Chapter 22 Sagitta
Sagitta
As we walked down the street, I really hoped this would work.
“So, are you gonna let me in on this idea yet?” Chase asked, hands shoved into his pants pockets. He was walking closer to me than before. Our elbows practically brushed with each step.
“Not yet. I want you to see it first,” I replied. “It’s something I noticed on our first day together.”
Chase blew out a laugh. “Our first day, huh? That feels like ages ago, but it hasn’t even been a week.”
I ignored the ribbon of anxiety squirming in my chest. At the end of this grace period, I had to make a choice.
If I couldn’t exorcise Faust, I’d be forced to give up and let Cygnet handle it.
But Cygnet wouldn’t be content to simply exorcise the demon.
He wanted Faust dead. I was no fan of demons, either, but. .. was I okay with that?
There was one other option: step away from my life as an exorcist. But if I abandoned that career, I could never go back. Was I really okay leaving behind the only life I’d ever known?
“I feel the same way,” I agreed. “This has been the longest week of my life.”
Chase flashed one of his classic golden retriever grins. Prodding his elbow against mine, he asked, “In a good way, I hope?”
“I thought that was obvious.”
Chase beamed. He bounced down the sidewalk with a spring in his step until the Dustin’s Donuts sign came into view, and he halted abruptly.
“Oh no,” he muttered. “We’re back here.”
“Yes we are.”
“You brought us here on purpose?” He let out a petulant groan. “Sagitta, you don’t understand. He gets so annoying when he wants treats.”
“Faust?” I asked, then scoffed. “What, he didn’t like that French toast I made this morning? That’s plenty sweet enough.”
Chase paused, and I knew he was listening to the demon. It didn’t seem to affect Chase’s behavior, so I stopped scolding him about it.
“Actually, he liked it a lot. He told me to tell you that your French toast was excellent,” Chase relayed. “Like, in the top ten things he’s eaten.”
I frowned in surprise. After hesitating, I asked, “Really?”
I shouldn’t have asked, because it didn’t matter. It was a demon’s opinion, for god’s sake. It should’ve been insulting. But the compliment felt strangely good, more than it had any business feeling.
I was at a loss for words. Since I’d never received a compliment from a demon before, I didn’t know how to respond.
“Well, I’m glad he liked it,” I mumbled. “Anyway, we’re not here for donuts.”
Chase rubbed his temple like he had a headache. After a second, he said, “It’s fine. He’s throwing a tantrum, but he’ll get over it. Keep talking.”
I rolled my eyes, though internally, I admired Chase’s resilience. He was much better at handling demonic fits than I initially gave him credit for. I couldn’t imagine putting up with a grating voice in my head. I already had my own, and that was bad enough.
Taking Chase’s wrist, I walked deliberately past the donut shop and stopped in front of the building adjacent to it.
“As I was saying...” I gestured to the door. “Look at this.”
Chase blinked as he examined the unit. It was dark and empty inside. A for-lease sign hung in the front window.
“I don’t get it,” he admitted.
But as I let him sit with the question for a few beats, a different expression emerged on his face. He examined the sign, then peered into the dark windows. The unit was narrow but spacious. It had potential.
“I bet the rent’s through the roof,” he pointed out, guarded.
“I looked into it. It’s typical for the area,” I replied.
That wasn’t quite the truth. But Chase didn’t need to know that yet. I held onto my cards, wanting to see Chase’s reaction first. Right now, he seemed too nervous to be hopeful.
He frowned. “That’s still not cheap.”
“It’s within your means.”
He snorted. “I think you’re overestimating my bank account, dude.”
“I have the money,” I said.
Startled, Chase’s eyes blew wide open. “What? No, no. No way.”
He started to back away, but I grabbed his wrist and held him firmly in place.
“Sagitta,” he said, sounding like he was about to argue.
I cut in before he could start. “If you could have any job in the world, Chase, what would that be?”
His mouth hung open for a second before he closed it. He glanced back at the empty unit. Finally, he heaved a sigh.
“I mean... I’ve always wanted to own an aquarium shop,” he admitted. “But that’s not feasible, man. The startup costs, the overhead, the rent alone—”
“Is not an issue,” I interjected.
Chase stared at me. Disbelief was written all over his face.
“I can’t let you do that for me,” he stated.
I thought he’d be more excited. But as I cleared that initial bump of disappointment, I realized why Chase was holding back. He cared about me too much to mindlessly accept the help. He was trying to protect me. That only strengthened my will to do this.
I released my grip on his wrist, but didn’t pull back. My hand moved lower, grazing his skin, and I laced our fingers together.
“I understand,” I said. “Just think about it. Know that my offer is there.”
Chase flushed. He processed my comment with a cute furrow in his brows.
“This is a lot,” he mumbled, scratching his head with his free hand. “Like, what if I bomb at being a business owner? What if I totally fuck it up?”
I smirked. “I fucked up your exorcism, so we’ll call it even.”
He laughed. “Fair enough.” Tilting his head, he gave me a fond look. “At the risk of sounding like a total douchebag, how about we grab a coffee and talk business?”
A flicker of hope danced in my chest. I laced our fingers tighter together.
“I’d love to,” I agreed.
To my surprise, Chase opened up during our business chat.
We talked numbers and facts and all the boring things that went into running a business.
But once it sank in that my offer was serious, and that his dream could really happen, Chase’s eyes started to sparkle with excitement.
He spoke faster, sat higher in his seat, and started throwing his hands around as he talked.
It was charming to watch him light up. It was also, weirdly enough, really hot to hear him talk about crunching numbers.
I saw a different side of him, and I liked it.
Three hours at the cafe flew by—just like how this entire week had flown by. As we approached the end of the week-long grace period, I found myself nervous and uneasy. I didn’t want this to end.
Maybe it didn’t have to. Maybe if Chase agreed, we could make something work...
Chase stretched in his seat, then released a content groan. It sounded far too similar to his moans of pleasure, so I had to stamp down the tickle in my chest.
“Want to take a walk? We could both use a break from the numbers,” I suggested.
He sprang from his chair. He looked happy just to be with me. That made my heart ache.
“Yeah. Actually, I know a place a few blocks down. They have the best gelato.”
“Is that Faust talking, or you?” I asked. I already knew the answer, but I felt like teasing him.
“Me, duh.” More seriously, he added, “He hasn’t made a peep since his donut tantrum.”
The demon was dormant again. I wondered what Faust was thinking. But the longer I spent with Chase, the less I found myself caring. Faust was more of a temporary nuisance than a serious problem. Lately, I even found myself forgetting about him, especially when Chase and I were intimate.
A week ago, I would’ve found the idea of dismissing a powerful demon unfathomable. Irresponsible. Now I was just looking forward to a bite of gelato and the rest of my afternoon with Chase, possession be damned.
It was late afternoon by the time we bought our gelato. The shop was a short distance from the boardwalk, so we took it on a stroll by the lake. The setting sun reflected off the water and turned Chase’s hair to pure gold. I played it cool, but I had to stop myself from staring at its brilliance.
“Hey, you got pistachio flavour, right?” Chase asked. “Can I try a bite?”
I offered it to him. He leaned in and carefully licked the pale green dessert without spilling any of it.
“You’re good with your tongue,” I said before I thought better of it.
Chase nearly choked. When he swallowed, he said, “Don’t make dirty jokes when I’m eating!”
“It wasn’t a joke. I was serious.”
He huffed, his ears turning pink. “Thanks for the compliment. Wanna try mine?”
I took a small bite of his lemon gelato. The tartness was refreshing compared to the mild sweetness of my pistachio.
“That’s nice.” After a few strides down the boardwalk, I said, “We should do this more often.”
“Yeah.” Chase took another lick of his gelato. “By the way, I have a question.”
“Hm?”
He looked at me expectantly. “Is this a date? Like, are we on a date right now?”
The Sagitta from a week ago would’ve shot that down faster than he could’ve blinked.
Instead, I looked him in the eye and said, “Yes.”
Chase grinned like he was on his first date ever. I knew he’d been with other partners in the past, so to see him get so visibly flustered was a huge ego boost.
“Then, are we...” Chase trailed off. He stared down at the boardwalk, licked his lips. “Are we a thing?”
My heart swooped dangerously.
“I hope so,” I replied.
He let out a breathless laugh. “Shit, I hope so, too.”
We stood in an empty corner of the boardwalk. Nobody was around. And even if there were onlookers, I’d lost the will to give a shit. I pushed up on my toes and kissed Chase.
He made a small sound of pleasure as he kissed me back. He tasted like lemon and the usual sweetness of his tongue. The thrill went to my head. I didn’t care who saw. I just wanted Chase all to myself.
“Are we boyfriends?” he asked quietly, our mouths still centimetres apart.
As usual, he was giving me the choice.
“Yeah,” I decided. “We are.”
Chase grinned, and he didn’t stop grinning as I kissed him again. His joy was as radiant as the golden light bouncing off his head. He was like my own personal sun, warm and safe and full of light.
I indulged the urge to be playful, so my tongue slipped past his lips. Our cute kiss evolved into a heavy, languid make-out. As the minutes went on, I felt my pants tighten, and even then, I couldn’t stop. I didn’t want to.
I want him. Forever.
My head was spinning when I pulled back for air with a gasp.
Chase’s expression was dreamy and wistful as he caught his breath.
If I hadn’t stopped, I knew he would’ve kept going.
I got the sense that, if I asked him to, he’d go down on me right here in public.
The idea was extremely hot, and absolutely not going to happen.
Thankfully, I was soon distracted by my dripping gelato.
I cursed and went to clean it with a napkin, but Chase was faster.
He grasped my wrist, holding it as delicately as an expensive prize, and licked the melted gelato off my fingers.
He looked dazed with pleasure as he did it. He looked like he was worshipping me.
This is getting out of hand, I thought, doing nothing to stop him.
How could I? His attention was addictive, and he was fucking hot.
My willpower crumbled every second I spent with Chase.
In that moment, I could’ve said “screw it” and thrown away everything in exchange for a life with him. I sincerely thought about it.
Chase drew away from my hand and licked the corners of his mouth before flashing a coltish grin at me.
“You know, there’s a secluded area down there,” he began, nodding to a set of steps that descended closer to the water. From above, it was mostly hidden by a row of dogwood shrubs. Nobody could see us unless they went out of their way.
My throat went dry with anticipation. “What are you insinuating?”
He shrugged, but there was a frisky gleam in his eyes. “I’m just saying. Boyfriends do risque stuff like that sometimes.”
A shiver rolled over me.
We were boyfriends now.
Forget having sex with my client. I was flat-out dating him now, and talking about opening a business together. We were fully enmeshed in each other. There was no going back to my old life.
And I was okay with that.
A natural by-product of my loosening willpower was that I was quickly becoming okay with the idea of doing sexual things in public, too.
Before I could change my mind, I grabbed Chase’s hand and pulled him down the stairs.
“Okay, but we have to make it fast,” I muttered.
Chase sounded giddy as he replied, “Deal.”