sleep. I climbed out of bed slowly and grabbed a robe from a chair nearby. I walked into the bathroom to look in the mirror. The face staring back, while worn and puffy, didn’t seem any different. I had no marks on my body, no bumps, no bruises or scars.
Whatever Halbert was doing to me, it was all in my mind. I shook my head ruefully. He would drive me crazy if things continued this way. Normally, I was the queen of calm, never showing the world if I had a problem. But this much upheaval was bad for business. I would never be able to keep a poker face in public now.
I began to panic again, thinking about Halbert. I sat down on the edge of the tub to calm myself. It was at that moment, that I heard the sound of the television coming from the living room downstairs. I hoped it was Elsa, or maybe Lily had let herself in. I walked downstairs and found Elsa sitting on the couch, her shoes and socks off, watching a reality TV program that appeared to center on second marriages and Botox.
“You know, that stuff will kill you,” I said, relieved that she had returned.
“It’s fascinating,” Elsa said, looking away from the television screen. “Do people really spend their time watching this stuff?”
“Yes. Quite a few people; these programs are very popular.”
Elsa shook her head and clicked off the program. “It’s no wonder the Council is worried.”
“The Council?”
“Later. It’s too complicated. How are you feeling?”
“Better, but I have been thinking about what you said to me. I want to know what’s happening to me and I want your help.”
“It’s the demon,” Elsa said rising from the couch. “He is a minor demon of the lowest order. Halbert is not skilled enough yet in the dark arts to conjure a major demon, but this one is still a demon. Their job is to harm their caller’s adversaries.”
“How?” I asked. “Do they use physical pain?”
Elsa shook her head. “Not this demon. He’s not designed to cause physical pain; he’s subtler. Have you been acting odd lately? Acting in ways that are unusual for you?”
I nodded. “When I visited my mother recently, I told her I didn’t feel like myself.”
“What did she say?”
I was about to admit my mother had been right about something and it made me uncomfortable. “She said that as long as I ignored my gift, I wasn’t really myself.”
“She was right. You have cut yourself off from your true nature and the source of your power. When you do that, it is very easy for an Other to knock you off balance.”
“What is an ‘Other?’ ”
“An Other is someone like me, or a vampire or a demon. There are humans, and there are the Others.”
“What do you mean knock me off balance?”
“You said it… you don’t feel like yourself. Have you been more argumentative? Have you been over-confident that things will be fine, when in reality they are getting worse?”
Again, I nodded.
“That’s the demon.”
It was a relief to hear someone tell me I wasn’t going crazy, or that the events of the last few weeks were not totally my fault, and yet the joy of reassurance was overshadowed by her explanation. I was being plagued by a demon? To hear it described in such dispassionate tones was unsettling.
“Am I under the control of this demon now?” I asked, afraid to hear the answer.
“Yes and no. There have been moments when the demon cast spells that made you act badly, or he flummoxed you. And he is working spells and charms on your clients. How else do you explain walking away from your work, or that a client asked you to bring Halbert on your team? But he has not tried to possess you physically. Once I began to appear in your dreams, I placed a protective spell on you to limit his manipulations.”
“Why just limit things?” I asked. “Can you stop this?”
“It all depends on you, Olivia. You were born with abilities that should make it difficult or impossible for a demon to target you. You would have known that the emotions you experienced were not your own. It’s even possible you would have felt the presence of the Other. We won’t know until we open your senses and see what kind of gifts you really have.”
I shook my head. “I don’t want to ‘open my senses,’ ” I said. “I don’t want to feel more emotion. I want