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“Have a seat.” He motioned toward a table, so I sat down in one seat, Ryker in the other. Ryker smelled remarkably good, I noticed, carrying a sandalwood scent today.He must have changed soaps. Or maybe his girlfriend didn’t like his soap, so he changed it. Or maybe it was her soap, and he just used it. I swallowed.No, too masculine to be hers. She’s a vanilla girl.She drowned everything in the sugary sweet scent. Maybe it was a small miracle Ryker didn’t smell like vanilla, considering she used him, too.
I forced myself to bring my focus back to the room. There is only here; there is only now.
Any second, it could all end for me. Ryker could have a future—nice that he found someone, if that’s what she was.
Even if I was pretty sure I was allergic to her perfume.
“We need to know if you can really do what you say you can do.”
It made sense, but still I had to ask, “Why would someone lie about this? I outed myself to law enforcement as being possessed to take this job.”
“True but—as I’m sure you know, since you never would’ve turned yourself in otherwise—being possessed is not something we can prosecute. We can’t even hold you accountable for things you dowhileyou’re possessed. Anyone who is possessed currently has to have their sentences nullified, even before the law went into effect. Maybe you have lots of reasons to lie. We can get that demon out of you, if you want. We can…”
I lifted my hand. It was better if I addressed it before my demon did. “I don’t want you to do that. We’ve discussed that.”
“Every possessed person says they don’t want to get rid of their demon. I’m starting to think the demons make you all say that.” He shook his head. “But, legally, I have to believe you. So, no, Addalee, no one will take your demon without your consent. Let’s hope the hunters are as polite as we are. Otherwise, maybe you just need the money and you’re not possessed, and you’ll lie through the whole thing.”
My fake smile again. “Well, there is that possibility.”
“I don’t like how you’re talking to her.” Ryker squeezed my knee under the table. “She’s possessed. It’s not something she’d lie about. Trust me. And the hunters aren’t after Addalee. No one is going to hurt her.”
Cruise and I made eye contact. Of course the hunters were after me. He knew it, I knew it, and keeping Ryker in the dark about it was a kindness I offered. He was my friend, and he had enough worries, between taking care of his mother and managing his vanilla-coated girlfriend. He already cared too much about me as it was. The poor guy was going to have an ulcer before he was thirty.
“Be that as it may, I have to make sure you’re real. The government determined at least one possessed person is in the group. I’m not telling you how many, just that there is at least one in the group. It could be all four, three, two, or one.”
I was poor, not stupid. “I followed it the first time you explained.”
“Good. Then we’ll know if you are right or you are wrong.”
I lifted my hand, like I was in class, before asking, “What ifyou’rewrong?”
Cruise opened and closed his mouth. “We’re not. We’re certain those we say are possessed are possessed. You’re not the only possessed person who has helped us.”
“No, you misunderstand. I’m sure the one, two, or three, or whatever you say are possessedarepossessed. But what if you think it’s only one but it’s two, because one of the people you’ve gotten to do the experiment is possessed, and you just didn’t know it? I mean, that is the kind of thing a demon would find funny.”
He stared at me for a long second then left the room without answering. I sighed and sat back in my chair.
See? This is why I picked you. You just naturally make everyone around me nuts.
“No, you picked me because I was sad, pathetic, and available.” I closed my eyes the second I realized I said it aloud.
There was no way that Ryker didn’t hear me. He touched my shoulder. “Look at me, please.”
I did and found his gaze almost painfully kind. “You are not, and never would be, sad and pathetic.”
Does he notice my smiles are fake? Probably not. I gave him one anyway. “Just ignore me when I talk to her. It gets confusing in here sometimes, that’s all.”
“I’d really love it if she would just go away. She could, right? She could just go away and leave you alone?”
I never got to answer him because Cruise arrived with four test subjects. He lined them up in front of me—one woman and three men.
If I failed because a demon was pretending he wasn’t in one of them, then I wouldn’t get the job. There were always other ways to make money. I preferred Cruise to some of the other options—my demon had some dirty thoughts in mind when it came to him, in fact.
But she liked the idea of spending time in prisons. The job would be great if we could do it.
Ryker squeezed my knee again, so I rose to approach the prisoners. The plan would only work if my demon played ball. If she decided to be a dick about things, then I would look like an idiot in front of Cruise Winters. I would also disappoint Ryker Williams, who still believed life was good—despite copious evidence to the contrary.
Oh, don’t worry. I’m loving being here. You’re in so much turmoil, I could live off your pain for weeks. Also, it smells like old disinfectant. I do love that smell, don’t you?
