Page 32

There are so many strange, new things in the park, I do not know where to look first. Dogs bark at me as they pass, and I battle the urge to hiss back, or slash their stupid noses with my claws. Children run by, nearly colliding with me, and I fight the same urge. Everything here is messy and chaotic in a way I am not accustomed to. This, combined with the bitter chill from the wind, puts me in a foul mood. Finally, we stop and Theo points across the street to where a large, colorful vehicle is parked.

He grins at me and asks, “Cold, Annie?”

“I have not givenyoupermission to use the ridiculous nickname,” I sigh as he falls back to walk beside me. Ben has crossed the street and stands outside the colorful vehicle, speaking to a man through a window that opens up on the side.

“But you gave Ben permission,” Theo needles. “What else did you give him?”

I raise an eyebrow. “To what are you referring?”

“Do you think I’m blind?” he barks. “There’s something weird going on with you two, and I want to know what it is. Do you have him under some kind of spell?”

I cannot help but cackle in his face. “Do not be silly, Theodore. I am a demon, not a witch. The only spell I could cast on him is the magic of a pretty face and a nice pair of tits, which seems to work on you as well.”

To my satisfaction, he blushes a deep crimson.

“Just leave Ben alone,” he tells me quietly. “This whole thing is between you and me.”

“Oh, butyoumade it between the three of us when you agreed to let him help you!” I snarl back. “If you were not such a fucking coward, I could have simply tortured the information about theother priests from him, then you and I could have tracked them down ourselves.”

“I’m not hurting people, don’t you get that? I’m not gonna become the thing I’m trying to rid myself of!”

“Do you think that dear, sweet Benjamin will want you if you show him what a good little boy you are?” I mock. “If you show him how well you can follow the rules, like a puppy on a leash?”

Fury dances across Theo’s face, and he seizes my wrist, yanking it so we are standing close enough for our shoulders to brush. I send a surge of Hellfire rushing down my arm, beneath the skin, and he lets me go with a yelp.

“Do notevertouch me that way again, or I shall show you the pain that a demon of the Seventh Tower can inflict!” I desperately want to follow through on this threat, to twist my shadows around his neck and choke the air from his body until he understands exactly what I am capable of. But as I am considering the consequences of such violence, Ben returns carrying three white cups with lids.

He passes one to Theo, then holds the other out for me. “Annie,mi amor, you’re gonna love this.”

“I wish to go back to the apartment,” I snap, not taking it from him.

He glances between Theo and I. “What happened?”

“Lovers’ quarrel,” Theo says sarcastically.

“Ok, well…we can go.” Ben sounds slightly disappointed. Without thinking, I take the cup he is still holding and wrap my hands around it. The warmth spreads through my fingers and I let out an involuntary sigh, then bring it to my nose and sniff.

“What is this?”

“Hot chocolate,” Ben answers. “Now, it’s just food truck cocoa, so lower your expectations. Sometime, I’ll make you myabuelita’srecipe. You’ll die for it because it’s a bitspicy.”

“Will you be doing this before or after the exorcism?” Theo’s voice is full of venom and Ben drops his eyes.

“I just…meant it rhetorically,” he mumbles.

“Let’s go home,” Theo snaps, and turns to walk away. Ben and I silently shuffle after him, clutching our hot cocoa. After a few minutes, I taste it and think I might melt at the smooth, delicious flavor.

“You like it?” Ben laughs.

“Hmm?”

“You made a little noise just now, when you took a sip.”

“It is…satisfactory,” I say quietly, then take another gulp.

“He’s just scared, you know,” Ben tells me in a soft voice. “Humans…we get scared when we aren’t in control of things, especially our own futures and our own bodies.”

“I cannot control his body. I have tried.”