I stuck my head into Hell’s hallway. Seeing dark clouds billowing from behind one of the doors, I sprinted to the kitchen, grabbed the fire extinguisher, then ran back to the bedroom. I thrust the extinguisher at William. “Hurry before she sets fire inside every doorway in Hell!”
Grabbing the extinguisher, he charged into the otherworld. “Calamity, you bad girl! You are in
so
much trouble!”
Although he was panicked, I smiled. I could only hope William’s little demon had chosen to burn Helen’s office to the ground.
Ten temptations later, I stumbled into my bedroom and flopped across my bed.
“Lil?” Tommy stood uncertainly in the doorway. “You okay?”
I groaned and rolled onto my stomach. “Peachy. As you know, I live to do the Devil’s bidding.”
He didn’t smile.
“That was a joke,” I told him.
He still didn’t smile. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Anything.”
“Those men you tempt…do they stay as obsessed with you as I am?”
I sighed. “No.”
He stuck his hands into his pockets. “So what’s wrong with me?”
“I wish I knew.”
He sat on the end of the bed. “Sometimes, I get the feeling you don’t
want
to set me free.”
I started to argue that there was nothing I wanted more, but then I stopped. That wasn’t the truth. I
didn’t
want to release him. More importantly, neither did my succubus. My breath caught as I suddenly realized why.
My succubus wanted Tommy to father my child.
She nodded in full agreement. She’d been planning it all along.
When Helen ordered my mother to get pregnant, Carrie had picked out two men for the job. One to create me, and the other to care for me. But in Tommy, I’d have both a sperm donor and caregiver in one man. His spiritual sensitivity would make him a terrific biological father, and his sweet-tempered nature would ensure that he’d be an amazing dad as well.
No wonder I couldn’t make myself release him.
He toyed with the band of his wristwatch. “Do you think you could try to let me go? One last time. For my sake.”
Our bond held a special place in my heart, and I sensed how empty I’d feel once I gave him up. Then again, I
had
to do it. Not only for Tommy and Jasmine’s sakes, but for William’s as well. By giving up Tommy completely, I could make more room in my heart for the man I really loved.
“Come here.” I patted the bed next to me, and Tommy slid closer. I put my arms around him. Immediately, he lost control and tried to nuzzle my neck. I tweaked his ear to make him back off. “Stop that! Now, close your eyes.” When he did, I closed mine as well and touched my head to his, the studs in his forehead dimpling my skin.
I breathed slowly, feeling the heft of my succubus in my mind. For the first time, I understood her ruthlessness. She had her claws in Tommy, and she had them in deep. No wonder he’d been suffering.
Let him go
, I told my succubus.
Instead of listening to me, she dug in harder. He gasped and tried to pull away. I cinched my arms more tightly around him, preventing his escape.
Let go,
I demanded. My succubus spit at me.
I said, LET GO!!
We wrestled silently. I clenched my jaws and ground my teeth. It was like pulling a stubborn weed out of the ground, and my demon’s root went deep. As I fought to yank her out, Tommy groaned and wrestled against me. “Relax,” I told him. “Please!”
C’mon, you little bitch. Let go!!
The more we struggled, the more clearly I saw her. Long, black hair grew from her reptilian head, and her curvaceous woman’s body was clad in gray, leathery skin. She looked at me with cruel, yellow eyes. So this was the monster that had been residing in my brain for the past seven months. I shuddered in revulsion.
Our struggle was also becoming very real, and I had the dizzying sensation of being in two places at once. Although I was still sitting on my bed, I was also standing in an arena built of black stone and lit with a hundred smoking torches. The sky was a fiery red, and from far away came the steady moaning of those in the deepest pits of Hell.
My demon and I circled each other. Her tongue lolled from between her jagged teeth. She clicked her talons together, taunting me. When I lunged, she dodged me. She lashed with her tail, tripping me, and I landed painfully on my butt. I got to my feet, and we circled again.
I searched her, looking for weaknesses. Her arms were corded with muscle, and her legs were long and powerful. She crouched then leapt at me, claws bared. I dove to the side, getting a face full of sawdust, and rolled onto my back. As I scrambled to my feet, her tail swiped me again, driving me to my knees.
A distant part of me knew this wasn’t really happening. I was in my bedroom, sitting on my bed with my arms around Tommy, but the arena seemed so real that I could smell the sawdust under my feet and feel the heat from the blazing torches.
Sweat ran down my forehead, stinging my eyes. I had hoped my demon would be too exhausted from all our temptations to fight hard, but she was tougher than I’d given her credit for.
She charged, mashing me against the black stone wall and driving the breath from my body. Her hands clamped around my neck. Gasping, I caught a handful of her long, black hair and yanked with all my strength. When her grip loosened, I slipped to the ground and scrambled away.
Unfortunately, Tommy also felt the strain of our battle. As I wrestled the demon, he cried out and struggled in my arms. I hung on tighter, refusing to give up. Then again, neither did my demon. She came after me, but I dodged and grabbed her tail. She thrashed hard, breaking my grip.
My mental muscles were tiring. I couldn’t hold on forever. Sooner or later, I’d have to give up, and when I did, my succubus would latch onto Tommy even harder. My muscles ached with tension. I panted, and blood pounded in my ears. I chased her down again, diving low to grab one of her taloned feet. She kicked hard, knocking me backwards. Then she pounced, landing on my chest. My ribs groaned.
Suddenly, something shifted. In my mental arena, someone now fought alongside me. Seeing him, the demon cringed and shrieked in terror. The stranger lifted his hand in an unhurried gesture. Intense, white light exploded within the arena, and inside my skull. My demon screamed, horrified, and released her grip. The image of the arena blipped out of my mind as my head echoed with radiance and noise, and I fell away from Tommy.
“Lilith? Lil! Are you okay?”
I lay on the floor. Tommy stood over me. “Your nose is bleeding,” he said.
I wiped my upper lip. Sure enough, it was smeared with blood. But there was only a little, and the trickle had already stopped.
He held out his hand to help me up. Woozy, I sat on the bed. “What happened?” I asked.
“I don’t know. One minute, I had this horrible headache, and I swore my brain was going to explode. But all of a sudden…” He stopped speakinge.
“All of a sudden…what?”
“I prayed for help.” He blinked, dazed. “I wasn’t sure it would work because I’ve been praying a lot lately, and it hasn’t seemed to do much good. But I guess God was listening tonight.”
Harmony, too, had made it sound like getting prayers answered was a grueling process, but if anyone had the ability to cut through Heaven’s red tape, it was Tommy. “And now? How do you feel?”
He frowned, concentrating. Slowly, a smile spread over his face. “I think I’m free.” His face lit up. “Yes! I actually think I’m free. It might only be wishful thinking, but – kiss me.”
“What? No!”
“Please?”
I gave him a peck on the cheek. His lopsided grin didn’t dim. “Nothing! Nothing at all.”
I kissed him again, this time on the lips. I even slid my arm around his neck. If my life had been a book, my stepsister would have walked in at this moment and found the two of us making out on the bed.
Thankfully, my life is not a book.
Tommy broke off the kiss. “Nothing! I’m free.” He laughed like a loon and pumped both his fists over his head in a sign of victory. “I’m free!”
It hurt to see how happy he was. Without our special bond, I now had a Tommy-sized hole in my brain. But when he asked me how I felt, I said, “Better than I have in a really long time.” Which was mostly true.
He stood up and did a kind of victory jiggle, like the ones quarterbacks make after scoring a touchdown. Then he stopped. “Jasmine. What if she doesn’t take me back?” He got on his knees in front of me. His gray eyes begged me. “Please, Lil! Tell her the truth. If you convince her what you are, maybe she’ll believe you and forgive me.”
I’d been sure the truth was better than a lie, but now I didn’t know. If I confessed my new life to Jasmine what would happen? And if she
did
believe me, how would she react? On the other hand, lying had done nothing but hurt my family. Because of my lies, my dad thought I was crazy, and my sister believed that Tommy was in love with me.
I would have smoothed Tommy’s hair if he’d had any. Instead, I settled for brushing my hand across his forehead. “Okay.”
“Really?” Hope lit up his eyes. “You promise?”
I nodded. Explaining all of this to Jasmine would not be easy, but I had to try. Once and for all, I had to make sure the earrings I’d stolen were returned to their rightful owner.
The next morning, I called my dad’s house. When Evelyn picked up, I asked for Jasmine.
“She’s in the shower right now.” Evelyn lowered her voice. “You girls have been fighting again, haven’t you?”
“Kind of.”
“Does it involve Tommy?”
“Yes,” I admitted. “But don’t worry, I’m going to settle things once and for all.” Evelyn remained quiet, waiting for details. As much as I wanted to explain, however, I couldn’t. I was still preparing my confession. Instead, I asked, “How’s Jas doing?”
Evelyn sighed. “She stays in her room most of the time, and when she does come out, she’s very quiet.”
Quiet was bad. Really, really bad. Normally, when Jas is heartbroken, she’s loud and melodramatic so that the entire world suffers with her.
“What’s that expression you use when Simon is being pensive?” Evelyn asked.
“I say he’s wearing his warrior face.”
“That’s right. Well, Jasmine has put on her warrior’s face.”
I wasn’t sure which was worse: the warrior’s face or being run over by Hell’s party bus. “How’s
Dad doing?” I asked. “Is he still wearing
his
warrior’s face?”
“Ever since the two of you went out to dinner, he’s been better,” Evelyn said. “But he’s still worried about something.”
That something was most likely me. As I said good-bye and hung up the phone, I realized I couldn’t just tell Jasmine about my inner demon. If I really wanted to make things right with my family, I needed to explain my situation to my dad and Evelyn as well.
The otherworld shimmered and a moment later, Delilah walked into my kitchen. She carried several rolls of blueprints and smiled hugely. “You might as well thank me right now.”
Her excitement was infectious, and I grinned back. “Thank you. So what gives?”