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.”