Page 18

Theo

When I wake up the next day, I smell bacon cooking and am immediately confused, not to mention concerned.

I pull a hoodie on and stumble out of my room to find Ben in the kitchen, blasting All-American Rejects from a Bluetooth speaker.

Annoth is on the floor in front of the TV, enmeshed in a nest of blankets and pillows, still fixated on a Marvel movie.

“Where did you get bacon?” I ask Ben warily. He has on a t-shirt with the sleeves cut out, exposing his muscled arms and the sides of his torso.

“Ros and I stayed at my parents’ house for a few months,” I admit sheepishly. “We were both working remotely and my nieces and nephews were there, so we all just pitched in with different stuff. I wasn’t in charge of groceries.”

“Ah,” says Ben, “well, I’m afraid I had to use your cash to pay for them, and I don’t know exactly what you like, but…I think I did fine.” He sets the tongs down and opens my fridge, which looks much better than it did the night before, if not completely full.

I smile, feeling slightly touched. “Thank you. You didn’t have to do that. ”

“Well, it’s all part of my master plan,” he says as he pours a cup of coffee.

“Tell me about this master plan,” I laugh, planting myself in a chair at the counter. He sets the coffee mug in front of me and grabs a bottle of creamer from the fridge.

“Annie, mi amor , come over here,” he calls, and I can’t help but make a face.

Ben is definitely friendly and outgoing, but…

giving her cutesy nicknames? It turns my stomach a little.

He clearly doesn’t understand what she’s capable of.

However, she looks just as irritated as me when she stands up and pauses her movie.

She’s wearing a huge, white t-shirt that covers most of her body, except her legs, and her mane of auburn hair is tied in a messy bun on top of her head again.

She looks like she actually slept, even though I know she didn’t.

It’s terrifying how easy it becomes to forget what she is when she looks like that.

“I gave permission for you to shorten my name, Benjamin ,” she snaps, “but only because you are apparently the only human in this city who might be able to find us an exorcist. I did not give permission for this other epithet you have used.”

“You’ll get over it, darling,” Ben says, beaming at her. She grumbles softly as she wraps a blanket around her shoulders and comes to sit beside me at the counter. Ben tosses the bacon slices onto a paper plate, drains the grease into a bowl, then takes out a carton of eggs and a loaf of bread.

“What sort of animal flesh is this?” Annoth asks, eyeing the bacon suspiciously.

“Pig,” I tell her. “You’ll probably like it because it’s the closest thing to devouring the burned flesh of sinful humans.

” Throwing me a withering look, she takes a slice and pops it into her mouth.

I get the sense that she’s trying to hide how much she enjoys it.

Ben is cracking eggs into a mixing bowl, then he adds some salt and paprika.

I have to distract myself from how excited I am to eat real food for the first time in two months, even if it is just scrambled eggs and toast.

“So, tell me this big master plan.”

“Well, I’m not an expert in demonology, unfortunately, but I have my theories,” Ben explains. “An exorcism is basically just…prayers and blessings, and holy water. Throwing a lot of ‘good stuff’ at the demon in order to drive it out, right?”

“Sure,” I say, stuffing bacon in my mouth.

“If we can’t do all the religious good stuff, what if you do a bunch of other good stuff?”

“Like what?”

“The opposite of sin, I guess. You know, feed the poor and rescue puppies and give candy to kids and shit like that. Good deeds.”

I consider his idea as I chew. “You really think doing all those things would make her just…go away?”

“I am sitting right here,” Annoth says curtly. “You needn’t speak of me as if I am absent. I ought to be part of this plan too, I think.”

“I mean, it can’t hurt, right?” Ben says with a shrug. “If nothing else, it’ll get you out of the house and back on your feet…hopefully.”

I let out a loud sigh, which feels a bit dramatic.

Doing good deeds with Ben doesn’t sound any less exhausting than committing atrocities with Annoth.

Besides, the whole reason she isn’t able to get a hold of me is because my emotions are so dulled.

Should I even be trying to feel better when she’s still around?

Then again, doing good deeds isn’t a cure for depression, and maybe it will be a good stopgap measure until Ben finds us a real priest.

“Alright,” I say finally. “I guess it’s worth a shot, but I still want you contacting people.”

Ben picks up his phone and shows me several texts he’s sent that morning already, all asking people to call him and saying that it’s important, or that he needs a favor (and promising it’s not money).

“I can’t guarantee any of them will reply,” he says as he stirs the eggs, “but I’m holding up my end of the deal.

” His eyes flicker over to Annoth, who looks down at her bacon.

I’m immediately suspicious, but everything else in my mind is being overridden by the fact that I’m almost drooling as I watch Ben cook, and not just because of what he’s making.

I really need to get a grip on myself if he’s going to be staying here. This can’t be healthy or helpful.

I clear my throat and tear my eyes away from his biceps. “So, what’s our first order of business, then?”

“I figured we could start with a walk down to the park,” he suggests. “Appreciate the beauty of God’s creation, or whatever.”

Annoth snorts, “Must I participate in this charade?”

“Considering that you can’t be too far away from Theo, I think you will probably be forced to participate, yes,” Ben replies. She rolls her eyes and examines the scrambled eggs as he pushes them onto her plate.

“Hot sauce,” she says, pointing at the bottle on the counter. Ben passes it to her and watches, eyes wide, as she practically drowns the food with it.

“You know that’s the hottest one they have, right? You won’t even be able to taste the eggs.”

“She likes it because it reminds her of eating brimstone and still-beating human hearts,” I say.

Ben laughs, and a pleasant shiver runs down my spine.

His laugh is loud and ridiculous, but also warm and genuine.

The thought of spending a day out and about with him, doing nice things, is far more appealing than it should be.

That is, until I remember that Annoth will be there too, grumbling and scratching inside my head, probably encouraging me to commit felonies.

“Are you going to be cooperative while we try this plan?” I ask her.

“That depends, Theodore,” she growls, “are you going to stop being an insufferable– ”

“Annie, mi amor ,” Ben interrupts, “if you can be a good girl and leave Theo alone today, I promise I’ll make you the spiciest dinner you’ve ever had. You’ll be burping flames for a week.”

Slowly, her mouth turns up in a tiny smile. “Very well. I suppose I shall play along.”

Once we’re done eating, Annoth plants herself back in her blanket nest on the floor and Ben goes to the office to change his clothes.

While he’s gone, I check my kitchen cabinets and the pantry.

Not only did he buy groceries, he also got paper plates and bowls, trash bags, dish soap, and paper towels, plus a bunch of microwavable freezer meals.

I feel slightly touched at the idea that he did all this without me asking him too, but there’s still a tiny kernel of suspicion in my chest.

He’s a complete stranger, who has no real motive to help me except that I’m literally blackmailing him.

And then there’s the way he acts with Annoth.

Either he doesn’t believe how dangerous she is and is actually flirting, or he meant it last night when he said he was trying to get her attention off me.

He might be friendly, but he doesn’t strike me as naive, so I’m choosing to believe that he’s playing her.

I guess I just have to pray that my ability to read people hasn’t completely vanished over the last few months.

After a few minutes, Ben comes out of the office wearing black jeans and a flannel shirt with the top three buttons open. I can’t help but watch as he rolls the long sleeves up over his forearms, one of which is sporting half a dozen colorful, beaded bracelets.

“First thing’s first,” he says to me, “you two are going to have a little counseling session before we go anywhere.”

Annoth groans loudly. “I told you, I will not do this.”

“Yeah, I’m really not sure how much it’s going to help,” I tell him.

“Just trust me,” he says quietly, then gives Annoth’s back a pointed look.

I understand. He just wants her to talk as much as possible.

Maybe he thinks she’s withholding information, or maybe he just wants to continue distracting her from her ‘mission’, but either way, it’s not actually about helping the two of us get along.

“Alright, fine,” I say begrudgingly, going to sit on the couch. Annoth pouts in her nest, arms folded and everything.

“I have no feelings to speak about!” she insists. “I was not created for this purpose!”

“Yeah, your default setting seems to be ‘full of violent rage’,” I huff as she flops down beside me and folds her legs up under her chin.

“I am a demon of the Seventh Tower, you idiot!”

“Ok! Let’s start there!” Ben says, dragging my armchair over so it’s across from the couch. He props his feet up on the coffee table and puts his arms behind his head, grinning as usual. Fuck , why do I want to crawl into his lap when he looks at me like that?

“Start where?” Annoth asks.

“Why don’t you explain to us what the Seventh Tower is?”

She sighs. “I have told you that the horrors of Hell cannot be–”

“Yes, yes, you said we can’t comprehend or whatever.” Ben interrupts her and I swear flames are about to shoot out of her eyes. “But, based on what you’ve told us, I’m gonna take a stab at it.”

“Take a stab at Theo too while you are at it, darling,” Annoth says in a sugary-sweet tone. She smiles at me and I try to keep my face neutral. Ben just continues grinning.

“Here’s what I think: seven deadly sins, so there’s seven towers. Each one contains souls of the damned that are specific to that sin. So, Annie here is angry and violent all the time, so she’s a demon of wrath, and the Seventh Tower is full of sinners being punished for sins related to wrath.”

Annoth silently folds her arms, and I can’t help but smirk. “Wow, he nailed you, didn’t he?”

“Not yet,” she retorts, exposing her fangs in a wicked smile.

“Wow, I can’t believe I was right about all that!” Ben crows. “Excellent! So, Annie, is it only wrath demons who get to possess people? ”

“I will not be answering any more questions on this topic. It is Theo’s turn.”

Ben turns his attention to me. “Theo! What boring, generic, white-boy job did you do before you got fired?”

I can’t help but laugh. “I worked in marketing, if you must know.”

“ Ay dios mío, ” Ben groans, “I knew it. Did you have any personality other than your girlfriend and your bullshit job and Star Wars ?”

I know he’s teasing, trying to get both of us to lighten up, but I suppose there’s a bit of truth to what he’s saying. Ros was everything to me.

“I guess…maybe I didn’t,” I say with a shrug.

“Alright, that’s enough for today,” Ben says, standing up and giving a big, fake yawn with a stretch that exposes the line of dark hair running under the top of his boxers. My face warms and I can feel Annoth’s black eyes watching me closely.

“That is all?” she asks.

“For today.”

“And now we will…go for a walk in the park?”

“That’s the plan.”

“May I go like this? In a human form?” She holds her arms out and looks down at her body, but I shake my head.

“No,” I say sternly. “You fucked with me the other day by appearing out of nowhere and it was a nightmare. You’re staying hidden this time.”

She pouts again. “I enjoy this body! It is not my responsibility to manage your relationships with–”

“Annie,” says Ben, with a hint of warning in his voice, “you promised you’d be a good girl.”

More ridiculous pouting. “In exchange for human food, which I do not actually need!”

“You promised ,” Ben repeats, raising an eyebrow. She sighs and lets her arms droop at her sides. I would almost feel guilty if I didn’t know why she wants to be ‘out’ during our walk. She just wants to get a rise out of me, and I can’t risk that again.

She waits while I get dressed, then after Ben and I put our jackets on, her human body melts into shadows, which rush through my mouth and chest. It’s not necessarily an unpleasant feeling, just very off-putting.

Especially since I can feel her inside me now, like an itch that won’t go away, or that gut feeling when something is wrong but you don’t know what it is.

“Woah, that’s insane,” Ben says, his eyes widening. “Can she still talk to you?”

“Oh, yeah, she never shuts up.”

Careful, Theodore, darling, Annoth purrs in my head.

“Alright,” says Ben. “Let’s get this freak show on the road then.”