Page 20 of I Accidentally Summoned A Demon
Nex stilled. Lucian’s words the first day Nex arrived floated around Nex’s mind.The easy way out is to let me kill her. Then you have no purpose to serve, and you’ll be sent back.Nex considered it at first. Then he looked into her past and couldn’t find a single thing wrong with her. He hoped spending time with her would ease his conscience, but the more time he was around her, the more he discovered she was genuinely, annoyingly good.
“I won’t do that. There must be another way.” He slammed his hands on the counter. “Have you talked to anyone else?”
“Everyone says the same thing. The only way out is through death. Hers, her choice’s, or yours. But killing you would mean you’d have to start from the bottom again. Lilith likes you but not enough to give your rankings back after something like this. She’d consider your unwillingness to kill the girl a weakness.”
“Keep asking.” Nex gripped his head. “Someone must have succeeded another way. There’s always another way. In the meantime, I’ll keep trying to get her to agree.”
“Very well.” Lucian bowed his head. “You know where to find me.” As quickly as he’d arrived, Lucian disappeared.
Nex went back to work. It wasn’t until he was putting the finishing touches on dinner that he smelled Kat again. Except she wasn’t alone. He faced the door as she walked in. Gone was the sweet girl he’d grown used to. In her place was a pissed-off woman who wasn’t taking any shit.
She stood in the doorway with folded arms. “If I were you, I’d do that disappearing thing you do.”
“What are you talk—” He hissed. The other presence’s familiar aura hit him, and he clenched his fists as a man with gray hair and long robes stepped into the house. “You brought in anexorcist?”
Kat maintained eye contact. “I tried to play nice.” With no hint of apology, she addressed the exorcist. “Shall we get started?”
Chapter 10
Dressed by a Demon
“Kitten,please,”Nexpleaded.“Can’t we work this out? I said I was sorry.”
It was Thursday, and every day since Monday, Kat had brought in at least one new religious leader from an untried religion. Nex had narrowly dodged holy water, and although they all said the wrong things to get rid of him, their strange auras uneased him.
“This one’s basically the enemy of your religion.” Nex gestured to the priest. “You realize your denomination name,Protestant, comes from the fact your denominationprotested againstthe Catholic church, right?”
Kat shrugged when the priest wasn’t looking and leaned against the wall with her arms crossed. Nex’s arms dropped to his sides as the priest roamed with his rosary and vial of holy water.
“Ah.” The priest closed his eyes. “I feel it.”
Kat pushed off the wall. “You do?”
“Don’t act so excited,” Nex snapped.
The priest turned away from Nex. “It’s here.” He waved at nothing, Nex behind him. “I can feel it. It’s angry.”
“Really?” Nex threw his arms up. “He’s not even looking the right way, and you still trust him?”
Kat muttered a quiet, “He’s right about the angry part.”
“That’s their go-to,” Nex gritted out. “They always say we’re angry. It doesn’t mean shit. What can I do? Tell me what to do to make it better.”
Kat focused on the priest, who lit incense and chanted.
He waved the crucifix and drew a cross over his chest. “Be gone, demon!” He sprinkled water away from Nex.
“I’d love to be,” Nex said flatly. “How long is this going to continue? He’s not even speaking the right language!”
“There’s a right language?” Her eyes lit up. “Of course. Latin.”
“What?” the priest asked.
“Nothing.” She typed furiously into her phone. “Thinking out loud.”
Frustrated, Nex flexed his hands and inhaled deeply before approaching Kat. He set his hands over hers. Instead of letting her jerk away like he’d done all week, he held her hands. “Katherine, from the deepest part of myself, I am sorry for what I said.” He rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. “I was angry and frustrated, but that’s no excuse. I’m sorry.” He lifted his hand to her cheek. “Are you going to hate me forever? I’ll do anything you ask. Having you this cross with me is worse than not being able to go home.”
For the first time in days, Kat’s expression softened, but she tore her eyes away. She watched the priest, then whispered, “Why do you want it to stop? If we find the right person, you could go home, couldn’t you?”
