Chapter 19 Chase
Chase
“Someone’s at the door.”
Faust’s voice roused me from sleep. My eyes flew wide open, as if he’d spoken directly into my ear. His tone was serious, but not rushed. It didn’t seem like an emergency.
I looked over at Sagitta. He was still asleep. I took the opportunity to stare at his perfect face for a while. With his parted lips and not a single lock of silky black hair out of place, he resembled a model posing for a photo shoot. I didn’t know how he managed to look so hot while unconscious.
Then I heard a small knock at the door.
With a jolt, I rolled out of bed, then glanced at Sagitta. He didn’t stir. I wanted to keep it that way. He needed the rest.
I shoved my legs into my pants so I wasn’t totally naked, then quietly opened the door. I bit back a strangled sound when I saw Cygnet standing on the other side.
His dark eyes rounded to the size of plates at the sight of my bare chest. Then he scowled and turned his head pointedly in a different direction.
“I didn’t expect you to answer,” Cygnet muttered. “Do you mind putting on a shirt?”
He said it like an adult scolding a child, as if I’d done something wrong.
“Uh, sure,” I replied.
I threw on my shirt and stepped outside, closing the door behind us.
A few seconds passed in uncomfortable silence.
I felt awkward talking to Cygnet alone, since most of our interactions involved him threatening me.
But as he moved, I glimpsed his untouched sword sheath beneath the flowing black fabric.
It was hard not to remember how he’d pointed it at my face upon our first meeting, and then nearly cut me down with it a couple hours ago.
But right now, thankfully, his weapon didn’t seem to be on his mind.
“Let me guess. You and my brother were... sleeping together,” Cygnet ground out.
“Literally sleeping, yeah,” I confirmed, smoothing out my bedhead for good measure.
Cygnet sniffed. “He’s a light sleeper. I’m surprised he didn’t wake up.”
“It’s been a hard morning. He’s out like a light.”
Finally, Cygnet lifted his gaze to meet mine. His eyes were so much like Sagitta’s—dark, piercing, and intense. But there was something guarded about him, like a bomb that might explode if I breathed wrong. Like he was angry at something I hadn’t said yet.
Cygnet worked his jaw. I waited for him to speak.
“I apologize. For summoning a demon to your apartment,” he said.
I offered him a grin. “Did the doctor force you to say that to me?”
“Yes.”
I chuckled, feeling some of the tension evaporate. Cygnet’s shoulders relaxed almost imperceptibly.
“I’m not talking to the demon right now, am I?” he asked.
“Nope.”
“Prove it.”
“I’d love to. How do I do that without you swinging a sword at my face?”
Cygnet’s brow twitched. I couldn’t tell if he felt embarrassed about that or not.
Instead of answering my question, he reached down, picked up a small pebble, and threw it at my legs. It bounced off.
“Dude,” I said.
“Hmph. The demon would’ve deflected the blow, so I trust that you’re human... for now.” He paused, then asked, “Does Faust come and go as he pleases?”
I shrugged. “Pretty much. Honestly, since I’ve gotten... closer to Sagitta, Faust hasn’t been around that often.”
That awkward feeling returned, crawling over my skin like ants. Talking to Cygnet was already weird enough without bringing up the fact that I’d been intimate with his brother. And then there was Sagitta’s mic-drop moment in the doctor’s office. I was sure he’d regret that when he woke up.
Cygnet must’ve remembered that particular comment, too, because his face flushed. “I don’t need to know about that.”
“Cool. Then we’re on the same page.”
“I only want to kill the demon possessing you,” Cygnet stated.
My eyes widened. Maybe we weren’t on the same page after all.
“Kill? What happened to exorcise?” I asked.
Cygnet’s mouth curved into a snarl. “Hasn’t Sagitta told you anything? Once demons are on our side of the veil, you must kill them. If you don’t, they respawn in Hell and all your hard work is wasted.”
The words weighed heavily on me. Sagitta hadn’t mentioned anything like that. He never said his mission was to kill Faust, only to exorcise him.
The idea of killing anything, even a demon, didn’t sit well with me. Faust was annoying and got me into trouble sometimes, but he’d never done anything evil. Just because I didn’t want him possessing my body didn’t mean I wanted him dead. I was unaware that demons could die.
“Yes, we sure can,” Faust confirmed. “But don’t worry, dear. I’m as hard to kill as a cockroach.”
For some reason, that didn’t reassure me.
“I don’t know,” I said slowly. “Faust’s not, like, a bad guy.”
Cygnet’s entire aura changed. He stomped towards me, furious.
“You idiot! He’s a demon! His entire existence is morally wrong!”
Even though I was a foot taller than Cygnet, and even though I knew I wasn’t in any real danger because of Faust’s powers, I instinctively backed up. Cygnet’s anger was almost tangible, like an array of daggers aimed in my direction.
“Chill out, man,” I said, holding up my palms.
Cygnet stopped. He took a few hard breaths that barely seemed to calm him down. “Faust is not your friend. You can’t trust demons, no matter how friendly they act. All they know is selfishness and destruction. They ruin people’s lives. Why can’t you get that through your thick skull?”
I backed up another step, intimidated by his fury. “I know. I mean, I thought I knew that. But Faust hasn’t done anything bad.”
Cygnet looked like he was about to pop a blood vessel. “God, you’re stupid. I can’t believe my brother is giving you the time of day.”
“Hey, come on,” I said, offended.
“Faust was evicted from Hell. Did you know that?”
I paused. Sagitta mentioned that when I first arrived at the temple, but back then, I wasn’t curious enough to dig deeper.
“Evicted... Like, kicked out?” I asked. “How does a demon get kicked out of Hell? Was he, like... too good of a person?”
Cygnet let out a mirthless laugh. “Think that, if it makes you feel better.”
I frowned, not knowing how to respond. It was true I’d only known Faust for a few days, but they were a pretty damn intimate few days. Yet Cygnet—the guy who had nearly offed me with a sword—was implying Faust had done something so horrible that even Hell wouldn’t put up with him anymore.
My head hurt. At this point, I didn’t know what to believe.
I wanted to ask Cygnet for details, but he looked ready to abandon our conversation.
“Before you leave, I have a question,” I said.
Cygnet huffed. “What?”
“If you’re such a good exorcist, why don’t you exorcise Faust from my body?”
His dark eyes widened. He clearly hadn’t expected such a blunt demand. Then he scoffed.
“Believe me, I would if I could,” he muttered. “But Sagitta is a senior exorcist. It’s against our code to interfere with a senior exorcist’s active case. It’s grounds for expulsion from the temple.”
“If you care about the rules so much, then why’d you swing your sword at me? Isn’t that considered interfering?”
“Because I care about killing demons more,” he spat. “And I was pissed that you both lied to my face. Besides, nobody saw that except you two.”
“And Hartford,” I corrected.
Cygnet rolled his eyes like the doctor wasn’t even in the equation. “He won’t tell anyone.”
Maybe they were closer than I realized.
“I could easily assist you, but Sagitta is too stubborn to ask for my help,” Cygnet went on, clearly miffed. “He’d rather fail on his own.”
I bristled, feeling defensive on his behalf. “Listen, he’s doing his best. Didn’t you say Faust was an infamous demon? Of course the exorcism’s gonna be difficult.”
Cygnet’s eyes burned. “I could do it.”
“Really? How?” I asked, genuinely curious. I didn’t want Cygnet to be my exorcist, mostly because it would hurt Sagitta if I went behind his back. I’d put my trust in him, not anybody else. But if Cygnet had any ideas, I wasn’t opposed to hearing them.
“You have to be ruthless. Cut them down before they can worm their way under your skin,” Cygnet growled.
“What if the worming’s already done?”
Cygnet’s face turned colder. “Then I don’t trust you. And my brother shouldn’t, either.”
He turned around, his black robes fluttering around him like bird wings. “He was distraught when I attacked you. I haven’t seen him like that since our dad died.”
A sharp, tight feeling knotted in my chest. I didn’t know I was that important to Sagitta.
“But none of it’s real. I know he’s being manipulated by that demon,” Cygnet muttered.
“What?” I asked. “How could you possibly know that?”
“That’s what they do, idiot! They twist your feelings until they get what they want!” Cygnet snapped. “I don’t like you, and you don’t deserve my trust. Not until that demon is dead and gone.”
I winced. I knew Cygnet was deep in his feelings, but it still felt like a kick in the balls.
“I’m not trying to hurt Sagitta,” I promised. “I care about him.”
“Sure you do,” Cygnet said coldly.
I bit my lip so I didn’t argue. He was in no state to listen to anything that came out of my mouth.
I doubted he’d even look me in the eye until I was no longer possessed.
There was nothing I could do about that, except maybe have more sex to encourage Faust to leave.
But I wasn’t about to say that to Cygnet’s face. He hated me enough already.
“Okay,” I replied, not knowing what else to say.
With one final sneer, Cygnet whirled around, flashing his black cloak in a dramatic display before storming down the hall.
When he was gone, Faust piped up and said, “Huh. That was strange.”
I sighed. “Tell me about it.”
“That fellow really hates demons. Wonder why.”
I hadn’t even thought about it, but now that Faust brought it up, I was curious, too. Why had both brothers dedicated their lives to demon exorcism? It wasn’t exactly the most obvious career choice. Now I felt embarrassed that I hadn’t asked Sagitta about it sooner.