Demon at My Door (17 page)

I reach down and try to reposition myself. A gasp slips out of my lips as I break away from Rick’s kiss as my hand slips into nothingness. All my weight is concentrated on my right arm and when my hand goes down, there’s nothing but thin air to lean on. I nearly topple off Rick, but claw at his chest to keep from falling over. Where the fuck is the bed? 

My eyes spring open. A scream rips up from my throat when I realize we are a good three feet higher than the bed. Panic springs from every cell in my body. I scramble to get away from Rick, and I slam onto my right side when I make contact with the hard-wood floor. Air whooshes from my lungs, and I’m stunned by the fall for a second, but quickly regain my bearings. Something’s not right. He’s not right. Who just randomly floats during sex? 

Someone that’s not human.

My mouth gapes open in shock as Rick levitates above the bed. I can’t move. All of my limbs just quiver like a heart out of rhythm. Humans can’t float like that and there’s only one thing I know of that has supernatural abilities like that. My soul crushes at the thought of his deception. My hands cover my mouth and I shake my head violently. No! This can’t be.  

This whole time he’s been keeping secrets from me, trying to make me fall in love with him—listening to my secrets, pretending to be concerned, when he was one of them this whole time. Everything was just a lie. What kind of person, no scratch that, monster does that? 

An evil, sick freak—that’s who does that. 

“What the fuck?” I yell out loud in anger as I frantically search for my shirt with my hands, but never taking my eyes off him. My stomach rolls. This was one twist I didn’t see coming. Isn’t my life screwed-up enough? 

He sits up and meets my glare with pained eyes.

How could he? How could he do this to me? Why? Why me? Why does this crazy shit have to happen to me? My fists ball up and I want to scream. I’m losing it. I can feel the crack forming in my brain.  There’s not enough air in the room and it’s smothering me. I have to get out of here.

My sights never leave him as I try to buy some time to figure out how to get out of here alive. “Why did you bring me here? Are you going to try and kill me, because if so, get in line asshole.” 

He grimaces like I’ve just smacked him in the face. “Nat, I can explain.”

Explain? I don’t want him to say another word to me ever again, let alone explain why he’s such a liar. 

The top I had on somehow lodged itself under his bed. Both of my hands grip it hard and I growl while I tug it free. I jerk it over my head and peel myself from the floor. Slowly, I back away from him. The pulse in my neck is pounding so hard I can feel it in my face.  Who knows what he is capable of? 

“What are you?” I demand firmly, desperate hear him say what I already know. 

The sea in his eyes thrashes violently. “I think you know.” 

My hearts pumps wildly, and sheer panic envelopes me as my fear is confirmed. “You’re a demon?” My voice squeaks a little as I say it aloud. A flash of the small dagger in my purse flashes in my brain. If I can get to that, I may have a shot of making it out of here alive. A shake overtakes my hands as adrenaline flows through my veins while I work out my plan. 

He nods. His mouth pulled into a tight line.  

He lowers himself to a standing position in front of me with ease. “Not just
a
demon, I’m
your
demon.”

My skin crawls as his snake tattoo comes to life and slithers around on his skin. My insides churn as the contents of my stomach threaten to expel. I grab onto his dresser to keep upright on my wobbly legs. “That’s not possible.” I can hear the quiver in my voice. The fear I always try to hide from my boy-demon cracks through my veil and the room starts to spin like I’m about to pass out. Tears sting my eyes. “My demon is a little boy!”

He shrugs and holds up his hands like he’s guilty. “I can take on whatever age or form I need to help me make deals. When I first met you in
this
life, you were five, so I appeared to you as a boy to earn your trust. I can change forms at will. It’s one of the few perks of being a demon. I’ve appeared to you in different forms throughout your life—to stay close to you. Whenever I need to collect a soul or remind you of our deal, I choose to show you my childhood form. But this”—he grabs his chest over his heart—“is my true form. The true me—the me that loves you.” His torso moves forward, like he’s getting ready to come toward me. 

“Stay back!” I hold a shaky hand out, attempting to stop him. “Just stay away from me. You tricked me—all this time. I thought I could trust you.”

“You can trust me.” He steps forward. “I’m still the same person. Nothings has to change. Things will be so much better now that you know.”

"Just shut up!” My vision blurs before I blink away the tears. “I told you things. We almost…” I almost had sex with him. The thought causes my stomach to lurch.

He reaches for me, but I swat his hand away as I take another step back. “Please, Nat. Give me a chance to explain.”

A chance? Is he serious? “Stay away from me. You evil bastard!”

He steps closer. “I can’t. You belong to me. We have to stay together. It’s more important now, than ever.”

“Screw you! I don’t belong to anybody!” I sprint into his living room. The shaggy carpet trips up my foot but I manage to keep my balance. The purse I carried in is still on the couch and relief floods me. One good thing he taught me over the years is to always be prepared for his arrival and a possibility of a fight. Scooping up my purse, I reach in and feel for the blessed knife. The hilt of the dagger meets my palm. With a tight grip on my weapon, I spin to face him. 

Rick’s leaning against the frame of his bedroom door, unfazed by me, and he’s smirking. This is no game to me. That smug bastard is going to have the fight of his life if he wants to take my soul.  “I’m not dying without a fight.”

He shakes his head and steps in front of me. “I’m not going to kill you.”

“Then you won’t mind if I leave,” I say as I sprint toward his front door. I thrust my hand toward the knob, but he grabs me from behind before I can get the door open. 

Damn. 

He spins me around and pushes my back against the door.

The knuckles on my right hand are white as I raise the dagger up. The snake tattoo on his chest is the perfect target. I lunge forward with as much force as I have in me. Like always, he catches my wrist before I can make contact. 

He stares me dead in the eye. I jerk my arm, but his grip is too tight. My left hand shoves at his chest. “Stop, Nat. Just listen.” 

I go still but hang on to my weapon so tight my fingers go numb. He tries to turn my face to look at him with his free hand, but I whip away from him, disgusted. 

He sighs heavily as he removes the knife from my hand with ease and takes a step back. His left hand rubs his forehead while he holds the dagger in his right. “This is not how I wanted you to find out about this.” He looks at me, and I wonder if I can somehow get my knife back. “But, you know, Natalie, rules are rules. We made a deal, remember? We can’t change that. You knew I’d come for you. I made sure you wouldn’t forget me. That’s why I stuck you with that dream every night and collected every soul I possibly could near you. So you’d know I’m real, and I’d be back.”

“You bastard!” I scream in his face and my bottom lip trembles. “You’re the reason my life’s been so fucked up. I was just a little girl, damn you. I had no idea what I was agreeing too and have been working my ass off to figure out how to get my soul back from you ever since then.”

“So, you’d rather have your mother dead then?” My jaw drops. Of course I didn’t want Mom to die. I’m no monster. He takes in the expression on my face and his eyes soften. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I know how much family means to you and I am sorry that your life has been so crazy. But it will be so much better once you’re with me. Things will be different. You’ll see.”

“I’ll never be with you,” I growl through clenched teeth.

“Is it because of him?” Rick’s eyes narrow. “Stewart doesn’t love you. He’s proven that time and again. You need to forget about him. He’s no good for you.” 

“At least he’s human!” I practically scream. 

“He’s not who you think he is. Trust me.” He takes another step and reaches for my hand. I recoil away from him, but he snatches my wrist and forces my hand open—palm up. “You can’t fight it, Nat. It doesn’t matter how you feel about me or him for that matter. The deal’s already made. Look at your life line.” He shakes my hand, drawing my attention to it. “Time is almost up. When your life line fades, if I don’t transition you into a demon, you’ll die and your soul will go to hell for eternity.” His voice softens. “Please don’t make me send your soul there. I can’t bear it. You have no idea how bad it is down there.”

Waves of nausea roll through my stomach as I stare down at my open hand. He’s right. The line has faded more. It’s almost nonexistent. Clenching my fist, I jerk away from his maniacal grip and bump my elbow against the door. Being trapped causes my breath to hitch.

My mind reels with the realization that Rick is my demon tormentor all grown up and he knows my deepest secrets. Things he could use to hurt me. Bile rises into my throat, and I turn my face away for fear of puking in his face. 

He wraps a tentative arm around me and I don’t fight him. His breath comes in spurts on my cheek. “Look at me.”

My eyes squeeze shut and let tears slick down my face. Looking at him is the last thing I want to do. He’s finally got me in his clutches, and I am completely defenseless. “Please. I just want to go home.” 

He attempts to wipe my face, but I sway from his touch. “You need to trust me, Nat. I can make you happy. I know I can.”

The thought of just kissing and nearly loving the very thing I hate with every cell in my body causes my head to spin. Dizziness washes over me. I need to get out of here. The weight of the information is so heavy it’s difficult to breathe. “I want to go.”

“This is a lot, I know, but you need to believe that I love you. You mean everything to me. I’d never hurt you.”

What a lie. My face whips around and the sadness of being tricked turns back to anger. It nearly bubbles right through my skin. “Oh, no? Then why the hell did you trick me? Turning me into one of Satan’s minions isn’t hurting me right?”

He gnaws his bottom lip, and his eyes search my face. “Natalie, please. I have my reasons for doing that if you’d just calm down and let me explain.”

I glare at him. Loves me? Never wants to hurt me? I think I’d rather take my chances in hell than to spend an eternity with a lying demon. Hate courses through my body and all I want is to get away from him—far, far away. Screw his explanation. 

His face twitches, almost like he’s nervous under my heated gaze. I nearly laugh. A demon confessing love for someone he’s stolen a soul from is so unbelievable. It’s probably another ploy to damn me further, but what the hell, maybe I can use that angle to get away. “I don’t want your explanation, Rick. I
just
want to leave. If you love me, you’ll let me go.” Even I can hear the pleading tone in my voice. 

He rocks back on his heels and furrows his brow. “This is not how I intended for you to find out. Go home. Think this through because we will have to talk about this. You can’t run away from me.”

When I nod in agreement, he steps back and drops his head. His hand motions me to go.

As soon as he clears the space between us, I fly out his front door, taking the stairs two at a time to put more distance between us. Gulp after gulp of cool night air burns my lungs. Just when I thought my life couldn’t get any worse, my new boyfriend turns out to be the person—thing—I hate the most. 

My pace slows to a brisk walk, and I fold my arms firmly over my chest as I walk through the tight nit row of houses. My eyes dart around, searching for any signs of danger, or worse, Rick.

Why do I always fall for untrustworthy guys?

My whole body is numb, so the cold doesn’t even bother me. My heavy legs weigh a ton, and it takes everything I have inside to keep going. All I want to do is quit. Lie down and give up. What’s the point of trying anymore? He’s everywhere, always has been—watching—waiting to collect me when the time came. How am I ever going to win against him? He’s so strong. 

I can’t fight it anymore. I fall on my knees, and the concrete sidewalk scratches my bare legs. My head feels like a twenty pound bowling ball in the palms of my hands. Can I bring myself to try and kill Rick? I need my soul back. The only options he said are I have are to die and go to hell or collect souls. I just want to be normal. But, Rick was my friend. He’s wormed his way into my life. It wasn’t as big of a deal when he was a nameless little demon. One who killed people right in front of me. It’ll be hard to look him in the eye and kill him now. 

Why didn’t I figure out there was something wrong with Rick? All the signs were there. The demon obsession, the shocking handshake and some of the weird comments he made. Instead, I overlooked all that, glad to finally have a friend.

Some friend.

My make-up smears on my hand when I run the back of it across the rims of my eyes. 

He said I belong to him. What the hell am I going to do? I know he’s right. Every inch of me knows it’s the truth, but there has to be a way to be free of him.

I need answers but I’m sure as hell not going back to the demon’s lair to get them. I need someone to tell me what to do. There’s no one I can turn to. 

Madam Zoë is still in the hospital, so I can’t exactly go to her for help. 

There’s only one other person who might be able to help me. 

Chapter Fifteen

I grab my cell phone and search through until I find the number I texted Taylor Gee at earlier. My fingers pause over the call button. She’s going to think I’m insane. This will just give her confirmation that I’m nuts, but it’ll be worth it at this point if I can convince her to take me to see her grandmother.