I woke up the next morning to Asmodeus the adorable little white kitten trying stubbornly to pry my eyes open with his paws. A rolled over and tried desperately to achieve a few more minutes of sleep. But to no avail. Asmodeus kept poking and prodding me.

"Ugh. What?" I finally snapped.

"Wonderful. You're awake. I was beginning to think you'd died."

"You had better have a really good reason for waking up at—" I glanced at the clock on my bedside table and felt probably the sharpest feeling of anger I had felt in a while. "4:20 in the morning? Are you kidding me?"

"Oh is that not customary?" Asmodeus asked. Something in his voice told me he knew exactly how 'customary' it was. I growled at him. Literally. "Oh for hells' sake get over it. I did wake you up for a reason you know." I waited for him to elaborate, but he didn't.

"I swear to God if you don't explain yourself right now and am going to throw you out of the window."

"My my. Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." I made a grab at him but he nimbly stepped out of reach. "Alright alright. Hold your horses. I talked with some demons last night and they are prepared to offer you a deal."

"A deal?" I asked.

"Yes. A deal." He waited as if this was supposed to make me jump up and down with joy. It didn't. I'd seen Supernatural. Deals were never a good idea.

"Why?" I said at last.

"Well we are demons. It's sort of what we do."

"I'm aware. I mean why me? Why would a bunch of demons want my soul?" Asmodeus scoffed, which looked very weird coming from a kitten. I must have had a weird look on my face because he looked at me then down at his body.

"Oh I see. Not used to talking to a kitten are we? Very well then. I just need your permission to..." He looked at me expectantly.

"Oh right. You can go back to human form I guess." I said. An instant later there was an insanely good-looking demon sitting on my bed, a little closer than was entirely comfortable. I scooted backward hurriedly and hit my head on the wall. I had momentarily forgotten that I was leaning up against the wall already. I rubbed the back of my head and glared at Asmodeus who was smirking in the most infuriating way.

"Something wrong love?" He asked innocently.

"Yeah. Some demons want my soul," I responded coldly.

"What on earth makes you think they want your soul? I mean I suppose they wouldn't mind it but that's not why they want to make a deal with you," he responded. Now I was confused. What could a demon possibly want with me, if not my soul? I asked Asmodeus and he responded, "why the book of course." I looked over at my backpack where the corner of the spell book was just peaking out.

"Why do they want the book?"

"You mean you don't know?" He looked at me incredulously as I shook my head. "I would've thought that'd be the first thing your master would tell you?"

"Master? I don't have a master. I am nobody's servant," I said indignantly.

"Oh didn't mean it like that. I mean your teacher." I stared.

"You know," he continued. "The person who gave you the book and is teaching you the ways of magic." Now it was his turn to stare as I slowly shook my head.

"You mean, you don't have a teacher?" I shook my head again. He opened his mouth, and then closed it.

"So I'm self taught. What's the big deal?" I said defensively.

"The big deal is that there is no 'self taught' when it comes to magic. I suppose after many years of study it could happen but you've only been doing magic for what? A few days?" I nodded. He began to pace. "This is not good. This is really not good. Why me? I should have just stayed in my prison. Lucifer why must you do this to me?"

"I hate to be rude but are you really praying to the devil?"

"Well it's not as if I can pray to the other guy. I am a demon after all."

"Fine. Whatever. I still don't see what the big deal is." He looked at me incredulously.

"Have you ever killed someone?" That question caught me off guard. Of course I knew the answer to be yes as much as I wanted to pretend it wasn't. I didn't respond. "You do know I can read your mind right?" He prompted. Shit. I had totally forgotten about that.

"It was an accident. Always an accident," I whispered, suddenly finding the floor of my room very interesting.

"Yes yes it always is. How many?"

"Why does that matter?" I looked up at him and fought hard to keep the tears at bay. No tears. That was my rule. No tears.

"It matters because no one has been born with magic in a very long time and the last person who was caused what you mortals call World World Two. I would like to prevent that from happening again if at all possible."

"What, was Hitler a magician?" I said sarcastically.

"Of course not. But one of his most important officers was."

"What?"

"Hitler could not have done all that he had all on his own. He had a man named Aberlard Muller helping him. Much of his 'helping' took place behind the scenes, but everyone, other than mortals of course, knows his name. Some still fear him."

"He was born with magic too?" My voice was timid. Could I really be just like someone who had been a leader of Nazi Germany?

"He, like you, was born with certain abilities. He was the most powerful sorcerer ever recorded. Some people believe that Muller actually had Adolf Hitler under a spell and was behind everything. That, of course, is ridiculous. I've met Hitler and he didn't need any help being an absolutely revolting person. However, Muller was terrifyingly powerful. If he hadn't died when he had, I have no doubt in my mind that he would have gone on to take over the world."

"I'm not some evil nazi," I shot back.

"Of course not dear, but Muller wasn't born evil, was he?" I didn't have an answer for that. "Exactly. Magic corrupts. Especially when it's used, even by accident, to hurt people." He paused for a moment. I wasn't sure whether that pause was to let me take in all that he had said, or for dramatic effect. He seemed like the kind of person--demon--being, to pause for dramatic effect. "So how many?"

"Nine." I mumbled this cursed number, hoping against all hope that he wouldn't be able to hear me and would just let it go. Unfortunately, he did hear me. For a moment he looked surprised, and then, I was sure I had imagined it, the flicker of a smile passed over his face. It was gone just as quickly. I thought he was going to scold me, or perhaps even back away in horror as people often did, but Asmodeus was not a person. He leaned forward and put a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

"Then it seems we have a lot to make up for don't we?"