Naturally, since Adam is a demon, I dislike him on principle. He knows that, so I was surprised to see him in my office.
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ears.One corner of his mouth lifted into a hint of a grin at my tone, but it dropped quickly. I realized belatedly that he wasn’t a happy camper at the moment. There was a hint of a frown line between his brows, and I might almost have called the look in his eyes “haunted.”
He took a deep breath, as though bracing himself, then held his head up and met my eyes. “I need you to perform an exorcism.”
My jaw dropped, and I was at a loss for words. A rarity for me, let me tell you.
He didn’t seem to need me to say anything just yet. “Did you hear about the attack by God’s Wrath this weekend?”
God’s Wrath is one of the many anti-demon hate groups. Some of them try to battle the Minions of Satan—as they call demons—in the courts, trying to have the Spirit Society outlawed once more. God’s Wrath is more on the militant side. One of their specialties is arson, burning demons and their hosts alive in the Cleansing Fire of God. Yes, when they talk, everything sounds like it has capital letters.
I’d been too self-involved this weekend to read the paper or watch the news, so I didn’t know what God’s little helpers had been up to.
“Do you remember about three weeks ago that fire they set in South Philly?”
I remembered. The fire had killed an upstanding legal demon and his pregnant lover. They’d had another child, a little girl, who was trapped in the house. One of the demon firefighters rescued her, grabbing the child and then jumping from the top of the three-story building to the sidewalk below, taking all the impact with his legs to protect the child he held. That had to hurt. The child had lived, and the demon’s legs had no doubt healed within a few hours.
“I remember,” I said, because Adam was waiting for my answer. Adam’s face was grim and tight. “The firefighter was Dominic Castello. This weekend, God’s Wrath decided to punish him for rescuing the Spawn of Satan.”
I groaned. I hate demons with the best of them, but even I don’t think it’s a bad thing to rescue a three-year-old girl from a burning building just because her daddy happens to be hosting a demon.
“They wanted to teach him a lesson, not kill him,” Adam continued. “So 39 / 226
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nine of them ambushed him in front of his house, armed with baseball bats and crowbars.”
I winced in sympathy even as I began to realize where this story was going.
Adam looked miserable. “He was only trying to defend himself.” He met my eyes, a look of earnest entreaty in his own. “We feel pain, you know. We can tolerate it better than humans, but we have our limits.”
“What happened?” I asked softly. But I already knew. Adam hung his head. “They beat him until he lost control. He went berserk and fought back. Only until he was able to break free and run, but the damage was already done. He killed one, and another is in the hospital on life support.”
I’m not used to sympathizing with the demons, but I was making an exception this time.
Demons don’t have the same rights as humans. According to the law, it doesn’t matter what the extenuating circumstances are. If a demon goes rogue—in other words, is involved in a violent crime—it’s going to be exorcized. Period. And there would be no long, drawn-out trial. Hell, they didn’t even have the right to a lawyer, though some judges let them have one anyway. Certainly there was no jury of their peers.
“So he’s the one you want me to exorcize.”
Adam nodded. If I hadn’t known better, I would have sworn there was a hint of tears in his eyes.
I’m usually hired by family members, and only when the courtappointed exorcist has already failed. I couldn’t think of another time when a demon had hired me, but it sure looked like that was what was happening here.
“Why are you coming to me?” I asked, then winced at my less-thantactful tone. Adam didn’t take offense. “He and I have what you might call a history together. We’ve been friends ever since we came to the Mortal Plain, and our hosts were friends even before that. This is going to be difficult for all of us. We need the exorcism to work smoothly and quickly. And you’re the best there is.”
That made me squirm. “So your host is…aware of what’s going on?”
Adam’s eyes skewered me. “You know he is.”
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I looked away. Yeah, I knew. And this was one exorcism I wasn’t too eager to perform.
“Will you do it?” Adam asked.
I sighed. How could I refuse? Dominic Castello was getting one hell of a raw deal. Better to get it over with quickly than to make him suffer.
“Yeah, I’ll do it.”
He couldn’t quite bring himself to thank me, but he managed a little nod of acknowledgment.
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The exorcism of Dominic Castello will haunt me for the rest of my life. Not for any reasons I might have expected. Unlike Lisa Walker, he didn’t fight it. They had him bolted to the table and fitted with a stun belt, just in case, but from the moment I walked into that execution chamber, all I saw was resignation.
Adam came with me, to bear witness and provide moral support. Moral support for Dominic, not me, in case you were wondering. Dominic was a typical demon host—meaning he was gorgeous. Coarse, wavy hair of Italian black, with large, expressive hazel eyes framed by thick lashes. Not as muscular as some hosts—like, say, Adam—but I’d bet he’d have a wiry strength to him even without his demon’s help. There wasn’t a mark on Dominic’s body, at least not on what I could see of it. He’d had to do a lot of healing over the last couple of days. He’d turned himself in to Adam after the attack. Adam had taken pictures, which he’d shown me. I could have lived without seeing those pictures. The containment center guards didn’t much like Adam coming in there with me, but there wasn’t much they could say about it. He outranked all of them. I didn’t like that Adam pulled up a chair and held Dominic’s hand while I laid out my candles. It made Dominic look too much like a victim, and me too much like the villain.
I tried not to think too much as I took up my place on the opposite side of the table from Adam. Dominic didn’t even glance at me, his gaze locked with Adam’s. “Take care of Dominic,” Dominic said, and I blinked in momentary confusion until I realized it was the demon speaking, asking Adam to look after his host. The intensity with which they looked at each other made me think they were more than just friends, and the anguish in the demon’s voice suggested he genuinely cared about his host. But I told myself to mind my own business.
The exorcism went smoothly. Dominic didn’t scream or curse, and I dispersed the demon aura on my first try.
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crying, still clutching Adam’s hand. The tears suggested that his brain might be functioning, but I questioned him anyway as the guards came to unlock the restraints.
“Do you know who you are?” I asked, leaning over him, trying to keep my voice soft and gentle. I’m not real good at soft and gentle. I know, you’re shocked to hear that.
He looked at me with watery, miserable eyes and nodded. “He didn’t do anything wrong. All he wanted was to defend himself, and you killed him for it.”
Oh yeah, he knew what was going on all right. And I had never felt so guilty for exorcizing a demon before.
“I’m sorry,” I said, my throat tight and achy.
Dominic seemed about to say something else as he sat up, his upper body now free from the restraints. But Adam rose from his chair and sat on the edge of the table beside his friend. Or was Dominic just Adam’s host’s friend now? Too confusing. I decided not to think about it.
“She did what she had to do,” Adam said. He did soft and gentle a lot better than me, which was kind of surprising considering he usually had a pretty hard edge to him. “We have to operate within the bounds of the law. Even when the law is wrong.”
That last was directed at me, but I managed to swallow my natural retort. This wasn’t the time or place to discuss the role of demons in American society.
Dominic gave a moaning sob. Adam wrapped his arms around him and rocked him like he might a heartbroken child.
I got the hell out of there and wished Adam had found someone else to do the exorcism.
My mood lifted when I met Brian for dinner. Of course, it’s hard for your spirits not to rise when your boyfriend answers his door wearing nothing but a cute little bow tie and holding a long-stemmed white rose between his teeth.
I grinned at him as I slipped into his condo, closing the door behind me.
“I see you got the flowers.”
“Yes,” he said around the stem in his mouth. “They’re lovely.”
I laughed and plucked the rose from between his lips. I held the bud to 43 / 226
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my nose and inhaled deeply. The scent was disappointingly faint, but sweet nonetheless. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that Brian was happy to see me and getting happier by the moment. I tossed the rose aside and gave him a visual once-over, finding that I was rather happy to see him myself. He stood up straight, thrusting his shoulders back like a soldier at inspection. Once again I laughed, but even I could hear the lust in that sound. Moments before, I’d been standing outside his door wondering if I should try to beg off tonight. Now I could barely remember why. I began to circle him, and he turned his head to follow my movement.
“Face front, soldier!” I barked. Well, I tried to bark, but my voice came out husky.
“Yes, ma’am!” He did better at the bark than I did, his head snapping back around to face front so fast it made me wince. With my luck these days, he’d get whiplash during some harmless sex play. The rear view was spectacular. Brian has the tightest little buns I’ve ever seen. Made me want to get down on my knees and take a bite. I settled for smoothing my hands over his cheeks, feeling the quiver of his muscles as he struggled to stand at attention. My pulse drummed between my legs, and I caught myself thinking how lovely it would be to have Brian to come home to after al of my tough days.
I shoved the thought aside, not wanting to ruin the mood with thoughts of the future. There was no better way to get my mind off the distasteful exorcism than to drown my body in physical sensation, and, damn it, that was exactly what I was going to do. Absolutely no thinking allowed. I pressed myself close against Brian’s back, hands still cupping his butt, then trailed my tongue over his shoulder blade. He managed to hold still, but his breath hissed in and out of his lungs, and his skin tasted faintly of salt. Man, I loved making him sweat!
I took a long and leisurely tour of his back, pretending not to notice when he squirmed at my ministrations. His hands were fisted at his sides, and I could feel the excited thump of his heart under my lips.
“Morgan, please.”
I smiled as my hand dipped between his legs from behind, my fingers just barely brushing his drawn-up balls. The only thing I loved more than making him sweat was making him beg.
“Please what?” I asked, then stood on tiptoe and lightly nipped his 44 / 226
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earlobe.
His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. “It’s been almost a week. My self-control has its limits.”
Not that I’d been able to tell. My will always broke before his, but I couldn’t pretend I didn’t like it that way. My whole body felt warm, my senses hyper-acute. My nostrils flared as I picked up the mingled scents of sweating male, Old Spice deodorant, and arousal. The longer I made this last, the longer I could escape my less-than-enjoyable thoughts. I slid around to the front. Brian was most definitely at full mast, the head of his erection shiny with pre-cum. I licked my lips, and he groaned. There was no missing how desperately he wanted me, and yet still he managed to keep the reins on his lust. Someday I was going to find a way to shatter that almost legendary self-control of his. Unfortunately, until I mastered the art of self-control, he was destined to win. My limited patience at its end, I dropped to my knees, steadying my victim with a hand on each of his hips. I could feel the intensity of his eyes on me. I loved knowing that he was watching. When my tongue flicked out for a quick taste, we both gasped. There was something so primally satisfying about taking him into my mouth. My every sense was alive and involved—tasting him, smelling his arousal, hearing the harshness of his gasps for breath. His hips rolled against my mouth, and I knew he wouldn’t last very long if I kept this up. I also knew that if I let him come in my mouth, I’d have to give him some recovery time before I could have him inside me. If I gave him time to recover, my treacherous mind might click into gear and spoil things.
Reluctantly, I released him despite his groan of protest.
“Even you aren’t that cruel,” he complained, looking at me with lustdarkened eyes. I climbed to my feet, my knees embarrassingly shaky. He opened his mouth for another protest, but then I started unbuttoning my blouse, and his protest died.
With a wicked grin and a crook of my finger, I began backing toward his bedroom. He followed like a stalking panther as I shrugged out of my blouse. I was nowhere near coordinated enough to take off my pants while I walked backward, so I settled for opening the snap and pulling down the zipper. By then I had crossed the threshold into the bedroom. 45 / 226
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