The Devil You Know Read online

  The story got stranger from there. The police were unable to identify any of the four people who’d been slaughtered, though blood tests proved that two of them were Tommy’s parents. Tommy was too traumatized to tell the police anything, not even his name. He’d gone into the foster-care system and had eventually ended up with the Brewsters, who’d adopted him when he was ten after he’d lived with them for several years.

  The police weren’t idiots. They knew the demon who’d killed Tommy’s parents wasn’t dead—the only way to kill a demon is to burn its host alive with the demon still in it—and they knew it was possible it would return to the Mortal Plain to finish the job it had started. When Tommy had gone into foster care, social services had been very careful to cover their tracks and make it impossible for the demon to locate him.

  So, how did I learn all this information about him if it was such a secret? Because Tommy had posted the whole sordid story on his MySpace page, along with enough anti-demon invective to get his profile deleted if anyone bothered to complain about it.

  It was possible the story was a load of shit. I’d looked up the stories about the slaughter, and there was no denying it had occurred and that a small child had been found at the scene. That didn’t mean Tommy was that child. Still, if it was true, that would explain Tommy’s devotion to God’s Wrath. It wouldn’t explain why the hell he’d posted so much information on the Internet.

  Unless he was trying to attract the attention of the demon who’d killed his parents. Perhaps he was looking for revenge? It seemed a little far-fetched. After all, he’d been only three when it happened. Chances were he barely remembered anything. At least not consciously. However, I’d seen how powerful the subconscious could be.

  I knew Adam could find out for sure if Tommy Brewster was who he said he was. And if his story turned out to be true, then his case became even more suspicious.

  Who was the demon who’d slaughtered those four people and would have slaughtered Tommy if not for a policeman’s timely rescue? Why had the demon gone on such a rampage? And could it possibly be a coincidence that shortly after Tommy Brewster turned twenty-one—the age at which he could legally register to host a demon—he turned up possessed?

  The demons had shown far too much interest in this kid’s life. My gut instinct said it would behoove me to find out why.

  ALSO BY JENNA BLACK

  The Devil Inside

  Watchers in the Night

  Secrets in the Shadows

  Shadows on the Soul

  THE DEVIL YOU KNOW

  A Dell Spectra Book / August 2008

  Published by Bantam Dell

  A Division of Random House, Inc.

  New York, New York

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved

  Copyright © 2008 by Jenna Black

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  Dell is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc., and the Dell colophon, Spectra, and the portrayal of a boxed “s” are trademarks of Random House, Inc.

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  eISBN: 978-0-440-33793-5

  www.bantamdell.com

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