Demonsense: Demon Master Part 5

Leander had managed to maneuver back to Bree's side and started a conversation with her, asking about her work. When she told most people she was a ma.s.sage therapist, it was a conversation stopper, she supposed because they thought they knew what a ma.s.sage consisted of and couldn't imagine there was anything to talk about. Leander was interested in what types of ma.s.sage she did, what were her favorites and why. She seldom had a chance to talk about work in such detail outside of colleagues, and she rather enjoyed it. And she couldn't help but enjoy the attention. In spite of his earlier flamboyant entrance, once she was actually talking to him, Leander paid the kind of friendly, appreciative attention that said he found her interesting and maybe even a little attractive, but he wasn't going to be pushy about it.

Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Steve and Hunter, and Leander's attention was taken by a group of men who pulled him into the corner to talk whiskey. Steve filled a plate with some vegetable sticks and dip, and some baguette slices with b.u.t.ter and offered it to Hunter, nixing Hunter's request for another cookie. Bree was listening to an exchange between Steve and Hunter when she saw Bruce come up to Sophie. Sophie reached out a hand to her husband's arm and shook it a little. "You, my dear, are stirring the pot."

"I haven't the faintest idea of what you're talking about," Bruce answered piously.

"You know what I mean. Bringing Leander here and introducing him to Bree." Her voice was lowered to a whisper, but Bree was close enough to hear anyway, and her attention had been caught by the use of her name. "Didn't you see Daniel's reaction?"

"As far as I'm concerned, it would do Daniel some good to get a little push. For G.o.d's sake, Soph, the man is half crazy for her, but he won't do a d.a.m.ned thing about it."

"You know it's more complicated than that," Sophie hissed between smiling teeth.

"What's complicated about love?" Bruce asked, as he raised a hand and stroked Sophie's face softly.

Bree looked away, cheeks coloring, embarra.s.sed by what she'd heard, embarra.s.sed at having listened in. Involuntarily, her eyes sought Daniel, and he was staring right at her.

Bree fled the kitchen for the living room, where the music session was just setting up, chastising herself for her cowardice. She knew a number of the musicians, and greeted them as they settled into the dining area that connected to the living room. Most of them had played with her husband from time to time. She knew a moment's deep longing for Seth. Her life had been complicated by the exorcism work they'd done from time to time, but they'd otherwise had an easy, peaceful existence together. Her feelings for Seth had never been the least bit confused. She sighed and forced her mind away from dwelling on her loss. This was a party, this was music she loved, and it was time to live in the present.

She leaned against the wall and sipped at her wine, letting the music overtake her. She was starting to feel buzzed, and she welcomed the feeling. Leander came into the room, followed closely by Daniel, and to her great discomfort, they ended up one on either side of her. She wasn't as a rule much of a drinker, but she suddenly planned to have more, maybe a lot more, tonight.

People were starting to push back the furniture, and a couple of the guys carried out chairs to make way for some dancing. The next time the offer of whiskey came around, she took some. She noticed Daniel did too.

He still hadn't spoken to her, or she to him, but given the press of people, his shoulder was touching hers. Her prediction that things would be awkward between them was certainly coming true in spades. She felt a sensation of heat and tension radiating off of him. Leander, on her other side, was jostled into her by someone else, and he put an apologetic hand on her shoulder and smiled down at her. Both men were of a height, and Bree felt loomed over. She tipped back her head and took the shot of whiskey in one go, and felt a grim sense of satisfaction. She focused in on the music, closed her eyes and let it fill her. Her foot started tapping. She knew this one.

Her reverie was broken by the sound of Daniel's voice in her ear, low and intimate. "I'd like to talk to you tonight before you go."

A s.h.i.+ver went down Bree's spine like the feet of restless weasels, snapping her out of her music and alcohol induced fog. She looked up at him, and in her unease, she read him. His tells spoke of repressed anger and determination, and there was a cant to his body that told her was holding back a desire to grab her and haul her out of there.

Before she could answer, she felt Leander's hand slip into hers on the other side. "Do you want to dance?" he said into her other ear.

With relief and not a little mean spirited enthusiasm, she turned to Leander, smiled a brilliant smile, and said, "You bet!"

The band had launched into a Celtic rock number, and dancing consisted of a lot of jumping up and down like pogo sticks and fist pumping by the men, with more sensuous hip swinging and swaying by the women. Leander surprised her by turning the number into something of a swing dance. Even in the little s.p.a.ce they'd claimed, he managed to twirl her until she was dizzy.

Leander pa.s.sed her off at Howard's polite request at the end of the number with an appealing, flirtatious smile. She danced a number with Howard, went and got another shot of whiskey, then took up position in a line of women who were setting up for a traditional dance. Her parents had put her in Irish dance lessons as a kid, and she'd done it right through high school, doing a bit of competing and teaching of the younger cla.s.ses to make some extra money. She seldom got a chance to do this kind of dancing anymore. She was a little too buzzed for perfect coordination, but what the h.e.l.l, no one would care. The slip-jig started, and after an initial hesitation, she soon found the steps.

Bree felt a kind of desperate euphoria. She flung herself further into the dance, and away from Daniel, from Leander, from dilemmas, from choices. People were clapping and shouting encouragement as she and the other women stepped and leaped, arms straight to the side, feet flying. Bree's skirt flipped and swung, and she felt hot and alive. The dance ended with a skirl of pipes, and Bree took a welcome break. Bruce approached her, and said, "I'm thinking the plan to meet at Daniel's tomorrow morning should be pushed back. I've got a bad feeling we're all going to be a little too hung over for, you know." He gave a meaningful glance around at the sprinkling of normal friends in the room.

"Good point," she conceded. "I could make it Sunday instead. Why don't you check and see if everybody's on board with that?"

Bruce nodded agreement and moseyed off. Another song started, and Bree went out to dance again, but she couldn't seem to reconnect with her earlier exhilaration. As her feet moved on their own through the familiar steps, she caught sight of Daniel again and found herself wis.h.i.+ng she had Gelsenim on board right now. Maybe with the enhanced power he brought, she'd be able to read what Daniel wanted to talk to her about and know whether or not she should avoid him for the rest of the night.

Almost as soon as she thought it, Bree felt a bloom of heat at her back. Her Demonsense gave a quiver, and a voice whispered in her ear, "I am here, my host, as you requested. I'd be happy to help."

The music faltered slightly, and the woman dancing next to Bree missed a step and stumbled. Bree's heart leapt into her throat, then tried to shoot all the way through the top of her head. She forced herself to make a turn in the dance so she could see behind her. Gelsenim was not visible, but she could feel his presence. It was far fainter than usual, and she wondered why he wasn't all the way through into this realm.

Fortunately, the song ended then, and Bree made a show of fanning herself and moving toward the front door. She looked around frantically for Daniel, and of course, he was nowhere in sight now that she actually wanted to see him. Sophie caught her eye and smiled, but turned away before Bree could give her a high sign. Not sure what else to do, Bree walked out onto the porch where a couple of the partygoers were smoking cigarettes and talking. She went to the other end and leaned on the railing. Her Demonsense told her Gelsenim was still right behind her.

"I did not call you," she murmured into the bushes that pushed close to the porch railing.

"You wished for me to be with you. I was waiting for your call, so I heard you," the demon's voice said softly. Gelsenim had chosen his most human sounding tone, perhaps to avoid alarming her.

"I thought we had an agreement," she said heatedly.

"I said I would wait for your call," Gelsenim countered, "and here I am. I believe you wished for my help."

In her intoxicated state, Bree briefly considered it. She imagined going back into the party with Gelsenim on board. She remembered the feeling of power and confidence she'd had when he'd possessed her before. She wanted to feel powerful and in control instead of vulnerable, confused, and desperate not to think about all too many things, from Seth, to Daniel, to the planned possession.

Before she could answer Gelsenim, she caught movement out of the corner of her eye, and turned to see Daniel come out onto the porch. The other people went back inside as he opened the door. His Demonsense must have alerted him to Gelsenim's presence. She did a quick mental review of the other powered at the party, and realized none of them had Demonsense. It was a relatively rare ability.

"Gelsenim, what are you doing here?" Daniel demanded, voice low and angry. "My host called me," Gelsenim's voice purred, all innocence.

"Bree, please tell me he's lying," Daniel said, not taking his eyes off the air between them. His shoulders were rigid, and his fists were clenched.

"Not lying, exactly," Bree said, trying not to sound intimidated. Bree heard a crash, and a bit of swearing waft out of the partly open door. The demon's presence, even at this low a level, was starting to be felt. If they didn't take care of this quickly, there would be more accidents, and likely a fight or two would break out. "Look, I was just imagining the possession, you know, the one we had planned for tomorrow, and he just showed up like this."

"Like this. Yeah. And how do you explain that, demon?" Daniel asked. He was breathing too fast for calm, but it was clear he was making an effort to control himself. "How is it you're here without your full form?"

"I have been experimenting. I know my host is overwhelmed by my full presence. It causes her not to like me. I have been working on what you people call my energy signature."

More voices were raised in the house, not quite angry yet, but with an edge.

"Daniel," she hissed, "this is all very interesting, but there's a house full of people here. We have got to tie this up."

"If you allow me inside you, my energy will no longer disturb your friends," Gelsenim's voice coaxed, and as he spoke, a faint outline appeared in the air, the outline of his human form.

"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 h.e.l.l were you playing at, calling a demon into a room full of people? Of normals, for G.o.d'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 p.i.s.sed 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. G.o.d, 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 s.h.i.+t," 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 h.e.l.l 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 a.n.a.lysis. 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 p.i.s.sing 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 s.h.i.+fted 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. G.o.d 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 flas.h.i.+ng 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 Sat.u.r.day 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 s.h.i.+t going down all week, and no full moon to blame. I don't think I've ever been called out to so many a.s.saults 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 p.r.o.ne 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. "h.e.l.lo?"

"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.