“I think it’s fairly obvious what Sagitta thinks of you. If only you weren’t so stupid, my dear Chase.”
“Watch it,” I grumbled.
But as his words sank in, my heart fluttered. Was I too oblivious to notice how Sagitta really felt?
“By the way, I’m mad at you,” Faust huffed.
“What? Why?”
“You insinuated—again—that I’m the source of your big fat crush. And worse, you actually believed that pedant when he claimed Sagitta’s feelings for you were because of me. Me! You have some nerve, Mr. Man.”
I’d never get used to being scolded by a demon inside my own mind, even when he had a point.
“Sorry,” I murmured. “Cygnet got under my skin and I just second-guessed everything. I don’t think you’re that kind of guy. Demon. You know.”
Faust sniffed. “Thank you. I accept your apology.”
That meant that my feelings, and Sagitta’s, were all our own. There was no blaming somebody else. I had to figure this out myself.
But then I realized something else. If Cygnet was wrong about Faust’s influence, what else was he wrong about?
He insisted that Faust had to be killed. Thatalldemons did. But I didn’t agree with that. And now that I knew Sagitta’sfeelings for me, and vice versa, had nothing to do with Faust, I felt more confident that the exorcist brothers were both working off some outdated information.
My stomach growled.
This is a lot of sex and thinking done before breakfast. I’d better go eat...
After throwing on a pair of pants, I stepped out, but remembered I hadn’t fed Demetrius yet. I went to pinch a few predator bites into his tank, chuckling as he swam up to the surface to gobble them up.
“Sorry, had to feed D,” I told Sagitta as I joined him in the kitchen. It smelled amazing, as usual. “Hey, that reminds me. Who takes care of the fish at the temple?”
“Cygnet and I.”
My brows rose. “Cygnet does, too?”
Sagitta smiled as he plated the French toast. It was Hong Kong style, pan-fried with peanut butter in the middle and mind-blowingly delicious.
“Remember what I told you about our father? He passed on his love of fish to both of us,” he explained. “We never saw the aquarium shop in Thailand, but growing up, we had an outdoor goldfish pond in our backyard. Cygnet and I would take turns feeding them.” A wry smile pulled at the corner of Sagitta’s mouth. “Once, when Cygnet was six, he chased away a heron trying to eat our goldfish. It was hilarious. The bird was taller than he was.”
I smiled. It was difficult to imagine Cygnet, with his cold and haughty attitude, tending to the care of living things. Then I realized it was unfair of me to characterize him as only one thing. He was Sagitta’s family, and despite all their drama, they clearly cared about each other.
“Your dad sounds like he was a great guy,” I said gently. “I wish I could’ve met him.”
Sagitta’s eyes lit up with a mix of warmth and grief, but the warmth was stronger. “Me, too. Now eat before it gets cold.”
I’d wolfed down half my French toast before Sagitta put his utensils down, looked straight at me, and asked, “Do you seriously have a business degree?”
I snorted through my mouthful of delicious fried bread and peanut butter.
After I swallowed, I said, “Yup. Clearly it did me a lot of good.”
I expected Sagitta to laugh along with me, but instead he looked thoughtful.
“Chase, you’ve asked me this many times. But now I want to know whatyouwant.”
I shrugged, cutting off another piece of toast. “To not be possessed?”
“I mean after that. How do you want to spend your life?”
