Demonsense (Demonsense series Book 1) (52 page)

Franchesca sneered. “Keepers. As if I want their help. They'll hand me over to the Ecclesias faster than you could spit. And the Ecclesias will neuter me. They’ll take all my powers." The orange light rose in her eyes again, and Bree felt her hold over Franchesca slipping away. Trouble was, she was probably right. Even with Daniel advocating for her, leaving the Keltoi would demand a lot of Franchesca, probably more than she could give even at the best of times.
 

“Daniel will find a way to help you, to hide you,” she tried.

“Daniel will do what is right,” Franchesca said, with a strange combination of longing and viciousness in her voice. And her fist tightened.

I’m losing her,
Bree sent to Gelsenim.
Do it now!

But it might hurt us, might kill us,
Gelsenim protested.

Do it!
Bree demanded, throwing her will against him, and she saw the path in her mind, the place to attack the spell, to break it, saw the terrible amount of energy it would release, but knew if she didn’t do it now, Daniel would surely die. She rammed her power down on the link between Franchesca and Daniel, investing it with her love for Daniel, and Gelsenim’s power, tainted as it was by rage and resentment. The power of them combined blew the spell apart.
 

The concussion threw Bree backwards into the air, against a tower of wooden crates. She hit the back of her head hard, leaving her half conscious and disoriented. The ground shook and crates began to fall around her. With a last remaining effort of will, she scrambled back to Daniel, draped herself on top of him, flung up an arm, formed the spell, a wall of blue, and called, “Ward!” With all her might, she tried to extend the ward far enough to cover Kevin where he lay some six feet away. She saw the waver of the ward on the air above her outstretched arms, protecting them. The crates and boxes crashed down all around in a frightening, deafening noise. At every moment, Bree expected her ward to fail and her head to be bashed in.
 

After what seemed like an eternity, the last crate settled to the ground and she dared to look up, over at Kevin. He was still as death, but she felt a wild relief that none of the boxes or crates had touched him. She never could have managed that strong a physical ward on her own. Gelsenim had helped her. She sent her Reader sense toward Kevin. It responded better than she expected, probably also due to Gelsenim. Kevin was definitely alive, but still unconscious.
 

Belatedly, she remembered Franchesca, and glanced frantically around, levering herself off of Daniel so she could see as much of the warehouse as possible. She didn’t see Franchesca anywhere. She sent her Demonsense and Reader sense searching, and felt Franchesca's energy signature retreating so quickly that she had to be in a car. Breaking the spell must have hurt her badly enough that she felt unable to continue fighting.

With a whimper, Bree rolled off of Daniel, onto her back, hair in a tangle all around her. For a stunned moment she just stared at the ceiling, then she raked her hair out of her eyes and carefully turned her violently pounding head to look at him. He was facing her, eyes open, still frozen. She just looked at him, soaking in the fact that they were all alive. After a moment, she sent out a careful Reader tendril toward Daniel. His energy was down to almost nothing. He truly had nearly burned himself out in the battle. And what was left felt dark to her.

As exhausted as she felt, her brain just wouldn't shut up. She flinched away from images of Scanlon burning up, of Franchesca nearly crushing her, of Daniel at Franchesca's mercy. Which left her to circle the dilemma about what to do about Gelsenim. She seriously doubted Daniel had the energy left to banish him, and with his energy gone dark, she didn't know how far she could trust him. And she had no idea if she could un-possess herself.
 

She reviewed her weaknesses, where Gelsenim could manipulate her, and it came quickly to her that her fear was the place he would go. Clearly, Gelsenim was an exceedingly powerful and old demon. With him on board, there were very few demons that could get to her. She could protect her loved ones. If she’d had Gelsenim before, she could have saved Seth, just as she'd saved Daniel.
 

It was a harrowing thought. She could feel her reluctance to be rid of Gelsenim building the more she thought about how he could work on her fears to stay. And given how Gelsenim had been able to hear her thoughts during the battle, she knew he was likely listening in right now, that she'd just shown him how to get to her.

Daniel stirred, just slightly, drawing her attention back to him. There was some expression in his eyes that she couldn’t quite read. If she could unfreeze him…

I could show you how,
Gelsenim offered.

It finally hit her that Daniel had told her demons had a hard time communicating to their human hosts whatever magic they had learned in previous hosts. She realized she and Gelsenim should not have been able to do what they just did. She felt more unnerved than elated by the idea.
How are you able to show me?

We are compatible,
Gelsenim replied.
 

She felt disgusted at the idea that she would be compatible with a demon.
 

Nonetheless, it is true,
Gelsenim replied, his voice gone wry.

Show me how to unfreeze him then,
she demanded. She felt Gelsenim hesitate, a long hesitation, but finally, the spell emerged in her mind. She realized that she was familiar with it. She'd seen it performed before, and some part of her brain had taken note. It was like Gelsenim made the information stored in her unconscious conscious. She told herself to figure out how it all worked later.
 

She laboriously rolled onto her side and performed the spell with a flick of her wrist, murmuring, “Unfreeze.”

Daniel drew in several big breaths before he tried to move. For a moment, he just looked at her, eyes narrowed, probably reading her energy. “Is Gelsenim willing to leave you for now, if you agree to allow another possession soon?” he asked in a dry whisper. Bree got the sense he was being very cautious with her, and with Gelsenim. His question confirmed her belief that he didn't have the power left to master Gelsenim and force him out of her. Maybe that's why Gelsenim had agreed to show her how to unfreeze him.

Bree felt Gelsenim stir uneasily inside her.
I wish to stay. We are compatible. I can help you.

“Give me a moment,” she told Daniel, and focused her attention back inside. It was one hell of a struggle to pull her thoughts together, given how badly her head hurt.

I'm not comfortable with you staying. You helped me, and I’m very grateful, but I’m used to being alone in my own head and body.

You could get used to having me here,
Gelsenim wheedled.

I’m not sure I could,
Bree replied silently.
I don’t have any positive experiences to go on when it comes to demons, apart from the last five minutes.

I have waited long for a compatible host,
Gelsenim replied, ice coming into his voice.
Daniel is very close, and he is more powerful than you, but he is not as compatible. It troubles me that I did not notice you before, did not see our compatibility.

I know you said something of the Seldenai,
Bree tried, attempting to find some way to persuade Gelsenim to leave rather than force him. She wasn’t sure why, but she had an instinct that it would be the best course, even if Daniel recovered enough to banish him.

You are not Seldenai, but you are the closest I have found,
Gelsenim told her with a mixture of sadness and satisfaction, then he went on to say something that chilled her to her bones.
Others will want you.

You mustn’t tell others about me!
 

We have bonded. Others may smell it on you, even if I say nothing. Even the ones born from taint have some small memory in their structure of what it means to be joined with the Seldenai.

“Bree?” Daniel's voice rose in question and demand.

Well, I'm not Seldenai. I have no idea what it would do to me to stay joined with you,
Bree replied.

"I've got just enough left to banish him if you need me to. I swear it won't kill me," Daniel said hoarsely.

You are young in your powers, little Demon-Master-who-is-not. Don’t be so certain you can control me. And do not be too certain Daniel can do so either. We are both stronger when we are joined.

I’m asking you to leave. I’d rather not have Daniel command it. It really would be risky for him to try. If you are responsible for his death, I could never forgive you.
 

 
She felt Gelsenim’s energy grow agitated.
I don’t wish to leave.
 

Before Bree could respond, Daniel's voice rang out. “Gelsenim, I command you! Leave this host without hurting or damaging her in any way! Leave her and do not return!”

The energy of the demon rushed out of her. It was a hot sensation, but it didn't burn her. His demon form coalesced between she and Daniel. “You cannot command me forever. I will return to her,” Gelsenim ground out in his neck-hair-raising, fully demonic voice.

“Be gone!” Daniel commanded.

And with that, Gelsenim vanished. Daniel's extended hand dropped to the concrete floor, hard. He turned pale and his eyes fluttered closed.

"Oh dear God, Daniel!" Bree rolled to her knees and put a hand on his neck, feeling for his pulse. "Please, please, please," she chanted.
 

He drew in a large breath, like a swimmer who had just come up for air. Then another. Relief surged through Bree as his eyes opened. She started to cry.
 

He raised a shaking hand and wiped away her tears. "It's okay," he whispered. He put a gentle hand behind her head, and guided her down to him until her head was on his shoulder and he could wrap his arms around her.
 

Bree melted into him, and he clutched her tightly, tremors of exhaustion rolling though him in waves. To her surprise, she had none of the usual after reaction that was typical of a possession. No convulsions, no nausea, no loss of consciousness, though the pain in the back of her head had gotten worse. She just felt unutterably tired, too tired even to feel the usual spark that such close contact with Daniel would normally create in her.
 

Slowly, stealthily, everything that had just happened started whirling through her brain. She had allowed herself to be possessed by a demon, and she had enjoyed it. Not only had she enjoyed it, she’d felt half inclined to allow him to stay. And worse, there was some way in which she was apparently particularly good at being possessed. The idea was so horribly disturbing that she stiffened in Daniel’s arms.
 

He felt it and pulled away enough to look down at her. “What is it?” he asked softly.

She looked up at him. "What am I, Daniel?”

“You are a good, strong, smart woman, and you just saved my life, and Kevin’s.”

That did not answer her question. She pulled away from him, pulling into herself. She actively sought out that numb place that had come into being at Seth’s gruesome death, and that she had retreated to just minutes before, when she'd killed Scanlon. And it came for her. She felt herself shutting down, and she welcomed it.

“Bree?” Daniel asked, concern evident in his voice, but she didn't want to answer. He put a hand on her shoulder and shook her a little. “Oh lord, you’re in shock,” he muttered.
 

She felt guilty as she registered his shaky efforts to get to his feet, felt him spread his coat over her. He shouldn't be trying to move, he had to be in worse shape than she was. She stirred and tried to get up, but Daniel got down on his knees and pushed her gently back down. "I'm okay, and Kevin's coming around, he's fine for now. Javier and his team will get here any minute. I'm going to rest. See, I'm going to lie right here beside you." She watched to confirm that he was doing it, then closed her eyes. Numbness and exhaustion claimed her, and everything after that faded in and out of her awareness.

She heard Kevin’s voice, opened her eyes when he shook her shoulder. His worried face hovered above her, but she couldn’t bring herself to speak. She just closed her eyes again. Yes, it was better this way.
 

More quiet voices, then a lot of noise. More people arriving, the sounds of people milling around. Daniel said something about Franchesca getting away, about Hunter touching the amulet, about using casting to get the better of Franchesca. Then cries as two bodies were found behind some crates, two Keltoi, one dead, one coming out of a freeze spell. Bree remembered that Scanlon wouldn’t have a body, and she went even deeper into her own mind, and fell asleep. Later, she woke to Javier’s voice, felt him examining her, heard him bark, "Thorvaldson, lay the hell back down!" After that, Javier put her into the back seat of a car. What was left of consciousness faded out then, and she fell back into an exhausted, welcome sleep.

Chapter 28

Bree
lay in bed, the headache from the concussion squeezing the back and sides of her head. She looked out her bedroom window at a perfectly blue sky and tried to think of nothing.
 

 
“You seem awful subdued, sweetie," Sophie said tentatively. A book was open on her lap. She'd been camped out since bringing Bree home from the hospital yesterday. "I thought the good guys won. I thought you’d be happy. You got Hunter back, and no one got seriously hurt. And you helped break up some major Keltoi drug operation. Heck, you're pretty much a hero!”

Bree didn’t answer at first. That numb place she had called upon yesterday hadn't left her. A part of her wanted to answer Sophie, wanted to tell someone that she'd committed murder, to confess that she had some special form of corruption that made her compatible with demons. But she couldn’t bring herself to speak of it. She finally turned to Sophie and said, “I saw someone die, one of the Keltoi. He was burned up by a demon, like Seth.”