Confessions of a Demon by S. L. Wright

Author:S. L. Wright [Wright, S. L.]
Format: epub
Published: 2011-02-21T21:13:32.388000+00:00

Theo was on his feet the instant I opened the door. June was nowhere to be seen, and the pile of shopping bags and scattered clothing was gone, as well.

I slammed the door behind me as if I were being chased. My hands splayed back against it as if holding it to ward off intruders.

“What’s wrong?” Theo demanded, running up to join me.

“Nothing.” I moved away from the door. “I was just . . . spooked by something.”

“What?” As I kept on walking to the windows, he stayed with me. “Allay, what did they do to you?”

I pushed the hair off my forehead to cool it. “They didn’t do anything to me.”

“Someone frightened you,” he pressed. “They must want something from you.”

He took my hand and I soaked up his concern and his burning desire to help. I clung to him, trembling. Vex had planned this all along. He would use me to legitimize his religion, then use the truth-speakers to undermine governmental authority, ensuring their allegiance lay solely with the Fellowship of Truth.

By comparison, Dread was merely vain and greedy, wanting to boost his own power with the church. Vex wanted to change the world. He wanted to take control of people’s hearts and minds again, as he had controlled them for centuries through his influence on the Catholic Church and the various rulers of the feudal nations.

Lop off my head, and everything would change. Mysticism would be reborn with a vengeance as people reached for the impossible for themselves.

“It’s too big,” I finally whispered.

Theo put his arm around me. I felt as if I were standing on the edge of a precipice. All of my fear crystallized into my gasping words. “Maybe he means well. . . . Maybe it would help. But it’s a lie. I hate lies. They’re toxic. They ruin everything.”

His head drew back, as if I had hit him. “Let’s get out of here, Allay. You don’t have to stay. You don’t have to do whatever it is they want.”

“You don’t understand. I’m trapped. There’s no way out. They’ll use me and twist me around until they get what they need. I have no choice.”

“Can’t you negotiate with them, mitigate your involvement somehow? Give them a little and get what you need in return?”

“Believe me, this is a one-way street—to hell, if I’m any judge. Once you burn someone on a cross, there’s no going back.”

His arms tightened around me. “Allay! What are you talking about?”

I pushed against his chest, wrenching away from him. “Enough with the questions. You never ask me questions. That’s one of the things I like about you.”

Theo was standing there with his arms open, desperately wanting to hold me again. The pain in his gray eyes made them nearly black. “You don’t have to do what they say, Allay.”

I stared at him, realizing that everything was over. There was no way I could go back to the bar and my cherished routine. That life now looked like a sham, a semblance of normalcy that had hidden the corruption beneath.

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