“Do it.”
Melanie sat on the bed beside Rick. She untied the tourniquet, then picked up the empty syringe and tossed it onto the bedside table. The look in her eyes said she genuinely cared about him, but maybe she was just a good actress. She reached out and brushed an errant lock of hair off his forehead.
Melanie’s body language changed subtly, her shoulders slumping as her hand fell away from Rick’s face. His eyes opened, and I knew immediately that the demon was now in the driver’s seat. His pupils were no longer dilated, and the expression on his face was too … serene to belong to the angry, drug-crazed asshole who’d hit me.
Melanie looked up at me, her eyes a little too wide as she chewed her lip. “How did you find me?” she asked.
Something had clearly frightened her. My first thought was that the demon had threatened her before it moved out, but she was pressing close to Rick, as if seeking his protection.
“Was the demon telling the truth?” I asked. “Are you a willing host.”
“Yes. Tell me how you found me!” She was breathing hard, her hands clenched into fists in her lap.
Rick sat up and put a soothing hand on her back. “Don’t be afraid,” he said, though of course it was the demon talking, not Rick the Prick. “Whatever happens, I’ll protect you.”
I felt like I’d somehow missed a part of this conversation. “What’s the matter, Melanie?” I asked. “What are you afraid of?”
Instead of answering me, she turned and practically flung herself into Rick’s arms. He held her tightly, tucking her head under his chin and looking at me over her head.
“The only person who knew Rick’s full name was her sister,” he explained. “She thinks you found her because Beth betrayed her. And that you’re going to hand her over to her parents.”
“No way in hell I’d do that,” I assured him. The little hairs on the back of my neck were prickling.
Maybe it was naive of me, but I was dead certain Beth had told me the truth, and that she was very, very worried about Melanie’s safety. Worried enough that there was no way she’d have given Rick’s name to her parents, not when that would have helped them track Melanie down. Worried enough to reach out to a stranger and ask for my help—and risk telling me Rick’s name.
I turned to Barbie as apprehension settled in the pit of my stomach. “You didn’t happen to check to see if we were being followed when we came here, did you?” I asked.
Barbie muttered a curse under her breath. “No. It never occurred to me.”
Damn it! It had never occurred to me, either. How had Beth known I was the exorcist her parents had hired? Maybe because they had “carelessly” left my card lying around for her to find? And if they knew Beth wouldn’t give them Rick’s name, what better way to find it than to trick her into telling someone else? Someone else who would conveniently lead them right to their wayward daughter.
Melanie cowered in the demon’s arms, and he rocked her like a baby. I met his steady gaze.
“They wouldn’t really…?” I started, then found myself unable to finish the question. I’d had a pretty sucky relationship with my parents, and they’d never protected me in the way parents should protect a child. But even they would have balked at killing me, much less torturing me to death with fire. I knew there were people out there who were capable of that kind of cruelty, but my very soul rebelled at the idea.