Chapter 7 Chase
Chase
Despite all my efforts to curb Faust’s cravings, we ended up at Dustin’s Donuts anyway.
It wasn’t like I hated donuts. I loved them. Who didn’t love a baked good coated in a layer of sugar? But that was the problem. You couldn’t just eat one. You wanted more and more until suddenly all the gains you worked on for months were buried under a lump of doughy deliciousness.
“Simple fix for that, darling,” Faust interjected. “Just lift more.”
I growled. “Easy for you to say, you lazy—”
Sagitta elbowed me in the ribs. It was his way of saying ‘hey, asshole, we’re in public now, so stop muttering to yourself before people think you’ve lost it.’
Thankfully, the shop was so crowded and noisy that nobody heard me. But I still didn’t appreciate Sagitta training me like a dog. I frowned, rubbing the spot where he’d hit me, although it was my pride that hurt more than anything.
“So like, what was that all about?” I asked as we stood in the back of the line.
As usual, Sagitta’s reply was composed yet snarky. “Many things have occurred since this morning. Be more specific.”
My eyebrow twitched. So now that we were safely away from the temple, he was back to being a jerk. Cool.
“You know what I mean, dude. That tension with your brother,” I said.
“Family drama saga!” Faust sang.
I ignored him.
Sagitta’s face didn’t crack. He kept looking calmly ahead, like he was just a regular guy and not a weird exorcist buying donuts in an attempt to eject a mega-demon from my body.
Sagitta’s reply was stiff. “There is nothing to say. We have a tense relationship. That’s all.”
“Okay, obviously, but why?”
“Since when are you so nosy?”
“Chase, darling, am I having an influence on you already?” Faust inquired, sounding proud of himself.
I ignored him again.
“Asking questions isn’t nosy,” I countered. “That’s what normal people do. Talk about stuff.”
Sagitta angled his irritated face towards me. “Now I’m abnormal?”
“Kinda, yeah. Given your... line of work,” I said, shrugging.
He sniffed. “I think repetitively lifting heavy objects until your muscles bulge is abnormal, but I courteously kept that to myself.”
“Okay, rude.”
“You started it.”
I scoffed. “Now you sound childish. How old are you again?”
“Twenty-nine.”
That surprised me. He was two years older than me, but he looked younger. Maybe while I applied myself to weightlifting, he was applying moisturizer instead.
Faust gasped in horror. “I can’t believe you had a mildly rude thought about Hot Stranger.”
“Stop calling him that,” I said out loud before I could stop myself.
Sagitta shot me a sharp, withering glare.
“Sorry,” I muttered.
His dubious expression told me he wasn’t convinced. And he was right not to be because I wasn’t that sorry. Everyone in the shop was rowdy and loud, so nobody except Sagitta heard me anyway. He didn’t need to be so nasty.
As we moved up in line, a pair of young boys ran by us. They giggled and ran excitedly towards the display case, slapping their palms against the domed glass as they ogled the colourful variety of donuts.
I didn’t miss Sagitta’s pained wince. He turned his head, trying to hide it, but it was too late. I’d already noticed his reaction.
Now I felt awkward broaching the topic. I was an only child, so I didn’t share his experience. Since it was clearly a touchy subject for him, maybe I was better off avoiding it.
Faust clicked his tongue. “You’re no fun. I wanted to know more about Sagitta’s sordid past.”
I didn’t want to encourage his mindless comments, so I fought to keep my mind clear of any response.
We remained silent as the queue moved forward. Only a few customers remained between us and the counter.
“Hey, I didn’t mean to make things weird,” I mumbled. “My bad if I upset you.”
“I’m not that weak-willed. It takes more than that to upset me.”
My brow inched higher. I’d seen the hurt flash across his face clear as day, but I didn’t bring it up.
“How much do you remember?” Sagitta asked. Because of the crowd, the rest of his question went unsaid: ‘When Faust possessed you?’
I scratched my head. “It was like being behind a sheer curtain, or walking through mist. You can see and hear everything, but it’s kinda vague.”
I wondered if it was similar on Faust’s end, too.
“Not at all,” he chimed in. “Thanks to my fabulous demonic senses, my experience through your body is perfectly clear.”
Well, that was that.
Sagitta crossed his arms thoughtfully. “I see. Then do you recall what I told Cygnet?”
“Something about going to my place?” I offered.
“I’m staying over. For at least a week.”
“A week?” I exclaimed.
A cheery voice cut in in a fake American Southern accent. “Howdy y’all! Welcome to Dustin’s Donuts! How may I help you folks today?” the girl behind the counter greeted us.
My head was swimming from what Sagitta just told me. I was in no state to order donuts. Or function like a human being at all. I stood there with my jaw hanging open, thinking about Sagitta in my apartment. Alone. With me. For an entire week.
Since it was clear that my brain felt like soup, Sagitta stepped in and took over. Flashing a charming smile at the worker, he said, “We’d like two dozen donuts. Assorted. No jelly-filled ones, please.”
I guessed he didn’t like those.
“Hmph. I would’ve eaten the jelly-filled ones,” Faust grumbled.
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. He was lucky Sagitta was buying him donuts at all, let alone twenty-four of them.
When it came time to pay, Sagitta pulled out a classy leather wallet. Then my brain restarted. No way was I letting him pay. I grabbed a twenty from my pocket and put it on the counter before he could tap his card.
Sagitta gave me a surprised glance. “That’s not—”
I guessed his next word was ‘necessary’, but he didn’t get the chance to say it.
“Oh, great, you know about our cash discount!” the cashier chirped. She handed me my change and two fancy boxes of donuts. “Have a good day!”
“I could’ve paid for it, you know,” Sagitta said curtly as we exited the store. The line stretched outside, so we skirted around it. A few people ogled the hoard in my arms.
“With your exorcism scam money?” I asked over the boxes.
“I perform genuine exorcisms, for your information.”
I knew he did. All that chanting and firing magical holy arrows seemed legitimate, and I couldn’t deny demons and spirits existed now that one literally lived inside of me. But honestly? It was fun to tease him.
“I’ve got a job, too,” I replied. “It may not be as important as yours, but I get paid, and I’m not gonna be on the streets over a twenty.”
“I know about your job.”
My brow furrowed. “How? I haven’t told you about it yet.”
“I did my research after you got possessed. I needed all the information I could get my hands on.” Sagitta glanced up at me from beneath a silky black fringe of hair. “You received an athletic scholarship and now you work part-time at the local sports store selling equipment.”
My cheeks flushed. How much did he know about me?
Faust scoffed. “That hardly seems fair. All you know about him is that he’s a tight-ass with family issues. And that he’s a good kisser.”
The burning in my cheeks grew hotter, and my grip on the donut boxes tightened until my fingers dug permanent grooves in the cardboard.
But after my initial shock passed, I realized that Sagitta’s knowledge barely scratched the surface of who I was. All of that information was easily accessible since he knew my full name. He wasn’t some elite hacker like Lily. He was as much of a detective as the average Facebook user.
“And what about you, Sagitta?” I asked. “You gonna give me a run-down of who you are, since you invited yourself to my place for a week?”
“Who I am is not important,” he muttered.
“What the hell kind of answer is that?” Faust implored.
For once, I agreed with him.
I leapt ahead to block Sagitta’s path. “Uh, no. That’s now how this works, dude.”
He arched an offended brow. “Excuse me?”
“I barely know anything about you, except that you’re a freaking exorcist who lives and works at some multi-faith demon-hunting temple, and that you have beef with your little brother.”
“Don’t forget being a good kisser.”
I continued ranting. “Hell, I’m better acquainted with the annoying demon in my head, and I barely know anything about him, either.”
Sagitta’s expression steeled. Instead of letting me in, he turned into a brick wall. He dropped his gaze, peering forward with his piercing black eyes like the only thing he saw was the path ahead.
“I’m only here to rid you of the demon. Nothing more,” Sagitta said in a hushed, steady tone. “We don’t need to be friends. You don’t even have to like me. Just let me do my job, and I’ll be gone from your life.”
Without waiting for my reply, he swiftly stepped around me and marched on down the sidewalk. I stood there, blinking in confusion. He’d left me with more questions than answers. Why wouldn’t he talk to me like a normal person?
He stopped at the red light blaring over the crosswalk. I caught up to him in a few strides.
“Sagitta, wait, you got it all wrong. I’m not, like, mad at you. I just want us to be...”
“Friends?” he offered, too snarky to be serious.
That stung.
“Uh, yeah, actually,” I replied, echoing his nasty tone. “Since you’re apparently my roommate now. Probably better if we got along.”
He whipped his head away from me. His body language was stiff and spiky, like a porcupine flashing his quills in warning. But since we were stuck at the red light, he couldn’t get away. Why was he avoiding me, anyway? We were going to the same damn destination.
“I think he’s spiralling for reasons unrelated to you, darling,” Faust mentioned offhandedly.
I frowned. Spiralling for what? It was only a conversation. What was Sagitta so sensitive about?
Lowering my voice, I said, “Listen, if you’re upset about the two exorcisms going wrong, it’s not a big—”
“Yes, it is,” Sagitta snapped.
His voice was ice—freezing-cold but brittle. I heard the fear lurking beneath his outburst.
Sagitta heard it, too. He panicked.
“Let’s go,” he muttered. He twisted around, ready to bolt to the other side of the crosswalk.
The opposite light was yellow, about to stop. But the light was still red for us.
An aggressive SUV hurtled towards the intersection, determined to blast through the yellow.
Sagitta lurched onto the crosswalk without looking.
Fear surged through my body. I dropped the boxes and seized his arm, yanking him towards me as the vehicle roared by. Terror caused me to put my whole strength into it. Sagitta lost his breath as he slammed into my chest.
Fuck.
His body was lithe. And warm.
And he just scared the absolute shit out of me.
“What the hell were you doing?” I blurted. Fear hardened my voice into something more aggressive than intended.
Sagitta stared ahead, dazed. He blinked a few times as he came back to himself.
“I... I apologize,” he murmured. “I wasn’t thinking.”
“Fuck, dude, you really weren’t,” I barked. My heart was still pounding. The adrenaline made me feel like I could run a marathon. Or vomit. Or both.
Slowly, Sagitta’s cheeks flushed in shame. He shrank into himself like he wanted to disappear.
Sympathy washed over me. I knew I’d feel like shit in his shoes. We all had those moments where we did self-destructive crap and felt stupid afterwards.
In the seconds since I’d pulled him into me, Sagitta remained braced against my chest. It was only now that I could breathe properly that I realized how close we were—and how intimate of a position we were in.
How I could smell the lingering smoky incense and earthy shampoo on his hair. How I could feel the weight of his slender body against mine.
How deeply it intoxicated me.
My heart stumbled over itself. It flew into a staccato pace, beating violently against my ribs. I cleared my throat and took a subtle step back from Sagitta so he wouldn’t notice.
“C’mon,” I said, forcing myself to act casual. “Let’s go home, okay?”
That brought Sagitta fully back down to earth. He nodded. “Yes.”
“Hey, you better not forget those donuts,” Faust interjected.
He’d been so quiet I nearly forgot he was there. Rolling my eyes, I picked up the fallen boxes and continued on our way.
But I couldn’t help noticing that, instead of taking control of my body, Faust had let me save Sagitta instead.