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My body burns and I laugh softly. “Entirely in the wrong order, I know.”

“Be silent!” Annoth hisses at us. She’s pulled one of my random couch blankets around her now and is very intent on the movie. Ben and I order dinner in whispers, then he moves back over to the couch and sits beside Annoth, who doesn’t acknowledge him.

I want to relax, but I can’t. Instead, I sit there at the counter, anxiously drumming my fingers and thinking. I just need to lay low until Ben can find us someone else for an exorcism. A few days, maybe? A week? I have no idea how long it could take. Should I betexting my family and letting them know I’m alright when I’m really not? I don’t want my mom showing up here randomly, or Molly.

And then there’s the thing Mak said about Ros, that she’s apparently now working at the high school back in our hometown. I haven’t had a chance to really think about it, but now I can’t help myself and it just makes me feel worse. That’s what she always wanted: to move back, to have a nice, slow, quiet life out there. Go to church with her family, have Sunday dinners and barbecues, raise kids in the same house where she grew up, send them to the same schools we went to. She can have that now, and I can have…this. Whateverthisis. I should be happy for her. I’m going to do my best to be happy for her, despite the gaping hole in my chest.

14

Annoth

Theo and Ben haveselected pizza for dinner, covered in some type of spicy vegetable that they call peppers. I devour several slices while we watchThe Guardians of the Galaxy. When the green-skinned woman dances with the annoying human man, the strange stirring sensation returns to my chest. I try to ignore it, but it is quite distracting.

“I should like to watch something with more…violence,” I tell Ben when the film ends.

He just laughs, but Theo shakes his head.

“I told you, nothing that’s gonna give her ideas,” he says, but he is smiling and appears slightly more relaxed than he has since I arrived.

“Ok, how about…something more on the fantasy side,” Ben muses. “Oh, I know! You’ll like this one.” He scrolls through movies and selects one with a creature that I think is called a dragon.

“Reign of Fire?” says Theo. “It’s been awhile since I’ve seen that.”

“You can’t breathe fire, can you, Annie?” Ben asks. “I mean, Annoth. Sorry.” I glare at him, but my flesh-and-blood heart skips again when he grins back at me. For a human man, I suppose he is handsome, and he does not seem to be afraid of me anymore, which I find intriguing given his abject terror when I revealed my shadow form the day before.

I try smiling back. “Fortunately for you, I cannot.” From the corner of my eye, I see Theo’s face twist with disgust. Ben and Ibeing friendly toward one another appears to bother him. I consider, for a moment, that I could use this to force another emotional reaction from him, but then I remember my promise: that I would not attempt to take control of him again, as long as he worked to find an exorcist. He is upholding his end of the bargain, and I will admit that what he did this morning, walking toward that bus, left me shaken. I had imagined that he was far too cowardly to follow through with his threats of self-harm, and I could not gain control of him in time to pull him back. If his friend had not been there, Theo and I both might have perished.

On the other hand, this particular tactic might prove far more subtle and effective than anything I have tried previously. If I can thread the needle between enjoying Ben’s attention and upsetting Theo, my mission could still be a success. This disgraced priest might just be the perfect way for me to break my host down slowly, a little at a time. Perhaps, if I can use Ben to reach my goal, I may even get to have a little fun of my own. I have been told that it is often far more pleasurable to toy with human victims before snuffing out their life, and I can think of a number of things I would like to do to this particular human prior to killing him.

Only an hour into the film, my plan is already beginning to work. Ben’s arm is stretched behind me on the back of the couch, and our bodies are very close to touching. I can feel Theo’s suspicion and displeasure through the tenuous connection we share. Unfortunately, it is still masked by the overarching emptiness dulling everything he feels, and it is not enough for me to find a foothold, but I am a patient creature. On the television screen, a dragon sets a human aflame, and I turn to look at Ben with a wide grin.

“This was an excellent selection,” I purr. Human males are so transparent. I can practically see him salivating, and all I did was lower my vocal tone slightly. It is a wonder that this technique did not work on Theo, who is quietly seething across the room.

When the film ends, he quickly stands up and snaps, “Bedtime.”

“Goodnight, then,” Ben says.

“No, you too.”

“Ok,abuelita.”

“My apartment, my rules. I don’t trust her alone with you.”

“I’m a big boy,” Ben replies, winking at me, “I can fend for myself, I promise.”

Theodore groans. “She’s literally a demon! Come on!” Ben sighs and looks back at me. I try to appear slightly hurt.

“Will you at least choose another film for me, then?” I ask him. Theo grits his teeth, and it is all I can do not to laugh.

“Yeah, alright,” Ben says. “What would you like?”

“You may pick,” I say sweetly, eliciting a smile from him.

“Well, I guess since you don’t sleep, you can’t go wrong with starting the rest of the MCU.” He scrolls through the films and selects one, apparently about a man made of iron, then asks Theo, “You don’t happen to have a printer, do you?”

“What for?”

“I was just gonna give her a list so she can watch them in the right order.” Theo huffs and motions for Ben to follow him. They retreat down the hall, and I crawl to the end of the couch so I can eavesdrop again.