Every exhalation formed a crisp haze of fog to linger before my pursed lips. I had to force myself to keep my teeth from chattering. Force my feet to take that next step towards the bed. Father Daniel’s quaking knees made just as much noise as the wheezing breath of the demon-infested hooker. If the two of us didn’t get a grip, this wasn’t going to work.

“Open the book, Father. Just like we discussed,” I told him, trying to shore up my own strength. I was hoping giving him something to do besides freaking out would calm him down and give me something else to focus on. Here’s hoping I was right.
Taking a vial of holy water from my pocket I twisted the cap off, ready to bless the body before me; to begin the task at hand. When it spoke, calling me by name, my stomach sank to my toes. Father Daniel turned six shades of white, made the sign of the cross three times, said four Hail Marys, then turned and ran from the room. My unnerved sigh of disbelief was audible in the silence.

“It has taken me quite some time to track you down, Faith Savage.”

That voice. I knew that voice. Strange hearing it come from this slight, frail woman who lay strapped to the bed before me. I stood blinking in confounded disbelief. Why in all that was holy—or unholy—would this particular demon be trying to track me down, again? For what possible purpose? And to what end? I mean, we’d been this route. So what game was he playing now?

“Do you not wish to know why I have been seeking you?”

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. The demon laughed; thick, rich, velvet-deep throated laughter. I remembered it caressing the depths of my bones. Closing my eyes to the tingling sensation, I remembered the lush blackness of his glorious wings. Long, dark, beautiful hair that hung in waves to his waist. Haunting obsidian eyes that seemed to peer into the very depths of the soul. The delightful cleft of his chin, centered on his firm, strong jaw. The whole of him lovely despite his darkness. Beautiful, despite the alter ego that I knew lurked on the other side. Evil, despite his angelic delights.