Page 74 of Forbidden! Exorcist Roommate
The bow line was taut. A fraction of a second and the demon would be in position. I held my breath, ready to fire.
And then the bedroom door opened.
Chase stood there in his underwear, jaw halfway to the floor as he gawked at the scene.
My heart froze.
I didn’t want him to get involved. I didn’t want him to get hurt.
I had to kill the demonnow.
As the demon’s head snapped in Chase’s direction, I fired the arrow, praying fervently that it would be a clean shot.
If I’d fired at a normal creature, it would’ve hit. But the demon was supernaturally quick. The tip of my holy arrow grazed the demon’s hide, leaving a sizzling mark in its wake. It briefly smoked, then stopped.
The demon hissed at the pain. Annoyed, but barely scratched.
Shrugging off the hit, the demon turned its attention back to me. I withdrew another arrow. As long as the demon focused on me instead of Chase, I could kill it. He just needed to stay out of this.
“Come here, you Hellspawn,” I muttered, glaring the creature down.
It let out a nasty bellow. Its talons dug into the carpet, shredding the fibres as it prepared to attack me again. My finger twitched eagerly. I wanted nothing more than to see my arrow split the demon’s eye socket. To know that I’d done my job properly at least once and protected Chase from a single goddamned demon.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Chase run back into the bedroom. My brief flash of relief quickly died as he returned brandishing a baseball bat.
My heart sank.
Oh, no. He’s not going to—
Chase charged at the demon and swung. It was too loud, too obvious. Even an earth animal would’ve heard him coming, let alone a demon.
The imp leapt into the air, nimbly dodging the strike, then snarled at Chase.
“Go back to the bedroom and close the door,” I yelled at him. “I’ll handle this!”
“I’ll help you,” Chase called as he took another heavy swing at the imp. It dodged again, but the bat shattered the legs off a cheap side table. I winced as cheap particleboard splinters showered the carpet. As if there weren’t enough problems in his apartment right now.
“Normal weapons won’t do anything to a demon!” I yelled.
Chase frowned like he’d just learned the tooth fairy wasn’t real. “What?”
“Just stay the hell out of my way!”
As we argued, the imp seized its chance. It rushed at Chase.
Fury swelled in my chest. I fired another arrow.
Direct hit. Not a clean kill—supernatural beings were faster than mortals, and I couldn’t adjust my body in time—but enoughto slow it down. The imp bowled over when the arrow lodged in its hind leg.
Chase stared, eyes wide. He was frozen to the spot.
I slipped a third arrow into position while running closer to the imp.
“Chase, move!” I barked.
“But I don’t want to leave you alone with that... thing,” he insisted.
This was no time to argue. Every second counted, and Chase was wasting time with his well-meaning yet ignorant offer.
