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“Yes. We’ll bring the van,” Hank said. “We have equipment in there that might be useful.”
“I’ll meet you at the tea shop. Call me if you switch directions.” I was on the run, already out the door. Grateful I’d been hitting the gym, I made it to my car without even working up a sweat. I hopped in, turned the key in the ignition, and headed toward home.
* * *
I dashed through the door and toward the library, then down the stairs into my ritual room. Killian was already gone for work; his SUV was nowhere to be seen in the driveway. I grabbed my bag of magical tools that I kept ready for use on the go, and was on my way back up to the main floor when Esmara appeared.
January, where are you going?
“To take on a demon. That’s no proximity spell that Janet’s under. She was killed by a demon—well, a demon who was possessing her father. The energy bound her to the dress. The demon transferred to her fiancé, and someone else is dead because of it. Now, his current wife’s in danger.”
Youcan’ttake on a demon,Esmara said.
“I have to. Violet’s life is in danger and I can’t let her die.” I had already locked the door behind me and now I was standing on the porch. “I don’t have time to argue, Esmara.”
Then I’m going with you.
Before I could say a word, she had floated down the porch steps and into my car. Deciding it wasn’t worth the argument, I fastened my seat belt and pulled out of the driveway.
On the way to the tea shop, I told Esmara what we had figured out.
Oh, January, I know what kind of demon that is. Pain-eaters are common enough, actually. Most people have run into one here or there, attached to some person. They’re parasites who feed on guilt, remorse, loss, and other such emotions.
“What do I need to know about it?” I counted myself lucky that I had Esmara’s expertise. It would help a great deal.
You must keep positive thoughts. It thrives and grows on negativity, pain, remorse, and loss. A pain-eater can worm its way into your mind if there’s any opening. To fight it, you have to armor up. Hank can show you how.
“I take it that means raising the drawbridge, so to speak.”
Yes. The one way to avoid allowing a pain-eater to possess you is to eliminate any chinks in the armor. You have to be ruthless and you have to turn off your feelings.
I nodded, my eyes on the road. We arrived at the tea shop after Caitlin and Hank. I jumped out of my car and, carrying my bag, hurried to the door. Esmara was right behind me. Bursting through the door, I saw that Hank and Caitlin were standing between Sirus and a woman on a staircase leading upstairs.
I hurried over to her. “Violet?”
Her eyes wide, she asked, “What’s going on?”
“Go outside. Stay there. Please trust me, your life’s in danger. Sirus will be all right, I promise you that.”
I didn’t know if I could keep that promise, but I wanted her out of the way. Now that I knew about the demon, I could sense him through the muffled energy. I realized that it hadn’t been Sirus and Violet who had created that welcoming cloak, but thedemon. It threw people off guard and made it more likely that someone seeking a quiet place for solace would drop in.
I hustled her out to the porch. “Sit on the steps, please. Trust me. I’m January Jaxson, by the way.”
Violet hesitated, then said, “There’s something wrong, isn’t there? The tea shop, it’s like a mask. It’s covering up something evil.” She sounded afraid.
I worried my lip, then said, “It’s not the shop per se. But if you want Sirus to be okay, and if you want to be safe, you need to let us clean it out.”
She settled on the bottom porch stair. “I’ll wait.”
Grateful that she wasn’t trying to push for answers, I headed back inside and hurried over to the others. Hank glanced up at me. “You ready for this?”
“Esmara said we have to ward up to fight it—that we have to armor against emotion. I need your help.” I paused. “It can hear me, can’t it?” I had no idea whether talking in front of it was a problem, or whether it would realize what we were doing. But it had to sense our energy, given that—together—Hank and I were a formidable pair.
Hank turned to Caitlin. “Out. Go sit with Violet.”
Caitlin hustled out the door and I turned to Hank. “What do I need to do?”
He glanced uneasily at Sirus, who was sitting at a table, calmly watching us. “Take my hands. I can help you shield.”
