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“She said something took over. Her ‘demon side’–Annoth. She said it felt likeshewas possessed, that she tried to fight it off, but it was too strong. I managed to talk her down, talk her out of whatever it was, and she finally got it under control. She was so upset, Theo. She didn’t want to hurt either of us.”

“So she’s…still there?”

“Yes, just very shaken up. She won’t come out of the…wings.” He gestures behind him and a small smile plays on his lips. I rub my forehead, then a memorysurfaces of something Ben said before I blacked out.

“What did you mean…about your deal? When you were trying to talk her down, you told her to remember your deal.”

He runs a hand through his hair and over the back of his neck, looking guilty, then sits beside me on the bed. “Theo…I-I made a deal with her. That first night I stayed here. I swear, I was just trying to help you!”

A cold trickle of dread washes over me. What on earth had Ben promised the demon? “Tell me, please.”

“I asked her to back off of you. I made her promise that she wouldn’t try to…take you, and that she would help me get you back on your feet.”

“And…in return?”

“I promised she could have me instead…once we figured out how to separate the two of you.” Ben won’t meet my eyes, and I stand up, then brace myself against the dresser when I feel like I might pass out.

“Why? Why would you do that?” I breathe.

“I was trying to help you, Theo. I cared about you and I couldn’t let–”

“Cared about me? You didn’t know me at all!”

“But I could see you were a good person. You didn’t deserve what she was doing to you, or what she had planned.”

“You’rea good person, Ben!”

“No, I’m not! Not like you, anyway…” He looks away, and grief crushes my chest. How can he not see what a wonderful man he is? How could he do something like that for me, a complete stranger, and then not even tell me about it? Especially after it became obvious that I had feelings for him?

“You thought you could trust her, but she’s obviously been playing you this whole time,” I spit. “Playing both of us, just waiting for an opportunity.”

“Theo, that’s not true,” Ben insists. “You didn’t see how upset she was once I got her back. I know she can’t cry, but…she was damn close. She hates herself.”

“Once you got her back, or once shedecidedto come back?”

“She knew what was happening and she couldn’t stop it. She asked you to forgive her when she felt the demon taking over! She had no control!”

“That doesn’t make any sense! How can a demon be possessed by itself?”

“I don’t know!” Ben says, standing up and walking over to me. Gently, he pulls me around to face him and runs his thumb along my jaw. “I don’t know. I just…I just feel it. I trust her, and I need you to trust me, Theo. Please.”

“Idotrust you, but I can’t risk my life on your feelings,” I say softly, intertwining our fingers. “You need to talk her out of the deal. Lie to her, if you have to, and then we have to go through with the exorcism in a few weeks. This can’t happen again. It could put my family at risk…and you. I can’t lose you.”

His eyes soften, and he leans in to kiss me. I bring my hand up to hold his face, and his arms snake around my back, holding me tight against him.

“I can’t loseyou,” he murmurs against my lips, “but…Annie–I don’t want to lose her either. She deserves a chance at life, doesn’t she?”

“Theo…” says a soft voice from the doorway. Annie is standing there, naked, but with tendrils of shadow curling around her breasts and thighs, and she’s also still sporting the wings, horns, fangs, and tail. I can’t help but recoil, but she looks horrified when I do. She turns to go back to the living room, covering herself with the massive wings, which stretch above her head all the way to the floor.

“Hey, wait!” Ben says, reaching out and grabbing the edge of her wing. She turns, but yanks it out of his grip.

“Theo, I am so sorry,” she whispers. “I-I know you will not believe me, but I did not do it on purpose. She…she took over. Annoth.”

“Explain it to me,” I say as kindly as I can.

“I cannot. It was…as if I buried her. All these weeks, I pushed her away, and we…separated, I suppose. I am notheranymore. I am…myself. I cannot explain it any other way, Theo, please believe me. She felt something inside you and she attacked. I wouldneverhurt you–either of you.”

I swallow hard, remembering what came over me just before Annie’s eyes went black:I think I love you.That must have been it. Annoth, the demon, must have sensed that moment of vulnerability and pounced. As much as I want to go to Annie and take her in my arms and kiss her and forgive her, I can’t. I can’t allow either of them back in now. It was my feelings for Annie, and probably Ben too, that allowed the demon to almost get her claws into me in the first place. I have to keep it under control if I want to survive this.