“Then suddenly, she starts getting death threats, is sued for negligence, gets a gruesome package in the mail, and finally is framed for murder.”
“You’re forgetting the little part about Maguire dying,” I said dryly.
“No, I’m not. I said I’d put all the relevant facts in order.”
Naturally, I bristled. “I think the death of a human being is quite relevant!”
“In an abstract sense, yes, but not necessarily to this case.”
“What the hell are you—” My voice choked off as suddenly the facts, as Raphael had recited them, kicked into place. Could it be that we’d had the motive all wrong from the very beginning? “Abraham isn’t after me because Jordan Maguire died,” I said, probably sounding as stunned as I felt. “He’s after me because Jordan Maguire’s demon didn’t die.”
Raphael nodded. “We all know you’re an extraordinarily powerful exorcist, no doubt because of your unique genetic background.” He hurried on before I could make an issue of his part in my “unique genetic background.” “You can exorcize demons that ordinary exorcists couldn’t handle.” Here, he gestured at Saul. “So what if Maguire’s demon wasn’t just some garden-variety demon? What if he was one of the elite and powerful? The elite are less likely to walk the Mortal Plain than those of lower rank, but it does happen.
“Murder is virtually impossible in the Demon Realm unless there’s a huge power imbalance. That’s why Dougal had to get Lugh on the Mortal Plain to try to kill him.”
Saul laughed bitterly. “You found an effective way to murder my mother.”
Raphael didn’t rise to the bait. “Delilah didn’t have to keep pouring energy into you, so technically it wasn’t murder. Besides, I don’t think Dougal was going to convince Lugh to have his love child.”
“You dare to make jokes about it?” Saul cried, and the glow was in his eyes once more. If this was the best he could do at controlling his temper, it was a wonder he hadn’t killed someone and gotten himself exorcized within the first week he’d set foot on the Mortal Plain.
“Saul!” I snapped, knowing I had to seize control of this situation. “Raphael’s an asshole, and we all know it. Just accept that reality and deal with it already!”
For a moment, Saul turned that glowing, furious gaze my way. I felt a strange stirring sensation in my brain, which I sensed was Lugh getting ready to take control if necessary.
Anyone with a modicum of good sense would have been intimidated by the anger of such a dangerous demon, but I found good sense highly overrated. My pulse didn’t even ratchet up as I faced him down.
“You’re no good to Lugh or to his council if you can’t control yourself. Stop the temper tantrums, or I’ll send you straight back to the Demon Realm, and not even Lugh will argue to keep you here.” Right? I added as a mental aside to Lugh. He didn’t answer, but I could see from the way that Saul flinched that my reprimand did not fall on deaf ears. He didn’t apologize, but he hung his head in defeat and didn’t say anything else.
As if he hadn’t been interrupted, Raphael continued. “So my theory is that Abraham had some kind of terrible, long-standing grudge against Maguire’s demon. He probably had to bide his time for a long while until they were both on the Mortal Plain at the same time, in proximity to each other, and in an execution state.
“His plan seems to work like a charm, and his long-awaited revenge is on the verge of success. He knows Maguire’s demon is too powerful to be exorcized, and he’s just orchestrated the perfect murder. There’s no chance that he will pay the price for it, since no one in the Demon Realm can possibly know what he’s done.”
I found myself nodding along with the explanation. “And then I came along, and instead of the demon being burned to death in Maguire’s body, I sent him back to the Demon Realm.”
“Where you can bet he’s informed the demon authorities of what Abraham tried to do. And if Abraham ever sets foot in the Demon Realm again, he will be imprisoned for all eternity, since our laws on murder are harsh. So not only did you foil his plan for revenge, you also condemned him to imprisonment—or permanent exile on the Mortal Plain.”
I remembered Hillerman’s almost manic giggle when he’d faced my confusion over his motive. When I’d thought he was only human, my assumption had been that he was a bit cracked. I don’t know why I hadn’t allowed for the idea that the demon might be a bit cracked himself.
I was pondering what good our newfound information about motive would do us when Raphael’s phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID, then frowned.
“Adam,” he informed us as he answered.
I joined him in frowning. Adam was supposedly staying as far away from this case as possible, and since he was at least slightly under suspicion—though it wasn’t clear suspicion of what—it didn’t seem like calling my hideout was the wisest move.
It didn’t take more than about two seconds for me to see that this was an emergency. Raphael’s face turned white, and his eyes widened. He dropped the phone and leapt to his feet, crossing the distance between us and grabbing me by the arm.
“Saul, stay here!” he ordered as he dragged me toward the door.
“What?” Saul and I chorused together.
“The police will be here any moment. You can’t be seen aiding and abetting, so stay here!” The last was a full-fledged bellow.
Saul looked as confused as I felt, but at least for the moment, he didn’t move. Raphael hauled me out the front door and slammed it behind him.
“What are you doing?” I gasped. His grip on my arm was so brutal my hand was falling asleep.
He didn’t answer, but we hadn’t gotten more than about twenty paces from the house before I understood. Three police cars were tearing down the street, sirens wailing. Raphael practically posed us under one of the streetlights, and before I could even blink, we were surrounded by shouting cops with guns.
If we’d stayed in that house even one or two more minutes, the cops would have stormed the place and found Saul as well.
“Still think Barbie’s pure as the driven snow?” Raphael inquired, but I didn’t get to answer, because I was being wrestled to the ground, even though I wasn’t resisting. And moments later, Raphael collapsed to the pavement as the cops Tasered him.
CHAPTER 25
Raphael and I were driven to the police station in separate vehicles, and once we got there, we were immediately separated. Luckily, it was Adam who took custody of Raphael. Since the police already knew he was possessed—Tommy was, after all, a legal, registered demon host—he would fall under the jurisdiction of Adam’s department.
I, on the other hand, belonged to the regular human homicide squad, and they were eager to book me. However, it appeared my arrest warrant came with a court-ordered examination by an exorcist. Pretty much standard procedure when the police haul someone in. They’d examine me before the whole booking procedure so that they’d know ASAP if they needed to take any extra precautions.
I was handcuffed to the table in a holding room, being watched by guards armed with Tasers, when the exorcist came in. It was something like three in the morning by now, and she looked like she’d been rousted from bed, her eyes heavy and kind of dull. She also looked like she might have graduated from high school approximately yesterday, and she was so new on the scene that I’d never met her before. Of course, cream-of-the-crop exorcists don’t get shitty jobs like examining auras at oh-dark-thirty.
Being a newbie, she went with the whole formal ritual, complete with a circle of protection and chanted mumbo jumbo. She wouldn’t be able to see Lugh, because as long as I was in control, my aura overwhelmed his, so I wasn’t overly worried. I was just tired and depressed and scared, and I wanted this whole ordeal to be over with.