We pulled the rented SUV into the parking lot of Saint Joseph's church. The church was beautiful, built from old, rough stone. The stunning stained glass shone in the fading sun light. A great place to take your possessed friend.

We all agreed to have me go in with Ethan while everyone else stayed in the car to keep control of Isaac and Hades. I jerked the door open. We rushed through the foyer and stepped into a large chapel. No one. It was empty. Faces looked down from the ceiling. They were probably saints or something. Down the aisle was a simple altar with a white cloth draped over it. I noticed a door off to the left side of the altar and started striding towards it.

A door on the right side opened. A man in his sixties came out, dressed as a priest. He had nicely trimmed salt and pepper hair, a pleasant face, wrinkled with age, but still likeable. That chill ran down my neck. I cursed. There was a ghost here. I saw her a second later. She walked through the door after the priest. She was older. She had to have been in her eighties when she passed. She wore a long, old-fashioned, flowered dress and a cardigan with a hummingbird brooch. Her hair was short and thick, falling into a bob just below her ears. She had nice eyes and a happy smile. She stayed with the priest, keeping pace.

He looked up and smiled welcomingly. The priest limped over to meet us at the first row of pews.

“Welcome to Saint Joseph’s.” His voice was just as pleasant as his face. He had the same eyes as the ghost. His mother? A sister? She had stayed back, so I didn’t know. Her hands clasped in front of her as she watched us, happy, waiting. I’d never seen a ghost like her before. “Is there something I can help you with?” The priest brought my attention back to him.

“We’re looking for Father Francis,” Ethan answered, his voice respectfully low in the church.

He smiled bigger. “I’m Father Francis, how can I help you?”

“I’m Lexie,” I told him bluntly. I had no time for subtlety. No, Isaac had no time for subtlety. His eyes ran over me before meeting mine.

“Ah, yes.” He gestured for us to sit. I didn’t budge. “I understand you believe you’re a Necromancer.” Huh?

“I am,” I told him. That didn’t matter right now. “Isaac’s in the car with the others. Where do you want him?”

Father Francis smiled gently and sat down in the first pew. “I’m sure you believe you have abilities. And I’m sure you also believe your friend is possessed. However…”

He didn’t believe me. You’ve got to be fucking kidding me! We did NOT have time for this shit! I looked at the ghost, slipped my beads off and took several steps closer. For the first time in my life I didn’t fight as her memories slid into my mind. She was his mother. He hadn’t called her back; she never left. She never would, not till he passed himself. She was there to protect and watch over him, not to haunt. I felt the love she had for her son. It was enormous and selfless. It was a mother’s love. I felt wetness on my face when I opened my eyes again. I turned to meet his eyes, tears falling, my heart bursting with his mother’s emotions.

“Elise is right here,” I told him, my voice shaking. “She’s wearing the hummingbird brooch that you and your dad picked out when you were seven.” I shook my head, my throat tight.

“She never went anywhere. She’s been here with you all this time.” Father Francis’s eyes shone as his jaw clenched. He looked away from me. I couldn’t take any more. Her emotions were still pouring into me gently, softly. I had never felt anything like it.

I backed away, slipping on my beads and wiping my face until I backed into Ethan. He wrapped his arm around me and squeezed. The pain began to fade. Whether it was Ethan or the distance I didn’t care.

It wasn’t long before Father Francis was looking at me again. He didn’t seem surprised to hear anything I said. “No one has ever mentioned the brooch before,” he announced, his eyes bright. “Okay, you’re telling the truth. Why do you think your friend is possessed?”

Seriously? I repeated everything that I told him on the phone, then added, “Oh, yeah. And on the way here, it made our plane do a nosedive.”

Father Francis listened to everything. Then he pulled out his phone and started texting someone. “What kind of car are your friends in?”

“The only black SUV in the lot,” Ethan answered.

He hit send, put his phone back in his pocket and looked up. “Some of our people will bring them in and get your friend into a room,” he said, “We will examine him and determine if he is possessed or mentally ill. True possession is rare.”

“He almost killed himself,” I reminded him.

He nodded with a patient look on his face. “Which is why we will take every precaution.”

“Is he going to be okay?” Ethan asked, his voice lost. I grabbed his hand on my shoulder and held it tight.

Father Francis sighed. “If he’s mentally ill, there are treatments. If he’s possessed…”

“Then what?” I demanded.

Father Francis looked at the two of us. “Depending on the stage, it’s a fifty-fifty chance he’ll survive.” It was like a blade was driven into my heart. It became hard to breathe. Ethan gripped my hand tighter. Father Francis continued. “It all depends on the person and how long they’ve been dealing with it.”

“It’s been… a few days.” I told him.

Francis nodded, his eyes understanding. “Then there's still hope for him.”

The door opened. A tall, bald, muscled man strode into the church. He had a distinctive face with sharp cheekbones and a strong jaw. He was wearing black military pants and a black T-shirt. But what held my gaze were his tattoos. Down the outside of his neck were black and bronze scrolling letters in a single line. They ran down his neck and disappeared into his shirt only to reappear on the outside of his arms and continued to his wrists. They were the same as the tattoos my True Self had… What the fuck? The guy moved to the priest before he bent down and whispered in his ear. Father Francis brow drew down. The man pulled back as the priest got to his feet and turned back to us. “Come with us.”

We followed Father Francis as the man led us through the door into a back room. “This is Craig. He’s the leader of this unit of Templars.”

“Templars?” I asked as we were led outside and across a large garden courtyard to an even bigger building behind the church.

"Yes, the Templars are the world's first line of defense,” the priest explained as Craig opened the door and led us out into a large hallway. "Templars all have the same full body tattoo you can see on Craig here. Anyone wearing these tattoos is a Templar." Craig opened a large door across from the front door. We started down the wide stone steps. The air temperature dropped twenty degrees; it seemed like we were going into a basement. The walls were blocks of rock. Lights hung from the ceiling.

“What do the tattoos do?” I asked carefully. “There has to be a reason.”

“It’s a spell tattooed into the skin for the Sight and also protection against possession from ghosts and demons,” Craig explained, “which is why it’s so large.” They could do that? My mind raced with possibilities. I shoved them away. We had bigger problems right now.

When we reached the basement, there was another long hall branching off to the left and right. We turned right and were led to a door with a crowd of people standing around it. All of them were in black and bearing the same tattoos. I needed to ask about it, but right now Isaac was what mattered.

“Make a hole,” Craig barked. People began walking out of the door. There had to have been twelve people in that room. All of them said some form of ‘sorry, Captain’ or ‘sorry, sir.’ I put it out of my mind for later and followed them into the room.

It was a medium sized bedroom; there was a desk, a chair, even a bookcase. Isaac was there, in a hospital bed against the middle of the far wall. There were two more of those tattooed guys inside, standing like guards beside Isaac’s bed. Dr. Zimmer, Zeke and Asher were standing near the right wall, next to the bookcase. Father Francis moved to the left side of the bed, past the desk. Ethan moved to the foot of the bed next to Miles and Hades, while I stayed where I was in the doorway. There wasn’t much more room.

Isaac came into sight. His eyes were glowing red, the shadow slithered over his face.

“Uh, does anyone else see that?” I asked the room.

“Yes,” Craig and the other Templars said in unison. Oh, good. I wasn’t nuts.

The demon smiled wickedly, its eyes on the priest. “Father Francis of the Templars. I’ve heard of you.” The voice coming out of Isaac was the same as before; deep, dark, and chilling. “How’s the family?”

“What’s your name, demon?” Francis demanded.

The demon cackled as he looked around the room. His eyes found Ethan. “Hermano, tu lo que eres un idiota, eres un imbécil. No te preocupes, yo me encargo de el,” he taunted. Ethan’s hands balled into fists at his side. Those demon eyes moved to me and his smile grew. “Ah, Red, we need to talk.”

“Go fuck yourself,” I growled. His eyes flared red. Faster than I thought possible, he was on his knees and lunging for me. The Templars and Zeke tackled Isaac to the bed before he could reach me. Hades jumped on to the bed. Francis shouted for back up. Someone shoved me, and I stumbled and fell. My head hit something. Pain exploded through my head, making my vision grow dark. There was more shouting, but it seemed far away. Nausea rolled through me. Where… where was I? Hard wood pressed against my face. What…? There were voices I knew, shouting. I opened my eyes and the world tilted. I closed them again with a groan.

“Lexie? Lexie?” Someone was saying my name.

“Ow…” I muttered. My head hurt so much it felt like it was going to pop. The sound suddenly came back.

Miles was kneeling next to me, his eyes worried. “Lexie, look at me.” There was shouting elsewhere, barking… Zeke’s voice was among them.

I looked up at Miles. “Wha’ happened?”

“You were shoved and hit the desk with your head. And you’re bleeding,” he informed me. Yeah… that felt about right.

“Zeke!” Ethan shouted. “Let them take care of Isaac, Lexie’s still down!”

“You have to move her!” a man ordered. Miles looked up. The look he gave the man sent a chill down my spine.

“She hit her head,” Miles shot back, his voice chilly.

“We need to move him. Now!” the man shouted. Isaac…

“Lexie?” Zeke yelled. “Get the fuck out of my way!”

I started pushing up off the floor only for my arms to give out. “I need a hand,” I admitted, still a bit foggy.

“Asher! I can’t carry her.” Miles called.

“Isaac. They need to move him,” I said as I pushed myself up again on trembling arms. Large arms helped me to my feet before they lifted me. The smell of cinnamon filled my lungs. I lay limp against Asher as he carried me into the hall. I opened my eyes to watch as the Templars rolled Isaac’s bed out of the room. Handcuffs held him to the railing. Hades was on the bed as they ran down the hall, growling. Ethan ran after them. Things were a bit blurry as Asher set me down against the wall. I rested the back of my head against the cool stone. Ah… that felt good. Cold good.

“Lexie, how are you feeling?” Miles asked as he knelt in front of me. “You’re bleeding.” Miles was surrounded by stars as he looked up at the door. “Dr. Zimmer!” Cloth was pressed against my forehead. The world was still spinning as my stomach rolled. Oh, this wasn’t good. I closed my eyes.

“What the fuck happened?” Zeke snapped. I whimpered and covered my ears. Too loud.

“Go with Isaac,” I told them as I dropped my hands. I swallowed hard against the bile rising in the back of my throat.

“Ally…”

“Go,” I ordered. “I’m fine. Doc is coming. Go.” Asher cursed as a pair of footsteps walked off. Footsteps came out of the room.

“Miles, let me in,” Dr. Zimmer stated.

“Hey, sorry about running into you. I’ve called a medic for you,” a man’s voice said. Zeke growled; something hit stone.

“Lexie.” It was all Miles had to say.

“Zeke… don’t,” I ordered weakly. Zeke cursed over and over. I opened my eyes to look up at them. “Go with Isaac.”

“Lexie…” Zeke warned.

“Zimmer’s here,” I pointed out, “and no one is with the twins. Stay with them.” The guys shared a look. Cursing, everyone but Miles headed down the hallway.

Miles eyed me, clearly torn. He turned to Dr. Zimmer. “Take care of her.”

“Of course,” Dr. Zimmer reassured him. Miles headed down the hallway.

A woman in the Templar black clothes and tattoos came up carrying a large pack. “Someone called for a medic?” she said, her voice cheerful.

I shook my head. “Zimmer’s got me.”

Dr. Zimmer looked up over his shoulder. “Stay, I need to know about your facilities.” He turned back to me.

She nodded.

“What happened?” Dr. Zimmer asked.

“Miles said I hit my head on a desk,” I told him.

“How are you feeling?” he asked as he slipped on a pair of gloves.

“Um.” I closed my eyes and tried to think. “I’m… dizzy, nauseous, and I feel like my head is going to explode. The dizziness is starting slow down, though.”

“You also have a cut on your hairline,” Dr. Zimmer announced as he pulled a pen light from his pocket. He turned it on. “Alright, look at my finger.” I did. He shone the light into my eyes then took it away. He did this several more times. “Well, your pupils are sluggish.” He put the light away and tore open a small package. “This is going to sting,” the doctor warned. He started cleaning the cut on my forehead.

“Shit, shit, shit,” I snapped.

When he was done, he put a small butterfly bandage on my forehead then put the trash and his gloves into a small Ziploc bag. Zimmer looked up at the medic. “What kind of facilities do you have?”

“We have a full hospital in the med wing,” she announced. “We’re equipped to treat everything and do anything.”

He nodded. “Good.” He turned back to me. “I think you have a concussion. Your pupils are reacting slowly, which means you probably have some pressure on your optic nerve. You need to go to the med wing and get a CT scan.”

I shook my head slowly. “No way, I’m not going anywhere until I know Isaac is going to be okay.”

He sighed. “I expected that. Listen, I don’t know if I believe what’s happening here, but something is wrong with Isaac. You seem to have an idea about how to fix that, so… I won’t force you to go,” he said. “But if you don’t go, any damage this causes can be permanent.”

I met his eyes. “I’m not going anywhere except to wherever they have Isaac.”

He gave me a small smile, as if he expected it. “Okay. But if the headache gets worse, you get dizzy again, or you vomit, I'm making the Templars take you to the medical wing because that means it’s gotten worse.”

“I will.” If it got worse, yeah, I’d get help. He picked up his bag and helped me to my feet.

“They probably took him to the ward room. It’s the door at the very end of the hall,” the medic told me with a smile.

Dr. Zimmer turned to her. “Show me the medical wing.”

She nodded and they began walking down the hallway to the stairs.

I took a moment to take a breath and then I was moving down the hall. When I reached the only door at the end of the hall, I didn’t bother knocking. I stepped into a small room where the priest, Templars in black and my guys were standing. Across from the door was a large window. Isaac was in the center of a large, empty, stone room. Runes written in white paint circled the bed. Isaac’s face was completely shadowed. Those glowing red eyes glared at… Hades. Hades lay on Isaac’s body, his front paws resting on his chest, his eyes on the demon. What the…?

“So, that’s it?” Ethan asked, drawing my attention. “An exorcism?” My stomach knotted.

“Yes,” Francis said. “It’s that or nothing.”

I looked back out the window at Isaac. The demon was smiling. “Do it,” I ordered before turning back to them.

Francis nodded. “I’ll need an hour to prepare.” He looked at one of his men. “Assign them rooms and give them the tour.”

Craig nodded. “Follow me.” The others started to follow. I didn’t budge, neither did Ethan.

“What did the doctor say?” Zeke asked.

“I’m fine.” I didn’t even turn away from the window.

“What did he say?” Zeke demanded.

“Leave it, Zeke.” I wasn’t asking.

“I will carry your ass back out to Zimmer if I have to,” Zeke warned.

I looked up and met his eyes. “I saw the doc, I’m fine.”

He kept staring into my eyes. “Lexie.” His voice was hard and sharp.

“I can’t,” I said, my voice growing raspy. I winced at the sound and then looked back at the glass.

“I’ll get some water,” Zeke growled.

“If you can find some aspirin, you'd be my hero for the day,” I said absently. He cursed under his breath the whole way out the door. Then it was just Ethan, me and two Templars.

My chest was tight, it was hard to breathe. Isaac was possessed by a demon. Lexie slipped her hand into mine. I clung to her warmth as I watched my brother through the glass.

Why didn’t I see this? How did I miss it? He’d been off for days. Not sleeping, not eating…. That should have fucking tipped me off!

I took a deep breath, trying to ease the tightness in my lungs. My stomach rolled with bone deep fear. It clawed at me, made me want to scream and pound something into the ground.

“I-I-I can’t lose him,” I breathed, my voice cracking.

She held my hand tighter. “That’s not going to happen.” Her own voice was cracking and rough.

“He’s… that thing… he’s trapped inside his own body with that thing,” I said again, because I had to say it out loud.

“Yes and no.” Her voice was soft and soothing. “He’s in his center. I told him how to bring in light and how it works. How to defend himself. I… I don’t know if he understood. There wasn’t time.”

I slipped my arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. Her arm slid around my waist as she leaned against me. Her warmth and the scent of rosemary helped me take a deep breath. “You tried. I wish…” I swallowed hard. “I wish I could talk to him, just for a minute.”

“You will, when we get that thing out of him,” she said. Isaac’s body jerked at the handcuffs. Hades growled, baring his teeth until the demon settled down.

“What is Hades doing?” I asked.

“I don’t know, but… he seems to be keeping him in place.”

I held her tighter against me. “I’m scared, Lexie.”

She carefully squeezed me back. “Me too.”

It was a little more than an hour later when Zeke had come back with aspirin and water bottles. He was my hero for the day. Now if only my damn head would stop hurting. The guys were back in the small, dim room, sitting in a few chairs while we waited.

The door opened. Father Francis came in wearing a white stole with gold embroidery. His eyes looked around the group.

He gave us a warm smile. “I’m going to have to ask you guys to wait in the hall. This is going to be very trying on Isaac as it is.” We exchanged looks. No one was happy about it, but everyone got to their feet and moved out into the hall. Everyone but me.

I stepped in front of the priest and met his eyes. “I’m not leaving. In fact, I’m going in with you.”

“Lexie…” Ethan stopped before going out the door.

I kept my eyes on Father Francis’s. “You said the demon will destroy his soul. I’m guessing if you start this, it’s going to get angry and probably take it out on Isaac. Right?”

The Templar behind Francis narrowed his eyes and eyed me. “That usually occurs,” he admitted.

“Well, I can feel Isaac. I can tell you if he starts to… have trouble.” I didn’t even want to think it.

Father Francis thought about it before he met my eyes again. “This is extremely dangerous. Do you understand that?”

I looked at Isaac through the window, pinned under my dog. The demon was growling at Hades. I turned back to the priest. “Yeah, I do.”

Father Francis sighed. “You do not say a word. You will ignore anything it says. It will do everything possible to get an emotional reaction, including using Isaac’s knowledge of you. Do not fall for it. You will follow orders in there, understood?”

“Got it,” I agreed.

“This is Father Andrew. He’s the head priest for the Templars,” Francis announced.

“Nice to meet you,” Andrew greeted.

“Lexie. You too,” I said. Francis went through the door into the room with Isaac.

“Lexie...” Ethan’s worried voice had me turning back to him. He was frowning. “Are you sure?”

I met Ethan's eyes and nodded before he closed the door behind him. I followed Father Francis and Father Andrew into the room. It was bright as hell. There was not a single shadow in that room. Not to mention that it was cold, but I doubted it was from the air-conditioning. They stood at the end of the bed. I moved to the side and out of the way. Huh, that window was a two-way mirror. Everyone was standing inside the circle of runes. Hades didn’t take his gaze off Isaac as the room grew even colder.

Isaac’s face twisted into a creepy smile. “Red, we need to talk.”

I rolled my eyes and placed my hand on Isaac’s wrist. The demon tried to bite me. Hades gave a low growl. I smacked it on the forehead. “Knock it off or I’ll put a muzzle on you.”

It smiled at me. I looked up in time to watch Father Andrew biting back a laugh.

I put my hand back on Isaac’s wrist. I could feel him there, like a pocket of hot air. You couldn’t see it, you just felt it.

Father Francis began to speak in Latin. Honestly, I didn’t understand a word of it. But apparently the demon did. It started laughing. Then Francis splashed it with holy water and it writhed in pain under Hades’ weight. It cursed, growled, promised to hurt us in many different and inventive ways, it was rather strange to hear from the demon handcuffed to a bed. Father Francis continued. The two men got into a rhythm with their prayers. It was rather nice, except for the hate spewing demon in the bed.

Time went on. I focused on feeling Isaac’s soul in his body. I fell into a calm space where there was only Isaac’s soul and the sound of prayers. It went on and on until Isaac’s soul flickered. I focused completely on it as Hades whined. There was a shift under his skin, the feel of Isaac fading.

“Stop,” I ordered. Father Francis and Father Andrew looked at me. “He’s starting to fade.”

Father Francis seemed to struggle with something as he looked at Isaac. Isaac’s body was pale and sweating. He was taking deep breaths, as if he had just run a marathon. Father Francis closed his bible with a sigh before he turned and headed for the door. Leaving Hades to watch Isaac, I followed them through the dim outer room and into the hallway.

The guys got to their feet.

“Did it work?” Ethan demanded.

Francis sighed. “No, he started to fade so we stopped.” He ran his hand down his face. “Come with me to the cafeteria. I’ll explain what’s going on.”

Everyone followed the priest down the hall and up the stairs. Ethan fell into step next to me. “How was he?” he whispered.

“He’s sweating and pale, but… he seems okay,” I answered. Ethan nodded. I took his hand and squeezed. He squeezed back.

We walked into a large, empty cafeteria. Francis led us over to a big coffee maker and cold display fridges.

“Please, grab whatever you’d like,” Francis instructed as he picked up a mug and poured a cup of coffee. Everyone grabbed something. I grabbed a water bottle and sat down with everyone at the nearest table.

Father Andrew took a sip of coffee before looking at us. “Here’s the situation,” he began. “If we can’t get the demon out through a standard exorcism, then we need to be able to name the demon so we can do a focused exorcism.”

“A name?” Asher asked, his face full of disbelief.

“Yes,” Andrew told us. “Demons like to talk and torment their victim’s friends and family. In doing that they sometimes slip. Which means, we need to find out who it will talk to. It also serves as a distraction to give Isaac a break.”

“And if that doesn’t work?” I asked bluntly.

Francis sighed. “I’m going to make a call to… some people. I’ll see if they can send help. But if they can’t… we need that name.”

A thought occurred to me. They weren’t the only one with people. I got to my feet. “Restroom?”

Father Andrew pointed to the hallway we came from. “First door on the right,” he said. I headed that way without another word. It was a small, one-person bathroom and it was perfect. I locked the door, put the lid down and sat down. I took a deep breath, let it out and closed my eyes. Then I dropped.

I landed in the Veil almost instantly. “Zahur!” I shouted as I straightened. Nothing. “Zahur! I need you now!”

A figure shimmered into form in front of me. Exactly like me in every way, Zahur frowned at me. The foghorn alarm blared, shaking me down to my bones. When it was done, Zahur was scowling at me.

“What? I was finally making progress on a fucking mountain of paperwork,” she snapped.

Paperwork? Oh, fuck it, no time. “Listen, my friend is possessed by a demon. I need fucking help because this priest and some group called the Templars can’t get it out of him.”

She eyed me. “Seriously?”

“Yeah,” I snapped.

Her frown disappeared. “Where are you?”

“Saint Joseph’s in Boulder, Colorado. It’s in the States,” I said.

She nodded. “I’ll send the best to help you.”

“There’s also another thing.” I explained to him what happened on the plane, how I jumped into Isaac’s center.

She was rubbing the bridge of her nose when she was done. “That is not great.” Her hand dropped. “It’s interesting that you can do it, but that it is extremely dangerous. Especially with a demon possessing your friend. If you do it again, that demon can get to you. It could shift to you.”

I nodded.

She tilted her head. “Then again, the energy in someone's center works like the Veil, and you can get to that demon too.” I raised an eyebrow. Interesting. She shook her head, her eyes focusing on me again. “Nevermind, forget about that. Just… don’t do it again unless your friend is… getting weaker. And be careful. Demons like this will eat your soul if they get a chance.”

“Well, shit,” I grumbled.

She met my eyes. “I’m sending help. Get your ass back there.”

“Got it.” I closed my eyes and pulled myself back out.

It took a moment for me to get my bearings and then I was out the door and heading back into the cafeteria. Francis was on the phone a few feet away.

“What did I miss?” I asked.

“He explained the options for Isaac in more detail,” Miles answered before changing the subject. “I talked to Rory. He’ll back up the twin’s cover story to their mom.”

I nodded. “And Zeke? Asher?” I looked at them.

“Already done,” Zeke announced. “Sylvie thinks I’m crashing at Miles’ for a while.”

“My dad doesn’t give a damn,” Asher explained. Well, that covered everyone.

Francis came back. “I couldn’t get through to them,” he announced. “We need that name.” Everyone got to their feet and followed Francis downstairs to Isaac’s room.

We had just reached the door when Francis’s phone went off.

“Hello?” the priest answered. His face grew pale as he straightened. “Yes, sir.”

His eyes found me as he listened to whoever was on the line. “Understood. We look forward to their arrival.” Francis hung up and eyed me for a second before turning to the rest of the group. “Well, that was our… higher ups. They’re sending their best team to come help with Isaac. But they are going to be a couple of days.”

“A couple of days?” Ethan snapped.

“Yes, they have to move slowly for one of their member’s health,” he explained. “In the meantime, we’ll try to get the demon to talk. It’ll distract the demon from Isaac and buy him time.”

“And how are we going to do that?” Asher asked.

Francis sighed. “Each of you will go into the room with the demon alone. It will either start talking to you or it won’t. Then you’ll come out and the next will go in.”

“It’s rather straightforward,” Craig told us as he came out into the hall. “The demon wants to torment you, taunt you. It will help us decide who will sit with Isaac.”

“Who will begin?” Francis asked. I was about to step forward when Ethan headed for the door.

“Let’s get this over with,” Ethan bit out as he jerked the door open. Craig and Father Francis followed. The door closed behind them and tense silence fell.

I crossed my arms and chewed the corner of my lower lip. Zeke began pacing. Asher began massaging the back of his neck as Miles began tapping his fingers against his thigh in a staccato rhythm. Zeke continued pacing the width of the hall. My eyes unfocused on the floor. Why did Francis look at me that way? Who was on the other end of that call? Did... Zahur have anything to do with it? It hit me. I really didn't know that much about Zahur. Shit.

It was five minutes before Ethan came out cursing under his breath. “Next!” He walked further down the hallway, taking deep breaths. Asher was at the door before I could go. After the door closed, I went to Ethan and put my hand on his shoulders.

“That is not my brother.” His voice cracked.

I wrapped my arms around his waist, rested my cheek just above his shoulder blades and hugged him. “No, it’s not. But we’ll get him back.” Even if I had to die trying. We were not going to lose Isaac.

He held my arms to him and squeezed me back. We stood that way for several long minutes while he got himself under control. When he patted my arms, I let go. We walked back to the others and waited in silence.

It was a few more minutes of waiting before the door opened and Asher came out. This time I made it to the door before anyone else.

Francis and Craig were at the two-way mirror. I stopped with my hand on the handle to Isaac’s room. “Anything it says does not get repeated or leave this room,” I told them. They turned to me, each wearing looks of surprise. “Right?”

“Of course,” Francis said. I met Craig’s eyes.

“Naturally,” Craig offered. He handed me a small mic and a battery pack. Right, they needed to listen. I took a deep breath and walked into the room with the demon.

It smiled at me. I walked to the end of the bed, crossed my arms over my chest and waited.

“Ah, Red… so much to talk about,” he said, his voice low. Fine, it was going to talk to me.

“Oh, really?” I said with sarcasm.

He giggled. “I see the way you feel for your friends,” he taunted, his smiling growing bigger. “Naughty, naughty, naughty.”

I said nothing.

“You’re a bad girl for feeling this way for all of them,” he continued.

I tilted my head to the side and smiled my not so pleasant smile. “Well, then I’m a bad girl.” There was no way I was going to let this shit from hell try and make me feel bad for loving my guys. I knew who I was, and I sure as hell could own my shit.

“You agree?” he asked, perplexed, his smile disappearing.

“Yeah, sure.” I shrugged. “It is what it is.”

His smile came back. “Oh, we’re going to have a good time.”

I rolled my eyes and walked back out of the room. Craig and Francis looked at me with questions in their eyes.

“So, I take it that’s what you’re looking for?” I asked without emotion as I handed back the microphone.

“Yes, it is,” Craig admitted. his eyes running over me.

“Good, I’ll send in the next one.” I turned and left the room and their judging eyes. The guys turned around. “Next.”

I stepped out and moved to lean against the wall of the hallway next to Asher. “It talked.”

"It didn't say a word to me," Asher muttered.

"Lucky." I looked up from the floor to meet Ethan's gaze. We shared a look full of secrets.

Zeke started for the door.

“Wait, let’s go together,” Miles suggested as he moved to the door. Zeke didn’t say a word as they went in.

“What did it say?” Asher asked softly.

“Personal stuff,” I hedged. He didn’t ask again. We waited in silence.

It was eight minutes later when Miles and Zeke came out. Zeke’s jaw was clenched, his eyes burning.

“It didn’t talk to either of us,” Miles announced. Surprised, I pushed away from the wall as Craig and Francis came out the door.

“It only spoke to two of you,” Francis announced. “I hate to say this, but we’re going to need one of you in that room at all times.”

“We want it to talk, so you’re going to have to talk to it,” Craig explained. “The more it talks, the bigger chance it has of making a slip. Also, the more you distract him the less time he’s wearing down Isaac.” Francis came to stand next to me and Ethan.

“It will want to keep the power in the conversation. It wants control so it can hurt everyone around Isaac,” Francis warned. “Be prepared for it to play games with you. You cannot react emotionally. Otherwise, you give the demon exactly what it wants, and it has no reason to talk.” He looked at both of us. “Do you understand?” Ethan and I both nodded. A small flame sparked in my heart.

“I’ll go in and set up the recording equipment,” Craig told us before going back into the room.

I checked the time. It was almost midnight “I’ll take the first shift,” I announced.

“Beautiful…” Ethan looked at me. “No.”

I met Ethan’s eyes. “Ethan. I got this. You take a shift during the day, I’ll take at night.”

“We’re going to have to split up,” Miles announced. “One of us with them at all times.” Miles turned to Asher and Zeke. “We need to make sure they eat, sleep, and take care of themselves. Right?”

“Right. I’ll take Ethan,” Asher said.

“I’ll take Lexie,” Miles agreed.

“I’ll run between both and take care of Hades,” Zeke stated.

“Tomorrow we’ll change it up so everyone gets enough rest,” Miles told them. They nodded.

Ethan was still looking into my eyes. “Lexie…”

“It’ll get tired by the time you come in. It probably won’t be great, but it should be better,” I explained.

“He’s my brother,” Ethan reminded me.

I stepped closer and put my hand on his chest. “That’s why I’m going first.” His hand came up and held mine against him. “This is what we’re doing.”

Ethan took a shaky breath. “Okay.”

I pulled away and looked up at Asher. “Take care of him.”

Asher nodded, his face somber.

“Be careful, Lexie,” Miles warned.

“Promise,” I replied. I turned and headed for the door. As I started to walk past Zeke, his arm shot out, stopping me. I looked up and met struggling blue eyes. Poor Tough Guy. Ethan and I were going to walk in there to get torn apart and all he could do was wait. Zeke was going to be in his own hell.

I gave him a smirk and winked. He let out the breath he was holding then dropped his arm. I gave his arm a squeeze as I walked by.

I closed the door behind me and leaned against it. Okay. I’m going to go get a demon to talk. It liked games, it wanted to hurt me. A wicked idea slipped through my mind. I grinned. Oh, this should be interesting.

“Lexie? Are you ready?” Craig asked as he sat at a laptop on a small desk.

“Yeah.”

He got to his feet and held up the small microphone again. “This is how I’ll hear you,” he explained as he pinned it to the inside of my neckline. “I’ll be the only one listening.”

I nodded, my mind still running over my idea. Once he got the microphone clipped on he handed me the battery pack. I slipped that into my pocket.

Craig eyed me. “It’s not going to be easy.”

I snorted. “Nothing in life worth doing ever is.” I didn’t bother to wait around for him to answer. I opened the door and walked through.

The head of Isaac’s bed was raised so he was almost sitting up. His red eyes were on me, his smile growing with every step I took toward him. Hades was still sitting directly in front of him, his face only inches from the demon. What was he doing? I strolled to the folding chair that sat to the left of the bed and sat down. Making a point, I stretched my legs out, crossed my ankles and then crossed my arms over my chest. Once I got comfy, I met those crimson eyes. Then I said nothing. Because what is the worst thing you can do to a demon who wants to tear into you and control the conversation? Ignore it and not say a word.

I sat there, relaxed, as the minutes ticked by. Its smile went away. I still said nothing.

It locked its jaw, its eyes becoming sharp. Still I said nothing. In fact, I was counting seconds in my head.

At fourteen minutes, it broke.

“So, tell me. How was kissing Isaac? And Asher? And Zeke?” Here we go.