The Devil Inside

CHAPTER 11

I checked in the mirror before bed, just to make sure Adam hadn’t been jacking with me. He hadn’t. The bruise was gone.

The last faint hope I’d harbored that I wasn’t possessed died. I’d had enough bruises in my life to know there was no way one would disappear overnight without help. I tend to heal fast, but not that fast. I thanked my lucky stars no one at the police station had noticed.

That led me to question why Adam hadn’t arrested me just now. He knew I wasn’t a legal, registered demon host. And now he knew I was possessed. And he’d just walked away. Yet another puzzle to add to the growing list.

Stress and confusion are an exhausting combo, and after chewing over the puzzles for an hour with no success, I climbed into bed and tried to will myself asleep. For the first time, I found myself wanting to talk to Lugh. Maybe he could tell me something more about Adam’s demon, explain some of the mysteries of the universe.

It took me the better part of forever to finally drift off. I felt like I hadn’t been asleep more than five minutes when I woke up again.

Lugh was getting better at manipulating my dreams. The room was no longer that solid, featureless white. The walls were a light, warm beige, and a thick, rusty-brown carpet covered the floor. The furniture was back, with a few flourishes. The top of the coffee table was coated with a shiny varnish, and a scattering of dark red velour throw pillows dotted the sofa and love seat.

Lugh stood across the room from me, looking proud of his achievement. When my eyes found him, I lost all interest in his decorating skills.

Black leather was still his weapon of choice, but he was wearing a hell of a lot less of it tonight, at least on his upper body. I wasn’t even sure what to call the arrangement of straps that crisscrossed his mouth-watering chest. They might be a shirt of some sort, or they might just have been random leather straps. They hid very little.

His chest was smooth and golden, with only a smattering of night-black hair. His nipples, framed by the black leather straps, were the color of milk chocolate. And, yes, he had the classic six-pack.

The leather pants clung lovingly to his hips and legs, showing off powerful muscles. And other assets.

Was it a coincidence that I’d had a few inappropriate thoughts about Adam and Dominic, and now Lugh appeared to me dressed like the S&M poster boy? I really hoped so, but I had a queasy feeling in my stomach. Just how much of my head could Lugh see into? And did I really want to know what he saw?

Apparently, I was gaping like an idiot, for his lips twitched into a grin, and he turned a slow circle for me. The rear view was spectacular. I had to clasp my hands just in case I might give in to the urge to grab a double handful.

Shit. This wasn’t me. I mean, yeah, I like a nice-looking man as much as the next girl, but I’d never fallen in lust at first sight like this. What was the matter with me?

But of course, this was a dream — a dream Lugh was manipulating. Maybe it suited his purpose to cloud my mind with sex.

That thought helped drag my mind out of the gutter. This guy had a frightening level of power over me. I couldn’t let myself forget for a moment what he was, or what he could do.

“So,” I said, “you made my bruise go away.” I sounded almost accusatory, but he didn’t seem offended.

“I thought you deserved to have at least some of the beneficial effects of being a host,” he said. He watched me from behind thick black eyelashes as he took a seat on the sofa.

There was plenty of room beside him on the sofa for me. I sat on the love seat. He smiled at me knowingly. It pissed me off.

“Yeah, it would have been real beneficial if Adam had decided to arrest me as an illegal demon host.”

The corners of his mouth tipped downward. “I hadn’t thought of that. Please forgive me. I had no intention of endangering you.”

I figured he probably hadn’t, but it wasn’t like I trusted him. Right now, there wasn’t a single person — or demon — whom I trusted. That was one hell of a depressing thought.

“The sooner you get me exorcized, the better,” he said.

Forgetting for a minute that I could end up brain-dead — and forgetting my reluctance to destroy this manly work of art — there was a gaping hole in this plan. “Yeah, that sounds all noble of you and everything, but you said you weren’t optimistic that there was an exorcist strong enough to cast you out. If I go to an exorcist, and they can’t cast you out, then they’re going to report me. I suppose if you have access to all my memories, you know this is an execution state.” At least the state would anesthetize me before burning me alive — something I kind of doubted Lugh’s enemies would bother with — but that wasn’t high on my list of preferred outcomes.

He nodded gravely. “I know. I hadn’t thought of that last time we spoke. For that, I apologize. It was…careless of me. But I believe your friend Adam provides us an option.”

My back stiffened. “Adam is not my friend.”

“Be that as it may,” he continued smoothly, “he already knows you’re possessed and he hasn’t arrested you. Go to him tomorrow, as soon as possible. Ask him to exorcize me.”

I blinked and shook my head. “Ask Adam to exorcize you?” As if I hadn’t heard him right the first time.

“Yes. He may not have the power to do it, but he has the power to try.”

“So a demon can exorcize another demon.”

“Yes. As a general rule, we prefer not to. And we prefer humans not to know.”

It made me wonder what else demons preferred humans not to know. I had a feeling it was a long list.

“And how would I explain to him that I’m a demon wanting him to exorcize me? I’ve never heard of a suicidal demon. Or would he know you’re not in full control?”

“Probably not. Before this happened to me, I wouldn’t have known it was possible myself.”

I noticed he said “before this happened to me.” As far as I was concerned, it had happened to me, but I decided to let it slide.

“Yeah, so how do I explain?”

“Don’t.”

I grabbed one of the red velour throw pillows and clutched it. “You think he’ll just exorcize you, no questions asked?”

“He’ll ask. You just don’t have to answer.”

“And you think he’ll do it anyway.”

Lugh nodded. His face was devoid of expression. For whatever reason, it made me think he was hiding something. I worked the idea over in my mind. I felt the frown lines forming between my brows but didn’t bother to smooth them.

I stared at Lugh’s gorgeous, blank face and had a sneaking suspicion. I clutched the pillow more tightly to me and leaned forward, meeting his eyes.

“Do you really die when we exorcize you?” His face didn’t change expression. But he didn’t answer me, either, which was answer enough.

Rage heated my blood, and without pausing to think, I hurled the throw pillow at him with all my might. The pillow blinked out of existence about halfway to its destination. Not that it would have hurt him, of course.

I was on my feet, so mad I wanted to kick something. All the damn guilt Adam and Dominic had been piling on my shoulders, and Dominic’s demon wasn’t dead! At that moment, I’d have been happy to kill them both.

“It is against our laws to let humans know this,” Lugh said. He seemed unaffected by my temper tantrum, which just made me madder. I opened my mouth to say something scathing, but he cut me off before I got started. “Dominic really believes his demon is dead. And Adam is forbidden by our laws to tell him the truth. It is, no doubt, one of the reasons he is so angry right now.”

I swallowed down my own anger as best I could. “Then why are you telling me the truth? Or are you above your laws?”

For some reason, that made him smile. “I told you nothing. You came to a conclusion on your own. I simply chose not to contradict you.”

He had a point, but I wasn’t about to admit it. “Why would demons pretend exorcism kills them?”

He arched one elegant, dark brow. “If you didn’t think exorcism would kill a rogue demon, what other method would you use?”

“Oh. Right.”

A lock of his hair slid forward, and he brushed it back behind his ear. My fingers itched to touch the silky strands. I bet they’d be soft against my skin.

“Stop that!” I snapped.

“Stop what?”

“Whatever it is you’re doing to my hormones. And don’t pretend you’re not doing anything!”

His smile was as sexy as it was sinister. “Would you prefer me to look hideous for you? I can manage it if you like.”

As I watched, his image wavered and blurred, then slowly came back into focus. The stud muffin was gone, replaced by something that looked like what you’d get if you crossed a Klingon with a warthog.

“Is this better?”

Great. A smart-ass demon. Just my luck. At least I’d lost the disconcerting urge to jump his bones.

“Much,” I declared.

He raised his heavy brow ridges, and I think looked surprised, though it was hard to tell in that misshapen monstrosity of a face. Unfortunately, he shifted back into Mr. Gorgeous.

“Look, at least put a real shirt on, okay?”

“You don’t like this one?” He smoothed his hands over his chest, his eyes never leaving mine.

I reminded myself that I was in love with Brian, and Brian looked damn good. But that didn’t stop me from squirming. No doubt about it, Lugh was doing something to me. Maybe if I closed my eyes, I’d spoil his fun.

It was embarrassingly hard to force myself to do it, but I closed them. My arousal level went down a notch, and I breathed out a sigh of relief.

“This is just a dream, you know,” Lugh said, and he was much closer to me than he should have been.

My eyes popped open. I was no longer sitting on the love seat, but had somehow moved to the sofa. Right next to Lugh, who’d removed the leather contraption that had posed as a shirt and was now spectacularly bare-chested.

“You’re allowed to be aroused even when you wouldn’t be in real life.”

Yeah, I suppose technically it was a dream. But it didn’t feel very dream-like, and Lugh was real. I don’t think Brian would like me drooling over him like I was. Hell, I didn’t like me doing it.

“I’m not in the market for a demon lover, so back off.”

He leaned toward me, amber eyes going dark as that fabulous hair slid forward to brush against my bare arm.

Bare arm? Hadn’t I been wearing a sweatshirt when this dream began?

I was afraid that soon I’d be wearing even less, because I didn’t seem to be able to pull away. He licked his lips, and it was all I could do not to gasp at the tug of arousal in my center. I tried to think of Brian, but Lugh’s face filled my vision.

Then two things happened simultaneously. I heard a strange ringing sound. And Lugh pulled back, his nostrils suddenly flared.

“Something’s wrong!” he said, not looking at me anymore. “Wake up.”

And I did.

The ringing came from my phone. Rubbing my bleary eyes, I reached over to the nightstand and fumbled for the receiver. I almost knocked it to the floor, but managed to catch it.

“Hello,” I said, holding the phone to my ear as I turned on the bedside lamp.

A fax machine screeched at me. I muttered a couple of curses and slammed the phone down. The bedside clock showed it was three AM. Who sends faxes at three AM? And why did they have to pick my number?

I almost lay down and went back to sleep, but I remembered Lugh saying something was wrong. I didn’t think he’d meant the ringing phone.

I swung my legs over the side of the bed, finding my slippers. And that’s when I noticed it. The smell of smoke.

I moved away from my bed and saw a wisp of smoke seeping in from under my door. As I watched, the wisp thickened and grew, pouring in more aggressively.

Why wasn’t my smoke alarm pitching a hissy fit?

I bit my lip and went to the door, tentatively touching the wood to see if it was hot. It was. The smoke came ever more heavily, and now I heard the distinctive crackle of flames.

Shit!

The heat told me I didn’t dare open the bedroom door, so I lunged for the window. I shoved it open, only to find a neat little bonfire blazing beneath it.

I went cold. Somebody had disabled my smoke alarm and cut off my escape route.

Someone wanted me dead.

The smoke in my room was now thick enough to make me cough, so I dropped to the floor and considered my options while my heart hammered.

There were only two options available-the door or the window. I didn’t think I was getting through either one without getting burned. But better a few burns than death, right?

Flames licked under my door, drawn by the steady draft from my window. I had to get out of here, and fast!

I chose the window escape route, but before I leapt out, it occurred to me that I might need a little extra protection. My feet propelled me toward the bathroom before my brain caught up with me. Holding my breath, I turned the shower on and hopped in, soaking my PJ’s with freezing cold water.

I hopped out, my lungs burning from lack of oxygen, then sprinted to the window.

The bonfire had grown, but I had no choice. I ducked my head down into the sopping wetness of my pajama top and jumped, trying for as much horizontal distance as possible.

Intense heat surrounded me, tried to eat me alive. I landed on the ground on my hands and knees, my feet still in the fire. I rolled away as fast as humanly possible.

I pulled the pajama top away from my face, trying to see if I was on fire anywhere. Nothing seemed to be burning. Nothing except my house, that is.

Panting, coughing, dazed, I watched the flames spread through my beautiful English cottage.