Antiphon

She stands up, meanders over, and wraps her arms around me. “How did you know?”

And that’s the problem. I didn’t until it was almost too late. I shake my head. “My sixth sense was buzzing when we got out of the car. It never occurred to me that Belias and Avaira would resort to possession. I figured when you left with Taylor and Riley, Belias would make a move to follow and I could take him down. But as soon as you pulled out of the parking lot, the buzz stopped. I’m embarrassed to say it took me a few minutes to figure it out, and, when I did, it was almost too late. I knew which direction you went. and then I remembered the quarry. Belias was there that night.”

“What does he want with me?”

“The same thing I did.” My heart aches. I know how hard this is for her to hear. But she needs to understand that they won’t give up until she’s tagged-one way or the other. “They’ll keep coming for you.”

She stiffens. “I hate this. Why is this happening to me?”

I hold her tighter. “I don’t know,” I say, wishing I did.

She sighs and presses her face into my chest. “So it’s always going to be like this.” A tear slips over her lashes, and I wipe it away. “I just want a normal life.”

I want to hold her and tell her it’s all going to be okay, but I’m not going to lie to Frannie anymore. “I think you gave up normal when you fell for a demon.” And maybe an angel. The thought sits like a stone in my core, weighing me down. I kiss the top of her head and sigh, “But I don’t see them stopping until they have you.”

“There’s nothing we can do?”

“We can try running, but I’m not sure there’s anywhere we could go that they wouldn’t find us.”

Her expression is suddenly determined. “I’m going to live my life. Otherwise what’s the point of fighting? I may as well just let them tag me now.”

I pull her closer, wishing it could be that easy. “There’s your Sway, Frannie.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your Sway. If it’s strong enough to change me, you should at least be able to use it to defend yourself.”

“How does it work?”

“That’s something you’ll have to figure out for yourself, but once you learn to control it, it should be some protection.”

She looks up at me, and I see the fear and trepidation in her eyes. “What was Belias gonna do?”

“Belias is a creature of lust, an incubus, so his technique usually involves seduction and soul sucking. But that’s only with mortals who are already tagged-I think.” I remember my conversation with Belias under Frannie’s tree. “He did say the rules were changing. ” I feel her shudder in my arms.

“This sucks,” she says, looking back at Riley and Taylor on the bed.

And just then, Taylor’s eyes snap open. Taylor gasps and sits up. “What the hell.?”

“Hey, Tay,” Frannie says, walking over and sitting next to her. Riley groans and opens her eyes, still looking groggy.

“What’s going on?” Taylor checks her clothes and looks around suspiciously.

“Just hanging out,” I say with a little push.

Riley sits up, still dazed.

“Hey, Ry. How you feeling?” Frannie says.

“Like shit,” she answers.

Taylor swings around and stares at me. “Where the hell are we?”

“Welcome to my humble abode,” I say through a smile with another push. “Don’t you remember coming up?”

Her eyes glaze over a little. “Maybe. ”

“You want another beer?” I head for the fridge.

“No!” Riley practically shouts, rubbing her forehead.

We get Taylor and Riley loaded into Riley’s car, which Frannie and I circled back to retrieve, and watch as they pull out. I look around and sigh in relief, thinking about how close that was-for all of us. I loop my arm protectively around Frannie as I steer her back up the stairs to my apartment. Once inside, she latches all the deadbolts and locks while I throw up a field, my own infernal deterrent. Then she drapes herself over me, and I feel my heart speed up. She’s still shaking a little. or is that me? I’m not sure. “You okay?” I whisper in her ear.

She presses into me. “I am now,” she says. Then she’s looking up at me with curious eyes. “So, what you said earlier. about being able to be in other people’s bodies. ”

“Yeah. ”

“I was kind of wondering. could you. you know, do that with me?”

I look at the floor, feeling more than a little guilty, and watch the toe of my boot scuff at one of the filthy linoleum daisies. “I have.”

I’m surprised when I look up and find her smiling. “When?”

“Just before I first kissed you.”

“You mean before I first kissed you.”

I crack a wide smile. “Actually, I kissed you first. You just slept through it.”

She laughs. “Could you do it again? I mean the thing where you’re inside me. I promise I’ll stay awake.”

My heart takes off. But as I fantasize about slipping through Frannie’s lips, being in there with her again, I realize that I might not be able to do it anymore. Things are changing fast. “I’m not sure.”

She stretches up onto her tiptoes and kisses me, then gazes into my depths and whispers, “Try.”

I kiss her again, pulling her to me as tightly as I can, and as her lips part, I let my essence flow through them. I’m surprised again at how effortless it feels-because she’s inviting me in, I’m sure. I feel that same overwhelming rush of sensations I felt the first time, many of which I now have names for. Love, for sure, but also joy, hope, and pure awe for her sheer beauty. She’s more beautiful on the inside, and that’s saying something. We dance-and I’m in Heaven.

I leave just enough of myself behind to control my body, and as I hold her on the outside, I caress her on the inside, drinking in her gasps and moans as I explore her, inside and out. I feel her body’s physical reaction-not to mention my own. Before I know it, we’re on the bed, shirts on the floor, and it takes everything I have to stop. My heart aches as I reluctantly pull my essence back, and I’m left with that same feeling of being empty and alone in my human shell.

She sits up on the bed and huffs. “Why’d you stop?”

“A knowing act of lust with a demon will earn you a one-way ticket straight to the Abyss. I’m sure of it. We can’t do this until I know it’s safe for you.”

“They. you. you’re taking everything. My life. everything. This is all I want. Just this one thing. Please? You’re almost human.”

“I don’t know that. It seems to be the direction I’m headed. and I really want to. obviously.” God, how I want to. “But just the fact that I can still do. that,” I shudder, “means it’s not safe yet.”

She flings herself back into the pillows and blows her unruly tresses out of her face. “This bites.”

I shift up onto my elbow and kiss her. “You’re the only one who’s ever known who I am, who I’m not, and who I want to be. And somehow you love me anyway. I’m not taking any chances with you, Frannie.”

She rolls on her side and gazes into my eyes. A wicked little smile just curls the corners of her pouting lips. “That was amazing,” she says, tracing the lines of my cheekbone with the tip of her index finger and making me shudder. Then her smile widens. “Probably better than sex anyway.”

I smile back, dying to prove her wrong. It was amazing. Mind-blowing, actually. But I can’t imagine sex with Frannie would be anything less. “How much do you remember?”

Her smile widens and she trails a finger down my chest to the button of my jeans. “All of it.”

I can’t stop my own smile. “Interesting.”

Her finger trails along my stomach at the waistband of my jeans, driving me insane, and I’m right on the edge of diving back into her when she says, “Where is Hell, anyway?”

I almost laugh. “At the core.”

She looks into my face, surprised. “Of the Earth?”