AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Upstairs, Landry,” Samuel replied, then returned his attention to me. “Once I update the team, I’ll take you home.”
I nodded and, as his people appeared, casually strolled around the room, looking for anything that tweaked my instincts. Unsurprisingly, nothing did. Russel might have mushed the old man’s mind, but he’d left very little evidence of his presence behind.
Ten minutes later we were in the car heading back to Hattie’s place. Thankfully, the traffic was fairly mild considering the hour, and it didn’t take all that long. Belle had a pot of tea and a stack of thick beef sandwiches waiting for me when I walked into the kitchen.
“You read my mind. Strange that.” I perched on a stool and reached for a sandwich. “Where’re Eli and Ashworth?”
“Researching.”
“Is that what they call it these days?”
She laughed and tossed a spoon at me. I ducked but caught it before it could hit the floor.
“The arm obviously isn’t causing you much pain,” she noted.
“No doubt because of the painkillers. Hopefully the fast healing will have kicked in by the time they wear off.”
“Which is definitely one of the better results of your wild magic’s immersion with the old wellspring.”
It certainly was. Before the whole DNA adaption thing had started, this sort of wound would have landed me in hospital for days, and the arm likely unusable for weeks.
I bit into the sandwich then said, “What are they researching?”
“Demonic possession.”
“Why?”
“Remember I said the telepath had a very odd vibe?”
I nodded and kept munching. I might have eaten earlier, but my stomach was acting like this was the first food it had seen in days.
“Well, I mentioned it to Ashworth when I was updating them on events, and he and Eli immediately said ‘possessed.’”
“Again, why?”
“Because the easiest way for a dark sorcerer to control someone’s actions is to have one of his demons possess them.”
I finished my sandwich and reached for another. “Demonic possession basically erases the soul and mind of the host, though, and in this particular case, that would make Russel unusable.”
It wasn’t as if a demon would be familiar with the ins and outs of a human world, and that would result in odd behavior noticeable to anyone close to Russel.
“That’s true of a full possession, but it’s possible we’re dealing with only a partial one.”
Even a partial did horrible things to body and spirit, and despite the success rate of exorcism, the possessed were never the same. “Aren’t they quite rare?”
“Yes, but it does depend on whether the demon or dark spirit is free or entailed. It happens more often with the latter.”
“Meaning they leave him with enough mental capacity to ensure there’s no unusual actions, but he’s given no real control over what he does or says?”
“That’s what we’re thinking.”
I licked the mustard from my fingers and then picked up the teapot and poured a cup. My nostrils twitched as the sweet scent of pear and jasmine teased the air. My favorite tea. “So how is this going to help us find the bastard?”
“I’m a spirit talker, remember? We create a protective circle and force the spirit inhabiting his body to come to us.”
“Forcing the spirit from Russel’s body will kill him, and that’ll inform the wraith what we’re doing.”
“Death would be a kindness given the state Russel’s mind and body will be left in after the demon leaves,” she replied, “but if the summoning is both fast and very tightly woven, the wraith will have no idea what has happened.”
