Ghost called out a mental greeting as the front door slammed shut.
Hello there. My name's Ghost. It's nice to meet you.
Harry played along. "It's nice to meet you too, Ghost. I'm Harry."
How are you doing, Harry? Done anything interesting lately?
Harry plonked down on the couch beside her. "Well, I went to ask about the job. Some guy at a gun shop is looking for assistance--mainly to guard the store while he's not there. A few other shops have been looted." He looked slightly embarrassed. "The catch was, he wanted me to prove I wasn't a looter. He hadn't really figured out how I was supposed to do that . . ."
When Harry ran out of anecdotes, Ghost shared a few of her own, stories of the friends she'd made even in the depths of Hell. The minutes passed with soft words--and, a few times, with laughter.
-- -- -- --
"It sounds like not all your memories are bad," Harry said.
Looking back on it, you know what's really weird?
Ghost asked.
Once I forgot who Leila was, I started to enjoy Hell. I really believed in Judith's cause, and I was happy to do anything I could to help her. Even when she needed to seal some treaty, and she used me as one of the terms--it wasn't as good as it is with you, but it was what I was made for.
As always, Harry was infuriatingly quick to reassure her. "It was what you needed to do, in order to survive and stay sane."
At first, I thought that too. I told myself that there was a Leila-me and a demon-me, and that I was letting the demon-me take over, just for a while. But then I started being the demon all the time. I went so long without remembering your face . . .
"There's a 'but' coming, right?"
Not yet, but good idea--that's the one hole we haven't used yet.
She continued before he could work out what she'd said.
There is no Leila-me, just me. I'm a demon, and maybe that's not a bad thing.
She scooted closer to him on the couch, and rested the tip of her tail on his shoulder.
You like this, don't you, having a demon as your lover? For you, I'll be the best demon I can be.
"You keep talking about how evil you are, but I can't believe it. There's more to you than sin."
Judith was the one who said that I was full of sin, and that I couldn't go to Heaven because I screwed Neil. I think that she was full of bullshit, and that I exist because Leila felt guilty about screwing Neil. I'm everything she couldn't tell you before she died.
She grinned toothlessly at him.
Or everything she couldn't show you, at least.
There was a certain tone Harry took whenever he thought he was about to win an argument. He used it then. "When you lick my face, to wake me each morning--what does that mean?"
It's the closest a tempter can come to a chaste kiss. And before you say it, yes, I care about love more than sex. That's why I've been going easy on you, and letting you get used to just how perverted I am. You know, if you really want to prove you understand me . . .
Harry seemed amused--or else he'd gotten better at pretending to be amused. "Should I be worried?"
The couch's too small for this.
