She sighed. “Not really. What’s the point?”
“You have to make sure the report is accurate.”
She glanced at the agent that would write the actual report. He recorded the conversation and made notes while Ben debriefed her. She’d read it and sign it. Worked for her, she hated paperwork.
She focused on her boss. “I could have done the report myself by now. We’ve been over everything three times. If I haven’t mentioned it, it either didn’t happen or I’ve forgotten it completely.”
Ben dismissed the other agent with a nod of his head. “What’s wrong? You’re in a worse mood than usual.”
He really couldn’t be expecting her to answer that question. She’d spent the past several days getting the crap kicked out of her and chasing demons. That would put anyone in a bad mood. Instead of answering she just shook her head.
“There’s no point sending you out until we get a call. You’re better off staying here, where we can get a hold of you immediately and you can take a portal. Why don’t you go to your office and see if you can get some research done? Maybe you’ll come up with something to help us find this thing.”
After running a hand down her face in a failed effort to wipe away her fatigue, she nodded. Somehow she found her way to her little-used office without the aid of a map.
In the middle of her desk sat a cloth-bound package from James. The book. The seal on it prohibited it from being opened by anyone but her. Taking a deep breath she ran her hand lightly over the surface. Power tingled over her skin like a thousand needle pricks. She pushed the book to the side to be examined later, booted up her computer and punched in the password. She pulled up the internal database and typed “first-level demon” in the search box. Eighty-five results. The item at the top read Agency Policy and Protocol for First-level Demons. She’d never been very good at remembering the rules. She opened the link.
First-level demons are to be approached and handled with utmost caution. While it is your duty as an agent or Realm Walker to preserve life whenever possible, the priority must be on the society as a whole, not the host. If the demon proves to be violent, an immediate kill order will be issued to preserve the lives of the public.
She scrolled down farther. It said nothing about what to do if you killed the host and the demon reanimated it. Policy and protocol sucked.
She scanned through the other results of the search, hoping to find something more helpful. Part of her hoped the demon had returned to its realm, but every one of her instincts screamed that this wasn’t over yet. She’d learned long ago to listen to them; they usually ended up being smarter than her.
Every link she clicked on did nothing but fuel her paranoia. Massacres, holocausts, killing sprees all confirmed or thought to be the work of first-level demons. Now they had one that was tame by comparison, biding its time. One that was interested in her. She was so screwed. She needed to talk to the Librarian.
The Librarian was ancient, predating most of the creatures that worked for the Agency. Officially she was the records keeper, unofficially she hoarded books of all shapes, sizes and topics. If there was going to be anyone that could tell Juliana why the demon seemed focused on her, it would be the Librarian.
Juliana called for a portal and stepped through to the library, her arms wrapped tightly around the spell book. Books stood in rickety stacks along both sides of a narrow walkway. “Hello?” she called, walking sideways in an effort not to bring any of the towers crashing down. As it was, the vibrations from her movement caused some of them to rock perilously.
“A visitor? I haven’t had a visitor in so long. Where are you, dear?” The voice was as cracked as a dragon’s hide.
“Librarian?” Juliana called again. “I’m over here.”
A hunched form appeared at the end of the aisle, the stereotypical grandmother figure with the grey bun and flowered dress. Juliana knew better than to trust appearances. The Librarian shuffled toward Juliana. “Did you bring me a present?”
She wrapped her arms tighter around the book and shook her head. “I need help. There’s a first-level demon on the loose. It seems to be particularly interested in me. I want to find out why.”
The old woman rubbed her frail hands together. “Research? Yes, I can research. Come along.”
Juliana followed her to a large table. She gestured to a chair and Juliana lowered herself into it. The Librarian started to hum and darted off with lightning quick steps. Juliana’s eyes watered as she followed the blur of movement. Thud followed thud as books were stacked in front of her. After a small pile had been gathered, the old lady stopped next to Juliana and flipped through pages as quickly as she’d gathered the tomes.
“Yes. Yes.” She said absently as she scanned the words before her. When she finished with one book she’d shove it out of the way and grab another. When she finished with the last one, she looked at Juliana. “Either you did something to draw the demon’s interest after it was summoned, or you are the reason it was summoned.”
“If I showed you the spell, would you know?”
The Librarian clicked the tips of her fingernails together. “Perhaps. Show it to me.” A thin line of drool ran from her mouth to the floor.
Juliana ran her finger under the seal on James’s package. Power flared with white light and the seal broke as it recognized her as having permission to open the bundle. She unwrapped the book and cracked it open to the appropriate page.
The Librarian craned her neck to the side as she read. “This one was called for you, child. But they had to have something of yours to do it. What did they have?”
Unease crawled up Juliana’s spine. “Nothing that I know of.”
The old woman cackled. “Then there must be something you don’t know of.” Her skin had turned a dark purple-grey color.
Juliana closed the cover of the spell book and pulled it toward her chest. Her heart thudded against it. “Thank you for your help, Librarian.” She took out her phone as she stood and dialed the portal mages. “I need a portal out of the library to my office. Coded for me only. Stat.” Coding the portal specifically for her would take time but she didn’t like what was happening here. She’d heard the Librarian never left her den. Now she wondered if that was because the woman wasn’t allowed to. Juliana wrapped her hand more tightly around the book, her knuckles white, and watched with wide eyes as the old woman doubled in size.
The Librarian tilted her neck from side to side. It crackled and creaked. Then quick as a genie granting a wish, the beast transformed. Half female, half spider, all grotesque. She cackled again, the sound far more sinister this time as she clicked her mandibles together with the gesture. “I want that book. I need it. It must be added to the collection, dear one.”
“Fan-freaking-tastic,” Juliana muttered and backed away from the creature. She kept her arm wrapped around the spell book pressed against her chest. This was just what she needed. Spinning, she took off down the closest aisle. No longer caring if she made a mess or not, she bumped into the books on purpose and sent them toppling. The spider-beast screeched in outrage
Juliana wove between weaving towers, not daring to look behind her. A stirring of air told her the creature was close, so close. She put on a fresh burst of speed just as a blue disk shimmered in the air in front of her. She spilled through into her office. The portal snapped shut behind her, taking the tip of a spider leg with it. Juliana wondered which part of the anatomy that translated to and hoped like hell it wouldn’t turn back.
She dropped the book on her desk and leaned against it panting for several long moments. When she was breathing more or less normally, she picked up the leg remnant with two fingers and dropped it in the trashcan. She scrubbed her hand clean on her jeans as she plopped into her chair. Digging through the pile on her desk, she found her copy of the file of the scene from Nathaniel’s apartment building. She flipped to the evidence list and went through the item-by-item inventory. Nothing there was hers. At least nothing she recognized.