Chapter 23 Chase
Chase
It wasn’t an exaggeration to say this was one of the best days of my life. Sex in the morning, homemade French toast for brunch, a dream business proposal, sharing gelato by the water with my boyfriend...
Everything I’d ever dreamed of rolled up in one beautiful package named Sagitta Sangkaew.
My body buzzed with excitement as we sat on the edge of the short pier. We huddled close, shoulder-to-shoulder for added security in case any stray peeping eyes were watching. But our secluded corner was quiet, as private as a public space could be.
“I can’t believe you agreed to this,” I said, half breathless already.
Sagitta huffed. “Me, neither.”
He moved with an archer’s precision as he reached for the bulge between my thighs. He knew exactly what he wanted, and he was going to get it. I loved that about him. Especially because it felt so fucking good when his palm grazed me through my shorts.
“Shit,” I hissed.
He didn’t bother telling me to keep it down. Nobody was around. Still, I kept my voice in check so I wasn’t moaning loud enough to carry across the lake.
The sun dipped low on the horizon now, painting the sky in vivid pink and orange, with bluish violet right on its heels. It was a damn nice backdrop while my boyfriend touched my dick.
I snuggled closer to Sagitta, although we couldn’t get any closer without taking our clothes off. “Feels good,” I murmured.
He hummed in response. His hand cupped and stroked me gently.
“Fuck. Go under, please,” I begged under my breath.
His pale hand deftly undid my zipper and slipped inside. I gritted my teeth when he ground the heel of his palm against my bulge. I was straining in my boxer briefs now.
“This is crazy,” I said with a laugh. “Are we seriously doing this?”
Sagitta blew out a short breath. “With you, Chase? I’m doing a lot of things I never imagined doing.” His black eyes flicked up, met mine. “And I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
I couldn’t swallow my affectionate whimper in time. I dipped my forehead against his shoulder, burying myself in him.
“I love you,” I said. “So much.”
Sagitta’s hand paused. For a split second, he went totally still. Then he resumed breathing and touching me again.
In a hushed but confident voice, he said, “I love you, too.”
Every nerve in my body went haywire. I shut my eyes and I bit my lip hard as I came in my underwear. The aftershocks went on an embarrassingly long time for a five-minute handjob, but holy shit, did it feel incredible.
When I opened my eyes again, the sunset was indescribably beautiful.
Then I looked at Sagitta. He was even more beautiful.
After a moment, his smile was tinged with concern. “Chase, are you okay? You’re tearing up.”
“Huh?” When I wiped my arm across my eyes, I was surprised to feel wetness. “Oh. Yeah, I’m great. I just got emotional.”
When I smiled at him, he sighed in relief.
“You’re my first boyfriend, so I don’t know what’s normal or not,” he said.
I nuzzled my cheek against his. “First and only,” I teased. Then my hand snaked towards his thighs. “Now it’s my turn to—”
“Chase.” Faust’s voice was as urgent as a blaring alarm. “Demon incoming.”
His sudden interruption disoriented me.
“What?” I asked out loud.
I saw the confusion on Sagitta’s face for a split second before I heard a huge thud and the sound of pounding hooves on the pier.
Sagitta leapt to his feet faster than I did. Instinctively, he reached for his bow.
But it wasn’t there. He’d left the apartment without it.
“Shit!” he cursed, panicked and furious.
I whipped my head in the demon’s direction. It was the size of a horse and resembled a goat on steroids, which was far more terrifying than it sounded. Its four hooves splintered the wood as it charged, its tire-sized horns pointed at us.
There was no time to think, and nowhere to run. The demon’s body spanned the whole width of the pier, and behind us was only the lake.
“Chase, get in the water,” Sagitta ordered. “I’ll—”
The demon was fast. It rolled its head, flinging its horns at Sagitta. He ducked and rolled away just in time to avoid getting his ribs crunched.
“I’ll distract it,” Sagitta called to me. Fear gripped his voice and I knew it was for my sake. “Go!”
I wasn’t going to abandon him, unarmed and alone. I wouldn’t.
“Chase!” he snapped.
The goat demon whinnied. Twisting around, it levelled a glare straight at me. I got the feeling I was its real target. That filled me with a weird sense of relief. I didn’t want Sagitta to get hurt. If I dealt with the demon on my own, he’d be safe.
But I was no exorcist. I was just a normal fucking dude. I didn’t even have a weapon, holy or otherwise.
Faust’s voice echoed in my mind. “You’re wrong, Chase. You do have a weapon.”
Then I realized the truth. He was right.
Faust was my weapon.
“Do you love Sagitta?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said.
“Do you trust me?”
It was no longer a question. “Yes.”
Faust’s chuckle was dark and whimsical. “Then let’s put on a show.”
My body started to move on its own.
My legs broke into a run, straight at the charging demon. Being unable to control myself was surreal and terrifying. I felt like I was in a dream.
It’s Faust, I realized. He’s taken full control of my body.
I expected my heart to race, but it didn’t. My pulse was calm and collected, ticking only slightly faster from the thrill of it all. That made this feel even more alien.
The goat demon snorted when it saw my advance. It lowered its head and charged at me.
I felt the briefest flicker of fear before it was smothered by feelings that weren’t my own. They were Faust’s. His confidence, his determination, his absolute certainty that he would win. It was like a drug.
Strength pumped through my veins as Faust channelled his real power.
I watched my body change in real time. My skin’s colour changed from flesh to unnatural purple.
Long claws jutted out from my fingertips, and I heard the leathery snap of wings as they cracked and unfurled from my back. It was painless, but seriously jarring.
Faust wasn’t just controlling my body. He was transforming it.
I was turning into him.
Into a demon.
And honestly? It felt pretty damn good.
Although Faust was in control, I was fully conscious, like he’d simply reached over and taken the wheel.
When he leapt into the air, I felt the wind rushing past my face as if it were my own skin.
Raw strength flowed through me as if it were born from my own muscles.
Even the wings and tail felt like extensions of me.
As Faust arched gracefully over the demon’s back, he snatched the end of its horn. He yanked it sideways with so much power that it threw the beast off balance. It whinnied as it crashed against the pier.
“Where did this thing even come from?” I asked, and was promptly startled. Now it was my voice that echoed in my head.
“Who knows, dear?” Faust replied as he landed effortlessly on the pier. The demon goat was still dazed, huffing from its wide nostrils as it struggled to rise again. “We can figure that out once we save your man.” Faust glanced over his shoulder and winked at Sagitta. “Right?”
Sagitta was gobsmacked. He stared at me—at us—as if seeing a ghost. In a way, that was kind of true.
The goat demon barked out a furious roar. Faust wasn’t concerned. As it rose up on its hind legs, ready to break his skull with its hooves, he dashed forward and cross-chopped the demon in the gut. It grunted, winded, and toppled onto its back.
“Had enough yet? I could go all night, darling,” Faust asked, grinning gleefully while wringing his wrists.
The demon’s eyes blazed red, almost glowing in the falling twilight. It stood up on all fours and breathed hard. The creature had seemed terrifying moments earlier, but now I almost felt sorry for it. Faust kicked its ass without even breaking a sweat.
All this time, he could’ve taken over my body any time he wanted and wreaked unimaginable havoc. But he didn’t. He just... wanted me to fall in love. What a weird fucking dude.
“Chase...?” Sagitta breathed behind me. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”
The goat demon charged again. Faust casually pinched his fingers into its nostrils, making it squeal and collapse into a submissive pile of fur and rage.
Faust grinned at Sagitta. “Don’t worry. Chase is still here. I had to deal with this mess.”
Sagitta’s expression was a mix of confusion and relief. But mostly confusion. “Faust...?” he breathed.
“Yes, darling. I thought that was obvious.” He smiled at Sagitta. “My, you’re not scared at all, are you?”
Sagitta swallowed. He looked frazzled, still coming down from the adrenaline rush, but not afraid. “I trust Chase. And he trusts you.”
“So in a roundabout way, you trust me, too,” Faust said.
“I guess so,” Sagitta admitted.
Faust chuckled. “An exorcist trusting a demon... So adorable.”
Sagitta scowled, but it was mild and good-humoured, as if they were in on the joke together.
“You’re an exception.” He shot the demon a stern look. “What are we going to do about that? I don’t have my bow, so I can’t exactly send it back where it came from.”
Faust’s pointed ear twitched, followed by him scenting the air. I had shared access to Faust’s senses and smelled it, too—the smoke from a freshly lit cigarette. It had a spicy, rich odour, different from common tobacco.
“Can you sense it?” Faust asked Sagitta under his breath.
Sagitta stilled, returning the tiniest of nods. “We’re being watched.”
I felt pride radiate through Faust. “Yes. And by whom, I wonder?”
Sagitta’s brows furrowed. “Cygnet?” he asked hesitantly, like he didn’t want it to be true. But then his eyes hardened. “No, I recognize the stink of that smoke.”
Faust smiled.
He turned around, facing the spot where the pier met the boardwalk. A familiar figure casually stepped out from behind the dogwood shrubs. Hartford took a drag of his cigarette, then lazily waved at us.
“Yo,” he called.