by Sara DeHaven
“Lord, no, not now! Tomorrow. No wait, Sunday. I’ll contact you on Sunday. Make him go away, Daniel.”
Daniel obediently raised his fists, and Bree felt the charge in the air as he gathered his Demon Master power, far more of a charge than she usually felt. Before he could speak, Gelsenim said, “You have only to ask me to leave, my host, and I will obey.”
Bree blinked in surprise. “Okay. Gelsenim, please leave. I’ll call you on Sunday.”
“As you desire, my host.”
The outline of the demon’s form melted away, and Bree felt the air lighten. Gelsenim was gone.
“Well, that was a surprise,” she began, but was interrupted by Daniel turning to her and saying furiously, “What the hell were you playing at, calling a demon into a room full of people? Of normals, for God’s sake?”
“I told you I didn’t call him,” Bree returned defensively.
“There was nothing but good energy in the house. There’s no way anything else happened that would make an opening for a demon to come over. It had to be you.”
“Hah! Nothing but good energy except for you,” Bree returned heatedly. “You’re like the raven of doom, lurking around and glaring at me.”
“I was not glaring at you!”
“Well, I don’t know what else you'd call it. You wouldn’t speak to me, and every time I looked at you, you looked grim and pissed off.”
“You wouldn’t speak to me! You’re the one that doesn’t want anything to do with me!”
“No, you’re the one who walked out on me. You didn’t even let me explain!”
Daniel took a step closer to her, and as he did, she could smell the alcohol on his breath. Her mind put together a number of little tells in the way he was speaking and moving, and she realized that he was drunk.
“What’s there to explain?" he said. "You want me, but you don’t trust me. I get it. I respect it. I don’t even blame you for it. So feel free to do whatever you like. I’m taking myself out of the running. We can go back to working together like before. Just be careful with that Leander. That’s all I’m asking. There's something wrong with that guy.”
Bree crossed her arms. “Right, of course there’s something wrong with a guy who shows an interest in me.”
“Did you try to read him?”
“I didn't. So, what is he, some kind of Keltoi? Some Binder or Demon Master?” As soon as the words left her lips, she realized what a low blow it was. God, she must be as drunk as he was to be that stupid.
Daniel’s lips compressed in an angry line, and the air around them both started to fill up oppressively. As it always did when she felt under threat, her Reader sense locked into place, and she felt with alarm that Daniel’s hiding spell was slipping. He had a way to hide his Demon Master and Binder energy from Readers, but something was messing with the spell. And while there might not be any powered here with Demonsense, there were more than a few Readers.
“Daniel, your hiding spell is slipping,” she hissed.
He froze in the act of taking another step toward her, and at that moment, Leander walked through the front door and came out on the porch. He moved a couple of steps toward them, then said, “Oh, sorry. I can see I’m interrupting something.” His eyes met Bree’s, brows raised a little in concern, and Bree shook her head slightly. Leander nodded, then turned and went back into the house.
Daniel closed his eyes, and with an obvious effort of will, reset the hiding spell.
Bree felt the throbbing energy dissipate. “Holy shit,” she said, “I hope he’s not a Reader.”
“Oh, he’s a Reader,” Daniel said grimly. “And apparently a Bird Master too. But I can’t read anything more than that on him. And it doesn’t add up.”
“What do you mean, it doesn’t add up?”
“Just read him like I asked,” Daniel said shortly. He was sounding more weary than angry now, though his expression hadn’t cleared. He was still upset with her. Well she was sure as hell upset with him too. She took the opportunity to make her escape. There was no point in them talking when they were both like this.
She rejoined the party, but the fun had gone out of it for her. She persisted in trying to socialize and enjoy herself, since she had to wait until she didn’t feel buzzed anymore so she could drive home, but it didn't work.
At one point, she saw Leander talking to Daniel. He put a hand on Daniel’s shoulder and smiled. Then he gave a regretful look at Bree over Daniel’s shoulder and went off into the other room. Oh great. He’d gotten the idea there was something between her and Daniel, and he’d probably just told Daniel he hadn’t known and wouldn’t pursue her. She’d bet Daniel had told him to go ahead, but Leander was probably enough of a Reader to know Daniel was lying.
She briefly considered Daniel’s challenge to her that she read Leander, but she decided against it. She was tired, and not in the mood, and for all she knew, that was the last she’d see of the guy.
The party had thinned out a lot by the time Bree was certain she was sober and could drive. Daniel hadn’t left yet, so at least he was being responsible about not drinking and driving, and he’d had the good grace to avoid her as much as she avoided him. She finally, gratefully made her goodbyes to Bruce and Sophie, who quietly told her the date for the trial possession had been switched to Sunday, and made her weary way home.
Leander drove home with a great sense of satisfaction. He hummed quietly along to a song on the radio as he drove, and reviewed the evening. He’d made great inroads with the McClains, and caught Bree's interest. He’d had a far more difficult time with Thorvaldson, who had clearly taken a quick, instinctive dislike to him.
Leander was fairly certain it wasn’t because Thorvaldson could read something about him. He’d quickly decided he wasn’t likely to get an in with Thorvaldson, not tonight, and maybe not ever. Keepers were a paranoid lot, and this one looked to be more paranoid than most. He’d concluded his best bet was to make a firmer connection with the McClains and start winning over Bree. He’d made a stab at Whitman and Vilcek, but they hadn’t stayed at the party long enough for him to get very far, since they’d had to take their kid home fairly early. He had succeeded in nabbing a couple of hairs off the kid’s sweater, which he hoped were adequate for the DNA analysis. If not, he’d just have to angle for another opportunity.
He’d known he was taking a risk being so openly attentive to Bree. He could see it was pissing Thorvaldson off, but he’d seen, almost the minute he’d entered the kitchen at the party, that they were not currently an item. Their vibe had recent break up all over it. He thought he’d played the whole thing very well, especially the part of ‘accidentally’ running into a fight out on the porch, then later apologizing to Thorvaldson and hinting that he didn’t want to get in the middle of something in this new group of friends and wouldn’t be pursing Bree. He’d enjoyed the risk of actually touching Thorvaldson, looking right in his eyes, knowing this was a man who could flatten him in sheer power terms, and might even be that long awaited and dreaded person who could actually read him.
As for reading Thorvaldson, Leander was no expert, but he was fairly certain the man was at least a little demon burned. If he was a Binder and Demon Master, that hiding spell of his was good, but it wasn’t good enough to mask the feeling of volatility to his energy. He'd certainly felt it when he'd been on the porch with Bree and Thorvaldson.
His thoughts shifted to Bree. She’d been something of a surprise. Her power signature read unusually strong to him. He was pretty sure she was high power on at least a couple of things, and he thought reading was one of them. Yet she hadn’t seemed to be reading tonight. Oh, people tried to hide it, but if you were paying attention, you could usually catch it. He’d certainly caught Thorvaldson at it.
He tried to imagine the attractive, fresh faced young woman offing Scanlon’s son and he couldn’t picture it. God knew he’d seen in his life early on that apparently nice looking people could do horrible things, but in this case, it
was just hard to feature.
As he pulled into the parking garage near his loft, he asked himself if he wanted Bree to be guilty of killing Scanlon's son or not. Might as well be straight with himself on his inner prejudices, as those were what could screw up the conclusions drawn from a read. He found he had a small preference for her to be innocent and Thorvaldson to be guilty. But let’s face it, he told himself as he made his way out of the garage and down the street to his building, it would be a lot more interesting if were her.
A flock of pigeons flew up around him, wings flashing white and grey in the streetlights. He took a quick glance around the nighttime street and didn’t see a soul, so he let the birds follow him home.
CHAPTER SIX
Bree was enjoying a Saturday evening at home on the couch, reading a book, Hanroi for once quiescent on her lap when the phone rang. She let the call go to voice mail, reluctant to have her peaceful evening disturbed. “Bree, pick up. It’s me,” came Dion’s voice, and it held a strained tone so unusual for him that it caused her to scramble for the phone, dumping a disgruntled Hanroi onto the floor.
“Hey, I’m here. What’s wrong?”
“We’ve got trouble. Big trouble. Council’s calling in every powered with a shred of exorcist or casting talent. There was a riot at one of the Pioneer Square bars last night, definitely demon caused, four dead, something like twenty injured, and it looks like another one is building tonight.”
“Slow down, Dion, I’m not sure I’m taking this all in.”
“I’m not sure I’m taking it in either. I was there last night, after it happened. And there’s been weird shit going down all week, and no full moon to blame. I don’t think I’ve ever been called out to so many assaults in one week the whole time I’ve been a paramedic. You don’t even want to know the nasty stuff I’ve seen. Those rumors we were talking about, I don’t think their rumors anymore. I think the demon war is starting.”
Bree sat down hard on the chair next to the phone. “So what’s this thing happening tonight? Where do I need to be?”
“A flash mob has been called for Alki Beach. Have you heard of those?”
“I read something about it in the paper. It’s usually teenagers, isn’t it? They Facebook and text everyone they know to do some kind of group stunt. Like a dance routine or pretending to be statues. I never heard there was any problem with them. I thought it was kind of cute.”
“There wasn’t any problem with them before now, but Javier and his Keeper team went down to Alki to have a look, and there’s already five possessed there, and at least a hundred kids, and more arriving. Given what’s been going down all week, this doesn’t look good. Some of these flash mobs can get up to a thousand people. That many teenagers, under the influence of demons…”
“Right. Where do I meet you?”
“I already called Kevin and Daniel, they’re on their way to pick you up. We want people working together in teams, hopefully with people they already know and have worked with. Javier is coordinating. We’re meeting in front of the bakery, the one on the corner across from the beach where the Statue of Liberty replica is.”
“Okay, got it. I’ll see you there.”
Bree hung up the phone and rushed upstairs to her bedroom to change. She dug out her daypack and put her Exorcist gear in it. Her heart was racing, not enough for her hands to shake, but enough to let her know she was good and scared. Trying to do an exorcism on the fly, in the middle of a mob, was not something she wanted to try, especially not as primary. But she could easily imagine how quickly a situation like that could turn lethal. Even if the demons involved were small ones, those possessed by them would be prone to reacting with violence to the smallest upset. And if larger demons were involved, their mere presence could create a tendency to loss of control in those nearby. And teenagers were already so emotional, and so half-formed in terms of judgment and self control that they were a favorite for demons to possess. Well, she could probably at least take care of a small demon or two. Even if that was all she could contribute, maybe it would help some.
The potential for serious trouble was so high that it took her awhile to register that she was about to see Daniel. Given their fight last night, she wasn’t looking forward to it. And she was worried about him being involved in all this. Sure, he'd shown admirable control around demons during their research, but that incident at the exorcism had thrown off her confidence that he could pace himself and handle it. But she knew, absolutely, that she would not be able to talk him out of coming tonight, so there was no point in trying.
Her cell phone rang in her hand just as she picked it up to shove it in her backpack. “Hello?”
“It’s Kevin. We’re outside.”
“I’ll be right there,” she told him. She trotted downstairs, and went into the kitchen to throw some wet food in Hanroi’s bowl. That kept him occupied so she could get out the door without him trying to escape. She warded her door on the way out, a general sense of paranoia moving her. Daniel’s old green Jaguar was parked across the street. She hurried over and climbed in the back seat, and Daniel pulled out immediately. “Which way?” he asked. “I’ve never been to Alki.”
“Take the 99 north, all the way past downtown. We’ll take the West Seattle bridge exit from there. I’ll guide you as we get closer,” Kevin told him.
“So, this is a first, Kevin, you getting involved with the Council,” Bree said.
“Let’s face it, I don’t have the kind of talents that are usually called for,” he replied, turning a bit in his seat to direct his comment over his shoulder at her. Kevin had only one talent, which was actually more common than the multiple talents that both Bree and Daniel had. But the one he had was formidable.
“Well, I can easily see how we might need you for warding tonight. If I have to try to pull off an exorcism in a crowd, it’s going to be important for wards to be strong around the subject. We can’t have demons getting loose in the transition and burning people.”
“Not only that,” Daniel added, “there’s a good chance that some Keltoi will show up. If this really is the start of a demon war, Keltoi are going to be involved and stirring it up for their own reasons. I expect there to be some battles, so warding will come in handy for that. Kevin, I want you to stay focused on warding Bree and yourself, as well as helping Bree out with any warding needs for exorcisms. Bree, I think it would be good if you took some time right now to review some of the offensive and defensive spells we’ve been working on. You may have to use them.”
Bree felt a little calmed by Daniel’s words, by the certainty in his tone. She had to admit that for all her doubts about him, he had a competence and confidence in battle situations that was contagious. She did as he’d suggested, reviewing her spells as she pulled her hair into a French braid so it would be out of her way in the coming action.
Both Daniel and Kevin were quiet, and it took her awhile to register that it was the quiet of tension. Kevin was fidgety. He messed with cleaning his glasses, pulled a pair of gloves on, then took them off. Then he fiddled with the heat and vent controls until Daniel slapped his hand away.
Finally, Kevin could no longer contain himself. “I really think it’s a mistake for you to get involved in this, Daniel. Please at least consider keeping out of the thick of it. If it’s as bad as we think it’s going to be, I don’t see how you’ll be able to control going for a Binding or using your Demon Master talent. The place will be crawling with Keepers. Isn’t this the kind of thing that got you in trouble back in Boston?”
“If it is that bad, there’ll probably be so much chaos that no one will notice if I do end up going there. But I don’t plan to use either of those talents if I can help it.”
“I just don’t see how you can avoid it!” Kevin insisted. “What if someone is likely to be killed if you don’t use them? I mean, isn’t it instinctive?”
“I’ve trained myself out of it being instinctive,” Daniel returned. He changed lanes rather abrupt
ly.
“Yeah, well, that’s what’s so fucked about the whole thing,” Kevin replied, voice rising. “Here you have these abilities that can protect you and others, and you’ll basically be crucified if you use them.”
“Kevin, I don’t even like to use them. I’ll admit I have at times, when it seemed like there was no other way. And yeah, okay, that could happen tonight. But do you really expect me to stand by and watch a bunch of kids get hurt, and maybe killed?”
“There will be other people there to help. Why does it have to be you that has to be the hero, that has to risk everything?’ Kevin answered stubbornly. It was clear as day to Bree that Kevin was anxious about tonight, and that was part of what was driving him to push Daniel on this. She also knew this was all part of a many years long conversation, and she was staying out of it.
“I tried to retire. I’ve been trying to contribute by doing research instead of being on the front lines. That’s what you always wanted, isn’t it? But if this is the start of a war, we have to do everything we can to nip it in the bud. We can’t let them succeed, not the Keltoi, not the demons. It can be pretty scary, how fast things can destabilize once you start getting riots.”
“I just wish..., oh hell, I guess it doesn’t matter what I wish,” Kevin sighed. “I should just shut up and get ready.”
Both Daniel and Bree forbore agreeing with him out loud. Silence descended, broken only by a few curt directions from Kevin. When they were nearly there, he pulled a black marker out of his jacket pocket, and Bree felt a quiver of power in the air as he focused and set his personal wards. He wrote warding symbols on the palms of both hands to seal the wards, and Bree knew it was a measure of his concern that he did so. As a high power Warder, he could ward with a thought, but setting the ward with a spell was a form of extra protection. He passed the marker into the back seat for Bree, and she did the same. She passed it back up, and Daniel held out first one hand, then the other and let Kevin set the wards for him.
