“When?”
“That drink he bought you. He must have added something to it.”
“Wow. What a dick.”
That was an understatement. I remained silent while you reflected on the events of the previous night. It took all of my self-restraint to do so.
“Shit, I don’t rememberanything,” you admitted.
“He led you into a back room of the club. I tried to possess him, but he was too powerful. He repelled me, so I inhabited the bouncer instead. Broke down the door…” My rage at last night’s events had cooled only a little.
“Fuck,” you uttered, but you didn’t seem to grasp the severity of your situation or how dire the consequences had I not been able to interrupt Blake’s assault. “Why weren’t you able to body-snatch him?”
“I may have waited too long. When a human is highly aroused or in a state of rage, it can be more difficult. As I told you when you proceeded to make one poor choice after another, I don’t always have complete control over my vessels.” I still suspected Blake was demon-possessed, but it didn’t seem relevant to our conversation.
“You sound pissed.” You squinted, looking only a little apologetic.
“You scared me, Orlando, and I haven’t quite recovered.”
“I’m sorry, Henri. I was just so focused on trying to get you in a body.”
“I am sorry to say, your plan sucked.”
You groaned and lay back in your pillow. I could feel your frustration, and I knew you weren’t going to give up so easily. I couldn’t have you tempting bad men or making yourself sick over every borrowed body we shared. We’d be risking exposure in dealing with someone so close to Santiago, but I had to keep you safe.
“I know a man,” I said. “He goes by the name of Xavier. He’s been commissioned as a vessel to the gods.”
“Like an escort?” you asked.
“Of sorts. He’s the former lover of an associate of mine, and he came highly recommended. How would you feel about the possibility of employing his services?”
You sat up in bed. The slow smile that spread across your face told me that I’d just given you exactly what you wanted.
“Yes, Henri.Hell yes.”
18
Orlando
So, you knew a demon escort. That information sure would have been helpful to share with me months ago. Apparently, it took a guy like Blake to get you to spill the beans. I was annoyed that you’d been holding out on me for so long, but you were weird about the rules around body-snatching, so I let it go.
Still, I bugged you about it all night, which continued into the next day while I was doing laundry at my mom’s house. Finally, you relented and suggested I set up a meeting.
“But you’ll come with me?”
“No,” you said firmly, and when I asked why not, “This is a negotiation better done without me there.”
“But I have no idea what to say to him,” I complained. “I’ve never done anything like this before. I’m a virgin for Chrissakes.”
I felt a ripple of energy I recognized as your laughter.
“And now you’re laughing at me,” I huffed. My mom had run to the store, so I used the opportunity to talk to you privately.
“Perhaps we should make a list,” you suggested calmly. You were aggravating as hell when you took that schoolteacher tone with me.
“Yeah. I guess that would help.”
I grabbed a pen and paper and I jotted down everything I’d need to cover in my meeting with this guy. You brought up several things I hadn’t considered, like health screenings and a process for notifying the person of inhabitation and evacuation. When you asked if I wanted to be monogamous, I asked whatyouwanted, and you told me I had to tell you first. Were we in middle school or what?
