Thank you to our readers, whose patience through our Rough Years has been unflagging and whose encouragement has been uplifting. Thank you to our families, who rode this rocky ride with us. Thank you to our friends, who hauled us through this pandemic one step at a time.
Thank you to every essential worker who faced peril to pull us through a terrifying year, and to the teachers and healthcare workers and librarians who went back into perilous situations to ease the burden on others—often, and regrettably, without due recognition.
Thank you especially to Alyssa Cole and Courtney Milan, who put their lives on pause in November to help us and an amazing group of volunteers accidentally raise $475,000 to save democracy. If the legacy of this book being late is knowing we had some small part in flipping those Senate seats in Georgia blue, then I cannot imagine anything more in keeping with the spirit of the Mercenary Librarians.
And if you take anything away from this book, the rocky and perilous path it took to the finish line, and our detour into political organizing via Romancing the Runoff, we hope it is this: even in the face of literal apocalyptic events and the imminent collapse of democracy, book nerds GET SHIT DONE.
We are forever grateful to be part of this glorious tradition.
TOR BOOKS BY KIT ROCHA
Deal with the Devil
The Devil You Know
Praise for Deal with the Devil
“Compelling characters, white-knuckle action, and deceptively smooth world-building make this first Mercenary Librarians book a satisfying and cinematic escape.”
—Booklist (starred review)
“Like something out of an Avengers flick, [Deal with the Devil] is a solid sci-fi debut with unforgettable characters.”
—BookPage (starred review)
“Enhanced supersoldiers, hot romance, and a dangerous rescue mission make this SF series opener a postapocalyptic roller-coaster ride.… The chemistry and tension between the romantic leads have never been better plotted or paced.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“This postapocalyptic tale of espionage and romance will have readers eager to know what happens next.”
—Publishers Weekly
“A high-action, high-stakes SF romance. Intriguing characters, tragic backgrounds, and a few twists comprise a strong launch to this new series.”
—Library Journal
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
KIT ROCHA is the pseudonym for the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author duo Donna Herren (@totallydonna) and Bree Bridges (@mostlybree). They are best known for their gritty and sexy dystopian Beyond series, and were the first indie authors to receive an RT Book Reviews Reviewers’ Choice Award. They currently live three miles apart in Alabama and spend their nonwriting time caring for a menagerie of animals and crafting handmade jewelry, all of which is chronicled on their various social media accounts.
Vist her online at kitrocha.com, or sign up for email updates here.
@KitRocha
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Maps
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Rafe
Eight
Nine
Knox
Ten
Dani
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Nina
Fourteen
Fifteen
Knox
Seventeen
Ava
Eighteen
Nineteen
Mace
Richter
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Knox
Twenty-Five
Nina
Twenty-Six
Mace
Twenty-Seven
Twenty-Eight
Nina
Twenty-Nine
Thirty
Thirty-One
Conall
Thirty-Two
Epilogue
Tessa
Acknowledgments
Praise for Deal with the Devil
About the Authors
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the authors’ imaginations or are used fictitiously.
THE DEVIL YOU KNOW
Copyright © 2021 by Kit Rocha
All rights reserved.
Maps by Jon Lansberg
Cover art by Colin Anderson
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates
120 Broadway
New York, NY 10271
www.tor-forge.com
Tor® is a registered trademark of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC.
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-1-250-20938-2 (trade paperback)
ISBN 978-1-250-78148-2 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-250-20937-5 (ebook)
eISBN 9781250209375
Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by email at MacmillanSpecialMarkets@macmillan.com.
First Edition: 2021