I felt the briefest flicker of fear before it was smothered by feelings that weren’t my own. They were Faust’s. His confidence,his determination, his absolute certainty that he would win. It was like a drug.
Strength pumped through my veins as Faust channelled his real power. I watched my body change in real time. My skin’s colour changed from flesh to unnatural purple. Long claws jutted out from my fingertips, and I heard the leathery snap of wings as they cracked and unfurled from my back. It was painless, but seriously jarring.
Faust wasn’t just controlling my body. He was transforming it.
I was turning into him.
Into a demon.
And honestly? It felt pretty damn good.
Although Faust was in control, I was fully conscious, like he’d simply reached over and taken the wheel. When he leapt into the air, I felt the wind rushing past my face as if it were my own skin. Raw strength flowed through me as if it were born from my own muscles. Even the wings and tail felt like extensions of me.
As Faust arched gracefully over the demon’s back, he snatched the end of its horn. He yanked it sideways with so much power that it threw the beast off balance. It whinnied as it crashed against the pier.
“Where did this thing even come from?” I asked, and was promptly startled. Now it was my voice that echoed in my head.
“Who knows, dear?” Faust replied as he landed effortlessly on the pier. The demon goat was still dazed, huffing from its wide nostrils as it struggled to rise again. “We can figure that out once we save your man.” Faust glanced over his shoulder and winked at Sagitta. “Right?”
Sagitta was gobsmacked. He stared at me—atus—as if seeing a ghost. In a way, that was kind of true.
The goat demon barked out a furious roar. Faust wasn’t concerned. As it rose up on its hind legs, ready to break hisskull with its hooves, he dashed forward and cross-chopped the demon in the gut. It grunted, winded, and toppled onto its back.
“Had enough yet? I could go all night, darling,” Faust asked, grinning gleefully while wringing his wrists.
The demon’s eyes blazed red, almost glowing in the falling twilight. It stood up on all fours and breathed hard. The creature had seemed terrifying moments earlier, but now I almost felt sorry for it. Faust kicked its ass without even breaking a sweat.
All this time, he could’ve taken over my body any time he wanted and wreaked unimaginable havoc. But he didn’t. He just... wanted me to fall in love. What a weird fucking dude.
“Chase...?” Sagitta breathed behind me. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”
The goat demon charged again. Faust casually pinched his fingers into its nostrils, making it squeal and collapse into a submissive pile of fur and rage.
Faust grinned at Sagitta. “Don’t worry. Chase is still here. I had to deal with this mess.”
Sagitta’s expression was a mix of confusion and relief. But mostly confusion. “Faust...?” he breathed.
“Yes, darling. I thought that was obvious.” He smiled at Sagitta. “My, you’re not scared at all, are you?”
Sagitta swallowed. He looked frazzled, still coming down from the adrenaline rush, but not afraid. “I trust Chase. And he trusts you.”
“So in a roundabout way, you trust me, too,” Faust said.
“I guess so,” Sagitta admitted.
Faust chuckled. “An exorcist trusting a demon... So adorable.”
Sagitta scowled, but it was mild and good-humoured, as if they were in on the joke together.
“You’re an exception.” He shot the demon a stern look. “What are we going to do aboutthat? I don’t have my bow, so I can’t exactly send it back where it came from.”
Faust’s pointed ear twitched, followed by him scenting the air. I had shared access to Faust’s senses and smelled it, too—the smoke from a freshly lit cigarette. It had a spicy, rich odour, different from common tobacco.
“Can you sense it?” Faust asked Sagitta under his breath.
Sagitta stilled, returning the tiniest of nods. “We’re being watched.”
I felt pride radiate through Faust. “Yes. And by whom, I wonder?”
