Here's an excerpt:
“Have you actually
seen this curse in action?” Amara asked.
“Seen it? I have felt it; as has every member of my
family. When the demon comes for you, you see it, feel its fetid breath on your
neck, hear its taunting and cursing in your ear. It looks you in the eye with
it’s glowing red pupils and sees into your soul. It knows your sins and tells
them to you in great detail. It laughs at your shame and wallows in your
regret. Then it looks over your body.”
“Why does it do
that?”
“It searches for
the way inside. A cut, a scrape—a way into your blood; if it finds none, then
it moves to your mouth or nose where it enters through your saliva or other
secretions.”
Amara leaned
forward. “I don’t understand then. Why would creating a wound be a part of
protection from this ‘demon’? Wouldn’t that just be an invitation to come in?”
A sly look crossed Diambu’s face. “Yes, the
burning or cutting draws the demon to the mark. When it approaches the symbol,
it recognizes the ash beneath the skin and knows it cannot inhabit this body.
It will rant and wail, sometimes throwing objects but it will leave eventually.
It has to or be destroyed. It came for me on my tenth birthday. Every member of
my family will tell you the same thing happened to them.”
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