Page 25 of An Illicit Seduction

She didn’t look happy about it, but Marissa sighed and nodded, pulling her hands from Seraph’s and lifting her phone into the air.

“Okay, I hear you, but I’m going to worry all night unless I hear from you, so you need to pull out your phone and program my number. I’d love for you to text or call me tonight and let me know you’re somewhere safe.”

That was an easy concession for Seraph to make. She lifted her phone from the table and navigated to her contacts so that she could input Marissa’s information. Once she had her locked in, she sent off a text and watched as Marissa saved her number into her phone as well. They hugged once more, and then Seraph waved as the other woman exited the conference room and pulled the door closed behind her.

Everything she’d said to Marissa had been true. She needed to get out of that building and across town as soon as possible. Nothing else mattered except that because she couldn’t afford to start her twenty-four hours over again. Her phone buzzed and she glanced down, expecting to see something from Marissa but was instead greeted with a text from Sierra, informing her that she was in the lobby and on her way up to Seraph’s floor.

It was almost time.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Cursebreaker

The Damon from before had no idea where any of Seraph’s friends lived, so it made sense for her to stay with one of them while trying to avoid him. Since Sierra was the only one privy to the entire ordeal, her home was the best choice. It didn’t hurt that she also had enough knowledge of the…otherwordly things that Seraph had to do to ensure she didn’t accidentally bring something else to life while trying to get rid of the incubus.

Switching her phone to silent mode wasn’t enough because the myriad of vibrations from Damon’s constant phone calls was distracting her, but shutting the device off completely wasn’t an option because she was watching the timer intently, waiting for that twenty-fourth hour to be upon them. At 1:47 a.m., she powered down her phone and left it on the nightstand in Sierra’s guest room before joining her friend in her attic. Devin had built Sierra a mini armoire that she used as an altar. Sierra had insisted that it was the perfect place for the task because the atmosphere surrounding her altar was already conducive for convening with the spirit world.

Seraph simply took her word for it and sat in front of the three-foot structure with her legs folded underneath her. The four items she’d purchased at Zing’s Sweet and Sour were on the altar in front of her, waiting to be utilized.

A ball of purple twine.

Two twigs wrapped together.

A palm-sized gray rock with a piece of vine attached.

A slim box that held two white matches.

Running the steps in her head on a constant loop, Seraph grabbed the matchbox and retrieved one match. She struck it on the side of the rock and held the flame to the tip of the vine. When the vine caught fire, it retracted, curling up until it reached the end, in the center of the rock. That’s when purple smoke began to rise from the rock, and it was Seraph’s cue to start the next step.

She unwrapped the two twigs and grabbed the ball of twine. Holding the twigs perpendicular to each other, she began looping the twine around them while repeating a chant out loud.

Bind this demon, break his hold.

Cast him out, destroy his mold.

Free his host, release his soul.

Clear his mind, make him whole.

Seraph repeated the chant seven times while steadily wrapping the twine around the sticks. She worked slowly, being careful to follow the exact pattern that Mama Sari had demonstrated for her. When she finished the seventh round, she used a pair of scissors Sierra handed her to snip the twine then laid the wrapped sticks on top of the rock, directly in the center of where the smoke was emitting. The smoke grew thicker until she could no longer see the sticks, so she pulled out the second match, struck it, and tossed it into the smoke. The flame grew, burning brightly for seven seconds before snuffing out completely, taking with it the smoke, and leaving an empty rock sitting on top of the altar.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Her Damon

After the ritual, Seraph climbed into bed, but rest didn’t come easy. Seraph tossed and turned for hours, her mind racing with scenario after scenario, her nerves at the outcome plaguing her well into the morning. At five, she cracked open her laptop and shot off an email to her boss, letting Gina know that she elected to work a half-day and would be in the office by noon. Gina emailed her back within two minutes, her reply consisting of a couple of thumbs-up emojis and a short “No problem”. Satisfied that her job wouldn’t miss her, she fell into a fitful sleep.

What felt like minutes later, Sierra burst into her room, jolting her awake. Seraph scanned the room with wide eyes, her heart pounding. Finally, she blinked blearily at Sierra who stood over her exasperated, as if she had been calling Seraph’s name multiple times and was annoyed by the lack of response.

“What’s going on,” she asked groggily.

“Ser, turn on your damn phone! Damon has been rushed to the hospital!”

“Huh?” Pressing the heels of her hands to her eyes, Seraph shook her head, certain that she had heard Sierra wrong.

Sierra yanked the cover off of the bed and dropped a pair of jeans and a t-shirt onto Seraph’s legs. “You heard me. Get dressed. Auntie Joyce has been calling me since she can’t get a hold of you.”

Finally understanding what Sierra was trying to say, Seraph jumped out of bed and threw on the clothes. She rushed through brushing her teeth and emptying her bladder then followed Sierra out of the house to climb into the passenger side of her friend’s car.