Page 112 of Conjure

Complete silence.

Gwen breaks it. “The demon entered…but how?”

“I’m not sure,” I admit. There are a lot of things I don’t have the answers to. How and when did it enter Dominic? How did it pretend to be me without using my body as a vessel? Did it shapeshift, or was it a vision? Where did the axe and salt disappear to? It’s like they were never there. Was it all in my head? But it couldn’t have been. Dominic remembers the demon entering him. So many questions and no answers.

“It pretended to be me to get close to him. My only guess is that it fed on his desire to sustain the vision of me. Does that sound right?” I ask Dominic, and he rubs his eyes and lifts his shoulders. “I don’t fucking know, but it sure as fuck looked like you.”

“Hang on. Let me try to make sense of this,” Gwen says, interrupting my thoughts. After placing the glass on the table, she turns to face me, cross-legged. I can see the cogs turning in her brain as one of the shoulder straps on her black tank top slides down her arm. “The demon entered Dominic? Like it did with Brittany?”

“Yes, but it wasn’t the first time.”

She blinks, which would be comical if I hadn’t been so scared earlier.

“If it entered him,” Aron says, “how do you know it’s not still inside him? Maybe it was inside him all this time?”

“I saw it leave.”

“You saw it leave?” He sounds so skeptical, that the tips of my ears burn.

“I can’t explain it, but I know it’s gone.”

“Reassuring.” The sarcasm in his voice is impossible to miss. With a scoff, he looks away.

Lily bounces her gaze between us, worrying her bottom lip.

Dominic has stiffened beside me, his eyes narrowed on Aron. I can tell he wants to say something in my defense, but I slide my fingers through his and subtly shake my head. We’re all on edge—the last thing we need is to fight.

“There’s so much to figure out and pick apart.” Gwen sits with her elbows on her thighs and her fingers forming a tip at her mouth. Tapping her lips, she nods. “First thing’s first, what can you remember, Dominic?”

The deep rumble of his voice rolls over me. “It’s playing with us.”

“It’s a demon. They murder without reason and bring chaos and destruction for their entertainment,” Aron points out, his knee jiggling. “There’s no true logic behind their motivations. Of course, it’s playing with us.”

Dominic shifts his lazy gaze in Aron’s direction. “While that’s true, our demon has fixated on Camryn and won’t stop until it has her. You and me?” He motions his finger between them. “We’re collateral damage. We’re the cat’s bowl of wet food—easy, convenient—but Camryn… She’s the juicy mouse. He likes the chase.”

Aaron grinds his teeth as he slides lower in the seat.

“Why did it leave?” Gwen asks.

“To conserve energy.”

Gwen’s eyebrows fly up before she straightens and pours herself another glass of vodka. “This requires more alcohol.” She gulps it down, then wipes her mouth. “From our understanding of the demon so far, we know it feeds on souls to grow in power. The more powerful it becomes, the longer it can stay in the human host or sustain a vision for its victim. Correct? Whydidn’t it kill you, Dominic? Why didn’t it consume your soul or kill you to create even more grief and anger for it to feed on?”

“Because of my connection to Camryn. It feeds on emotions, as we already know. But that’s not its main reason for hunting us. This thing wants to possess Camryn, but for whatever fucking reason, it can’t. Think of it like catnip. Here’s this powerful, ancient demon trapped in our human plane, probably bored out of its mind, consuming souls and feeding on negativity and sexual desire. I don’t know about you, but I’d soon grow bored if I ate a steak daily.” Dominic rakes his fingers through his hair. “While it was inside me, I could sense it.”

“What could you sense?” Gwen asks, and I find myself holding my breath.

“Like Brittany said, it’s no coincidence Camryn is here. It was almost like…”

“Almost like what?” I ask, straightening.

Dominic shuts his eyes briefly, pinching the bridge of his nose.

We haven’t discussed the details of what happened yet. Dominic was exhausted afterward, so I helped him upstairs and asked him if he needed to see a doctor. He refused and passed out for hours.

I feel Aaron watching me, and a shiver pricks my neck.

Dominic lowers his hand and says, “It wanted you to return here.”