Chapter 25 #2
Kit doesn’t respond. The demon with the high ponytail deals out the cards. Kit takes his hand and brings it up so we can both see it. His hands are visibly shaking, nerves radiating so hard through him that there is a buzzing in my void.
I don’t know a lot about poker, but I do know what a full house is. He has a six of clubs, a six of diamonds, a queen of hearts, a queen of clubs, and a queen of spades.
“Nice,” I say. “Can you win with that?”
“Shhh,” he hisses again. What is his deal?
I sit back in my chair and cross my arms. They go around the table, playing cards or folding. Kit folds. The hand that wins, Balores’s, is a flush (four of diamonds, six of diamonds, seven of diamonds, eight of diamonds, and ten of diamonds). A full house would have beat that.
I repeat this aloud.
“Lacy, I am begging you to stop talking. Maybe try to get some sleep.”
“What’s with the attitude?” I demand.
“I will tell you when we leave. But for now, please shut the fuck up.”
My jaw drops in outrage, eyes watering from the shock of his tone. Asshole. I slam my mouth shut. Kit has never yelled at me like that before.
He continues to play. I watch but don’t say anything, even when he gets a royal fucking flush and still folds. He’s losing on purpose. The only times he plays a hand is when he knows there has to be a better one at the table.
This Balores guy freaks him out, that much is obvious. But why? What is he going to do to Kit if he wins?
There’s liquid at my feet—beer filling my void.
I sigh but don’t complain. I don’t need a grumpy demon yelling at me again. I just pick up my feet and sit cross-legged on the chair, my elbows on the ledge before the window, watching.
As soon as the game ends, other demons collecting gold coins and, of course, Balores collecting the witch’s bone, Kit tries to shoot out of there.
Balores catches him by the arm, his grip so tight my arm pinches. “It’s been a while since you were in Hell.”
“Garficious said the same thing. I am planning a visit.” Garficious actually told him to stay away, but I won’t mention that.
He eyes Kit up and down. “I’m disappointed in you. Truly. You are not living up to expectations.”
“I apologize, sir. I will try harder.”
“You were a waste of energy.” He leans closer and growls, “And a thief.”
Balores releases Kit, and we teleport instantly back to my apartment.
Kit folds down onto the cool tile in my entryway, breathing hard. So hard and rapidly, in fact, that I think he’s having a panic attack. Can demons have panic attacks?
“Kit,” I say steadily. “Deep breath in, deep breath out.”
He does as I ask, repeating the motion until his breath slows. He sits back on his heels and drags his fingers through my hair, catching on the knots.
He slowly moves to the couch to lie down, face-first in the cushions.
“I’m sorry I yelled at you,” he says in the void.
I don’t say it’s okay. “Who was that guy?”
“Balores,” he says, even though he knows I know that. “He’s the reason I’m a demon.”
A spark of understanding hits me, a chill slithering over my skin.
“Oh. He’s the one who took a liking to you?
The one who…who tortured you?” I don’t need him to confirm, because I know the answer is yes.
My fists clench with fury at the man who made Kit so miserable.
He was right there. I mean, there’s nothing I could do to him, but I can think of a few creative ways to express my anger.
“He can hear you when you talk, only if he really listens, but that’s why you needed to be quiet.”
“Oh,” I mumble. “You could have told me that.”
“I didn’t want to spend too much time explaining. I didn’t know what he would do if he knew you were awake. He…” Kit groans, flipping to his back so we’re staring at the ceiling. “He was going to take you.”
“…What do you mean?”
Kit shakes his head. “He wanted you. Your body. I…I don’t know why exactly. Something you did or said years ago made him obsessed. But last week, he decided to take you as his host.”
I furrow my brow. “So, you took me instead? What? Did you call dibs? Not that I’m not glad it’s you over him, but who cares? I’m still being held hostage.”
“I’m not holding you hostage.”
I let out a bitter laugh. “Sure. Keep telling yourself that.”
“He would have killed you.”
“Killed me?” I shake my head with a sigh. “Kit, I cannot have this conversation with you staring at the ceiling. Go to the mirror or something.”
He releases a huff of air, and feeling rushes back into my right arm. He appears before me in the void. I’m still sat in my chair, so he takes a seat on the ground at my feet.
He absently plays with the ankle of my sweatpants as he says, “He’s a mid-level demon. If he possessed you, you would have died. I couldn’t…I can’t let you die.”
“I…” I shake my head, trying to make sense of this. “Are you trying to tell me that you’re possessing me because you’re protecting me?”
He gazes up at me, eyes huge. “Yes, sweetness. Of course. I…fuck. If I let you go, he might possess you. And kill you. I know this situation is far from ideal, but I need to keep you alive.”
“I don’t… Why do you care?”
His head drops back. “Come on, Lace.”
“I understand why you care now. But why did you care at the haunted house? Why were you even there? Did you just…I don’t know, also take a liking to me and decide I shouldn’t die because…why? I don’t get it.”
He laughs softly, fingers tracing over my ankle as he continues to play with the hem of my pants. “I thought you knew. After the memories, I thought… Lacy, ask me what my coffee order is.”
“Your coffee order? Kit, I don’t—”
“Please. Humor me.”
I sigh. “What’s your coffee order?”
“Coffee. One cream.”
“Okay? I still don’t…” I look at his eyes. Really look at them. I don’t just know them because they’re Kit’s. No way. “You’re coffee-one-cream? Hudson? From the law firm? Wait, I don’t understand. You’re a lawyer? You’re not a lawyer.”
“I possessed him. A couple of times, actually. Hudson was the first one I hit once I was out of Hell. I thought, you know, lawyers are scummy. I’m a scummy demon.
Might as well. Though being a lawyer is a lot of work, so it was not fun—I spent most of my days opening sketchy porn sites to give the computers viruses.
And Hudson is a really cool guy, so my bad.
Works as a human rights defense lawyer now. ”
“Uh, good for Hudson? But, Kit. I don’t… I still don’t get it. Why me?”
“You have a nice smile, beautiful eyes, and a great laugh. You were the first person who had been nice to me in a long time. I had a crush on you.”
My lips press together before I admit, “I suppose I had a crush on you, too.”
He smiles softly then wrinkles his nose. “Remember Mr. Blanc?”
“Yeah?”
“That was Balores.”
My jaw drops. “What?”
“Not the entire time. He came to check up on me. I think it was your last day. The day…” He trails off.
The day August died. “He possessed him at some point during the day, and after that, I could tell he…liked you. So, to make sure he was staying away, I checked on you every now and then. Think of it as my form of social media stalking. He seemed to mostly let you be, but I caught him a few times. Watching you.”
I think about the video of me at the mini golf course. The shadow with horns. “Why wait? If he’s been watching me for years, why was last week the trigger?”
“I was wondering that, too, but I figured it out. You reached one hundred and fifty thousand subscribers on YouTube.”
“And that matters because…?”
Kit shrugs. “He likes his vessels to hold a certain modicum of success. Normally, he goes after people like Blanc or the finance bro he’s in now, but with you, you didn’t have that success when he met you, so he’s been waiting patiently for you to get there.”
I squirm in my seat, the idea that he’s been watching me for this long too much to handle. “That’s really fucking weird.”
“I agree. I’m not some demonic profiler—I don’t know why this is his, like, fetish, or whatever, but it is.”
“So, all this time, you’ve been watching him watch me?”
“Yes.”
My hands wring together. “What incredibly unnerving information.”
He frowns. “I know, sweetness. I’m sorry.”
“Is he still watching me? Even with you here?”
“Tonight is the first time I’ve seen him, but that doesn’t mean much. He’s been alive for so long he might just be waiting me out. A year, ten years, is nothing to him. He’s been alive for a millennium.”
I swallow, taking a pause. I whisper, “Ten years?”
“We’ll find a solution before then. I promise.”
I should keep my focus on the mid-level demonic stalker I’ve apparently had for four years, but to prevent myself from spiraling, I have to ask, “You acted like you didn’t know about August. Why did you lie?”
He tugs lightly at my pant leg. “I didn’t want you to think I knew everything about you, which I don’t yet, but I also wanted you to tell me about her yourself.”
“Oh.”
“Balores seemed to leave you be for a while, but I kept checking on you. And I’m glad I did, because I happened to catch when he started poking around again.
Something, I can’t even remember what, made me think of you about a week ago, and I stopped in to check, and there was Balores.
Watching you. I overheard him tell another demon that it was time for him to take you.
” He closes his eyes. “I just want to keep you safe.”
I reach out, tracing along his face until I’m holding his cheek in my hand.
He leans into my touch. God, I wish I could actually feel his skin, the stubble under my palm.
“And yet you insist you have no morals, no soul. I know I am not the expert, but normal demons don’t get crushes.
They don’t pick random women to…to protect out of nothing more than kindness.
Torture, maybe. Terrorize, but not…not to care about. ”
He looks up at me again. “Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. Please. I just… This is a lot to take in.” I drop my hand. “Isn’t there any other way to keep him from possessing me?”
“I mean, potentially a tattoo of an anti-demon sigil? But I don’t have proof that that works, so I would hate to put that on you and have it fail. It’s ugly as hell.”
I kick him lightly. “Any other theories? What about a way to null that possession consent contract?”
Kit looks away, meaning there is a way to do that.
I jerk up in my seat. “How?”
His shoes must be the most interesting things in the world, the way he’s staring at them. “There’s a list. A do-not-possess list for people whose bodies are not…able.”
“That’s…considerate?”
“Hardly. It’s just to make sure demons don’t end up harmed, or stuck in ‘weaker’ bodies.
People on the Prohibited Possessions list have severe allergies or conditions where simple things could kill them.
Technically ableist, but I don’t think anyone would be too upset that a demon wasn’t allowed to possess them. ”
The realization clicks. “So, with the bee allergy, I could go on that list. That list nulls the contract. And, what, makes a new binding contract saying that I cannot be possessed ever?”
“Yes, but—”
I stand, pulling away from him. “But nothing. Put me on the goddamn list.”
He stands with me, now looking down at me. “I’d have to go to Hell to do it, Lace. I-I can’t. I’m sorry. I can’t.”
“You can. You’re just choosing not to,” I spit.
“Lacy…”
“No. No. I’m tired. I’m done. Goodnight.” I turn as he fades away.