had stopped listening in on them, but now I used my demon’s heightened sense of hearing to eavesdrop. “…want to do something naughty once in a while?” William asked. His eyes were alight with the devilish fire I’d come to know so well.
The hiker glanced at the foil wrapper on the ground.
William revved up his charm a little more. “Don’t get me wrong. I tread lightly on Mother Earth. My carbon footprints are almost nonexistent. But…” he sighed as if he couldn’t bear the weight of so much responsibility “…I’m only human. I mean, I can’t be expected to carry every bit of trash for the entire length of the Appalachian Trail.”
I’d seduced plenty of people over the past year, and I’d even been at the mercy of William’s incubus a few times, but I’d never before watched a tempter in action. It was both fascinating and horrible. I could feel William’s demon assess the victim and search for weak spots to exploit. William’s incubus made him seductive and charming, but deadly as well. If the hiker knew how poisonous William’s demon was, she would have run away screaming. However, he’d trapped her with his otherworldly allure, and instead of fleeing, she was moving closer.
The hiker’s eyes fixed on William. “I know exactly what you mean,” she finally admitted. “I’ve been wanting to burn our trash at night, but Austen won’t let me.”
William beamed at her. “Exactly! Sometimes, we have to cheat. Just a little.” He nudged her. “Your pack is probably heavy enough as it is.”
When I saw the flicker in her eyes telling me William’s devilish mission was nearly completed, my paralysis broke. I couldn’t remain silent while this poor woman did Helen’s bidding. Even though Helen had sent a berserker demon after me the last time I’d disobeyed her orders, I couldn’t hold myself back.
Unfortunately, I’d waited too long. Before I could stop her, the young woman grinned evilly and threw her wrapper on the ground. Then she went the extra distance by taking a few other wrappers from her pack and tossing those as well.
Seeing that the damage was already done, my protest died in my mouth. Littering was a very small sin, of course, but those little acts opened pathways to larger and larger transgressions. Patrick Clerk once told me he’d watched saints turn into monsters all because they’d refused to answer a cry for help. Now that the woman had fallen for William’s temptation, who knew where she’d end up.
“Lightening the load. That’s all you’re doing,” William said.
The hiker smiled wickedly. “Tonight, I will burn the trash.” She glanced down the trail. “And I know who I’ll blame for it.”
Jenny finally trudged into view. Unlike her friends, she struggled under the weight of her backpack, and her legs trembled with exhaustion. She shrugged off her pack with a grunt of relief and collapsed on the ground.
The first woman crossed her arms over her chest. “We’re behind schedule. Austen already went on ahead.”
Jenny looked crestfallen. “Was he mad?”
“He wasn’t thrilled.” The woman smirked. “He thought you’d be able to keep up, but now he thinks we may have to cut our trip short.”
The little liar! Already, William’s temptation was taking root. If those dark thoughts continued to spread… Well, she might do worse things than blaming Jenny for burning trash.
When Jenny reached into her pack for a bottle of water, the other woman scolded her, “You don’t have time for that now. Let’s go!”
With a grunt and a sigh, Jenny stood, resettled her pack on her shoulders, and began plodding down the trail once more.
When the women were gone, William rubbed his hands together. “Delilah is getting better! She had the time and the place spot-on. Of course, she couldn’t pinpoint the temptation, but it all worked out in the end.”
Without a word, I stalked over to where the trash lay, picked it up, and stuffed it into my pockets.
“That’s unnecessary,” William said. “The damage has been done.”
“I know, William,” I said.
“You’re upset.”
He tried to put his arm around me, but I pulled away. “Of course I’m upset!”
“Is it because I had to combine work with pleasure?” he asked, worried. “I didn’t want to, but Helen’s been keeping me so busy that I would have had to cancel on you otherwise.”
“I know.”
He continued to study me. “You do realize that I wasn’t attracted to the young woman, right?”
I nodded. He had been completely professional. “Let’s just go,” I said. I headed down the trail.
“Lil, wait up. Lilith!” He caught up to me and touched my shoulder. “What’s going on inside your head? Talk to me.”
I was nearly in tears. “It was watching you in action.” I felt the stab of emotion again, but it wasn’t jealousy. “You made the hiker believe that you were her best friend. You tricked her.”
He reached for me, but I stepped away. “You and I can’t escape who we are,” he said.
A few tears spilled over. “But you’re so good at what you do. It comes so naturally!” Finally, I identified the emotion. “If you can fool her into loving you, then maybe you would fool me, too. How would I know the difference?”
His face fell. “Oh, Lil. Is that what you think? I would never do such a thing.”
I certainly wanted to believe him, but at the same time, I didn’t dare. William lied so well and so often it was possible he no longer recognized the truth.
“How can I make you stop worrying?” he asked.
I met his eyes. “I want you to swear to me that you’ll always tell me the truth. Always.”
If he’d answered me right away, I wouldn’t have believed him. But he didn’t say anything for a long time. Finally, he took my hands. “The truth can be painful, and I don’t want to hurt you.”
“I’d rather be hurt by the truth than a lie,” I said.
He sighed. “Okay. I promise to always tell you the truth.”
“And I’ll do the same for you.”
All this seriousness was too much for him to bear. His eyes twinkled and he lifted a lock of my hair. “So tell me, is this your real color?”
I shoved him away. “You’re incorrigible.” I couldn’t help but smile, though.
He checked his watch. “I’d love to stay, but I have another appointment in about ten minutes.”
I glared at the ground. Helen really was keeping him busy.
“How are you going to get back in time?” I asked. It had taken nearly two hours to get
