Of course, sometimes the conclusions she drew from that information were completely inaccurate. Like anyone else, she was p.r.o.ne to seeing what she wanted to see, what she expected to see. One thing she had not expected to see in Leander was a willingness to show his vulnerability. And she most certainly hadn't expected to be this vulnerable to him in return. She'd never planned to allow him a deep read. It belatedly occurred to her that if he'd seen her Demon Master potential during the read, he would probably look appalled. He looked anything but. She was afraid to a.s.sume he hadn't seen it, though. She'd rather know if he knew.

"So, what did you read that makes you think I'm so unique?" she asked him hesitantly.

"It's partly just that I could attune to you. But you also have an unusual power signature. There's a talent in there I sensed that I've never read before. Granted, I'm used to just being able to do a surface read on that kind of thing. I can't usually, for example, distinguish low power from high power, or Readers of energy versus Readers of energy and tells. This thing I felt, well, I wonder if it explains why you were able to cast out demons even though you don't quite read as a Demon Master."

Bree's knees went weak at Leander's words. He knew. She'd been senselessly clinging to the hope that he didn't. Well, now she'd have to face the consequences of her actions. She could just imagine what Gelsenim would say. We must kill him, my host. He will turn you in, and then you will be dead. She didn't think she had it in her to deliberately kill anyone, and even if she did, how was she supposed to do it? Even as all this sped through her mind, she realized Leander was looking at her with patient calm.

"Bree, I'm not going to rush out and turn you into the Ecclesias," he said after giving her a beat to respond. "I don't think you're Keltoi, and I don't think you're a Demon Master in the cla.s.sic sense. Am I wrong? Are you calling demons and making them possess people for your own ends?"

"No," she whispered.

"Are you experimenting with demons?"

Her long hesitation gave her away anyway, so she answered honestly, voice coming back to her as her fear of some immediate freak out from Leander faded. "Yes, to a certain extent. But only to try to see if there's a way to get rid of them, or at least get them to stop pushing people into bad acts."

"And is this something you're doing with Daniel?"

Her sense of panic sprang at her again like a panther leaping for her throat. I have to protect Daniel, was her first frantic thought, closely followed by Leander will know if I tell him an outright lie. "Daniel is helping me, yes. He's been monitoring me, and we've been taking it slow. I don't want to get demon burned.

"But Leander, what we're doing is important!" she continued pa.s.sionately. She had to convince him, had to get him on board. It was the only alternative, because she certainly wasn't capable of killing him to ensure his silence. "We know it's risky, we know that maybe it's arrogant to think we might succeed where so many other people have failed. But just think what life might be like without demons in the world! I know people are capable of great evil on their own, but you know how possessions make people worse. I'm sure it doubles or triples the amount of bad things that people do to each other. Not to mention that hosts can take permanent damage from a possession or get killed by them. Look, we're taking every care not to be corrupted by demons. We're keeping contacts brief, we're monitoring for effects. And we are getting somewhere, Leander, we really are. We've already learned things about demons I don't think they've ever disclosed before."

"You are quite the little knight in shining armor, aren't you?" Leander said with an amused, tender look. "Riding to the rescue of all humanity." His hand shifted from where it still rested on her shoulder from the read. His thumb moved to trace the line of her jaw, causing a little shiver to move through her, part nerves, part pleasure. It came to her then that she had to stop this line of questioning. If he directly asked whether Daniel was a Demon Master, it would be a very bad thing. She knew Daniel didn't trust Leander. Given what Leander had seen with his own eyes, she had no choice but to try to trust him. That caress of her face, the tenderness in Leander's voice, gave her the inspiration she needed about how to divert him.

"And do you need rescuing Leander? Shall I rescue you as well?" she asked softly, moving her own hand in a sensuous caress of his cheek. A part of her was dissolving in hysterical laughter deep inside. She was no Mata Hari, no seasoned seductress. This would never work.

But it did work. "Please do," Leander whispered back, and in one smooth move, he shifted forward, put a hand behind her neck, and drew her down to him for a lingering, deep kiss.

Bree tried to surrender herself to it. Leander was a very attractive man and, as she was discovering, a good kisser. His tongue thrust firmly but slowly into her mouth, then retreated, inviting her to follow, and after a nice interlude of that teasing dance, he pulled back just enough that he could nibble and pull at her upper lip, then her lower. His hand on her hip pulled her closer, then maneuvered her until she was sitting sideways on his lap. One hand traced it's way up her side as they kissed, up under her vest and along her blouse, then ran lightly over the outer edge of her breast, causing an involuntary in drawing of her breath.

She rested her hand on his bare chest, then allowed it to travel up across his shoulder, moving his shirt off it. She pulled away from his mouth and bent over his neck, kissing and nibbling her way gently down its slope to his shoulder. She was getting turned on even though she was stunned and horrified at what she was doing. Just how far was she going to take this? Was she going to sleep with this man in order to protect Daniel? And what then? Pillow talk that put her right back in the situation she had just manipulated her way out of? She had to get out of this somehow before all that happened. She was distracted as Leander pulled her back up to him for another kiss, then mimicked her route, kissing down her neck and across the top of her shoulder. Lord, it felt good. She pressed against him in response without conscious volition. She almost resented it when her busy brain came up with a workable escape route. With definite reluctance, she made her body stiffen up and pulled away from Leander's questing mouth. "Wait, Leander wait!" she gasped in a not entirely feigned voice of interrupted, breathless desire. "I'm just, I can't," she stuttered, then scrambled off his lap and backed away from him. "I'm sorry, I just, I can't go there right now. Not so quickly."

"It's okay," Leader soothed. He stood up slowly, but didn't move closer. "Just tell me what's wrong."

She folded her arms and looked away from him in embarra.s.sment. She deliberately brought to mind all the real, true reasons she didn't want to go to bed with Leander right now. She had to be honest to be convincing. "It's not that anything's wrong exactly. It's just that, well, things with Daniel, they're not really settled. I haven't slept with him or anything, we're not a couple. But there's something between us, and it's unresolved. And I'm just not the person to be with two men at the same time. Even though I'm not really with him. Oh, I don't know how to explain it!"

And she really didn't, she reflected wryly, not to herself, not to anyone. She couldn't be more honest than that. "And besides," she blurted out, "I haven't slept with anyone since my husband died."

"My poor, dear Bree," Leander crooned. He crossed the distance between them and raised a hand a gently pushed some hair that had escaped her braid away from her face. "I'm not going to rush you into anything. I don't want you to feel conflicted about being with me." His hand dropped and he smiled wistfully down at her. "Naturally, I hope you decide it's not going to work with Daniel and you're willing to see if there's something between us. You intrigue me, very much. And, in case you didn't notice, I desire you very much as well."

In spite of herself, Bree was moved by Leander's words. If she were as interested in him as she was pretending, it would have been exactly what she would have wanted to hear. Of course, on the other hand, she wasn't entirely pretending. It appeared there might be more to Leander than the insouciant ladies man he seemed on the surface. As she considered her response, he went on.

"About the other thing. I meant it when I said I wasn't going to run to the Ecclesias. I hear what you're trying to do with the demon research, and I guess I trust that your intentions are good. In fact, I'd like to help you, in any way I could. But I would like to know more about it, to make sure I'm making the right choice in that."

"I can understand that," Bree conceded. "And I will tell you more, only not tonight, okay? I don't think I can handle anymore tonight. I'm totally wiped, and I'm confused and not at all sure I'm thinking clearly. In fact, I think it's best if I go home. Hopefully, the cops have dispersed the riot by now and it'll be possible to get back to the where my car is."

"I'll drive you there," Leander rea.s.sured her. To her great relief, he led the way first out of the bathroom, and after retrieving their coats, out of the apartment. And he didn't question her any further on the drive back to the restaurant. He had to take the long route down the waterfront, up and around Pike Place Market, then back down south in order to avoid going through the center of Pioneer Square. He pulled up to the load/unload zone in front of the restaurant and put his car in park, but didn't turn it off. He turned to face her as she undid her seat belt. "Call me?" he said hopefully to her as she reached for the door latch.

On impulse, she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "I'll call you," she a.s.sured him, and got out the car. The valet from the restaurant came out to greet her, and Leander pulled away.

As she waited for her car to be brought around, wilting in emotional and physical fatigue, she reflected that this had been one of the strangest days of her life. Having her first actual date in years, being embroiled in a riot, nearly getting killed, calling a demon to possess her, risking everything by openly casting out demons without an exorcism ritual, and deliberately seducing a man in order to keep Daniel's secrets. Thinking of Daniel made her flush in shame. She knew just what he'd think of her kissing Leander Rayne. There he was, fighting the fight of his life in solitude, battling to keep his sanity, trying to keep her from risking herself in a bid to help him, and here she was, going out on a date and making out with a man Daniel clearly didn't like or trust. And she knew without a doubt how she'd feel about Daniel kissing someone else. She'd hate it with every fiber of her being.

She had meant the meeting with Leander to be another friend date, like the last one, she told herself defensively. In fact, she'd planned on making those boundaries clear with him over the course of the night. But she had to admit to herself that she hadn't completely ruled out the idea of dating Leander if, at some point, it was clear nothing could happen with Daniel.

How much clearer could that be? she asked herself desolately. Really, what were the chances that Daniel could actually stay stable? What if he could only accomplish that by continued solitude? Still, she hadn't wanted to complicate things further right now by pursuing a romance of any kind with Leander. And now look what she'd done. Her mood, already chancy, crashed completely. Now all she needed was to get home to find Keepers awaiting her, ready to drag her off to the Ecclesias on suspicion of being a Demon Master. Just because she hadn't seen any Keepers tonight didn't mean some Keeper hadn't seen her. She glumly decided there was nothing she could do about that now. If she'd been nailed, she'd been nailed. She wasn't going to leave town in fear of something that might not happen, so she'd just have to deal with whatever way it turned out.

The valet pulled up in her car, and she tipped him and climbed into the driver's seat. It was a long, weary drive home.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.

Bree felt depressed much of the next day, more so than she had felt in a very long time. It was Sunday, and it was an unusually warm, sunny day. She took a brief tour of her garden in the morning, seeing the hopeful green leaves of bulbs emerging everywhere. There were quite a lot of daffodils of every kind, the bravely yellow stalwarts and the more delicate white variety, and the tulips were sending up green buds on long stalks.

Hanroi followed her around, dashing by at full speed, then coming back to her, scratching at the gra.s.s playfully, and making a few predatory jumps into the garden beds, making Bree wince as some new growth got trampled. She'd hoped getting outside would lift her spirits, maybe get her in the mood to do some gardening, but apart from a few brief smiles at Hanroi's antics, it didn't really do the trick.

She went back inside and turned on the TV news. She couldn't seem to help morbidly going over and over reports on last night's riot in Pioneer Square. Ten were dead, including two police officers, and many more injured. There had been a smaller, similar incident in the University District as well. None dead there, but a good bit of property damage and looting. The mayor was promising more police on the streets in neighborhoods where there had been trouble. There'd been complaints of police brutality, and some bystander had gotten video footage of at least one such incident.

She kept having the grim feeling that life as she knew it was ending. Riots, looting, murder in the streets; this was not her city, the city she loved. This was the sort of thing that happened somewhere else in the world, somewhere they didn't have a stable government, where there was overwhelming poverty and political unrest. Countries where there were no Keepers and demons could possess people at will, without interference.

She finally cut herself off from the news after an hour, but the silence in her house wasn't an improvement. It left her thinking about Daniel, about Leander, about her actions last night. Nothing seemed to be going right. She almost called Gelsenim out of loneliness and a desire for some distraction, but decided those weren't good enough reasons.

She was invited for dinner at Bruce and Sophie's house, along with Kevin, Steve, and Hunter, and she came close to canceling, not wanting to spread her foul mood. As the time approached, however, she realized she did want to see her friends. And besides, it was very likely she'd feel better for it. She finally got out of her sweats and took a shower. She left the house with hair still damp and hanging free, as by that time she was running too late to spend more time on it.

She was the last to arrive. Bruce answered the door, his seven year old nephew Brendan, a golden haired, brown eyed stocky little boy, hanging off of him. He and Sophie had obviously pulled babysitting duty for Bruce's sister Hannah. Hunter was close behind, already talking a mile a minute. Bree gave Bruce a brief hug h.e.l.lo, then allowed Hunter to pull her into the living room where he and Brendan had been playing with legos.

"And see, Bree, here's the fire station. I made that. And Brendan made that house, and this one, it's a garage, like where you take your car to get fixed. It's a small town like where Grandma and Grandpa Vilchek live, because we don't have enough legos to make a big one."

Bree obediently squatted down and admired the construction. There were some small cars and trucks scattered about as well. Brendan, more shy than Hunter, was running a tiny orange Mustang with great concentration along the carpet and into his 'garage,' which was a multi-colored lego square about five bricks high without a roof. She could hear the sound of talking and laughing from the kitchen, but she was enjoying hanging out with the boys and wasn't in a hurry to join the adults. Hunter's green eyes sparkled and his little hands gestured expressively as he described his building project. He'd recently gotten a haircut, and his silky brown bangs were shorter than usual.

She had known Hunter since Kevin and Steve had adopted him as an infant, and had often served as chief baby sitter when his Dads needed a date night as neither of them had family in town. She adored Hunter, and was glad to see him behaving so normally. His abduction last fall had been a great trauma, and while she was told he still had a heightened fear of strangers, overall, he seemed to have recovered well. Bruce eventually made his way out to Bree holding two gla.s.ses of wine and offered one to her, which she gratefully took. He sat down on the couch, and momentarily, Brendan was leaning up against Bruce's leg, proffering a car and asking his uncle what kind it was.

"That, little man, is a Porsche. That is one fast car."

"Hunter, this is a Porsche!" Brendan announced importantly. Hunter came over to have a look, and Bree moved to sit next to Bruce on the couch. In a moment, Kevin came out and joined them, taking a seat in the bright red chair to their left. "Sophie and Steve have things well in hand. I've been informed that those who love to cook don't welcome input from those who merely love to eat." He patted his rounded stomach comfortably as he spoke. "And I do love to eat. There's some baba ghanouj and vegetables in there, Bree, if you need a nosh."

"I'm good for the moment," she rea.s.sured him. Hunter paused in his play to clamber up onto Kevin's lap. "Daddy, Bree was sad before, but now she feels better. I told her about my fire station, and she said it was aventive."

"I suspect you mean 'inventive,' son," Kevin replied as he shot Bree a speculative look. Hunter was a budding Reader, and was p.r.o.ne to making these sudden, awkward announcements on the emotional state of those around him.

"Yeah, inventive." He hopped back down and joined Brendan again.

"So what's up?" Kevin asked Bree, concern evident on his face. She rolled her eyes in the direction of the boys playing on the floor and said, "Oh, you know, just a bit of a down day."

Kevin got the hint and dropped the subject, asking Bruce instead about his new computer at work. Kevin was a programmer, and Bruce a moderately geeky user, so the conversation soon went over Bree's head and well beyond her interest level. She wandered out into the kitchen where Sophie was busy frying up falafel while Steve chopped tomatoes and cuc.u.mbers.

Bree helped herself to veggies and dip while she caught up on the news with her two friends. Steve had just gotten an exciting new contract to design a waterfront home for a high level Microsoft executive. He was an architect with a specialty in green design, and it was just the sort of project he loved best: Contemporary, great views, and a client with a strong interest in using sustainable and recycled materials. Sophie had recently delivered a baby to a couple who wanted a whole community of friends to be present providing chanting and drumming. As she removed some of the falafel patties with a slotted spoon and put them into the oven to keep warm, she said, "Hey, you know I'm all for whatever makes the mother happy. And I personally am a big fan of drumming and chanting. But eighteen hours of it? Non-stop? I could not get to sleep last night for almost two hours because those frigging' chants just kept rolling over and over in my head!" She smiled as she said it, though.

Listening to her friends talk about the details of their week was tremendously soothing. Bree didn't feel much like talking herself, but she could feel her sadness and anxiety lifting even further as she watched Sophie and Steve finish putting together the Middle Eastern themed feast.

Although Sophie and Bruce had a dining room, it was the sort of s.p.a.ce that was seldom used for the purpose for which it was designed. The dining table currently held a stack of mail and Sophie's laptop, as well as a scattering of books. Instead, the adults would be eating at the table in the kitchen, and the two boys, at their own request, were arranged cross-legged in front of the coffee table in the living room. Sophie dished out some mac and cheese for the boys, along with some carrot sticks and peas, as both had strongly declined the majority of what the adults were having. Bree and Steve helped settle the boys with their food, then returned to the kitchen, which was down the hall from the living room, at the back of the house. This provided some privacy for the adult's discussion, but it did mean that someone had to get up periodically and look in on the kids.

The dinner started convivially enough, with more little bits of personal happenings, but inevitably, turned to news of the wider world. "It's bizarre, isn't it?" Sophie complained between bites of falafel. "I just can't wrap my head around the idea of the riots and the looting happening. You know, in a way, I can get the riots. People can get crazy in a crowd, people b.u.mp each other, get violent, all that. The looting almost freaks me out more. Obviously, the violence is worse by far, but there's something so, I don't know, post-apocalyptic about people just bashing in store windows and taking what they want."

"It feels like law and order is breaking down," Steve said worriedly.

"Yes, and that's the whole point of it all, if we're to believe the rumors we've heard. We're supposed to feel that way, we're supposed to be outraged and demand a change in government," Kevin countered.

"Yeah, and we're apparently supposed to give up our civil liberties as well," Bruce added darkly. "There's been talk about a curfew, and it worries me. I see the point of it for now, but I don't like where this is headed."

"If it were just happening here, I think I'd find it less overwhelming," Bree put in. Her enjoyment in the excellent food dwindled with the change in subject. She used her napkin to wipe the yogurt-cuc.u.mber sauce that had dribbled onto her hands from her falafel sandwich off her fingers. "I hear it's much worse in L.A. and Miami."

"I suppose we should thank our rainy climate for that," Steve said. "Tempers run high when it's hot, and at least we don't have that to deal with."

"Things were hot enough last night, at Pioneer Square. Javier called me in on it, so I was there for a good part of it."

There were gasps and questions from around the table at that. Kevin admitted he'd gotten a message from Javier as well, but had been unable to respond because he'd been home alone with Hunter, as Steve had been out having dinner with a friend. Steve gave him a sharp look at that, and Bree wondered what his stance was on Kevin taking part in these powered activities. She couldn't imagine he loved the idea. She didn't love the idea of anyone at all being involved, but here they all were.

"It was a madhouse," she told the group as they finally quieted down enough to let her talk. "I was having dinner with Leander..."

"Leander Rayne? That guy I invited to the St. Patrick's Day party?" Bruce asked. There was something in his tone that left Bree feeling that Bruce had mixed feelings about the idea of her going out with Leander. He and Daniel had become fast friends, and she'd previously gotten the impression that he would have liked it if she and Daniel ended up together. On the other hand, Bruce wasn't one to interfere in someone else's personal life. The same could not be said for Sophie, who immediately waded in with, "Goodness, Bree, he's gloriously handsome, but I could have sworn I smelled 'womanizer' all over that guy. Are you sure he's your type?"

"It wasn't a 'date' date," Bree replied, cheeks coloring, "it was a friend date. Or at least that's what I intended."

"Oh, this sounds like a good story," Steve said, eyebrows wriggling suggestively.

Bree felt control of the conversation slipping away from her at a high rate of speed. She attempted to wrest it back by forging ahead briskly. "Anyway, I got a message from Javier, and since Leander was with me, he wanted to come along. He's something of a Caster and Warder, and he was definitely helpful." With that, she'd managed to get the attention off her date with Leander, and was able to finish her story of her involvement in the riot. Kevin looked grim, maybe even angry, as she related her utilizing of Gelsenim to cast out the demons of their attackers near the end. She knew it worried him greatly, the risk of discovery of her budding Demon Master potential, but he didn't comment. Bree had planned on skipping her strange, complicated encounter with Leander, but decided she needed other eyes on this, other perspectives. She hadn't ended feeling very good about it all, but still couldn't think what else she could have done.

"You know, I've gotta say I'm impressed," Sophie said as Bree concluded her tale of deceit and seduction. She had pushed her plate away and had her elbows on the table, hands clasped together, and she gave Bree a rather wicked smile over her hands. "I do believe you bested Parrot Boy at his own game."

"Parrot boy?" Bree asked, mystified.

"Oh, it's just a little pet name Bruce and I made up for Leander. You know, colorful, talkative, smart, and a little full of himself. Kinda goes with the Bird Master theme. Anyway, I call that thinking on your feet, girl."

"Truly, I can't think what else you could have done. Distraction is your only hope with a Reader," Kevin rea.s.sured her, leaning forward to put a hand briefly on her forearm. Bree figured she must look as embarra.s.sed as she felt if she was garnering that kind of support.

"It just feels wrong to be manipulative in that way. But I really didn't think it was my place to reveal anything about Daniel. I don't have any particular reason to distrust Leander, but Daniel seems to think he might be a dark power user."

"Daniel never told me that," Kevin said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, where is Daniel anyway?" Steve asked.

Bruce replied. "We invited him, but he said he couldn't make it. He didn't seem to want to talk. There was something, I don't know, something in his voice that worried me."

Bree's glance crashed right into Kevin's, and she realized that they must be the only two people Daniel had told about his self-imposed exile and the reasons for it. Bree was intensely relieved that she wasn't the only one who knew.

"He's got something to work out," Kevin said carefully. "Something having to do with Gelsenim's 'divided' theory. He can get a little obsessed when he's working on something like that."

"Yeah, and he can get a little ridiculous when he thinks he's protecting other people," Bruce countered. There was a brief interruption as Brendan came barreling into the room asking if he could have some cookies. Steve got up and went to check on how much supper the boys had managed to eat so far and mediate cookie negotiations.

The break in conversation allowed a certain tension to be felt in the room between Bruce and Kevin, and as soon as Brendan was out of the room, Bruce leaned forward. "Sometimes I think that man has us all enchanted," he said intently. "We all have a tendency to do whatever he says. Yes, he's an experienced Keeper. Yes, he has more power than probably everyone here at the table combined and then some. He's on something of a mission, and it's a mission we've all signed up for, for one reason or another. But that doesn't mean that Daniel always knows what's best for Daniel. Why should he have to try to figure this all out alone?"

He glanced briefly in Bree's direction, and she answered defensively, "Look, I tried my best to sell him on another course. We had a disagreement about it, but he wouldn't be moved. And in the end, it's his life, right? We can't make him do something he's not willing to do."

"That's all true, but I'm just saying I think it's probably not best for him to take this type of research on all by himself. Whatever happened to the idea that you were going to monitor him, Bree?"

Bree's anxiety for Daniel, which had been eating at her all week, rose to the surface and leaped out like a suddenly freed porpoise. "I know, I know! But after he had that break, he just wouldn't listen, he wouldn't let me in. I think it's crazy for him to do it this way, but I just could not get through to him!"

"What break?" Sophie asked, and the simple question brought a sudden halt to the conversation. Kevin looked at her inquiringly, and after a minute's squirming, guilty, internal debate, Bree decided to let them all know about Daniel having become fully divided. Kevin didn't try to stop her, although he looked uncomfortable as she spoke. Steve got back early in the recitation, so she didn't have to repeat herself much.

"Lady protect him," Sophie breathed as Bree concluded her story.

"d.a.m.n it, I thought it was something like that," Bruce muttered right on Sophie's heels.

"I know I'm out of my league here when it comes to all this powered stuff, but isn't it kind of dangerous to just let Daniel be off by himself, without anyone at all checking in on him?"

"I've been checking in on him," Kevin put in quietly. Steve gave him an accusing look. "I'm sorry, love, but he told me in confidence, and I had to respect that. I'm no Reader, but he's been checking in by phone and email, several times a day, just so I know he's still more or less himself."

"And neither of you could have told me that?" Bree asked hotly. She'd swung from guilty anxiety straight into anger. When she thought of how much she'd gnawed at this very question, feeling irresponsible for not seeing that Daniel was monitored, feeling equally faithless if she told anyone else of his struggle without really knowing how things were going. He'd seemed well enough, comparatively speaking, when they parted, yet she'd been suffering an agony of suppressed worry.

Kevin sighed and gave her a weary look. "I wanted to say something, Bree. I thought it was the best course. But Daniel seems to think he can protect you best by keeping you completely out of it."

Bruce pounded his closed fist on the table, not very loudly, but hard enough to startle them all. "Exactly. That is exactly it. Bree is the one person who has the best chance at helping him, and he's keeping her out of it. Does this sound like a man who's thinking clearly to you? I'm not buying it."

"Yeah, well, good luck getting him to do something else," Kevin said tiredly. There was something of his long history as Daniel's friend in his weary tone. Given Kevin's mother hen nature and Daniel's high risk lifestyle, it had probably often been a difficult ride for Kevin.

"Well I, for one, mean to try," Bruce rumbled, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms, beard sticking out at an a.s.sertive angle.

"He did seem strangely normal when I saw him last," Bree put in tentatively. "It was actually kind of weird. It made me wonder if I'd somehow imagined the whole break at all."

"I don't think you imagined it, not based on what Daniel told me," Kevin replied. "But on the other hand, when I've spoken with him on the phone, he's seemed perfectly coherent, at least so far."

"I can see this puts our demon research project on hold," Sophie commented. "I kind of have mixed feelings about that."

"Well I'll admit I'm relieved," Steve said. "I get why you're all doing it, but it's scary as h.e.l.l. Except for this thing you've got going on with your demon, Bree. That's really very interesting, isn't it? You say you're not having any negative effects at all?"

She shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "Not as far as I can tell. It has to mean something, that it's working out that way. It has to mean something about what the demons are all about. Why is possession working so well with me and so poorly with Daniel? If we could find out the answers to that, we'd know so much."

"I've been wondering if it has something to do with being such a good Reader," Sophie speculated, light brown eyes snapping with interest in her round face. "Think about it for a minute. What do you do on a deep Read? You attune your energy to the other person. You have to have that kind of internal flexibility."

"Bree, flexible?" Kevin snorted out a laugh.

"I mean on an energetic level," Sophie returned with a little smile. It was a long standing joke among the group that Bree could be opinionated. "And come to think of it, that's what you do during a taint clearing or an exorcism, isn't it? Don't you have to attune to the demon's energy to some degree? Isn't that the particular skill of an Exorcist, beyond the rudimentary Casting ability you need?"

Bree frowned in concentration as she considered Sophie's theory. "Wouldn't that mean that most Reader/Exorcists would be able to handle possessions? Or that the demons possessing them wouldn't feel any hunger? Wouldn't someone have noticed that by now if it were true?"