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FERRIS WAS GONE WHEN I woke up the next morning. I recalled that I’d fallen asleep in his arms, but I didn’t know when he’d left. Unlike me, he had to get to work, and it meant going home to shower and change into his work clothes. Not that the television station had a strict dress code or anything for off-air employees, but they didn’t exactly approve of tee shirts and jeans. I stretched, a smile blooming on my face as I thought about the night with my guy.
I hadn’t felt any anxiety being with Ferris, not this time. Maybe the familiarity from my long friendship and sense of security with him had erased the fear that had followed my terrible experience with the Holiday Killer. All I’d felt now was how much I wanted him and how wonderful it felt. If I moved in with Ferris, there could be lots of these kinds of perks.
Somehow, that sobered me up. While one part loved the idea of being with him, my other side resisted. Some of it had to do with my feelings of inadequacy in a relationship. None had worked out previously. Then add in my deep fear of losing my close friendship with Ferris if we failed. With us still this close to the beginning of our romantic relationship, moving in with him felt like too much of a risk.
Overriding all that loomed the even greater anxiety of the demon threat. If yiaiwas came after Janna at the hotel, what was to stop them from trying for Ferris or Digby or anyone else I cared about? I was even worried about Heeni. I could put wards on Ferris’s house or any place else I lived, but how long could I keep it up at the grooming shop?
Shit! What about the funeral parlor and the chapel? Did holy ground stop these evil spirits or was it a ripe place to wreak havoc? If one of them took a body at the service, it could be another shootout. I bolted out of bed, grabbed my phone, and headed for the shower, calling Madame Astrid’s number as I went.
Forty-five minutes later, I pulled up in front of the psychic’s house and maneuvered into an almost too tight parking space for my Jeep. Sliding out of it, I dashed up the walk and barged through the door without so much as a knock. She was expecting me, so I hoped she didn’t have a client at the moment. I had a second of regret as I glanced around, then exhaled in relief. The room was empty except for Astrid, who sat in her chair by the window.
“What’s so urgent this morning, Gillian?” she asked as she shuffled her Tarot cards over and over, perhaps picking up on my agitation.
“You know my best friend was killed on Sunday, right?”
She dipped her head in a brief nod.
“Well, here’s what you don’t know. A yiaiwa was responsible.”
A frown wrinkled up her forehead, and her eyes narrowed as they seemed to grow darker. “How?”
I told her the whole story, not omitting anything including the bolt of energy I’d shot into the hapless host. “That’s when I saw the shadowy figure rise from his body. It cast those creepy red eyes right at me as if defying me to try to kill it. Then it vanished leaving the poor man to take the blame for killing her.”
Astrid cut the deck of cards and stared at the card she’d selected...the Moon reversed. “Deception and evil,” she intoned, her eyes rolling upward as if she listened to a voice beyond the room.
After a few moments, she turned her eyes to me, her intense gaze riveting. “This puts a whole new wrinkle into it. They have identified you as a threat. They’re coming after you, but not directly, it seems.”
“What do you mean?” I asked through the sudden tightness in my throat. “If I was their target, why kill Janna?”
“Belphegor wants to get your attention and draw you in. So they attack someone you love or care about.”
My heart plunged toward my stomach. I knew it! Everyone I knew was in danger. “Shit! Shit,” I gasped. “The funeral service is Friday. Everyone will be there. I’m supposed to sing.”
“That’s very risky. It’s probably what they want you—”
I lifted my hand with my palm out. “I know. I know there’s risk, but I have to do it. I need to do this for her. But there’s more that concerns me than that. I need your help, Astrid. Will you come on Friday?”
She didn’t hesitate. “Of course. What time and where?”
I gave her the details and outlined what I needed. She agreed to the plan and would be prepared. I would handle the mortuary safety myself.
That done, I headed to my next stop of the day. Orielle had sent me a text saying she was settled in Gavin’s house and asked me to come by. She had some things to discuss with me; things we needed to plan. As much as I wasn’t ready to dive into a plan to take on the yiaiwas right now, I felt the pressure building if they were beginning to make moves against me.
Orielle opened the door before I even knocked. “Come in, Gillian. We have much to discuss.”
Right off, I noted the signs of the stress and worry with Gavin’s condition. Dark circles shadowed her walnut-colored eyes, and her face looked leaner and more drawn with thin worry lines crossing her forehead. Her thick black hair was pulled into a ponytail. She’d taken the task of staying with Gavin in New Delhi and escorting his comatose body back to Stanford. Without a doubt, it had taken its toll on her.
Gavin’s house looked the same, but I sensed the lack of his presence and more. The wards were different. I could sense the change in the casting as Orielle had added new ones. Had she removed Gavin’s? I couldn’t detect anything of the scents he usually used or the subtle ripple of magic from him. I wanted to ask, but I didn’t feel comfortable enough around her to bring it up.
She motioned me to the sofa, then sat at the other end. “I have something to show you.”
She pointed a video controller at the television, turning it on then starting a slightly shaky video, obviously, not a professional one. It jerked a little at the beginning, and it took me a few moments to realize it was focused on the cave in India; the one that we’d quite literally destroyed.
I squinted at the set, my eyes narrowed in surprise. “How?”
“I took video with my phone when we first got there, and when you and Gavin went into the cave to lure the demon. In the aftermath, I’d about forgotten about doing it until I began reviewing the files on my phone. Watch.”
Locking my eyes on the screen, I saw us looking over the cave entrance, and Gavin explaining we would have to break into it. There was a slight jump as Orielle had stopped the recording, then resumed from a closer perspective. The covering wall laid flat in front of the opening as Gavin and I stepped around it to make our way inside. Orielle followed us, zooming the picture. We’d set up a few torches for light, so the images were reasonably clear. I could see the preparation again, Gavin setting up the little dish inside the puzzle box, then I started the singsong chant to summon Belphegor. I listened intently, thinking I had spoken the words properly, and it should have worked. As Gavin joined me, it seemed to gain more power.
In a flash, the demon appeared with a rush into the little alcove. I sped up the chant in a bit of panic. Belphegor shot a blast of magic at Gavin, then the whole place exploded. I flew toward the phone’s camera that abruptly tilted and turned crazily as it went flying.
Orielle turned the recording off and looked at me. “Well?”
I stared at her a moment, wondering what I was supposed to say. I took a breath as I thought about what I’d seen. “We never had control in there. Belphegor had us where he wanted us.”
“Exactly so,” she said. “He wanted us to come there. We were missing something in this process. Something else we needed to complete the binding.”
“What?” We had the incense, the little plate, the chant, Gavin’s flash of magic—what else was needed? “Did we have the wrong spell?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. We are dealing with archaic information, and maybe we misread something. Perhaps Gavin altered a word in the spell. But it is clear the demon was unfazed by it.”
“Well, given the state of that site now, and probably the total destruction of the puzzle box, it doesn’t look like we have any opportunity to repeat the process even if we can figure out the missing part.” My voice sounded glum, but I spoke the sad truth. We’d failed; we wouldn’t have another opportunity. So, now what?
“True enough. I have been looking through more old texts and ancient scrolls that I can find online to see if there are any other reports of this demon or the soul eaters. Many references, but very little detail.” She looked depressed, then took a deep breath. “Would you like a drink? I could use a glass of wine.”
I raised an eyebrow. Not even noon yet, but it did sound good. “Can you mix it with orange juice at least?”
That elicited a short laugh. “One cheated mimosa coming up.”
As she left to get the drinks, I leaned forward with my hands between my knees and gazed around the room. It felt odd being here without Gavin. He was such a presence in this setting with the whole room reflecting him and his profession. The bookcase alone screamed archeologist, paleontologist, and anthropologist. Many a university library might envy the books in his collection. Artifacts sat on end tables and at the ends of the bookcases. Little pieces of history that he’d brought back from his trips.
Once, he’d said, “Being a teacher shares the wealth and helps to pay the bills, but the digs are where I am alive and truly rewarded.” He loved digging in the dirt.
I recalled one fake dig he’d taken the class on toward Pyramid Lake. He’d gotten permission to go on the reservation and had taught us how to approach a dig site and go out excavating to find the artifacts safely without damaging them. I sat in the dirt for over two hours with a tiny paintbrush in my hand just to locate one little piece of pottery. At that point, I wondered how on earth this profession could possibly be rewarding.
Now, what he and his colleagues might have learned could be the only thing that could save humanity.
And it was all falling on my shoulders. Correction: mine and Orielle’s, and the small band of potential spirit escorts I might find. “Please, God,” I whispered. “If you’ve chosen us for this task, then give us more guidance. We can’t do it without help.”
My eyes filled with tears as I realized I’d prayed to God for the first time in almost two decades. Maybe my faith hadn’t fled as far as I thought it had.
“Did you say something?” Orielle asked as she came back with the drinks.
I shook my head as I accepted the glass. “Just mumbling to myself. It all seems so hopeless.”
“Well, we can’t give up,” she replied as she slipped onto the couch and curled her legs under her. A pang of jealousy touched my heart as I realized she seemed at home here.
“And it’s not a total loss with my research either. I have found three or four references to locations... note that plural... locations on Earth where there are entrances to the lower plane. Some tie directly to mythology, but I believe we can pinpoint a location still existing that can take us there. First, we need to identify the places, then discover if they are still accessible, and finally, we need to seal them.”
My mouth had dropped open while she spoke and I struggled to find my voice by the time she’d said, “...seal them.”
“How?” I asked. “How can we do that? We just failed to even contain the demon.”
She tugged her lips into a half-grimace of a smile and said, “Now you understand why I am drinking in the morning. Now tell me what progress you are making.”
I stared at her as I realized she didn’t know. “My best friend is dead. She was killed by a yiaiwa.”
Orielle’s eyes popped wide in surprise. “What? Tell me.”
So, I went through the whole story again and tried my best to hold back any tears. If I kept telling it, I might become desensitized to the pain. I watched the Asian-French woman’s expressions change from shock to anger to sorrow as I spoke, not holding back on any details.
“I am so sorry, Gillian. But this is terrible. We must move faster to find the solution. You are in grave danger.”
“Not just me. Anyone around me. If demons are coming after me, no one is safe.”
“You are right.” Like a panther, she sprang up and opened the laptop computer to call up something. “Apart from the one report Gavin made that the yiaiwa seemed to use people by taking over their bodies, there have been only two or three other reports. I will add yours to it. You say the man survived the possession?”
“He did. What are you looking at?” I tried to get a glimpse of the screen.
She took a deep breath, closed the lid to the laptop, and focused on me. “What I am about to tell you is not known publicly anywhere. Gavin and I are part of a secret organization that investigates occurrences such as spirit possession and other paranormal events. We are well-funded, which is how we made the trip to India.”
Once again, I gaped at her. “You’re kidding?”
Orielle shot a sly grin at me that made her look mischievous. “For about twenty-five years, people in the sciences have been looking at paranormal incidents and have noticed the unusual incidents that led to the appearance of the yiaiwa. Gavin was recruited about twelve years ago, and I came into it just recently at his urging. When you discovered the spirits on the interim plane was when we had a breakthrough and realized we were dealing with something that would present a serious threat. So, in some ways, you were the catalyst that brought all of this to a head.”
Feeling fidgety, I stood and paced over to the bookcase and stared at the books, reading titles, and barely understanding most of them. So many were in either Latin or some other ancient language that I wondered if they were even translated. I turned back to face Orielle.
“Is this increase because I was on the next plane or did I open the way for them?” I feared the answer. Was my gift a double-edged sword that allowed evil to come among us even as I thought I was helping souls?
She hesitated a moment before saying, “No, we don’t think it was directly related to you. Gavin had seen them as long ago as ten years, about the time he opened the sealed alcove in India. He’d experienced the shadowed creatures a couple of times and the incident he told us about where one of his colleagues was possessed by one.”
She rose and crossed the room to stand by me and reached for one of the books, pulling it from the shelf. She flipped through the pages and opened to a page that showed a crude illustration of the puzzle box. “I found this book at a market in New Delhi. I would go to the booksellers and second-hand dealers while I was waiting for Gavin to wake or –”
She choked on the word. I knew she was thinking die.
“Anyway, I ran across this book and saw the illustration. The author of the book found it scratched into a wall in a cave in Uzbekistan, nowhere near where we were. He thought it was a ritual box that was used to cleanse a house of evil spirits.”
She paused to replace the book, her hand lingering on the spine as she thought. “Actually, when Gavin learned that you could read objects and could go to the next plane, he was elated. You were a gift to us. We felt you would be the key to controlling and defeating the demons. We had no idea of the magnitude of what we were up against until a few weeks ago.”
My face drooped as she said this. So Gavin’s interest in me was more academic than personal. He needed what I could do and what I knew. Boy, did I get that whole thing wrong.
“Well, I knew I was the bait when we went to India,” I grumbled.
“Do not misunderstand us,” Orielle said as she laid her free hand on my shoulder. “Gavin is very fond of you and remembered you well from your days as a student. He did not want you pulled into this but soon realized your gift was part of the solution. Without you, we did not have a chance.”
I swallowed down the bitter taste in my throat and nodded, turning away from her to go back to my drink. I finished the mimosa before I spun back to face her. “I misunderstood his intentions before, but I understand why he was doing it. The monsters are coming, and we need all hands to fight them.”
“Something like that,” she agreed.
“Makes my little problems seem somewhat petty.”
“What problems?”
“Burying a friend, trying to make ends meet financially since I keep losing income, and avoiding yiaiwas attacking my friends and my cat. Like I said minor.” Sarcasm dripped unbecomingly from my lips.
She looked concerned. “You are having money problems?”
“Just not enough of it to pay the rent and live. I’m sure something will come up.” I started to pick up my purse so I could leave. I’d had enough revelations for the day.
“You know, I was thinking that maybe I could help with the money issue,” Orielle said as she strolled over and crossed her arms across her chest. “If you were to move in here, we could work together more easily and possibly make more progress. I am sure Gavin would not mind. There is enough room for you and your amazing cat.”
I blinked. Move in with her? Sure, she was staying here at Gavin’s indefinitely, but would it be kosher for me to move in also? Did I want to do it? I’d just turned down Ferris and didn’t the same reasons, apart from the romantic part, apply here? Catching my thoughts, I answered, “Wow, thank you for the offer. I don’t know. I need to think about it.”
“Of course.” She flashed a gentle-looking smile as if she knew it was odd. “You can let me know if you decide to do it. The house is free and clear so there would be no rent to pay, and I have to cover the utilities anyway. It would be beneficial to us both. In the meantime, work on your contacts. I fear we are going to need them soon.”
With a final nod, I headed out the door and to my Jeep. Work on my contacts... yeah, I’d do that. I felt worse for knowing the truth. If this were a chess game, would I be a rook or a pawn?
––––––––
BACK AT HOME, I DECIDED I should check on my contacts. I hadn’t even logged into my computer since Sunday morning, so I found a few emails from friends offering condolences and one from Digby saying only, “Tell me it isn’t true.”
I knew Ferris had told him about Janna’s death, but why would he question it? Maybe it was just his reaction of denial, hoping I would say Ferris was wrong. I decided I’d answer later and moved on down the list.
EllyJ wanted to know if I’d received the package she’d sent yet. I wrote a quick message back. ::Lots has happened here. I’ll tell you later, but so far, no package.::
For all the upset and drama on my end, I found that the group chat had been surprisingly quiet. Mostly checking in to say nothing had occurred and how-was-everyone type of messages. Nothing to follow up on with that, but I felt I needed to issue a warning. I wasn’t ready to go into detail, but I didn’t want any of my potential allies to get killed by the yiaiwa before we even began to fight them.
::Give any shades you encounter a wide berth. Don’t try to talk to them or battle with them. They are extremely dangerous. Had a serious and deadly occurrence this weekend. Will tell you more later.::
As I wrote, it occurred to me that I hadn’t even told them about Gavin. Some things were too painful to put into words. Maybe in a week or so, I would relate the whole story.
Next, I called my agent and told her I needed work desperately. “Honestly, Cate, my income is on a downward slide. It’s looking pretty bleak around here. Pretty soon both Nygard and I will be eating cat food.”
“I know, sweetie. I am looking for something, but there isn’t much around here that doesn’t involve personal appearances although...” Her voice trailed off as I heard the tappity-tap of the computer keyboard. She sucked in her breath then said, “You up to being a clown for a kid’s party?”
Clown? No way, not now. Mouth dry, I asked, “When?”
“Um, this coming weekend, Sunday.”
“No, I can’t. That’s too soon...the funeral...” I barely managed to say it.
Cate was silent a couple of moments, then said, “I heard, sweetie. I am so sorry.” After a sigh of breath, she continued, “If you want, I’ll find out more information. Are you willing to act in commercials? I can look at those as well. None of them pay like doing them for a national company, of course, but it can give you a few hundred bucks now and then.”
“Yes to commercials. No one can throw things or attack me while I’m doing a commercial,” I said hoping it was a true statement. Would a yiaiwa attempt to get at me while I was working on a commercial?
I heard her half-hearted chuckle as she said she’d get on it and let me know what she found out.
As I ended the call, I felt a little hopeful that something might work out to give me enough money to keep up with the rent. I wished that Heeni hadn’t given me the rest of the week off. I was actually doing better today and was only getting a little emotional now and then when I stopped to think about what happened. I needed to keep busy to avoid it.
I picked up a notepad and pencil and sat on my bed to run some figures. Nygard saw his opportunity and jumped onto the bed beside me, curling up next to my hip and purring in contentment. Not a care in the world. I ran my fingers through his silky fur and felt the gentle rumble from him.
While my cat slept, I worked on my budget... rent, Jeep payment, insurance, gasoline, utilities. By the time I got to food, I was almost in the red. How much food could you buy for $38? Not enough for me, but I could feed Nygard. Taking away the money I was losing this week by not working made it more depressing. I probably couldn’t make it up in the next couple of weeks so it would be impossible to make the rent unless I got a gig or something that paid a few hundred dollars.
Failing that, I had two offers to move in with people. I turned to a new page on my notepad and drew a line down the middle of the page. On one side I wrote Ferris; I put Orielle on the other. Then I began listing the pros and cons of each.
On the plus side for Ferris, I loved him and would like to be with him as much as I could. The negative side was that it might be too much togetherness when we weren’t ready for it. He had a big house and enough bedrooms for me to have my own room and a music room. We were compatible and had the same interests. Nygard adored him. That should be the selling point right there. As much as I loved Ferris, I still had that huge blockade of fear riding on living with him this soon into our dating relationship.
Looking at Orielle, I didn’t know her that well, but she was interesting, and we had the hunt for the destruction of the yiaiwa in common. We would be staying in Gavin’s house for an unknown length of time. If he came out of the coma, he would be coming home; if he didn’t, then what? Big question there. The house had plenty of room, enough bedrooms for me to have one and probably a music room as well. Nygard had never met her. I didn’t even know if she liked cats. That could be a major drawback.
I hoped I wouldn’t have to make the decision at all. I was quite content in this little house. I didn’t want to leave it. I scratched Nygard’s chin and smiled at the look of pleasure on his little feline face. This was our home.
