Dana mouthed, “Okay,” and turned and studied the woman. Tall, pleasant looking, but not beautiful. Dark brown hair, trim figure—she guessed the woman’s age at midthirties. But whatever her perfume was, she must have showered in it. It reminded Dana of the smell of cotton candy that used to make her stomach turn at the Puyallup Fair when she was little.
“It’s fascinating to see you from this perspective.” The woman extended her hand. “I’m Alexis Solia.”
Fascinating to see her from this perspective? That was one of the more bizarre greetings she’d ever had. Dana blinked away the frown that tried to rise and forced out a smile. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“You have a lovely work space.” The woman smiled back as she continued to glance around Dana’s office, then pointed to the photos above Dana’s couch. “And those pictures are quite catching. They remind me of Colorado. Are they?”
Something in the woman’s voice irritated Dana, but she couldn’t pinpoint the reason. And she didn’t like the way the woman said “catching” about the pictures she’d taken at Well Spring. What was wrong with her? This woman could easily put a significant dent in her deflated budget sheets.
“Thank you.” Dana motioned toward the two chairs in front of her windows. “Would you like to meet in the conference room or here?”
“No, it needs to be in your office.”
Needs to be? For an instant Dana felt like she did fifteen years back when she was fired from a waitressing job. “All right.”
“Do you mind if we close your door?” It wasn’t a question.
This lady was odd. What were they smoking down in California these days? “No, that’s fine.”
Dana didn’t like this woman.
“Welcome to Seattle. Have you been here before?”
She went to Dana’s windows and gazed out over the Seattle skyline. “Your city has grown a great deal since the last time I was here.”
“When was that?”
“A long, long time ago.”
She turned, but not fast enough to hide the smirk on her face.
“I see.” Dana motioned to the chair across the coffee table from her. “Would you like to sit?”
“Yes, I would. Thank you very much.”
They settled into their chairs and Dana crossed her legs. “I’m the one who should be saying thank you very much. The business your agency has placed with our stations in the past three years is greatly appreciated.”
“We would like to increase our spending this year.”
“Wonderful.”
“Do you mind?” Alexis held up her purse.
“Mind what?”
She pulled a bag of Hershey’s Kisses out of her purse and shook a handful into her palm. “I love to suck on these in meetings. They help me get more creative and more focused.”
Alexis popped one in her mouth. “Your station is an excellent choice for us. The music you play creates a very receptive audience. We like that. It makes our job easier. Thank you.”
“Your job? You mean it’s a good match for the products you’re advertising?”
The woman continued as if Dana hadn’t spoken. “For example, currently we believe television and movies are the most powerful ways to influence culture and change opinions and sway the viewers to our way of thinking. And this is not limited to the young. Although the mature adult mind is less pliable and takes longer to move, it most assuredly can be repositioned.”
“You sound like more than an ad agency. You sound like you want to change the world.”
“We already have changed the world. And we will continue to change it. When you own the airwaves, it offers a great deal of leverage.”
Own the—? Realization swept over Dana like a wave. How could she have been so blind?
Alexis squished the tinfoil from her chocolate into a ball and tossed it on the carpet to her left. “Now to business. We’re ready to exceed your current budgetary goals by 10 percent for this quarter—and the rest of the year—but I need you to do something in exchange for me.”
Dana stared at the woman as her throat tightened. She tried not to admit what her spirit was screaming. Something she’d sensed from the moment Alexis walked into her office.
“How do you know what my budgets are?”
“There’s very little that can stay hidden with a public corporation.” The woman popped another Kiss into her mouth. “If you know how to dig.”
“What do you need me to do for you?”
“Stay away from Reece Roth.”
“Say that again?”
The temperature in the room seemed to rise .
“You heard me.”
“How do you know—?”
“The details of how I know Reece and what you’re doing with him matter not at all. The salient point is I can more than meet your budget, keep you from getting fired, and make everyone happy.”
“I think how you know Reece matters a great deal.” Be here, Jesus. “You’re more than just an ad exec at Chiat/Day.”
“Is that where they told you I was from?” The woman cocked her head and popped two more Kisses into her mouth. “Did I mention I love these things? I never even knew they existed until the late 1920s. Now I eat them all the time.”
Dana silently prayed for ears to hear and eyes to see. Instantly a shimmer slid across the woman and Dana found herself staring at a man with average looks, thick brown hair, and pure black eyes. The memory of the man sitting at Tully’s a few weeks back flashed through her mind. It was him. An instant later the woman was back.
“What do you want?”
“I’ve told you. Peace. The stress of your job lifted off of you for the rest of the year. Is there something else you want?”
Dana stood. “I want you to get out of my office.”
“Here’s the situation.” The demon leaned forward and spoke in a mock whisper. “Your recent activities are starting to irritate us. Back off and things will be fine.”
“Back off on what?”
“You’re not as sharp as you seemed at Well Spring.” The woman sat back and licked chocolate off her lips.
A chill shot down Dana’s back. “You’re demonic.”
“That’s your word, not mine.”
“Get out of my office, now.”
“We can make life easier on you and easier on me. Or we can make your life unbearable.”
Dana glared at Alexis and pointed at her office door.
“See, the whole at-war thing isn’t true.” Alexis licked her fingers. “We don’t want to be at war with God. We simply want to live in peace. We do our thing, you do yours, it’s all good. The troubles start when people like your friend Reece whip up ordinary people like you and Marcus and Brandon into an uncontrollable frenzy and plant ideas in your heads that aren’t right. Aren’t true. He is not safe. People have died because of his out-of-control zeal.”
Dana stared at the demon.
“It’s quite true. Ask him.”
She didn’t need to. He’d admitted the fact at Well Spring. A second later a thought struck Dana like a steel hammer. What if Reece wasn’t who he said he was? Maybe he was a demon himself, training them for his own twisted purposes. No! She shook off the insane thought.
Jesus.
“We are at war, and greater is the power inside me than anything you can throw my direction.”
“Do you honestly believe that?”
“You made a deal with Tamera.”
“Yes, but not as directly as we’re doing with you. She needed only a little motivation, and we set up an opportunity for her. You’re proving to be more stubborn.”
“Get out.” Dana jabbed her finger toward the door.
“You’re not hearing me. We’re not angry about what you’ve done. We’re not upset about the training Reece has taken you through so far. We’re not even worried about what Marcus saw at church. But at this point we’d like it all to stop.”
Alexis stood. “And as a gesture of thanks, I�
��m willing to make sure you don’t miss your budget for the next, oh, let’s extend it to three years. And we’ll include a nice promotion for you.”
Dana’s lips felt like lead, but she leaned forward and pushed out the only word left in her mind. “Jesus.”
The woman’s eyes snapped up and went dark. “Don’t use that name.”
“The Lord Jesus Christ and the power of his blood against you.” The shimmer skittered over the woman again.
“I see.” The woman stood, strode over to Dana, and lifted her by her neck an inch off the ground, then set her back down and ran a finger down her sleeve. “Let’s get a few things abundantly clear. This is only a visit. But if I’m ordered to turn my full attention to you, I will make your job and your life miserable.
“Wait.” The woman placed another Kiss on her tongue and pulled it slowly into her mouth. “Miserable is the wrong word. That doesn’t sound dramatic enough. And ‘make your life hell’ is so cliché.”
Alexis put her forefinger on her chin and cocked her head as if imitating some 1950s comedy. “Okay, I’ve got it. If you don’t back off, I’ll make it feel like someone ripped your brain out, dipped it in acid, and then stuffed it back inside your skull. Yes, that’s better.”
“Get out.”
“No.”
“Jesus is Lord and his blood covers me.”
The demon sauntered to the door, then stopped in the doorway. “Oh, and if the dipped-in-acid description is too figurative for you, let me put it in practical terms. Back off from all this warrior activity”—the demon slid her finger across her neck—“or I will make sure you develop a case of arthritis so painful, putting a lid on a cup of coffee will become impossible.”
“Jesus. His power. His fury. His blood. Against you now.”
“You have no idea what kind of flamethrower you’re dealing with.” The woman’s eyes flashed and instantly Dana’s brain felt like it was on fire. No migraine had ever come close to the pain she felt.
“Jesus.” Dana stepped toward the woman. “Jesus!” She threw it at the woman this time at the top of her voice. The pain in her head vanished and Alexis spun and strode through the door.
A moment later Clark, one of her salespeople, poked his head around her door frame and sauntered inside. “I’m guessing you didn’t give that lady the rates she wanted?” He turned and looked down the hall. “Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever heard you swear using that word before.”
Dana blinked, steadied herself against her desk, and stared at Clark. “I wasn’t swearing.”
“From the look on that lady’s face, I’d say you were. Her face was a little pale. See what the power of a well-placed swear word can do?”
Dana clutched the edge of her desk with both hands and tried to slow her breathing. That couldn’t have been real. It wasn’t possible. It didn’t matter what Reece had told them. It didn’t matter what Marcus had seen. That stuff happened in movies and books and nightmares. Not real life. Her hands shook and sweat broke out on her palms.
“Did you hear me, Dana?” Clark smiled and knocked on the air in front of him. “Hello? Whatever you said put some fright on her. You made her look like a ghost. You ought to think about using Jesus’ name more often.”
“Yeah. Okay.” He had no idea how right he was.
He frowned. “Are you all right?”
“Sure.” Dana sucked in a quick breath. “I’m good.”
“No, you’re not. Now you’re looking pale.”
“It was an intense meeting. That woman was . . .” She paused. “She stressed me out a bit.”
“I guess. You want to talk about it?”
“No.”
“You’re sure you’re okay?”
“Just a day of dealing with all those demons that keep coming at me.” Dana gave a weak smile.
Clark laughed and turned to go. “I hear you. Sometimes it gets exhausting. See you later.”
Dana nodded, then moved to the wall of her office and sank down, staring at the carpet. Her pulse didn’t slow; it sped up. Then tears filled her eyes and she held herself as tight as she could. She hadn’t signed up for this when she agreed to go to Well Spring. Going deeper spiritually and battling some thoughts tossed at her by the enemy was one thing. Going up against demons in human form was another.
Dana glanced at the phone on her desk. She needed to talk to Reece and tell him she was finished.
THIRTY-TWO
DANA’S HANDS SHOOK AS SHE PICKED UP HER PHONE, dialed Reece’s cell phone, went to her windows, and stared at the ripples moving across lake Union. Pick up. She didn’t want to leave a message. She wanted to get this over with.
“Hello?” Reece’s baritone filled her ear.
“It’s Dana. I need to . . . you have to . . . talk me through what just happened.” She swallowed and grabbed her forehead. “I’m out of the group. I’m done for a while.”
“Calm down, Dana. I’m here. Tell me what happened.”
“I had a visitor in my office today. Just now.” She went back to the window and stared down at the street below, waiting for the woman to walk out. But Dana suspected she wouldn’t see Alexia, or whoever it was, leave the building. “I can’t even say it.”
“An unpleasant visitor?”
“Very.” The emotion of the encounter fell heavy on her and tears came again.
“Demonic?”
She pressed her lips together for a moment before answering. “Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You don’t sound surprised.”
“I’m not.”
“What? You thought a psychopathic demonic woman might pay me a visit today?”
“I didn’t know what was going to happen. But the Spirit told me to pray for you today. With intensity.”
“She was a demon. And she stood right here in my office!”
“Tell me from the beginning.”
“I thought she was an executive from an LA ad agency.” Dana’s legs went to rubber and she slumped onto her couch. “Jesus.”
“Tell me what happened.”
“I don’t want to think about—”
“Your peace, Lord. We need it now.” Reece’s voice seemed to fill her head.
A hint of hope started deep in Dana’s heart and slowly peace settled on her.
“More power, Lord. More comfort for my friend Dana.”
His voice was a whisper but it surged through her like a thundering shout. The peace increased and Dana’s breathing slowed.
“Tell me what happened.”
“She told me she would destroy me if I didn’t back off. Get out of the group, get back to the life I was living before Well Spring. She said my budgets would all be taken care of if I agreed.”
“And what did you do?”
“I felt like I was drowning, my mouth was packed full of marshmallows, and all I could do was say ‘Jesus.’ ”
“And what happened?”
“She came at me harder.”
“And you?”
“Spoke his name again. I ended up shouting it.”
“And she?”
“Left.”
“Congratulations.”
“I don’t think you’re understanding me. She said she would give me arthritis and get me fired, and—”
“Don’t let the enemy steal what just happened away from you.”
“Have Brandon or Marcus been hit like this?” Dana asked.
“Not that I’ve heard, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they have.”
“Why me? Why am I alone in this?”
“You’re not alone. I’m right here. So is the Spirit. Tell me what happened.”
“I don’t understand what you’re driving at. I told you what happened.” Dana stood and walked to her window and watched the midday rain pound against her window. “The point is this demon had power over me that I couldn’t fight against.”
“No, she didn’t. You’re giving her way more credit than she deserves. She’s likely only an
underling. Not that powerful. Let me ask again. What happened when you fought back? What happened when you didn’t agree to the temptation of her fixing your woes at work? Did anyone see the woman leave?”
Dana put her hand up to the window as if she could touch the rain. What had Clark said? His words rushed into her mind. “Whatever you said put some fright on her. You made her look like a ghost.” How had she forgotten that?
“One of my sales managers saw her. He said she looked pale. And in a hurry.”
“That’s interesting, no?”
The implications of what she’d done settled on her.
“Don’t lose this, Dana. Right now the enemy is trying to convince you that you barely escaped. That’s not true. One of the greatest lies he tries to make us swallow is his power is equal or even greater than ours. It’s not even close. Think back to Marcus’s vision. Consider the verse, ‘Greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world.’ You’ve heard that a million times so it’s tempting to let it slide by. Greater is he that is in you. Inside your heart.”
Shafts of sunlight were burning through the fog that had permeated Dana’s brain since the demon walked through her door.
“A tank is always going to win against a Tonka toy. But if the tank just sits there while the Tonka truck launches miniature grenades on the tank, eventually the tank will be destroyed.”
“I didn’t do anything. I didn’t fight well. All I did was speak his name.”
“You did fight well, Dana. You acted in strength.”
“I’m not joining you and Marcus tomorrow night.”
“You can choose to do whatever you want to. But pray about it, okay?”
“Of course.”
“Because I have a sense the Spirit is going to do something powerful for Brandon. But we’ll need your help.”
THIRTY-THREE
BRANDON STOOD ONSTAGE IN DALLAS ON WEDNESDAY afternoon, three hours before that night’s concert, doing a routine sound check when he felt the Spirit say, Get ready.
“For what, Lord?” He took off his guitar and set it in its stand.
A moment later a kid with a Brandon Scott T-shirt thumped across the stage and stopped a few feet away.
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