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An older homeless woman pointed left when I approached, but most of them recognized me and knew I wanted my mother. Her tent looked just like mine because I’d bought it for her. I wanted her to be okay, but I didn’t want to be with her all the time.
I didn’t start out homeless. In fact, I used to have a place I shared with some roommates—who threw me out the first time my demon showed up. I didn’t blame them. My job waitressing ended, too, then slowly but surely, I ended up in the tent cities.
My mother landed there a lot earlier than me. Drugs were her demon, and they managed to ride her harder than any possession. She needed them more than anything else—food and love rankedmuchlower. Sure, she liked me to bring her things, but she didn’t much care whether I lived or died. She hated that I was possessed—not because she worried about me, but because it made it harder for me to acquire what she needed.
Today she would like me, and I knew it before I even found her. I’d take it, because her playing nice made it easier to get through the few minutes we’d stay in each other’s company.
Her eyes were open when I found her. She wasn’t dead. Not yet, anyway.
My demon bled into my eyes, something I could tell without needing a reflective surface. Nathan upset her, so fucking with my mother seemed like a great idea to my demon.
Chapter
Three
“You’re a demon. Ademon,” my mother shrieked as I came back to myself. Her blanket swung at me even as her shaking hands struggled to hold onto the fabric.
I blinked, holding my hands up defensively. “Not anymore. Sorry.” I looked around, trying to assess how much damage my demon had done while she had control. I could spot a couple of things that seemed thrown around, but nothing looked horribly destroyed. Sometimes I could really make a mess.
My mother panted, her cheeks flushed while her skin remained unusually pale. “Why do youdothat? Why would you let thatthingdo that?”
My mother’s crocodile tears weren’t convincing. Despite her overacting, it didn’t make it okay or make me hate myself less for knowing I’d attacked her.That isn’t who I am, is it?“I can’t control it. She’s always able to take control of me. That’s just how this works.”
“Because you’re weak andnothing. You always were.”
Some of my sympathy fled. I stood up a bit taller, blew out a breath, then shrugged. “Okay. Well, that’s probably true enough.” I pulled a hundred dollars from my pocket thenhanded it to her. “Get some food with this tonight, at least. I know you won’t spend it all on food, but at least some, okay?”
Her gaze softened. “You’re really the best daughter. Thebest.”
“Right.” I shook my head, reminding myself it wasn’t worth it. “Bye, Mom. Be careful.”
The hunters would leave her alone. It was me they hunted, so I needed to move before they could catch me. Nathan said south, so I’d try it—after I saw Cruise. Nobody would bother going to the rural south part of town unless they wanted to tip cows. Other than pissing off farmers enough to make them chase you with shotguns, there wasn’t much to do in their neighborhood. I only tipped a cow once, myself.
Then some developer built apartment buildings on the land. I’d lived in one of them—back before my roommates kicked me out—and I always enjoyed the modern, small living spaces meant to house the growing population as it sprawled into the countryside. Although the south part of town might have been without any tent cities when I lived there, one had popped up recently.
The rise in demon possessions made tent cities a necessity, leaving city leaders at a loss as to what to do about it. At least, they didn’t seem to know what to do about it, unless they got possessed, too. The demons tended to take over people they found useful, so city leaders seemed a logical enough choice.
I gritted my teeth. Any time I thought about demons picking people in power to possess, it begged the question of what my demon wanted with me. I wasn’t anyone—I held no political power or money, nor was I special in any way.
I picked you for your winning personality, of course.
I rolled my eyes, but my thoughts drifted again. My mother got into drugs right before she married Ryker’s father. Her newfound addiction got worse with his and vice versa since theyfueled each other’s sickness. Aside from encouraging each other, they also refused any help and didn’t give a shit about anything. For a time, they made a truly charming couple.
But Ryker’s dad got help eventually. In fact, he was still clean, last I heard.Good for him.
My mother wasn’t willing to seek help, so eventually I stopped trying. Since I couldn’t help her, I brought her money. I knew she used it almost entirely to buy drugs, but I started giving her money before I got possessed, so I couldn’t even blame my demon. It was either the best or worst thing I did on a weekly basis. Should I force her to get clean? She got sick when she didn’t use. No one ever told me what I was and wasn’t supposed to do except the demon, and I couldn’t trust her.
When I told anyone about our situation in detail, they would stare at me for shocked seconds before they quickly and inevitably offered their sympathy. Even Ryker didn’t fully understand our situation—mostly because I didn’t tell him about it. I liked how he thought of me, even as one of the possessed. I didn’t want him to write me off as lost in his head just yet. Eventually it would happen, but I held on for as long as I could.
We could always get him possessed. Then you could be in this life together.
I ignored her.No way.
Cruise said he’d pay for my taxi, but even calling one could prove easier said than done in that neighborhood. Most cabs wouldn’t be anxious to help me with all of my stuff packed up on the curb, especially not once they got a good look at me. Finally, one of them stopped, so I poked my head in his window to smile and wiggle a handful of cash toward him.
“I’m good for this ride,” I told him. He didn’t need to know who would ultimately hand him the cash.
He nodded. “Figured you were, kid. You don’t look…too nefarious.”
