The Demon in Me by Michelle Rowen Read Free Book Online Page A

but his face was very pleasant—almost angelic , actually—with heavy-lidded blue eyes, high cheekbones, and full lips. In school, he probably was called a pretty boy.
    “Greetings to you, Eden Riley!” the woman said brightly.
    “Uh… greetings,” Eden replied awkwardly.
    “I’m Rosa Devine,” she said. “We already met on the phone, didn’t we? And this is my son Malcolm. He’ll be assisting me today.”
    Malcolm nodded curtly in Eden’s direction, then took a moment to scan the office. “Are we alone?”
    “Yes,” she said.
    “You were expecting these people?” Darrak asked from inside her.
    “Yes,” she said again.
    “Friends of yours?”
    “Mm-hmm.”
    Darrak was silent for a moment. “Do your friends normally make your heart gallop like an overcaffeinated racehorse?”
    Eden didn’t reply.
    Rosa approached her, staring up into her face. Then she pressed her hands to Eden’s cheeks and drew her closer until their eyeballs were only a couple inches away from each other. “We must begin immediately. Please sit down.”
    Malcolm moved toward the glass door and turned the lock. “Where do you need me, Mother?”
    “By my side, dear.”
    “What’s going on, Eden?” Darrak asked.
    She sat down in her comfortable but ratty desk chair and tightly squeezed the armrests as if bracing herself for a root canal. “I’m helping you.”
    “Helping me?”
    “Is the demonic presence speaking to you right now?” Rosa asked.
    She nodded. “He is.”
    Rosa grabbed her chin and squeezed hard enough to make Eden’s lips purse out unattractively. “Listen to me, demon. This is your last chance. Leave this woman of your own volition while you still can. If you refuse, then we will force you from her body.”
    Darrak sighed. “Exorcists? You’ve got to be kidding me.”
    “Speak, dark demon!” Rosa hissed, squeezing Eden’s face even tighter. Eden tried her best not to bat the woman’s hands away. “What is your reply?”
    Another internal sigh. “Eden, let’s talk about this.”
    “I’m rewwy shorry.” Her words were distorted due to her current pursed-lip situation. “But you habben gibben me any udder choice here.”
    “So, you what? Called 411 to find the nearest Exorcists ‘R’ Us?”
    Eden cleared her throat. “Akshlee, I just rooked in the phone book.”
    “I already told you I can’t leave, but it’s not because I don’t want to. Believe me, I want to, but I can’t.”
    “He says he can’t leeb me,” Eden said
    “Liar!” Rosa snapped.
    “You can tell this lady to bite me, though,” Darrak added. “And she can take that holier-than-thou attitude of hers and shove it right under her granny panties.”
    “Does the demon show fear for my abilities?” Rosa asked.
    “Not rewwy,” Eden admitted, though she was finding it increasingly hard to talk while in the forcibly pursed position. Her cheeks began to ache. “You can let go of my faysh now. Preesh.”
    She finally released Eden, who sighed with relief and rubbed her sore cheeks.
    “Right,” Darrak said. “Actually, I’m not afraid because I’ve been faced with a lot of exorcists in the last three hundred years. Believe me, there have been a lot of yahoos who think they can get rid of me, but a true exorcist needs to completely believe in demons and the Netherworld—their faith needs to be absolute. And they have to use actual holy water—”
    “Malcolm, pass me the holy water, please.” Rosa held out her hand.
    “Yes, Mother.”
    Darrak scoffed. “They say it’s holy water, but that could just be from the tap for all we know.”
    “What’s this we thing?” Eden said.
    “Now, you must repeat after me,” Rosa said. “I, Eden Riley—”
    “I, Eden Riley.”
    “Commit to ridding my physical being of all things demonic—”
    Eden repeated it.
    “And renounce evil and all forms of black magic—”
    Well, of course. “And renounce evil and all forms of black magic.”
    “And all lustful