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“Those seem like beneficial additions.”
Erin leaned in. “Well, sure, I’m not complaining. But am I possessed by some daemon? Or cursed by one?”
A sad look flitted across Meri’s face. “I’m afraid that’s not how it works.”
“So, you can tell? You’re sure I don’t have a daemon problem?”
“Can confirm.” Meri inclined her head. “If you had a daemon problem, I’d help the crap outta you, believe me. But I sense nothing of the daemon sort.”
Erin deflated a bit. “I kinda wish I did so you could fix it. Fix me.”
“I suspect your issue is something outside my purview.”
Erin perked up. “You can’t help me, but you know what’s wrong with me? Something daemonish?”
Meri took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. Her wary eyes met Erin’s. “You smell of the god-touched.”
“The what?” Erin brushed at an ink smudge on her skirt, only to coat her fingers with the ashen toner.
Meri took a sip of her coffee, casting a glance around them. “They’re the ones who run this city. From the corporate players to the government goons, all are devotees to a variety of gods.”
Erin burst out in laughter. “You’ve gotta be kidding me?”
“It’s more common than you’d think.” By Meri’s focused expression, Erin knew she wasn’t joking. “The world is strange and full of mystery. I’ve been hired by a few corporations over the years to help deal with competition. It’s messy work. As someone who specializes in daemons from Sheol, I can’t say deities are at all unusual.” Meri crossed her legs, weighing her mug in her hands.
“Why haven’t I heard of these god-touched before now?” Erin shifted in her seat.
“Unlike daemons, who are messy and have no care for the consequences of their acts upon the human population, the devotees of the gods pride themselves on elevating and bringing order to human culture. Oh, and I almost forgot. Keeping secrets.”
“They’re rich snobs who play chess with the pawns. For what? Power? Profit?”
Meri shrugged. “More or less all of that, yes.”
Erin sank into her chair. “Who all knows about thesetouchedpeople?”
Meri shrugged. “It’s your typical secret society, which means those on the inside know bits and pieces, and the rest of us hear rumors. I wouldn’t know about them except sometimes my jobs have had me intersect with their circles of influence.”
Shivers of energy racked Erin’s frame, seizing the breath in her lungs. The call to run pressed into her mind, her blood, muscles, and bones. “I have to find them. How do I find them?” Erin whispered.
Meri regarded her. Erin had the impression she was having some internal debate, and then she continued, misgivings etched along her brow. “My understanding, which is rather limited, is that the god-touched have a method of recognizing each other. I’m not sure if it’s a smell, marking, or secret handshake. But from what I’ve observed, they seem to know each other on sight without having to discuss it.”
Frustration bubbled up within Erin, surfacing in her hands as she crushed the mug into shards, slicing into her flesh. Erin screeched, her voice piercing the air.
The reverberating sound brought all the motion around them to a standstill.
“Please, take a deep breath,” Meri said. Her features held concern, unlike the scared faces of other coffee shop patrons. Erin held pressure against the cut on her right palm, and took a couple of long breaths, which barely took the edge off the building pressure within her mind and body. “That’s right, nice, slow breaths. Look, I can see you’re overwhelmed and don’t know what to do next. It looks like whatever is happening within you is unbearable, and I’m sorry I don’t have an answer for you.”
Erin nodded. “I sense you’d help me more if you could.” Erin looked at the gash on her hand, rubbing away the blood to discover a barely healed welt where the gash had existed moments ago.
Meri regarded her hand, and their eyes met. “You’re unusually powerful, even for one of the touched.”
“I don’t know what any of this means.” Erin sighed, the stress flooding from her body in newfound tears.
Meri flopped back in her chair. “Crap, I really wish I could help you out, Erin. Technically, I can’t interfere.”
Erin shrugged. “I don’t want to get you in trouble. You said I should be able to recognize other god-touched, so I guess I just need to get out there and find them to get my answers. I know one is looking for me already.”
“Well, sure. That should work,” Meri replied. “Be careful with whom you trust. From my limited experience, their power structure is fairly rigid.”
