Rainier couldn’t hurt her anymore; she was only handing a weapon to the creature using his face every time she allowed her fear to get the best of her. She’d worked too damned hard to regain a modicum of control to just give it away like it was nothing. She had to get a grip on herself now, before she became a liability to Nate.
Something twisted in her chest at the thought. Nate. His life had been one long nightmare after another, and her histrionics weren’t helping. He’d almost died once already in saving her from becoming a grease spot under the wheels of a city bus, and that was one time too many. She had to be stronger, and not just for herself. She needed to do it for him.
She clicked on a promising theological university website even as her wayward thoughts crystallized. The reason she needed to be strong for Nate’s sake was simple; he meant something to her. For two years she’d done everything in her power to protect her own safety, working at guarding herself to the point of obsession. But now, instead of walking away from a man who was being targeted by a demon, she instead burned with the determination to protect him from any threat that rolled his way. Her safety meant nothing, because...
Because she was falling in love with him.
A stunned huff of breath escaped her. Quickly she glanced back over her shoulder to where Nate slept, irrationally fearful that the huge impact of her realization had shaken him awake. But she was the only one reeling from the shock. Of all the bizarre circumstances that had hit her life, falling in love was just about the most jaw-dropping. Other people fell in love, but not her. To love someone meant to trust without reservation, and that was something she’d thought was irrevocably broken inside her. She’d even made peace with that.
Then Nate had come along, picked up her shattered pieces, and put her life back together. And he’d done it without even trying.
She put a hand to her forehead as if to stop the internal chaos, and it took her a moment to register that for once, she wasn’t looking at a game cheat or MMORPG chat board. Blinking, she used the touch pad to click on a link, then sat back to read.
It is often said that the greatest trick the Devil ever managed to pull is to convince the world that he is not there. But for those few who have seen the face of true evil in the creatures who answer to him, the demonic entities that feed on the weaknesses of humanity and strive to make it their own, the truth is known. It is up to those few to push back the dark forces wherever they are met, through strength, faith and unwavering determination. Only then can those evil beings known as demons be banished back to hell.
There is no such thing as “killing” a demon, for no human has the power to take the life of one of The Fallen. It is also difficult for a demon to have enough energy to both stay in the physical realm and kill a human through physical force. More often than not, a demon even of the highest order uses a proxy—a human they have possessed or corrupted—to actually take a life. Sadly, due to humanity’s many weaknesses, there is never a scarcity of proxies willing to be used in such a manner.
Banishment of a demon is a possibility through exorcism and other religious rites. It is also possible to produce a banishment even if one does not have these other forms readily available. Once a demon appears in the physical realm, it is imperative to injure or weaken it beyond sustainable life. Once it no longer has the strength to maintain a physical form here, it will be transported back to where it belongs. Unfortunately, those who have tried to wrestle a demon from this world have, more often than not, given their lives to do so.
Grim-faced, she snatched up a hotel pad and disposable pen and began to write, scrolling down quickly through various posts and anecdotal encounters. She wasn’t an exorcist, and she didn’t know how to find a local demon hunter. Nor could she do things like she’d seen in the movies to banish a demon; she didn’t have magic and she couldn’t see herself wielding a bible and a cross or some other