Chapter 12 #2
By their reactions, they agree with Asher and think this is good news. I force confidence into my voice that I don't feel. "That means that going forward, we have legitimacy, access to resources, and a seat at the table when decisions are made."
"Does it come with health and dental?" Mica's gray eyes glint with amusement.
Clara giggles, and Izzy elbows her.
Heat crawls up my neck. "I'm not sure about any details, but I’m guessing not. Anyway." I grip my hands together to keep them from shaking. "We need to talk about our next steps. The demon marks. How we're going to—"
"Are you okay, Poppy?” Mica asks, her gaze narrowing.
“Yeah, of course.”
Orion and Reid can likely smell the lie, but thankfully they don’t call me on it.
“I didn’t sleep well. I’m kind of bagged.”
Orion, Asher, and Wylder, each give me a sympathetic smile. I shift my gaze and swallow, my throat growing thick. “So, about the demon marks. What are the next steps? We need a plan.”
“We need to figure out how to break them without you getting sucked into Tharuzel’s consciousness,” Orion says.
Yeah, I vote for that.
“Do we need to know everyone who has them?” Izzy asks. “For us to free them, we’d have to know who’s in trouble, right?”
"Could we do that by tracking the source signature in some way?” Orion asks, looking at Wylder. “That would be easier than canvassing the county door to door.”
Asher straightens in his chair. “Let’s brainstorm how that would look. Because us tromping out there with clipboards, pretending to be county surveyors seems like a gross waste of time and energy.”
Agreed. And I’m too damned tired for that.
Besides, it would take too long. Tharuzel is close to breaking through Sebastian’s wards. We need to cut off his energy influx as quickly as possible.
Izzy, Mica, and Clara are brainstorming how to isolate demon-marked citizens, their ideas bouncing off one another.
“What does access to resources mean?” Reid asks.
“And do we have to report back to the Order?” Orion wonders.
Everyone talks at once. Voices overlap, ideas bouncing off each other too fast to track. My chest tightens.
I hold up a hand, but nobody notices.
Clara leans forward. "What if we created some kind of protective circle? Like a quarantine zone for—"
"That won't work with mobile targets," Mica interrupts. "People move around. Unless you want to lock them up somewhere—"
"We can't imprison civilians," Izzy protests.
"I wasn’t suggesting we imprison them. I was talking about containing them."
"Same thing."
"Actually, it's really not—"
"Guys." My voice comes out weaker than intended.
Reid shifts on the sofa arm, nearly toppling Orion. "What about tracking spells? If shifters can follow scent trails, witches should be able to follow magical signatures, right? Could that extend to demon magic?"
Orion shrugs. "Maybe… depending on the witch and their affinities. Not all magic works the same way."
"Then we need multiple approaches—"
"Which costs time we don't have—"
"Guys!"
The room falls silent. Seven pairs of eyes lock onto me. The hair on the nape of my neck tingles, and I reach back to scratch it. “This isn't productive—it’s chaos."
"So, what's the plan?" Mica's tone holds no challenge, just a genuine request to be set on a path.
My mind blanks out. What is the plan?
I thought calling this meeting would somehow generate one, but coordinating seven people with different skills and personalities feels like herding cats through a lightning storm.
When life was just me and Asher, we figured it out together and got things done. We added Wylder and Orion into the mix, and it still flowed naturally.
But this? This is something else entirely.
Asher must see me drowning because he stands, swaps places with me, and when I’m sitting in his chair, he pulls their focus. "Okay, so here’s what we know."
He lifts his hand and ticks points off on his fingers. "More civilians are wearing Tharuzel's targeting sigils every day. Tracking and noting people individually is a no-go and will only waste time we don’t have. So, that’s out."
Clara's eyes widen. "Then what do you suggest?"
“Let’s look at what happens. Tharuzel or one of his minions targets a person who is either hostile or suffering a great loss. The big guy feeds off negative emotions, and that either opens the targeted hosts up to be anchored to ghosts or acts as a beacon to draw ghosts.”
“Anchored to, how?” Izzy asks.
"They seem to be tethered." Asher's usual playfulness is gone. My bestie is locked and loaded. "The hosts are tethered to Tharuzel and the ghosts are tethered to the hosts. We think it’s a twofer power boost. Daddy Demon gets juice from both the living and the dead."
Silence descends, heavy and uncomfortable.
"But Poppy can break the attachments, right?" Izzy's quiet voice cuts through. "Like she did at the Harvest Festival and with the man in the diner?"
All eyes swing back to me.
My throat goes dry. "Maybe… but there's a problem."
"Multiple problems," Wylder corrects gently. "Each time Poppy uses her connection to interact with anything Tharuzel has corrupted, it draws her deeper into his hold and strengthens his connection."
Reid frowns. "Connection?"
"It’s a long, complicated story.” Asher is obviously giving me an out, but if these guys are going into battle with me, they deserve to know the truth.
I swallow, the taste of ash settling on my tongue.
“The gist of it is, Tharuzel marked my bloodline when my mom tried to take him down. When he confronted me and threatened my sisters, I got tangled up in a blood contract with him. I have no idea what that will mean, but he’s got his hooks in me and we’re working to break that connection. ”
The horrified looks around the room might mean that I overshared a little on that. "When I’ve used power against his influence, I ended up getting pulled into his consciousness, and then last night, he invaded my sleep and called me into the forest.”
Mica's expression sharpens. "So freeing people might give him a stronger hold on you?"
"Potentially, yeah."
Clara wraps her arms around herself. "That's horrible."
“Would you expect anything less from a demon?” Orion grumbles.
Mica scoffs. "So, he built a system where you breaking his tie to others, strengthens his tie to you?”
“Yeah, pretty much.” The knot in my stomach tightens.
"So, we need another way." Orion’s silver-blue gaze scans the room. "How do we remove the demon sigils without triggering supernatural repercussions for Poppy?"
“Is that even possible?” Reid looks skeptical.
Wylder pushes off the mantel, straightening. “Maybe we find a way that leaves Poppy out of it altogether.”
The concern in his gaze is obvious, and while I appreciate it, I can’t let them take on Tharuzel and leave me out of it just to save me from what ‘might’ happen.
“No. I’m in this. Whatever our plan is, I don’t want to be treated any differently or left out. The mark and the contract are both my problems, not yours. I won’t put you guys in danger and not be there to help.”
“What if your being there puts us in more danger?” Clara asks, giving me an apologetic wince. “If Tharuzel can access your dreams, what if he can read your memories or hear your thoughts? What if you unknowingly tell him our plan?”
The room falls quiet.
I blink at her, feeling sick. “I, uh… never thought of that.”
“We need an Occlumency spell.” Asher frowns when the group stares at him. “In, like, year five or something, Dumbledore had Snape teach Harry Occlumency to prevent his mind from being penetrated and influenced by Voldemort.”
Wylder blinks, and I’m preparing to defend my bestie from the ridicule that I expect to ensue when he dips his chin. “Not exactly a real thing, but the premise is sound. Izzy, look into ways to safeguard Poppy’s thoughts through psychic shielding. Do you know of any offhand?”
Izzy nods. “Yeah, I helped put together a potion using Angelica root and crushed obsidian dust a while back that worked really well for the customer. They wanted to strengthen the natural barriers of their mind to better compartmentalize thoughts. I’m sure we could adapt it to keep Brigade details secure. ”
Wylder nods. “Good. You and Clara are on that. Until you have it, we don’t finalize any plans in Poppy’s presence.”
Mica frowns. “How long will that take? Because I kinda need the Brigade’s help with something that I think will help with finding the Cinderheart forge.”
Wylder looks to Izzy. “Any idea how long you need?”
Izzy stands. “I can pull together the ingredients and the spell in an hour. Is there any chance I could do the working here with Zoe or Sebastian to help me? It’s a straightforward spell, but I’d rather have a senior practitioner overseeing, considering we’re trying to block a major demon.”
I nod. “Mom will make herself available, I’m sure. And we can call Sebastian away from bolstering the wards, too, if needed.”
Izzy shakes her head. “No, that’s just as important. Clara and I can work with your mom. I’m sure that’ll work.”
Asher scans the room. “All right. Let’s break for now so you ladies can work on the potion for Poppy. Then, when you’ve got it sorted, we’ll regroup and work on Mica’s forge issue. Does that work?”
Orion nods. “And in the meantime, we can all have our thinking caps on for ways to identify the demon-marked citizens en masse, and for a plan of how to break their tethers to Tharuzel without sucking Poppy deeper into his hold.”
The room buzzes with purpose, and I’m damned impressed. I’m also bone-tired and have a headache rooted deep behind my eyes.
Mica, Clara, Izzy, and Reid file out, still debating approaches in hushed tones.
The door closes behind them, leaving me with Asher, Wylder, and Orion. The quiet of the living room is a welcome relief.
"That was..." I trail off, searching for words.
"Awesome." Asher supplies cheerfully.
"I was going to say stressful and chaotic."
"Potato, potahto."