Page 4 of Exorcise Me
“That’s fear,” I insisted.
“Is it?” He moved closer, and I found myself backing up until my legs hit the couch. “Fear and attraction feel remarkably similar to the body. Elevated heart rate, shortness of breath, heightened awareness…” His voice dropped lower. “Dilated pupils.”
He was standing too close now, close enough that I could smell that cinnamon-and-smoke scent again, mixed with something else—something earthy and rich. His amber eyes seemed to glow faintly in my dimly lit living room.
“Step back,” I managed, my voice embarrassingly weak.
To my surprise, he did, raising his hands in a gesture of peace. “I won’t touch you without permission, Noah. Contrary to your human myths, consent matters to my kind too.”
I blinked, surprised by this statement. It contradicted everything I’d been taught about demons.
He’s manipulating you,warned the voice of Father Finnegan in my head.Demons lie. It’s their nature.
But as I studied Lucien’s face, I didn’t see deception. I saw… curiosity. Interest. And yes, mischief, but not malice.
“One night,” I heard myself say. “You can stay one night. On the couch. And then we figure out… whatever this is.”
Lucien’s smile was like sunrise—warming and somehow painful to look at directly.
“Excellent!” he said, clapping his hands together. “Now, about dinner. Put on something less depressing than that shirt, and I’ll take you out. There’s a place three blocks from here that makes a carbonara that might actually make you believe in divine intervention.”
“I’m not going to dinner with you,” I protested.
His eyes sparkled with amusement. “Would you prefer I cook? Because with your ingredients, dinner would be an energy drink reduction over microwaved freezer burritos.”
My stomach chose that moment to growl loudly, reminding me I hadn’t eaten since breakfast.
“Fine,” I sighed, already questioning every life choice that had led me to this moment. “Dinner. But this is not a date.”
“Of course not,” Lucien agreed, his tone making it clear he thought it absolutely was. “It’s merely two beings sharing nutrition while engaging in conversation. Nothing date-like about that at all.”
As I headed to my bedroom to change, I heard him call after me: “Wear the blue button-up! It brings out your eyes!”
I paused, hand on my bedroom doorknob. “How do you know I have a blue button-up?”
There was a telling silence, then: “Lucky guess?”
This is how I die,I thought as I pushed open my door.Not fighting evil, but taking fashion advice from it.
To my horror, I found myself reaching for the blue shirt anyway.
Chapter 2
The restaurant was exactly as Lucien had described it—small, intimate, with soft lighting and incredible smells wafting from the kitchen. The hostess greeted Lucien by name, which should have been concerning but somehow wasn’t the strangest part of my day anymore.
“Your usual table, Mr. Lucien?” she asked with a warm smile.
“Please, Kaitlin.” He gestured to me. “I’m showing Noah here what real food tastes like.”
She gave me an appraising look. “Ah, so this is Noah. You described him perfectly.”
I nearly tripped over nothing. “He described me to you?”
Kaitlin just winked and led us to a corner table, partially secluded by a decorative screen.
“How often do you come here?” I asked once we were seated, menus in hand.
Lucien shrugged elegantly. “Time works differently for my kind. I’ve been enjoying this establishment since it opened five years ago, though not always in this particular form.”
