asked. Logan would never let her hear the end of this.

"You believe in something. That's why you're a Hunter. The only thing I've ever pursued is my own gratification."

"You know," she said contemplatively. "It amazes me when one person thinks they get to make all the decisions."

Sirius shook his head, bewildered. 

"We know enough to understand that if my Soul gets marked, it will be because I do something. If it was because of you, Theron would have taken me a long time ago." Her breath gusted out and she continued, "Everyone thinks it's an all or nothing situation. But I've found the world more commonly runs on either/or. Either Hell takes me, or it doesn't. Either I trip the trigger, or they aren't going to use me. Either I want you, or I keep pretending like I don't."

He stood very still, barely breathing. Swallowing against her suddenly dry throat, she said, "You don't get to decide what I can live with. And I can't live with being afraid anymore. I've been doing that for too long. So Theron can try all he wants. The only way he gets me is if I let him. That might be crazy, but what the hell."

A muscle feathered in his jaw, and she placed a finger over it, stilling its motion. Her breath streamed out slowly, her chest light at finally confessing the truth.

Now it was his turn. 

"So we're just going to let the chips fall where they may?" he asked, voice throaty and rough.

She nodded once, resolute. She had meant it as soon as she said it. Theron might have stock, but he didn't own her completely. Not yet. And she would fight him tooth and nail all the way.

Sirius heaved in a breath. "You're going to have to draw the lines," he said. "I'm not going to try and stop anymore."

She frowned, but couldn't maintain the expression when he trailed a finger over her mouth. Her lips parted and he ducked his head, kissing her. His movements were almost frantic, completely unrestrained, and she finally understood how hard he had been trying to control himself before.

One hand tangled in her hair, the other on her throat. The calluses on his hand scratched lightly at the sensitive skin. 

A sigh escaped her and Sirius groaned, pressing harder against her, his fingers hooking into the waist of her jeans. She shook her head. "Not now."

He growled, but instead placed his hands on her hips, lifting her up until her legs wrapped around him. The edge of the roof dug into her back, but she couldn't bring herself to care just yet. Not when his arms were so tight around her and she could feel the rapid thump of his heart.

Finally, she dragged herself away from him, gasping. Sirius was breathing just as hard, and after another moment he reluctantly let her down. She leaned forward, her face against his sternum as his fingers continued to trail over her.

Softly, she said, "We should maybe not broadcast this."

Sirius laughed, the sound disbelieving—not so much of her words, but of the circumstance. "Who am I going to tell?"

She smiled, biting her lip. "So I should not broadcast." Looking up at him, she turned a little more grave. Touching the side of his face gently, she said, "No turning back."

He tilted his head, pressing into her hand. "So we just take it as it comes. Are we still working for Hell?"

Galloway bit thoughtfully at her lip, just to let out a muffled yelp as he bent his head, teeth nipping at the same spot. Lightly she pushed him away, and he shrugged. "Told you. No more futile self control for me."

She rolled her eyes. "For now. The more we can keep Theron in the dark, the better. In the meantime, we'll work on finding something that will shut the gates. Permanently."

Sirius scrubbed a hand through his hair, taming the damage she'd wrought. "And we'll make sure your Soul stays all squeaky clean." He grinned wickedly. "The rest of you is up for grabs, though."

A pleasant shiver swept through her, and she pressed her fingers into the back of his neck, dragging him down to kiss her again.

She was through with the games.