Demon Ex Machina: Tales of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom Read Online Free PDF Page A

worst.
    “Nothing,” I confessed, desperately wishing I had a more satisfactory answer.
    “Do you want to talk about it?”
    I shook my head. There are just some things you have to be in the right frame of mind to talk about, and the fact that a demon is growing inside your first husband pretty much tops that list.
    Apparently that little hitchhiker had been inside my beloved for a long, long time. Dormant for a while, and more recently peeking out from its slumber to make a few bids for control of the body it was time-sharing with Eric. Not that I’d known any of that during our years as hunting and marital partners. And to be honest, I was still coming to grips with this new take on my reality.
    Three weeks had passed since I’d learned about the demon inside Eric. Three weeks since we’d defeated Goramesh and Abaddon. Three weeks since Father Ben had died.
    The pain still clung to me. The impotence I’d felt in not being able to save him. And now that horrible sense of helplessness was magnified tenfold in the face of Eric’s distress. Not only because I didn’t have answers, but because Eric had made it clear he didn’t want me looking for them.
    Not that his wishes had stopped me. I’d been on the phone daily with Father Corletti, but though he’d offered comfort, we’d found no practical solutions. How the demon came to be in Eric, he said, was a story for Eric alone to tell. He shared with me only what he knew and thought was relevant to our search for answers: that the demon had lain inside Eric since birth. That it had been bound within, but was now peeking out, seeking to merge with Eric. Seeking to become one.
    Clinging to hope, Father and I had been in full research mode, plowing through ancient texts in the hopes of finding similar accounts. But to say the situation was rare would be an understatement, and we’d found no precedent, no clues, no secret incantations for either forcing the demon out of Eric or locking him up inside, dormant once again.
    My frustration was rising along with my fear. If we didn’t figure something out before the demon fully broke free, Eric would be gone, only a demon would be left. And I was a Demon Hunter.
    “What does Eric say?” Laura asked. “What’s he doing?”
    “He tells me he’s doing fine. After all, he’s known about the demon for years and years,” I said, a little more icily than I intended. “Sorry. I get pissy.”
    Laura’s smile was pure maternal, and I have to admit I appreciated it. “You’re entitled.”
    I frowned because she was right. I was entitled. Eric had known about the demon throughout most of his life and all of our marriage. And yet he’d never told me. He’d taken the burden on himself, certain he could figure out a way to solve the problem and free himself. The veil of secrecy had been blown three weeks ago, however, when the culmination of a prophecy had proven that there was a demon inside Eric. I knew the truth now, and while I was angry and frustrated that he’d never told me, I was also terrified for the man I loved.
    “Can you, um, tell?” Laura asked, looking extremely uncomfortable. “I mean, can you see . . . it ?”
    “Not really,” I said. “His temper is edgier, but it would be, you know?”
    “Stress,” Laura said, knowingly.
    “The truth is, he’s not letting me see a lot. He tells me he’s in control and he’s been doing research. He says he’s got a plan and there’s no way he’s letting the demon get the better of him.”
    “Do you believe him?”
    I hesitated. “I want to. Father says that Eric’s been looking for a solution for months. Scouring old records and jumping through all sorts of hoops. He even thinks that Eric might have found the answer.”
    “But?”
    “But Eric hasn’t officially told Forza . Hasn’t even unofficially told Father Corletti. And even though we’re still patrolling together, he’s dodging my questions and shutting me out. Shutting us all out. Me. Father.