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But if I was right in walking away from my faith and determining my religion was nothing but a weapon, that meant there was nothing that could save me from the demon before me now. Nothing could keep the monster that attacked me from coming back.
“I hardly think so,” he said with a chuckle. “There is no demon this book could banish.”
“But…”
“Go on then,” he handed it back. “Try.”
My eyes widened. “What?”
“Banish me with your lord book.”
I took it from him and watched as he widened his stance and crossed his arms over his chest. I held the book in a firm grasp and despite knowing how ridiculous it was, I opened it and flipped through the pages. Should I hit him with some Mark? Maybe some Luke? I felt like maybe this needed an Old Testament. What did they read in the movies?
“Are you going to read to me? Banish me with boredom? That book seems very dry.”
My eyes clenched closed.
“Do you believe you can banish me with these words on these transparent pages?”
A huff of breath left me as I closed the book. “No.”
The corner of his mouth lifted in a smirk that made my blood boil. “Are you sure? I welcome you to try, I find this place dreary and exhausting. I would much rather be banished.”
I tossed the bible onto the chair behind me. “Be my guest. No one is keeping you here.”
His stance changed slightly. It was subtle, but something in my chest tightened when he did it. The key there gave me a little zap when I was supposed to notice something about him.
“Is something keeping you here?”
Asmodeus said nothing.
“Answer me.” I felt suddenly emboldened. Almost being dragged through my house by a real monster left me free of inhibitions.
“Yes,” he forced through his teeth, jaw clenched. “Something is keeping me here.”
16
ASMODEUS
The answer was ripped from my lips. I couldn’t lie to her even if I wanted to.
“What does that mean?” She abandoned her fear once more. I quite enjoyed the woman when she was like this. When her anxieties surrendered to her curiosities.
“It means I am as bound to this world as I am to you.”
Her eyes widened as she sunk into the chair. Her hands rubbed over her thighs before her eyes dropped and she looked herself over. A battle waged in her now. One where she tried to decide if all she knew about me would trump all she had learned in the three days since my arrival. “You healed me.”
It was taxing to do so, but healing was something I could easily accomplish for my wife. “Yes.”
“You healed me… and you’re stuck here… with me.” Whatever had emboldened her wore off as her eyes glassed over once more, her hand rubbing against flesh that had long healed.
“Yes.”
“Because of a stupid book. A book none of us even believed in.” She sniffled.
My eyes locked on the book she had pulled from a shelf earlier. “If I am to understand this world and their books, they can be used against you even if you don’t believe in them.”
The laugh that left her was a sad sound. Her hair fell from behind her ear as she nodded, her hand still tracing a mark on her thigh only she could see. “What was that thing?”
