“You lift weights, right?” I asked. When he nodded proudly, I said, “You have the willpower to go to the gym and train. Use that same willpower to ignore the demon whispering in your ear.”
Chase shuffled on his feet. “I guess I can try.”
“Do youwantto be possessed for the rest of your life?”
“No...”
“Then do as I say.”
My gaze was drawn to his lower lip, still stuck out petulantly. Since I’d pulled him closer, I couldn’tnotnotice its fullness.
A flash of memory suddenly struck me like a box of instant coffee to the head. The night we’d first met. The party.
Kissing him.
A rush of heat spread out from my core, seeping into every limb until my whole body tingled with warmth.
Thinking about that while so close to him was a mistake. I unhanded his drawstrings and all but shoved him away in a desperate bid to escape his radius.
Chase just blinked. His lack of reaction made me feel crazier.Hebrought up our kiss. Did he feel anything about it at all, or was it just a casual party trick to him? No doubt he kissed men all the time. There was no reason for him to think the one we shared was meaningful.
I whipped around so he couldn’t see my expression. Whatever was on it, I’m sure it wasn’t pretty.
“Let’s finish up here,” I said. “We have a lot of work to do.”
9
Chase
When we got home,I popped into the shower for a quick rinse and a moment alone to sort through my thoughts. I’d offered to help Sagitta unload the groceries, but he was insistent on doing it himself. He probably thought I’d screw it up somehow. Just like how I’d screwed up and gotten possessed by a demon.
I turned on the water. My shoulders relaxed as the warm water flowed over me.
It was weird. I felt comfortable around Sagitta, but I also felt tense. Like something was about to happen.
“What do youwantto happen, my friend?” Faust asked.
His voice startled me. He’d been quiet almost the entire time we’d been at the grocery store, except for that one comment that got him—well, both of us—in trouble.
I grimaced when I recalled Sagitta’s orders to ignore Faust. He was pretty damn insistent, and I didn’t want him to be angry with me.
“What’s he going to do? Read your mind?” Faust mused, flaunting his own ability. “No mere human has that power, dear.”
I closed my eyes and focused on the soothing spray running down my skin. But removing visual stimuli only made Faust’s voice louder in my head.
“You can go ahead and ignore Sagitta’s demands. In regard to this particular topic, anyway,” Faust went on. “I dare say he may know less about demons than he likes to believe.”
I bristled. “That’s enough.”
“Oh? Feeling defensive over him, are you? It’s so nice to see you two getting along.”
“Will you be quiet already?”
“But I’ve been quiet for so long today,” he whined.
Frustrated, I lathered up, rinsed, and exited the shower in record speed. It was impossible to have a moment alone while you were possessed by a demon.
“I can’t wait ‘til Sagitta finally exorcises you,” I muttered while shoving a leg into my jeans.
