The Appeal of Evil (The Road to Salvation) (16 page)

Josh stared at her for a moment. “We don’t make them do anything they weren’t contemplating doing in the first place. We just give them a little nudge in the direction they really wanted to go.”

Katie rolled her eyes. Was that how they justified it? She knew humans weren’t perfect. They killed and maimed and did awful things to each other. Those people totally deserved to rot in Hell. But how many souls down there could have possibly been redeemed? How many of them were just a little bad, but then a demon came along and made them really bad? What if they were caught in the wrong place at the wrong time? It seemed hardly fair they would have to pay for it for the rest of time.

And yet, a voice at the back of Katie’s brain told her that everyone had a choice. It was up to them to give into a demon’s temptation or to turn away. What did that say about her? She had every opportunity to tell Josh to get out and turn her back on him, and she was right next to him, her arms around his waist, in Hell. She always considered herself good, but how would this be perceived? Would it damn her soul for eternity?

Something buzzed by her ear as she contemplated her soul’s fate. Instinctively, she swatted her hand through the air. Whatever it was grabbed onto her middle finger, and pinpoints of pain radiated through her flesh. She brought her hand around in front of her face. Latched onto her digit was a small demon, about the size of a wasp, with its teeth buried in her flesh. The creature was roughly human shaped with black, membranous wings. Its eyes glowed white, its black skin was pulled tight over its bones. Katie flicked her hand through the air trying to dislodge the beast. She only succeeded in getting it to bite harder. A squeak of pain escaped her lips.

“Here, let me see.” Josh held out his hand for Katie.

She moved her hand toward his, and he gently grabbed her wrist. The demon looked up at him and pulled its fangs from her flesh.

“Yeah, you gotta watch for those Tormentors. They’ll get you anyway they can.” He held out his hand, and the demon crawled into his palm, hissing at Katie as he did.

Katie wrapped her hand in her other hand and pulled it to her chest. “Tormentor? What do they do?”

Josh brought the demon close to his face and nuzzled it. Katie was shocked at the sheer pleasure that danced across his features. The demon was hideous, especially with her blood dripping from its mouth, and Josh coddled it like a kitten. He turned back to Katie, a smile spread wide on his lips.

“They land on you, right about here.” He brought his finger behind Katie’s ear and traced it gently across her skin. Her flesh prickled. “And they whisper things in your ear.”

“What kinds of things?” Subconsciously, she moved closer to his body, licking her lips.

Josh leaned into her, bringing his face closer to hers. “Whatever it takes to get you to sin.”

Katie pulled away from Josh and stared at him wide eyed. Her face crunched in anger. “So that was your plan all along? Bring me down here, answer my questions, all the while waiting for the opportune moment to attach a Tormentor to my head?”

Katie found it hard to keep her emotions in check. How could she have been so foolish? She should have known Josh would do something so devious and underhanded. He was a demon, he couldn’t care for her. How could she have been so stupid to believe that he did? She backed even further away from him, wrapping her arms around her chest. She wanted to get away from him, but not too far. She was still in Hell. She needed his protection. He was her only way out. She glanced nervously around, making sure none of the other demons had seen her and wanted to come after her.

Josh’s face dropped. He glanced from the Tormentor back to her. “No, Katie. It wasn’t like that. I swear. I brought you here to give you answers. I would never betray your trust like that.” He glanced back at the tiny demon, who glanced from him to Katie.

The demon shook its head curtly, then hissed at her and flew from Josh’s hand toward the lake below. Katie watched it leave, disgust coursing through her body. Josh’s foot crunched on the gravel as he stepped closer to her, drawing her attention away from the winged beast. She glared at him as he took another step closer.

“Katie, please. I’m sorry.”

She tightened her grip around her chest. “Just take me back. I’m done.”

KATIE STEPPED OUT OF THE PORTAL
into the bathroom of her hospital room. Josh didn’t think anyone would be in her room, but he wanted to be on the safe side. Katie didn’t care. She just wanted to get away from him. Why didn’t she expect him to be so sneaky? Why did she let her guard down and trust him? Was there a guy anywhere in the world that wasn’t underhanded or a liar?

The part that bothered her the most was the fact that she couldn’t get the look he gave her out of her mind. He held the Tormentor in his hand and looked truly surprised she had accused him of siccing the thing on her. And that thing was so vicious. If it wanted to attack her to whisper things in her ear, wouldn’t it have been nicer? It bothered Katie to think Josh was telling the truth when he said he didn’t plan anything. It made her head spin. Things weren’t supposed to be like this. There were certain ways “good” was supposed to act and very specific traits that made someone “evil.” None of those applied in this situation. What was Katie supposed to think? What was she supposed to do?

Josh stepped out of the portal behind her, but the light didn’t disappear like it had before. Katie kept her back turned toward him, avoiding eye contact. If she looked into his eyes, saw the sorrow and desire to apologize—whether it was sincere or not—she would find herself letting him back in. She couldn’t do that. Not right now. She needed time to sort things out in her mind. Josh placed a hand gently on her arm.

“I’ll give you some time and space.” His voice was soft, apologetic. “Text me when you’re ready to talk.”

Katie didn’t respond. The light vanished. Josh was gone. She sat down on the toilet and placed her head in her hands. What was she going to do? A few days ago, she had no notions of good and evil, Heaven and Hell, except for the few memories she had from Sunday School. Now, she was faced with picking a side. And the thing that made her skin prickle and her chest tighten was that she was seriously considering joining the side of evil. It shouldn’t be a consideration. It shouldn’t even be in the realm of possibility, and yet she found Josh’s words ringing true. She found his explanations viable. Wes had burned bridges with her. He didn’t trust her, so he refused to let her in. And he was supposed to be the good one. He was supposed to keep her safe, but he had dragged her into the middle of his holy war.

Part of her knew it was unfair to accuse him of that. After all, he’d tried to keep her out of it by keeping her at a distance. But when Katie tried to make it easy on him by stepping out of his life, he dragged her back in. In a way, it was his actions that had doomed them both. Would things have turned out differently if Josh didn’t know Wes was a Praesul? Josh said that he was there for Katie and a few others, so what would he have done differently to tempt her to his side? Surely she would have never gone to the warehouse. Maybe she would have never witnessed Josh try to kill Wes.

Katie lifted her head and ran her hands down her cheeks. She could drive herself crazy thinking about all the what-ifs. Things had already happened, so she had to deal with the facts. She couldn’t change anything, and the first thing she needed to deal with was getting out of the hospital. After that, she needed to find someone to talk to. She stood and opened the door. Her room was still dark, and the clock on the stand next to the bed said it was 11:30. Katie could have sworn she’d been gone longer than that. It certainly felt longer. Her mind drifted back to the day in the gym and how time had slowed down. Maybe that had happened again. It would allow her to have been gone for a lot longer than the clock showed. No doubt that was what had happened.

She took a step into the room and stopped. Someone was sitting on her bed. It was impossible to tell who, but Katie’s heart thumped a little harder when she thought it was the nurse. How mad was she that Katie wasn’t in bed? How long had she been there? Then it occurred to Katie that she was coming out of the bathroom. No one could be upset with her for answering the call of nature. Removing the IV and changing into her clothes was a different matter though. Katie squared her shoulders and stepped farther into the room. She had nowhere to go. Might as well face whatever repercussions she had to face.

“Taking matters into your own hands?”

Katie instantly recognized the voice. Randy. Her worry and concern turned into anger. “You’re not supposed to be in here.” She walked to the chair where her clothes had been and took off her shoes.

“And you are, so I guess we’re both breaking the rules.”

Katie was thankful the room was dark and her back was to him. Her cheeks burned, her stomach tingled. How long had he been in the room? Did he know where she ‘d gone? That she had been with Josh? What would he say? Would he make her stay in the hospital longer to “keep her safe”? Maybe she should make a run for it now. She glanced at the door and gauged her chances of getting away. Randy was still injured, so outrunning him wasn’t an issue, but he was right next to the nurse call button. More than likely she wouldn’t get past them.

“Well, either way, I’m glad I caught you before you left. I wanted to apologize for earlier.”

Thank goodness he thought she was leaving instead of just getting back. Outwardly, she huffed and turned around, her arms folded across her chest. “A lot of good that does me now.”

With difficulty, Randy stood from the bed. “The life of a Praesul is lonely and full of sacrifice. Sometimes we have to put the needs of many ahead of an individual.”

Sadness replaced the anger. Was that all she was to them? A means to an end? She pushed the hurt away and allowed anger to replace it. “The needs of many? You mean your needs.”

“Katie, I have to protect my family. If the demons discover where they are, they will use them to destroy Wes and I. What we do protects the world. If you have to stay the night in the hospital to ensure Wes and I stay alive to fight demons, it’s a small sacrifice for the greater good.”

Katie’s mouth fell open. Did Randy admit he had used her? She snapped it shut and set her jaw. “And where does it end?” There was an edge to her voice. The fact that she was remaining so calm scared her. The desire to shout constricted her throat, but it never came out. “What if my death would save millions? Would you lead me to the slaughter? And who are you to decide?”

“Katie, I know it’s difficult for you to understand. There’s still so much you don’t know. I work for the greater good, to do what is best for the majority. I don’t enjoy making the decisions, but I do what I have to do. What is ordained of me.”

How could they be so callous when picking who to save? She knew both Wes and Randy loved their family but he just said he worked for the greater good. Katie was the one being tempted by a demon. Randy’s family was safe. If anyone needed help, it was her. Did she mean so little to them they didn’t care what happened? The coldness in her chest extended into her stomach. What had she ever done to them to make her not worth saving?

“Get out.” Katie jerked her head toward the door.

“Katie, please, I—“

Katie grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the door. “I don’t care. Out.”

Randy almost lost his balance from the tug, but regained it and hobbled to the door. Katie didn’t watch him leave; she had turned her back on him again. The soft click of the door as it shut was the only indicator he had left.

Most of the anger drained out of Katie and her knees shook. She sat on the bed to keep from falling over. It wasn’t her intention to be that mean to Randy. She had no desire to hurt him, but she didn’t really appreciate being the sacrifice in their war. No one should have to be. It distressed her that for them it was so easy to throw her life away. Why were they making her choices for her? Where was her Free Will? The only one who wasn’t forcing her to do anything was Josh. The only thing he was doing was giving her answers. Maybe in the future he would expect her to do something, but Katie was confident he would ask her to do it, not force her to.

Katie took off her clothes and climbed back into the hospital gown. The thought had briefly crossed her mind that she should walk out, but she was more than confident Randy was outside her door. He would stop her. Besides, she was tired. The tranquilizer wasn’t completely out of her system, and her adventure to Hell had worn her out. She was stuck, so she might as well take advantage and rest up. She pulled the blankets to her chin and rolled onto her side. She pushed the events from her mind. She was tired of thinking about them. They gave her a headache.

A few hours later, the nurse came in to check on her. Even being quiet, Katie sensed her presence and it jerked her awake. Thankfully, the nurse only stayed long enough to check her blood pressure and left. If she noticed the IV was no longer connected, she didn’t say anything. Katie rolled over and fell back asleep.

The next time she opened her eyes, rays of muted sunlight tried to penetrate the closed curtain. Katie frowned. She didn’t feel rested. Her hip hurt. She wanted to be in her own bed. The only bright spot on the day was that she’d be going home in a few hours. There was nothing wrong with her, so they couldn’t force her to stay. She and Deb had plans, and she was going to fulfill them no matter what. Some time away was exactly what she needed.

She contemplated taking a shower, but then thought better of it. She didn’t have any shampoo or soap or clean clothes, so it was pointless. She would wait until she got home. Still, she might as well get dressed and ready to go. No sense wasting time. After pulling on her clothes, she pressed the nurse call button.

“Yes?” the voice asked.

“When is my doctor supposed to be here?”

“He should be doing his rounds in the next half an hour.”

“Good. Make sure I’m his first stop. Otherwise, I’m walking out.” Katie wished there was a way to disconnect the conversation, but since there wasn’t, she got up and went to the bathroom.