The Archangel's Deal

THE ARCHANGEL’S DEAL THE ARCHANGEL’S LEGACY TRILOGY BOOK ONE K. REA CONTENTS Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Acknowledgments Special Thanks About the Author The Archangel’s Deal © 2022 K. Rea The Archangel’s Deal The Archangel’s Legacy | Book 1 Copyright © 2022 by K. Rea No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. To contact the author, please use the contact form on her website; kreaauthor.com . Publishing Company Contact Information: Kreative-Books, LLC Bradenton, Florida, 34211 [email protected] kreative-books.com Cover & Interior Design Graphics by Danielle @ DoElle Designs | www.doelledesigns.com Editing by both: CamRei Editing | https://www.facebook.com/ CamRei.Editing Fluffy Fox Editing Services | https://fluffyfoxllc.wixsite.com/fluffyfoxpublishing Formatting by Kreative-Books, LLC | www.kreative-books.com Author’s Note: This novel was previously published in the 2022 Born of Shadows & Magic Anthology. Created with Vellum DESCRIPTION * * * The Archangel’s Deal An Outcast, an Archangel, and a Deal that would be more than either of them bargained for. Nora would do anything to protect her sister and avoid the Pit—even take a deal from the one Archangel she despises. When a contract goes sideways and Nora ends up in handcuffs, she takes an archangel’s deal to escape a life sentence in the Pit, a literal hell on Earth for any fallen angel or wayward demon—but more so for the daughter of an archangel and human. The Viscount Archangel of New Haven himself introduces Nora to the glitz and glam of the upper class angels. But not all is as it seems in New Haven, and no one is safe. Least of all, the angel halfling tasked with uncovering the traitors in their midst. CHAPTER 1 Present Day “All that’s left to do is sign on the dotted line, then we can proceed with your auction, Nora,” Tomas said with a sly smile as he pressed one scarred finger down on the contract between us. He pushed it slowly toward me as he held a pen outstretched in his other hand. “You know, it didn’t take long for word to spread through New Haven. Demon-halflings are a dime a dozen, but the daughter of a fallen archangel—well, you’re something special. There’s already a crowd waiting to see you. We’ve even started selling seats. Honestly, your blood alone will fetch quite a sum. If you’re willing to negotiate other assets, you’d make enough to go anywhere in the world and keep your little sister in luxury for years if you play your cards right,” Tomas suggested. I didn’t need luxury. I wanted good food on the table, a safe roof over our heads, and maybe even enough money to go to flight school once Lyra’s future was secure. I cautiously took the pen from him with an unsure look. He smiled innocently back at me. I didn’t trust him. Tomas had been after me to sign one of his contracts since my mom died. I never thought I’d actually agree to one. Still, desperation had a way of changing a person’s limits of what they would and wouldn’t do. Tomas touted the dank storage room as his office when I arrived to sign his deal. The thin walls did nothing to muffle the murmuring of growing conversations outside, and I could already hear his eager clientele. Despite his efforts to elevate the room with an oak desk, a fancy chair, and trinkets, it was still just a storage room. He had an assortment of odds and ends stacked along the far wall on wooden shelves beside a massive safe. They were mostly demon and angel relics from the Arcadian war ‌people used to barter their debts away. Rain pounded against the warehouse roof outside, and I could hear the faint dripping of water from a leak inside. I stepped up to the wood desk and pulled the short stack of papers toward me. The white paper glowed softly in the dim room; the smell of fresh ink hung in the air as he set a second stack of papers down on the table. I looked up at him at the sight of a second contract. He was a sly business owner, but I wouldn’t—couldn’t—let him con me. Making a clean deal was too important. This wasn’t just my life on the line, but my sister’s too; I’d make sure she would never have to stand across from a man like this and make a deal. “In case you change your mind about auctioning off all your available assets, I drafted another contract. With a blood-only contract, you’ll get forty percent of the last bid. If you sign this second contract, I’ll grant you seventy percent. No one has gotten a deal this good from me before, and you won’t find a better one,” Tomas said as he settled back in his leather chair with a proud smile, as if he were doing me a favor. He was. Technically, both contracts were illegal and came with a lengthy sentence for anyone involved if the House of Lords decided I was more angel than human. * * * Yesterday The crumpled piece of paper in my pants pocket weighed heavily on my mind. Another pink slip for the growing collection in my nightstand. This job hadn’t even lasted long enough to cover the cost of the office supplies in the box I balanced on my hip as I shoved my key into the