Demon Master (Demonsense series Book 2) (12 page)

Leander held up and presented the bottle he’d brought and said, “It seemed only fitting given the occasion.” It was a bottle of Bushmill’s Irish whiskey, and Bruce reached out for it with a happy smile. “Ah yes, the Bushmill’s,” he said in a bad Irish accent. “We must sample it immediately!”
 

A big fuss was made of getting out glasses and pouring around some shots. Bree checked surreptitiously for Daniel and saw he was in conversation with Kevin. The two were long time friends, having gone to school together back in Massachusetts. He was nodding in agreement to something Kevin was saying, but Bree noticed his eyes darted towards Leander several times, and several more towards her.
 

Leander had managed to maneuver back to Bree’s side and started a conversation with her, asking about her work. When she told most people she was a massage therapist, it was a conversation stopper, she supposed because they thought they knew what a massage consisted of and couldn’t imagine there was anything to talk about. Leander was interested in what types of massage she did, what were her favorites and why. She seldom had a chance to talk about work in such detail outside of colleagues, and she rather enjoyed it. And she couldn’t help but enjoy the attention. In spite of his earlier flamboyant entrance, once she was actually talking to him, Leander paid the kind of friendly, appreciative attention that said he found her interesting and maybe even a little attractive, but he wasn’t going to be pushy about it.
 

Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Steve and Hunter, and Leander’s attention was taken by a group of men who pulled him into the corner to talk whiskey. Steve filled a plate with some vegetable sticks and dip, and some baguette slices with butter and offered it to Hunter, nixing Hunter’s request for another cookie. Bree was listening to an exchange between Steve and Hunter when she saw Bruce come up to Sophie. Sophie reached out a hand to her husband’s arm and shook it a little. “You, my dear, are stirring the pot.”

“I haven’t the faintest idea of what you’re talking about,” Bruce answered piously.

“You know what I mean. Bringing Leander here and introducing him to Bree.” Her voice was lowered to a whisper, but Bree was close enough to hear anyway, and her attention had been caught by the use of her name. “Didn’t you see Daniel’s reaction?”

“As far as I’m concerned, it would do Daniel some good to get a little push. For God’s sake, Soph, the man is half crazy for her, but he won’t do a damned thing about it.”

“You know it’s more complicated than that,” Sophie hissed between smiling teeth.
 

“What’s complicated about love?” Bruce asked, as he raised a hand and stroked Sophie’s face softly.

Bree looked away, cheeks coloring, embarrassed by what she’d heard, embarrassed at having listened in. Involuntarily, her eyes sought Daniel, and he was staring right at her.
 

Bree fled the kitchen for the living room, where the music session was just setting up, chastising herself for her cowardice. She knew a number of the musicians, and greeted them as they settled into the dining area that connected to the living room. Most of them had played with her husband from time to time. She knew a moment’s deep longing for Seth. Her life had been complicated by the exorcism work they’d done from time to time, but they’d otherwise had an easy, peaceful existence together. Her feelings for Seth had never been the least bit confused. She sighed and forced her mind away from dwelling on her loss. This was a party, this was music she loved, and it was time to live in the present.

She leaned against the wall and sipped at her wine, letting the music overtake her. She was starting to feel buzzed, and she welcomed the feeling. Leander came into the room, followed closely by Daniel, and to her great discomfort, they ended up one on either side of her. She wasn’t as a rule much of a drinker, but she suddenly planned to have more, maybe a lot more, tonight.
   

People were starting to push back the furniture, and a couple of the guys carried out chairs to make way for some dancing. The next time the offer of whiskey came around, she took some. She noticed Daniel did too.
 

He still hadn’t spoken to her, or she to him, but given the press of people, his shoulder was touching hers. Her prediction that things would be awkward between them was certainly coming true in spades. She felt a sensation of heat and tension radiating off of him. Leander, on her other side, was jostled into her by someone else, and he put an apologetic hand on her shoulder and smiled down at her. Both men were of a height, and Bree felt loomed over. She tipped back her head and took the shot of whiskey in one go, and felt a grim sense of satisfaction. She focused in on the music, closed her eyes and let it fill her. Her foot started tapping. She knew this one.
 

Her reverie was broken by the sound of Daniel’s voice in her ear, low and intimate. “I’d like to talk to you tonight before you go.”
 

A shiver went down Bree’s spine like the feet of restless weasels, snapping her out of her music and alcohol induced fog. She looked up at him, and in her unease, she read him. His tells spoke of repressed anger and determination, and there was a cant to his body that told her was holding back a desire to grab her and haul her out of there.

Before she could answer, she felt Leander’s hand slip into hers on the other side.
 
“Do you want to dance?” he said into her other ear.

With relief and not a little mean spirited enthusiasm, she turned to Leander, smiled a brilliant smile, and said, “You bet!”

The band had launched into a Celtic rock number, and dancing consisted of a lot of jumping up and down like pogo sticks and fist pumping by the men, with more sensuous hip swinging and swaying by the women. Leander surprised her by turning the number into something of a swing dance. Even in the little space they’d claimed, he managed to twirl her until she was dizzy.
 

Leander passed her off at Howard’s polite request at the end of the number with an appealing, flirtatious smile. She danced a number with Howard, went and got another shot of whiskey, then took up position in a line of women who were setting up for a traditional dance. Her parents had put her in Irish dance lessons as a kid, and she’d done it right through high school, doing a bit of competing and teaching of the younger classes to make some extra money. She seldom got a chance to do this kind of dancing anymore. She was a little too buzzed for perfect coordination, but what the hell, no one would care. The slip-jig started, and after an initial hesitation, she soon found the steps.
 

Bree felt a kind of desperate euphoria. She flung herself further into the dance, and away from Daniel, from Leander, from dilemmas, from choices. People were clapping and shouting encouragement as she and the other women stepped and leaped, arms straight to the side, feet flying. Bree’s skirt flipped and swung, and she felt hot and alive. The dance ended with a skirl of pipes, and Bree took a welcome break. Bruce approached her, and said, “I’m thinking the plan to meet at Daniel’s tomorrow morning should be pushed back. I’ve got a bad feeling we’re all going to be a little too hung over for, you know.” He gave a meaningful glance around at the sprinkling of normal friends in the room.

“Good point,” she conceded.
 
“I could make it Sunday instead. Why don’t you check and see if everybody’s on board with that?”

Bruce nodded agreement and moseyed off. Another song started, and Bree went out to dance again, but she couldn't seem to reconnect with her earlier exhilaration. As her feet moved on their own through the familiar steps, she caught sight of Daniel again and found herself wishing she had Gelsenim on board right now. Maybe with the enhanced power he brought, she’d be able to read what Daniel wanted to talk to her about and know whether or not she should avoid him for the rest of the night.

Almost as soon as she thought it, Bree felt a bloom of heat at her back. Her Demonsense gave a quiver, and a voice whispered in her ear, “I am here, my host, as you requested. I’d be happy to help.”

The music faltered slightly, and the woman dancing next to Bree missed a step and stumbled. Bree’s heart leapt into her throat, then tried to shoot all the way through the top of her head. She forced herself to make a turn in the dance so she could see behind her. Gelsenim was not visible, but she could feel his presence. It was far fainter than usual, and she wondered why he wasn’t all the way through into this realm.

Fortunately, the song ended then, and Bree made a show of fanning herself and moving toward the front door. She looked around frantically for Daniel, and of course, he was nowhere in sight now that she actually wanted to see him. Sophie caught her eye and smiled, but turned away before Bree could give her a high sign. Not sure what else to do, Bree walked out onto the porch where a couple of the partygoers were smoking cigarettes and talking. She went to the other end and leaned on the railing. Her Demonsense told her Gelsenim was still right behind her.

“I did not call you,” she murmured into the bushes that pushed close to the porch railing.

“You wished for me to be with you. I was waiting for your call, so I heard you,” the demon’s voice said softly. Gelsenim had chosen his most human sounding tone, perhaps to avoid alarming her.

“I thought we had an agreement,” she said heatedly.

“I said I would wait for your call,” Gelsenim countered, “and here I am. I believe you wished for my help.”

In her intoxicated state, Bree briefly considered it. She imagined going back into the party with Gelsenim on board. She remembered the feeling of power and confidence she’d had when he'd possessed her before. She wanted to feel powerful and in control instead of vulnerable, confused, and desperate not to think about all too many things, from Seth, to Daniel, to the planned possession.
 

Before she could answer Gelsenim, she caught movement out of the corner of her eye, and turned to see Daniel come out onto the porch. The other people went back inside as he opened the door. His Demonsense must have alerted him to Gelsenim’s presence. She did a quick mental review of the other powered at the party, and realized none of them had Demonsense. It was a relatively rare ability.

“Gelsenim, what are you doing here?” Daniel demanded, voice low and angry.
 
“My host called me,” Gelsenim’s voice purred, all innocence.

“Bree, please tell me he’s lying,” Daniel said, not taking his eyes off the air between them. His shoulders were rigid, and his fists were clenched.

“Not lying, exactly,” Bree said, trying not to sound intimidated. Bree heard a crash, and a bit of swearing waft out of the partly open door. The demon’s presence, even at this low a level, was starting to be felt. If they didn’t take care of this quickly, there would be more accidents, and likely a fight or two would break out. “Look, I was just imagining the possession, you know, the one we had planned for tomorrow, and he just showed up like this.”

“Like this. Yeah. And how do you explain that, demon?” Daniel asked. He was breathing too fast for calm, but it was clear he was making an effort to control himself.
 
“How is it you're here without your full form?”

“I have been experimenting. I know my host is overwhelmed by my full presence.
 
It causes her not to like me. I have been working on what you people call my energy signature.”

More voices were raised in the house, not quite angry yet, but with an edge.

“Daniel,” she hissed, “this is all very interesting, but there’s a house full of people here. We have got to tie this up.”

“If you allow me inside you, my energy will no longer disturb your friends,” Gelsenim’s voice coaxed, and as he spoke, a faint outline appeared in the air, the outline of his human form.
 

“Lord, no, not now! Tomorrow. No wait, Sunday. I’ll contact you on Sunday. Make him go away, Daniel.”

Daniel obediently raised his fists, and Bree felt the charge in the air as he gathered his Demon Master power, far more of a charge than she usually felt. Before he could speak, Gelsenim said, “You have only to ask me to leave, my host, and I will obey.”

Bree blinked in surprise. “Okay. Gelsenim, please leave. I’ll call you on Sunday.”

“As you desire, my host.”

The outline of the demon’s form melted away, and Bree felt the air lighten. Gelsenim was gone.

“Well, that was a surprise,” she began, but was interrupted by Daniel turning to her and saying furiously, “What the hell were you playing at, calling a demon into a room full of people? Of normals, for God’s sake?”

“I told you I didn’t call him,” Bree returned defensively.
 

“There was nothing but good energy in the house. There’s no way anything else happened that would make an opening for a demon to come over. It had to be you.”

“Hah! Nothing but good energy except for you,” Bree returned heatedly. “You’re like the raven of doom, lurking around and glaring at me.”

“I was not glaring at you!”

“Well, I don’t know what else you'd call it. You wouldn’t speak to me, and every time I looked at you, you looked grim and pissed off.”

“You wouldn’t speak to me! You’re the one that doesn’t want anything to do with me!”

“No, you’re the one who walked out on me. You didn’t even let me explain!”

Daniel took a step closer to her, and as he did, she could smell the alcohol on his breath. Her mind put together a number of little tells in the way he was speaking and moving, and she realized that he was drunk.
 

“What’s there to explain?" he said. "You want me, but you don’t trust me. I get it. I respect it. I don’t even blame you for it. So feel free to do whatever you like. I’m taking myself out of the running. We can go back to working together like before. Just be careful with that Leander. That’s all I’m asking. There's something wrong with that guy.”

Bree crossed her arms. “Right, of course there’s something wrong with a guy who shows an interest in me.”