Chapter 1: A Deal with the Desperate

If there was one thing Briar prided herself on, it was that she was an absolutely terrible demon.

Not in the scary, all-powerful, doom-bringer kind of way—oh no, she wished. No, she was terrible at being a demon because, despite centuries of study, she was still pathetically low-ranking, summoned only by mortals who barely knew what they were doing. She had never had the satisfaction of tricking a king into war, never whispered sweet destruction into a tyrant’s ear. Instead, she got called up by drunk college kids and suburban dads with mid-life crises.

Pathetic.

Still, she wasn’t about to turn down a contract when the summoning sigil burned itself into the void, dragging her from her world of fire and shadows into the mortal realm once again. The pull was clumsy, jagged, a clear sign of an amateur. Briar braced herself for yet another disappointing job—maybe some loser wanting to ace a test or a sad soul begging for a hot date—when suddenly, 

she landed face-first onto a messy carpet, and a voice, breathless and nervous, whispered:

“Oh my god. It actually worked.”

Briar groaned, lifting herself onto her elbows. 

The room smelled like instant ramen and depression. Her gaze flicked up—and there she was.

The summoner.

A human girl sat in the center of the summoning circle, her wide hazel eyes reflecting the flickering candlelight. She had shoulder-length black hair, messy like she had been running her hands through it in frustration, and she was wearing an oversized hoodie that practically swallowed her frame. Her apartment was small, cluttered, and dim, illuminated only by the candles she had haphazardly arranged around the summoning circle.

Briar had been expecting some desperate old man, but this girl—she was young, probably in her early twenties, and staring at her like she had just won the lottery.

Oh no. It’s one of those.

Briar sighed and stretched out, her wings flicking slightly as she got comfortable. “Alright, let’s get this over with. What is it? Fame? Fortune? Revenge?” She waved a clawed hand lazily. “I’ll even consider minor smiting for a discount.”

The girl took a deep breath, her fingers curling into fists on her knees. Her face was set with determination—though Briar could still see a nervous tremor in her lip.

“I want…” The girl’s throat bobbed as she swallowed. “I want you to be my girlfriend.”

Silence.

Briar blinked.

Then, she burst out laughing.

It was loud, booming, the kind of laugh that echoed through the planes of hell itself. She had heard some absurd requests in her time, but this? 

Oh, this was new.

“You—” She wiped at a tear that had formed in the corner of her glowing red eye. “You summoned a demon… for a girlfriend?”

The girl’s face burned bright red. “Sh-Shut up! It’s not like I had other options!”

Briar chuckled, using her demonic magic to tower over the human, her horns casting wicked shadows against the candlelight. “Oh, this is rich. So, what? No luck with the dating apps? Thought, ‘Hey, why not go straight for hell’s singles scene?’”

The girl scowled but didn’t back down. “I was desperate, okay?” She crossed her arms, glancing away. “It’s not like I haven’t tried. I’ve gone on dates, I’ve put myself out there, but…” She sighed. “I just don’t connect with people. They don’t really see me. And I—” She hesitated, her voice quieter now. “I just didn’t want to be alone anymore.”

Briar felt something shift.

It wasn’t pity—demons didn’t do pity—but there was something about the way she said it, that raw loneliness woven into every syllable, that made Briar hesitate.

Not that it mattered.

“Cute sob story,” Briar said, waving it off. “But I’m afraid you wasted your time, sweetheart. I don’t do romance.”

The girl smirked.

“Oh?” She lifted a small, tattered book—the summoning grimoire she must have used—and pointed to a passage. “Because according to this, demons cannot reject a mortal’s first request once the contract is sealed.”

Briar’s stomach dropped.

No.

She snatched the book out of the girl’s hands, eyes darting over the passage. She knew that rule, of course she did—but mortals never used it right. They always asked for something vague, something she could twist.

But this girl…

Briar felt it. The magic locking into place. A binding contract.

She was stuck.

The girl grinned triumphantly. “So, that makes you my girlfriend now.”

Briar’s eye twitched.

Oh.

Oh, this was going to be a nightmare.

Cassie had never considered herself the type to sell her soul for love.

Yet, here she was, standing in her cramped apartment, staring at the demon she had just summoned—her brand new girlfriend.

Briar was still processing what had just happened, her glowing red eyes darting between Cassie and the grimoire like she was trying to mentally rewrite reality. Cassie, on the other hand, was just trying to breathe.

Because, somehow, her ridiculous, last-ditch plan had actually worked.

She thought back to the moments that led her here—to the decision that had seemed insane even by her own standards.

And, really, it all came down to one simple truth:

She was tired of being alone.

One Month Ago

Cassie stared at her phone, watching the screen dim as yet another text conversation died without a response.

It had been a nice conversation—nothing amazing, but enough that she had actually let herself feel hopeful. The girl had laughed at her jokes, seemed genuinely interested in her favorite horror movies, and even said, “We should totally meet up sometime!”

And then, just like always… silence.

Cassie sighed, tossing her phone onto her bed before rolling onto her side.

She had tried. God, she had tried so many times. Dating apps, blind dates, meeting people at work, even just forcing herself to be social when all she really wanted to do was curl up with a book and pretend the world didn’t exist.

And every single time, it ended the same way:

• Ghosted after a few days.

• Realizing they weren’t actually interested in her—just in passing the time.

• Or worst of all, the polite but crushing “I just don’t feel that spark” conversation.

Cassie wasn’t stupid. She knew she wasn’t some rom-com protagonist who would just magically bump into the love of her life at a coffee shop. But… was it really this hard?

Her friends had found love. Hell, even her weird coworker Dave had a boyfriend, and Dave once brought expired sushi to a potluck.

So why couldn’t she?

She buried her face in her pillow, groaning. Maybe she was just unlovable.

Two Weeks Ago

Cassie officially gave up on dating apps.

After another night of swiping through profiles that made her want to launch herself into the sun (“Looking for a girl who’s not like other girls”—oh, go to hell, Kyle.), she uninstalled everything and decided to just accept her fate.

She tried telling herself it wasn’t so bad.

She had hobbies. She had friends. She had an entire shelf of horror DVDs that never let her down.

And yet…

Every time she sat alone in her apartment, listening to the faint sound of her neighbors laughing through the walls, she felt that ache.

That stupid, gnawing ache that whispered:

“This isn’t enough.”

“You don’t want to be alone forever, do you?”

She told herself she didn’t care. That she was fine. That love wasn’t real anyway, at least not for her.

She almost believed it.

Almost.

One Week Ago

The book arrived in the mail.

She hadn’t been serious when she ordered it. It was just one of those late-night purchases she made while spiraling, half-drunk on disappointment and energy drinks.

The title had caught her attention immediately:

“Demonic Contracts for the Desperate Soul: A Beginner’s Guide.”

It was a joke. It had to be a joke. Some gimmicky prop meant for goth kids and LARPers.

But when she flipped through the pages, something about it felt real.

The instructions were weirdly detailed—far more than they had any right to be. Ingredients that seemed oddly specific. Ritual diagrams that looked ancient.

And then, there was the fine print.

“A demon must fulfill the summoner’s first request, binding them to the terms of the contract.”

The moment she read that, an idea began to form.

A stupid, ridiculous, completely unhinged idea.

What if…?

Cassie had laughed at first, shaking her head, but… the longer she stared at the book, the more the idea dug into her brain.

Wasn’t it worth trying?

She had done everything else. Given human relationships every possible chance, only to be met with rejection and disappointment.

Maybe it was time to try something different.

Now

And that was how she ended up here, standing in her apartment, staring at the very real, very annoyed demon she had just summoned.

Briar had gone from disbelief to full-on frustration, pacing in a small circle, her tail twitching as she muttered to herself.

“Oh, this is bad. This is really bad.” She flipped through the grimoire again, her sharp claws leaving little tears in the pages. “There’s gotta be a loophole. There’s always a loophole.”

Cassie watched her with a mix of fascination and mild concern.

Briar was…

Well, she was hot. Like, unfairly hot.

She was on the shorter side, but bore sharp features, glowing red eyes, dark horns curving elegantly back over her head. Her deep red skin had a natural glow to it, and the way she moved—agile, confident, like she owned every space she walked into—was enough to make Cassie’s heart stutter.

Was it wrong that she already felt like she had won the demon girlfriend lottery?

Briar stopped pacing, turning to Cassie with an exasperated sigh. “Okay, listen, uh—what’s your name again?”

“Cassandra…but I go by Cassie.”

Briar pinched the bridge of her nose, muttering something in an infernal tongue that made the air buzz uncomfortably. Cassie just stood there, arms crossed, waiting.

“Alright, Cassie,” Briar said, exhaling slowly. “There has to be something else you want.” She gestured vaguely. “Wealth? Power? I can get you a killer deal on fame. Maybe a mansion in the Bahamas? Anything is better than this.”

Cassie tilted her head. “Are you trying to bribe me out of my own contract?”

“Yes!” Briar snapped, throwing her arms up. “You could have anything, and you wasted it on a relationship request! Do you have any idea how humiliating this is for me?”

Cassie arched an eyebrow. “More humiliating than being summoned by a desperate college girl?”

Briar flinched.

“That’s—! Shut up!” She pointed a sharp claw at Cassie. “The point is, I am not doing this. You’re young, mortal, and presumably not a complete lost cause. Just go date a human like a normal person.”

Cassie sighed. “Tried that. Didn’t work.”

“Try harder.”

“Tried as hard as I’m willing to.”

Briar groaned dramatically, dragging both hands down her face. “You are the worst kind of mortal. The stubborn kind.”

Cassie smirked. “You’d think a demon would appreciate that.”

“I appreciate loopholes,” Briar grumbled. “And unfortunately, you actually read the damn contract.”

Cassie shrugged. “Not my fault demons have bad legal teams.”

Briar scowled, crossing her arms. “Fine. Let’s test this, then. You don’t even know me. You can’t seriously think this will work.”

Cassie rolled her eyes. “Yeah, because human relationships are built on deep emotional connection right from the start.”

“That’s different!”

“How?”

Briar opened her mouth. Closed it. Squinted at Cassie like she was trying to incinerate her with sheer willpower.

Cassie grinned.

“Oh my god,” she said, realization dawning. “You really can’t break it, can you?”

Briar hissed like an offended cat and looked away. “I—There’s gotta be a loophole. There’s always a loophole.”

“Maybe,” Cassie admitted, rocking on her heels. “But until you find it, you’re stuck here. As my girlfriend.”

The word physically hurt Briar.

Cassie couldn’t help it—she laughed.

This was actually happening.

After all her failed attempts at love, all her loneliness, all her frustration with how human relationships never worked out, she had somehow hacked the system.

She had a demon girlfriend.

Briar groaned. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

Cassie beamed. “Oh, absolutely.”

Briar dragged a hand down her face. “This is going to be hell.”

Cassie tilted her head. “Shouldn’t that be a good thing for you?”

Briar threw the grimoire at her.

Cassie dodged—barely.

Yeah. This was going to be fun.