Demonsense: Demon Master Part 13

Dion slanted a look at her. "Javier told me Daniel was called up by the Ecclesias on suspicion of being a Demon Master before."

"Isn't it supposed to be literally impossible for someone to hide their power signature? I don't even get why he was called up in the first place."

"There's always a first time for everything, which is why the Ecclesias tends to be conservative on this issue."

"Yeah, but the part you're not hearing is that the previous examinations found nothing. The way he explained it to me, some high power Exorcists can used some of their own power, in addition to the power raised by the rituals, to de-possess a subject. So they can perform exorcisms more quickly most other Exorcists." Daniel had told her that when he'd speculated on her own abilities, so she wasn't lying.

Dion was shaking his head as she spoke. "I'm not sure I buy that. Maybe it's literally true, but I'm not sure it adequately explains what I saw."

"What you saw was Daniel once again risking his life to save innocent people," Bree replied heatedly. "He did fifteen years as a Keeper, and got all the s.h.i.+t jobs because he's so good. They used him up, and then accused him of having the forbidden talents, put him on trial. The trial damaged his reputation, even though they didn't find against him. No one wanted to work with him anymore. It tore the heart out of him. And now you're dragging him back into it all!"

"I'm not doing anything to him, don't shoot the messenger! Bree, look, I like the guy, you know I do. I'm the one who told you should give him another chance, remember?

The irony of her defending Daniel when she herself had been so recently wondering if maybe he should be turned into the Ecclesias wasn't lost on her. But something in her protested the idea strongly once she was faced with the reality. "Just consider this," she said intently, trying to moderate her tone some, sound more reasonable. "Daniel is so high power in so many talents that there are probably few people like him, anywhere. I don't think most of us have any real understanding what it means to be that high power.

"And you know, I think it scares people. On the one hand, we're all impressed. We all secretly wish we had that much power. On the other hand, it freaks us out. We don't want anyone to be that much better than us. It makes us feel vulnerable, less than. But surely you must know that in the end, it's not the power you have, it's what you do with it. And all Daniel's ever done with it is try to help people."

Dion's expression went from guarded to thoughtful as she spoke. In the brief silence that fell as she ended her little tirade, Bree realized that to some degree, she had just been describing herself. Daniel's level of power did scare her, it had since the first moment she'd read him. And at the same time, it attracted her.

Dion finally got his thoughts together for a response. "I've gotta say, I think there's some truth to what you just said. I think Daniel unnerves people. h.e.l.l, he unnerves me a little, and I ain't easy to unnerve. And I get what you're saying about the use of power. That's obviously true of any talent or ability. We should be judged by what we do with it. But if you're wrong, and Daniel really has managed a spell to hide being a Demon Master, his actions won't stay positive forever."

"Yes, but..."

Dion held up a placating hand "Look, to be honest, I don't know the full story on this one. I've got to a.s.sume people have tried various ways to hide Demon Master and Binder talent from the authorities. There may be lore about this the Ecclesias has that I know nothing about. I do know that hunting down and monitoring Demon Masters and Binders is part of what the Ecclesias does, and it's something that needs doing. Surely you can see that."

Grudgingly, Bree nodded. "I do see that. It's just that I know Daniel. This isn't just some random person I'm being asked to testify about. I don't want to see him hurt anymore."

Dion regarded her closely. "So, you are in love with him?"

Bree's hand stopped its automatic petting of Hanroi. She didn't know what to say. Was she in love with Daniel? Stupid for the question to shock her. Hadn't she just been feeling it a moment ago when she wanted so badly to defend him? But every time she got there emotionally, something he did gave her pause or just outright terrified her. And Gelsenim's recent revelation about Daniel's dark energy left her feeling more conflicted than ever. Yet here she was, defending him instinctively, as if she deep down really believed in him.

"You don't know, do you?" Dion said with a little laugh. "G.o.d, I wouldn't want to be in your shoes on this one. He's charismatic as all get out, and you've both clearly got a thing for each other. But I'm not sure you should get involved with him."

"Thus says the man who brought Daniel to my house when I specifically told him to stay away."

"I was right that time, and you know it. You needed his help to snap out of the fog you were in after that Keltoi guy died."

"You mean after I killed him."

Dion sighed in frustration. "Let's not go around about that again. I just think that until he's cleared by the Ecclesias, you ought to think twice about hanging around him. If you're seen as a.s.sociating with him, as defending him, and he's convicted, they're going to be looking pretty closely at you."

Bree felt a chill at that. What if she really was developing Demon Master talent? And what if one of the Readers on the Ecclesias could tell? Daniel wasn't the only one facing neutering of powers, and the very real possibility of death as a result. But neither could she see herself just letting Daniel deal with all this alone. She regarded Dion with some disfavor. "I suppose that means you aren't going to do jack s.h.i.+t to defend him. That would screw up your precious political career."

"That was a little harsh," he said quietly.

Bree put a hand to her forehead. It had been too harsh. "G.o.d I know, I'm sorry. I guess I'm just upset that Daniel has to go through all this again, and I wish someone could prevent it. I know it's unreasonable to think you could."

Dion took a deep breath and let it out slow. "Apology accepted. Look, the most likely outcome is that he won't be found guilty. As far as I know, there's never been a Keeper convicted of being a Demon Master. They're all subjected to an energy read by a high power Reader. He's hot s.h.i.+t, but what are the chances he's the first person to figure out how to hide the forbidden talents?"

Bree looked down at that cat to avoid her expression giving anything away.

There was the sound of a car honking out front. "My ride's here," Dion said. He gave her legs a final pat, then moved them off his lap so he could stand up. "No rest for the weary," he intoned lugubriously. "I've got a late s.h.i.+ft. I'll meet with you and Daniel before the meeting once it gets on the schedule, coach you a little about dealing with the Ecclesias."

"Thanks for everything Dion. I mean it."

He leaned over to kiss her on the cheek. "Take some more ibuprofen before you get in bed."

Hanroi followed him to the door, and failing in his escape attempt, came and climbed back up onto Bree's lap, and half-closed his eyes bliss as she scratched his cheek. When he was like this, it was easy to forget what a little s.h.i.+t he was. She wasn't about to admit it to anyone, but she had, quite in spite of herself, grown fond of the little beast. And she probably hadn't given the Cat Master thing anything like a real try yet. She'd had too much else to focus on.

She jumped hard when a tree branch from outside tapped against the side of her house in a gust of wind, and she swore, loudly. Hanroi dug his claws into her in protest. She was obviously still unnerved from her earlier experience. Even thinking that much caused a disturbing image to intrude into her mind, the one of the blonde guy trying to get her pants off. Tears started into her eyes, and before she knew what hit her, she was crying. She knew it was perfectly natural after what she'd just been through, but she resented it. She resented it like h.e.l.l. She wiped angrily at her tears. She was so f.u.c.king tired of being hurt, of being afraid. And now she had this to deal with, nearly being raped.

She reminded herself that since she'd met Daniel, she'd been feeling for the first time in her life that maybe she was equal to dealing with what came her way. Part of it was learning more casting from him, especially the battle spells. There was no doubt that was empowering. But part of it was his faith in her. He didn't see her as weak or fragile, the way she was used to seeing herself, at least in terms of her ability to cope with exorcisms and demon kind. She'd always found those experiences intensely disturbing and, especially after Seth died, as something she wasn't good at handling. Daniel just saw her as needing more skills, more practice.

And G.o.d knew she'd been getting a lot of practice lately. She was d.a.m.ned lucky she knew some Healers, or she'd be in far worse shape than she was. If she were honest with herself, she had to admit that a part of her had liked helping out the Keepers last night. She'd had to think on her feet, and she'd done better as at casting than she'd ever thought she'd be capable of. "I can cast. I can fight," she said softly, trying out the idea. Was she, on some level, capable of being a fighter? The kind of person who overcame their fear and fought back? It wasn't that she thought she was some kind of total weakling. But she wasn't used to seeing herself as someone truly able to defend herself, let alone others. "I can fight," she said again, louder, and found she liked the sound of that.

She'd been thinking ever since she was in the shower at Leander's about why she hadn't called Gelsenim tonight when those Keltoi boys were a.s.saulting her. She wasn't entirely sure, although her most convincing theory was that so many of her previous interactions with Gelsenim had involved him threatening s.e.xual violence, especially the time he'd possessed Daniel. Likely she had instinctively not trusted him in that kind of situation. She had to admit that she was, in the end, glad of her choice even if it hadn't been the most intelligent one. Leander was right, she'd gotten herself out of that situation with her own abilities.

Unfortunately, hot on the heels of that pleasant feeling came the thought that maybe she'd finally developed her casting skills only to lose them. And that was the least of what she'd have to face if the Ecclesias asked her point blank if Daniel was a Demon Master or a Binder. Or if they asked her if she was a Demon Master. And what would she say? Daniel kept telling her she didn't really read like a Demon Master, but she could call demons. Controlling them was clearly another matter.

At the end of the day, she'd been willing to risk her sanity, and even Daniel's, to continue the demon research, knowing the demon contact could only hasten the day they both succ.u.mbed to Demon Master instability. But she had never thought it would be this soon. Even if what was happening to Daniel wasn't exactly the usual Demon Master instability, it sounded from what Gelsenim had said that it could be even worse.

She felt the urge to pull the covers over her head, both literally and figuratively, but resisted it. She had fought tonight, had fought at the Alki riot. And she knew she was a very long way from being done fighting, so she had better buck up.

CHAPTER ELEVEN.

Bree made herself go to work the next day since she knew she had only three ma.s.sage clients, though she knew she wouldn't be at her best. She was still sore, even after Dion's healing, and she had to be extra careful with her posture as she worked. She was too hot in the scarf she'd put on to hide the bruises that were still on her throat, and she had to work harder than usual at focusing on her work. She was grateful to end her day with one of her regulars, a longsh.o.r.eman with a bad back who loved to regale her with stories of his grandchildren's wondrous feats of intelligence and humor, sparing her the need to make conversation of her own.

After finis.h.i.+ng with that last client, she was more centered. That was the gift in doing the work she did. The office itself was soothing, and having to be so fully in the present, feeling the structure of the muscles and tendons under her hands, reading tells to give her an extra level of insight into where tension was being held in the body, all this served to slow her down, bring her into a sense of peace.

As she finished cleaning up her office, it occurred to her that she needed to talk to Daniel. In spite of all that had happened to her yesterday, she'd been worried about him. She'd woken that morning to find Kevin had left her a message last night letting her know he'd spoken with Daniel, that he was shaken, but stable. Still, she wanted to hear his voice, to see him so she could judge for herself. As she pulled out her phone, she paused, considering whether going to see him alone was safe. She decided she trusted his ability to self a.s.sess on it to some degree and trusted her own ability to read from his energy and tells even more.

And given what Dion had said about being called up by the Ecclesias, she thought she'd better call him sooner rather than later. She dialed his number. Might as well get this over with. His phone rang long enough that her worry spiked. Just as she was composing a voice mail message in her head, he finally answered, sounding a little breathless. "h.e.l.lo?"

"Daniel, it's Bree. Listen, I just got off work, and since I'm nearby, I thought I'd call and see if you might be available to talk. I mean, that is, if you're up for it."

There was a long silence before he said, "I think that'd be okay. Okay as in safe. Have you had dinner yet?"

"I had a break before my last client and ate something then, so I'm good," she answered.

"Come on over then. I'll put on some tea. What kind would you like?"

Daniel had a thing for tea, so she knew she had a lot of options. Although having something with caffeine was tempting, given her nagging feeling of tiredness, she didn't want anything that might make her more hyped up after she had finally gotten calm. "How about some of that flower tea, whatever you call it. The stuff that tastes like peaches."

"The Peach Momotaro. Yeah, I have some of that left."

"Okay, I'll be there in about ten."

Daniel's place was only a few blocks away, but it was raining softly, and she didn't feel like a walk, so she drove over. She spent the brief drive telling herself Daniel wouldn't have let her come over if there was any immediate danger. He'd sounded perfectly normal, and besides, she'd promised him when they started up the demon research again that she'd monitor him for demon burn, and she needed to see him to do that.

He seemed calm to her as he greeted her at the door and took her wet coat. Given how freaked out he was when she'd last seen him, she found his demeanor surprising, in spite of how he'd sounded on the phone. She'd been braced to find him looking grim.

She followed him back to his kitchen and settled into one of the chairs at the round wood table while he poured out the tea. She appreciatively inhaled the delicate, fruity aroma as she held the cup in both hands, enjoying the warmth, and took a careful first sip. "Wow," she sighed, "I love this stuff. Where do you get it?"

"There's a tea store in Ballard I go to," Daniel answered. "I'll pick you up some next time I go if you like."

"That'd be great," Bree replied. She watched him surrept.i.tiously as he took a drink from his own cup. He looked good. His hair was damp from a recent shower, and it looked like he'd just shaved. He was lacking the edgy sense to his energy that he sometimes got when things weren't good between them, and he read in control, if a little nervous. It's the good twin, she told herself wryly. This was the guy she pretty d.a.m.n crazy for. She took another sip of her tea and reflected wistfully that it would be nice to be able to just sit here with Daniel and have a normal conversation. But that's not what she was here for.

"You seem good. I was worried after yesterday. You were going to meditate..." she trailed off helplessly. How did one tactfully say, 'So, have you lost your mind and turned evil since we last met'?

He gave her a wry look over the top of his cup as he took a sip, as if he'd read her mind. "No crazy people here today. No promises about tomorrow though."

She couldn't help but smile a little at that.

"No, seriously, it took awhile, but the meditation really helped me pull it together. I slept well, and I felt surprisingly normal when I woke up." Some tea sloshed out of his cup as put it down, and he wiped at the spill with the arm of his s.h.i.+rt. "I got a call from an Ecclesias representative. She asked me quite a few questions about the riot, and that seemed to go okay. The good news is they didn't set a date for a hearing yet. The guy that called didn't say as much, but I suspect that the riot the other night has gone a ways towards convincing them this may be a demon war, which means the Ecclesias will be very busy making plans and marshaling resources."

Bree huffed out a sigh of relief. "Well, thank heaven for small favors. Any further thoughts about how on earth I'm going to get away with lying to an Ecclesias Reader?"

"Yeah, I have been thinking about that," Daniel a.s.sured her. "I have a couple of ideas, but they're things I need to try out with you. Of course, ideally, we'd have another Reader of tells to help test it out. But obviously, neither of us knows one we can trust."

Bree thought briefly of Leander. She liked him, but didn't know him well enough to trust him with this kind of information. And besides, she knew Daniel would never go for it. "I guess we'll just have to do the best we can. Your being able to read on the energy level will definitely help. I know if I'm looking for a lie, it's only partly tells I'm reading. I'm also looking at s.h.i.+fts in base and will energy. You can do that, right?"

Daniel smiled a little smugly. "Oh yes, I can do that."

"Of course you can, the mighty Thorvaldson can do anything," Bree said, nudging his foot with her toe under the table, tone teasing.

"Hey, you know I'm basically stunning. What can I say?" he replied with his smile turned wicked, and a frisson of energy shot straight through Bree, stirring up b.u.t.terflies in her stomach. Enough of that, Bree told herself sternly. It wouldn't do to get too relaxed around Daniel. She deliberately reminded herself he had laid a binding on her yesterday. It worked. She felt instantly much less likely to jump into his lap and start kissing him. "Well, I hope you're good enough to help me fool what's likely to be a world cla.s.s Reader."

"It's not like they can read minds, you know." He took another sip of tea.

The voice of guilt in Bree's head told her this would be a good time to reveal that for her, with a deep read, she came pretty d.a.m.n close to reading minds. Before she could decide if she had the guts to do it, he went on.

"They're likely to do a deep read on me to try to see if I have Demon Master talent, but I doubt they'll do the same to you."

"So you think they'll just ask me some questions?"

"They're likely to be pretty direct ones. A lot of the Keepers I worked with got dragged in last time I went through this, and they asked them point blank if they had knowledge that I was a Demon Master."

"And they were able to say no, right? I won't be able to say that."

"Exactly. The trick will be to work a spell that allows your energy s.h.i.+fts to look on the surface like they're supposed to. Ideally, the spell would only come online when you were asked those kinds of specific questions about me. Otherwise, I'd have to come up with some kind of more general masking spell, more like the one I use to hide the Demon Master and Binder powers. But I'm afraid if it's too general, you'll read like you're hiding something."

Bree thought again of Leander. "You know, I had coffee with Leander Rayne last night, and I tried to read him, like you told me to. In fact, he asked me to read him himself. It was the weirdest thing. It was like my Reader sense just sort of slid off of him. I could get bits and pieces, but it wouldn't fall into a pattern. I wonder if you could do something like that, something that prevents the energy from falling into a pattern."

A disapproving look cross Daniel's face when she mentioned Leander, then he schooled his features into a more neutral expression. "That's an interesting angle." He considered some more, and said, "No, I'm afraid that would stand out too much. I know when I tried to read Rayne, it was a jarring sensation. We don't want that to be what the Ecclesias experiences when they try to read you." He paused, then regarded her directly. "About Rayne. The reason I tried to read him at the party was because he felt off to me. I don't know if it's spell he's using to avoid a read..."

"He's not," Bree interrupted. "At least that's what he told me. He said he was born that way. And I didn't sense a spell."

"Even a good Reader can't sense certain spells, which is precisely what we're counting on at the Ecclesias hearing. Look, Bree, all I'm saying is, be careful. I've encountered a lot of dark magic users in my life, and he feels like one to me."

"Well he doesn't to me," Bree said stubbornly. She was thinking about how kind Leander had been after her attack. It was hard to reconcile that with what Daniel was saying. Naturally Daniel had loads more experience at that kind of thing that she did, but she had to factor in the possibility that he wasn't going to be the most objective observer when it came to Leander. Even apart from the fact that he'd shown some interest in her at the party, Leander was the kind of handsome, confident guy that other men often resented. Bree decided she would make up her own mind about Leander.

Daniel must have seen something of that in her face because he said coolly, "Hey, your life, your decision. I said my piece." He sat back in his chair and regarded her seriously. "You know, you could save yourself. I've even been thinking that's the best course. All you would have to do would be to tell the Ecclesias that you saw me use Demon Master power at the riot. There's a very good chance they'd be thrown enough by it that they wouldn't think to ask if you knew before. They'd be very surprised that I'd actually succeeded at developing a hiding spell."

Without even having to think about it, Bree shook her head. "No, absolutely not. I won't hang you out to dry when I have responsibility here too. I've known for months, and haven't done a thing about it."

"Although you've thought about it," Daniel said softly.

"Although I've thought about it," she agreed reluctantly.

There was a too-long silence for a moment before Daniel went on. "The other option is for me to make a run for it. I don't think I'm being watched, and I'd guess they have their hands too full to make coming after me a top priority."

"You know, if Javier was sure, really sure he sensed Demon Master energy from you, there wouldn't be this delay, no matter what else was going on, would there?"

Daniel scratched his cheek. "I don't think so. I know I was taken into custody by two Ecclesias members within hours of my using Demon Master talent at an exorcism last time. My partner was down, and it was one of those situations where I had to take the risk. Another Keeper saw it, one I hadn't worked with before. I think she made the call as soon as the demon was gone."

"Don't you see? That means there's hope. If we can find a way for me to cover for you, they won't be able to do anything."

"I hate to break it to you, but powered have been trying to come up with effective lying spells probably since the beginning of time. I've never heard of one that's completely Reader proof, at least not proof against a high power Reader."

"Then I guess we better get to work. No time like the present, eh?" Bree answered him. She brought up her Reader sense and watched him closely to see how he'd respond to that.

"I'm up for it as long as we take it slow," he replied.

"Well that's a first. It's always me who wants to take it slow."

He took a final long swallow of his tea and stood up. "I'll admit I was humbled after what happened yesterday. But I think as long as we keep demons out of it, I'll be okay. And I'll let you know the minute I feel anything off."

Bree followed him upstairs to his workroom. Two lamps were already lit, and he must have turned the heat up as soon as he knew she was coming, because it was nice and toasty inside. He knew she ran colder than him, and he'd taken to cranking the heat when she was coming over to practice casting with him.

Without thinking about it, Bree unwound the scarf from around her neck. As she tossed it on the work table and turned back to face him, Daniel's eyes went straight to the bruises there. "Why haven't you had those healed?" he asked with concern.

"I forgot to have Dion do it when I saw him last night. I wanted him to focus on my ribs and my face so I could work today."

"Why, what happened to your ribs and your face?"

Bree belatedly realized Daniel would have had no way to know about the attempted rape last night. Quickly, clinically, she ran through the events.

His jaw tightened in anger as she spoke. "My G.o.d, that's terrible," he said. "What the h.e.l.l was Rayne thinking, to let you walk back to your car alone at night?"

"It wasn't really night yet. And it was a Sunday, for G.o.d's sake. Not exactly a rowdy time in Pioneer Square."

"Yeah, but it's a bad neighborhood, right? He leaned against the table, arms crossed, brow stormy.