emotional association either way, but boy, was I thrilled to see a priest now.
“I…need...help,” I wheezed out and doubled over, my hands on my knees.
“Are you hurt?” The priest stretched out a hand, clearly unsure what to do with me.
I was fairly certain I’d pulled a few muscles and maybe gone into tachycardia, but I waved his question away.
“I’m in...a bit of a...pickle,” I began, working hard to speak in full sentences again without huffing. “There’s a demon on my tail, and I need...like…an exorcism to get rid of him.”
The priest blinked. “You—you think you’re being followed by a...demon?”
“Well, yes. See, when I was thirteen, I held this…séance summoning thingy with a friend—I know, I know, those things shouldn’t be dabbled in, believe me, I’ve learned my lesson—and apparently I kind of accidentally trapped a demon into a contract to marry me if I’m still single at twenty-five. Which is, unfortunately, today. And get this—that demon totally took me seriously! A teenager! I mean, who does that?”
I huff-laughed and remembered too late that I probably appeared like someone in need of soothing medication.
Which I wouldn’t say no to, right at this moment.
The priest’s expression matched my suspicion.
“Anyway,” I hurried on, “I’d forgotten all about it until he popped into my living room tonight, being all broody and irritatingly hot. And I mean that literally—he singed my carpet. I barely got out of there, and now I’m in need of some priestly assistance so he won’t drag me to hell with him. Can you maybe bless my pepper spray? Or give me a cross to wear as a talisman? A rosary? Anything to make sure I don’t have to marry a demon who can’t take a joke. Um, Father?”
The priest’s face had lost all color, his features reminiscent of people caught on camera while going through a haunted house at a carnival. His wide eyes were fixed at a spot over my shoulder.
That’s when I felt the heat at my back.
“He’s standing right behind me, isn’t he?” I whispered.
Chapter 2
The priest made the sign of the cross and muttered a prayer while I turned on my heels in slow motion, grimacing.
“How did you—” I broke off when I saw him.
Yowza.
No wonder the priest looked ready to douse himself in Holy water.
The demons’s wings were on full display, blacker than midnight but glowing with an inner fire, flames licking over the feathers. As if that wasn’t enough of a statement, though, shadows writhed around the demon’s form, like a dark visualization of his energy. His eyes glowed in the mix of infernal firelight and late-night gloom.
He looked like something straight out of a paranormal thriller. I shivered despite the heat emanating from him, my heart thundering. He hadn’t been this scary in my apartment. It was like he’d amped up his natural presence by a thousand degrees. Or maybe this was his usual appearance, and he’d actually muted it before?
Either way, this was an impressive display of power.
I swallowed. “Are you deliberately scaring the priest?”
A ghost of a smile flashed across his face, before he refocused on glaring at me with the full force of his demonic grouchiness. Someone sure was pissed. Probably had something to do with having to chase a recalcitrant bride-to-be across town...
I cringed a little. “How did you find me?”
“I followed the scent of pepper spray and desperation.”
He was so annoyingly good at deadpanning. Circumstances being different, I’d have appreciated his brand of humor.
“So you thought,” he said, “running to a priest would get you out of this?”
“Can’t blame a girl for trying.” I rubbed my earlobe. “But just to be clear—would that be an out?”
“No. You agreed to a covenant with a demon. No priestly intervention would nullify that contract, or absolve you of the consequences for breaking it.”
Crap. There went that idea.
“So hiding in a convent for the rest of my life—”
“Wouldn’t work. You’d be dead and burning in Hell before you even got there.” He glanced at the clock on the facade of the church spire. “We have an hour left to fulfill the terms of the contract. I doubt you’d make it to a convent in time. Not that being on Holy ground would do you any good, anyway.” He smirked. “That’s a nice little myth invented by humans.”
Dread settled in my stomach. “Hold up—what did you mean by ‘burning in Hell?’”
“If you fail to fulfill the contract, you die and your soul goes straight to Hell to be punished.” He paused, tilting his