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“I like weird.” Cruise got up. “Enough of a break for me. Let’s get this done. Cell by cell, okay? They’re going to love you in that outfit, so I hope you’re ready for it.”
When I fake-smiled, it was with the demon in my eyes. I could feel her, and what was more, I was sure Cruise could see her, too. “Oh, Mr. Winters, I hope they’re ready for me.”
Chapter
Two
After the silent elevator ride to the cell block, it surprised me when the doors slid open to reveal a wall of noise. My new job entailed deciding which prisoners were possessed and which were not, and I could see the prisoners in their cells past the guards mulling around talking and observing.
“If guards are possessed, do you want to know about it?” I chewed on my fingernail. How far down the demon rabbit hole did they want to go?
Cruise shook his head. “No. Not my job to figure out if they’re possessed, just the prisoners. I didn’t save the hardest for last. There’s all lifers on this block, the ones who’ve done some really bad things.”
I understood lifer. My dad was a lifer until he got killed in prison. I never met him, since he died while my mom was pregnant.
Your family is so interesting. I love when you think about them.
I stepped forward. While I would have preferred to stay quiet, my demon preferred to introduce herself. “Hiya, I’m Addalee Ackers. I’m possessed, and I’m going to tell this guy behind me if you are, too.”
The prisoners started shouting again. I ignored them even as my demon loved their shouted slurs. She could practically roll around in the joy of it all. I steeled my shoulders. Sometimes it was hard—when I hated something, and she loved it, we warred and she won. I knew any battles of wills wouldn’t end well for me, since when she felt like fighting, she triumphed. We only co-existed because she wanted us to coexist.Kill the host too fast, and you either go back to Hell or find another host.
I was too comfy for her to risk losing me, so far.
The walls around me seemed to close in on me, covered in oppressive dark blue paint left to peel, yet no one was fixing it. They’d spent years renovating the prison—I’d watched with morbid curiosity the day the men moved in and the women out. I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d ever see the inside, or if I even wanted to—and now no one was keeping it up. Were they concerned with the aesthetic comfort of their prisoners, or had they designed it with discomfort in mind?
The sharp scent of disinfectant cleaner cut through the overpowering smell of urine, but it didn’t manage to overpower it. I really hoped my demon didn’t decide I needed to smell it more clearly. I might actually puke.
The man in the first cell tried to spit at me, but his attempt failed, hitting the bars instead.Gross.My demon laughed. She loved this kind of thing.
I turned around to tell Cruise and Ryker, “Not possessed, just gross.”
Cruise’s mouth twitched into a smile. “Thank you. So far, he can’t be released for spitting, but I’ll let you know if that changes.”
I grinned back and Ryker scowled. I didn’t bother to ask him what was wrong. I had a job, and he’d decided to come along, so if he didn’t like it, he could leave. As for Cruise, our arrangement was a huge undertaking. Since the courts had agreed to workwith the possessed—I suspected at least some of those judges were living in the same situation as me—he had to handle it, regardless of how he felt about us.
I went to the next prisoner. Also not possessed.
“So, what was she like before?” Cruise asked Ryker.
My best friend didn’t respond right away. Finally, he said, “Exactly like she is now.”
The lawyer laughed. They were talking about me, which should bug the heck out of me, but my demon liked it, so I turned to the next prisoner instead.Not possessed.
“That’s not possible,” Cruise answered. “If you think it is, then you’re not paying close enough attention. At the very least, they’re exhausted from the constant endurance required to survive possession. Usually, there’s more than that, too. Obviously, before, she wouldn’t have rounded on me with theMr. Winterscomment.”
Ryker sighed. “Yeah, that was different. She doesn’t do that stuff very much. I really think it’s just a matter of waiting this out. At some point, that thing has to leave her.”
“No.” Cruise stepped closer to me. “It doesn’t. You can trust me on that.”
“How do you know so much about it?” Ryker took a step toward me, too.
“Long story.”
Oh, I’d love to know his story.
The prisoner in front of me was possessed. My demon caught her breath, so I did the same.
He is a big fucking deal. Higher than me, and that’s hard to be.
