AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Ah. Another time, then. I’ll just be a moment.” Dion’s shoes clicked along the marble floor as he left the room.
I’m not sure if I believe him, said Levi without moving from his spot across the room. He seems genuine, but I don’t trust him one little bit. If he is telling the truth, I’ve got the feeling that Alethea toyed with him for sympathy or something.
The comment echoed Knox’s thoughts. Alethea would never admit to needing help. And I seriously doubt that she ever considered me or anyone else to be a friend. I also can’t envision Thatcher harassing her.
Do you think she needed a place to hide? Or do you think it’s possible that she already knew Dion had an incorporeal demon and she came here with the intention of taking it?
Either is possible.
A minute or so later, Dion reentered the room, carrying a display case. His steps were slow, his expression one of utter confusion.
“This is it?” Knox asked, standing.
Dion shook his head. “No. It’s a copy of my case. A very good copy. It’s also empty.” He stared at it, expression thoughtful. Then his eyes cut to Knox. “Odd that you would ask if I’d showed it to Alethea and then also ask me if I still have it. You think she took it?”
“Yes, I do.”
Dion’s gaze turned inward. “If she had a duplicate of the case in her possession, she must have come here specifically to steal mine,” he said, though he appeared to be talking to himself. “But how could she have known about the incorporeal or what the case looked like? I’ve never taken her through the museum before.”
“She could have had someone teleport a replica of the case to her after giving them a description of it,” Levi suggested, but Dion didn’t seem to have heard him. He seemed lost in his own thoughts.
“It hadn’t even occurred to me to check if she’d taken anything when she left. I’ll have to search the entire museum from top to bottom to see what else she stole.” Finally, Dion looked at Knox. “Do you think she meant to free the incorporeal?”
“I think she did free it,” Knox told him.
“No,” said Dion with a sharp shake of his head. “No, it’s not as easy as it may sound to free an incorporeal from a container. It would not have been as simple as merely smashing the display case.”
“Why not?” asked Knox.
“For one thing, it would take an extremely strong spell to break the glass—the ritual is quite complicated. Secondly, the incorporeal would have been in no fit state to follow her instructions. It was in captivity for a very long time. The spell that kept the case locked also kept the incorporeal from dying without a host.”
Planting his feet, Knox folded his arms. “Humor me. Let’s say she managed to free it. What would have happened next?”
“Well, when first released, the incorporeal would have been extremely weak—so much so that it wouldn’t have been able to survive outside of a human host for more than a few seconds. It also would have been unable to control the host and, as such, would have been forced to simply lie in the background while it ‘fed’ on its host’s energy.”
Rubbing at his chin, Knox asked, “How long would it have taken the incorporeal to reach such a level of strength that it could maintain a physical form of its own choosing for a short time?”
Dion was silent for a moment as he considered it. “Providing it was given a strong host to drain on being freed, I’d say it would have taken somewhere between four and six months. But only if the incorporeal was extremely powerful.”
“I have reason to believe that she did manage to free it.” Knox told him about the demon’s attempt to get near Asher and its attack on Knox. Dion actually paled, and Knox wondered if it was because he worried the incorporeal would kill him in revenge for holding it captive.
“Alethea couldn’t have freed it without help,” Dion insisted. “She simply wasn’t strong enough.”
“I don’t believe she had help. I believe she was the help. Someone else—most likely the last of the Horsemen—wanted the incorporeal and recruited her to aid him in obtaining it. Together, they then freed it and nurtured it back to full strength. Then he made a bargain with it.”
“But he said on the clip before killing her that she was in his way.”
“Maybe she didn’t like the bargain he made with the incorporeal. Maybe she hadn’t known he was the Horseman until right then. We can’t be sure why he killed her, but we can be certain that the incorporeal is free.”
Urgency in his manner, Dion slung the duplicate of his display case on the sofa. “If the incorporeal is gunning for you and your family, you need to find a way to have it banished back to hell or destroyed. It won’t stop until it’s done whatever it is that will free it. Only the flames of hell can destroy an incorporeal. And, despite the rumors, I don’t believe that’s an ability you possess. There would be no reason for you to hide it.” He swallowed. “I will do what I can to discover where Alethea spent her time running up to her death.”
Levi looked at Dion through narrowed eyes. “You fear the incorporeal will come for you, don’t you?” It wasn’t really a question; it was a confident statement. “Well, if I were kept in a museum for centuries, confined to a small case and gawked at by passersby, I’d certainly want vengeance on my captor.”
“You’ll need to be careful who you let on your island, especially if they’re human,” Knox advised Dion. “You wouldn’t know they were possessed by the incorporeal until it was much too late.”
Dion swallowed nervously, but he set his jaw in determination. “It will never reach me here. I wish you luck in dealing with it.”
Yeah, I’ll bet he does, Levi said to Knox. If it’s destroyed, he’s safe.
