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Chapter Seven:
He woke up with his wrists and ankles tied to the bedposts. To his left her saw her leaning against the side of a chair with a blue pistol in one hand. He cursed at her. She shot him. Water that scalded his skin burst out.
"Blessed water still has an effect on you beings," she said. "Now speak in English or I'll keep this up."
"And harm your friend?" he said back in his ancient tongue.
She shot him again with more vigor.
"This will only have minimal damage compared to what it is doing to you right now," she said.
He cursed her in English.
"Much better," she said.
"What do you want, witch? I know you'd have vanquished me by now if you didn't want something."
"How many other friends are hiding in him with you?" she asked.
He laughed. "Too many to count!"
She shot him, and he screamed.
"There is a portal in his soul! Another witch promised her first child to the Almighty Demon in exchange for creating a gate in his soul that would allow demons to haunt him for eternity."
She swore, and he laughed maniacally.
"You know what you have to do, don't you?"
"I'd sooner kill him over the child."
"Then this witch has you beat!"
She got up and pulled out a chunk of rock of salt.
"With this salt, I declare all the actions be the action of demon's his own, and the host at no fault."
She smashed the salt on to his chest. He dissolved with happiness in his last thoughts.
…
Reid woke up in a bed that wasn't his. He realized he was wearing nothing but his boxers and clung to the sheets wrapped around him. Trying to remember what happened over the last twenty-four hours was hard. It was driving him crazy.
Then Simms walked in the room. She was wearing a black bathrobe.
"What happened last night?" he asked.
"Close your eyes, take three deep breaths, then open them. There is a bucket on the left side."
"I'm scared," he said suddenly.
"I have a rule against using forgetting spells," she said. "I also have new rule about lying to you, so I won't say things will get better. Just breath and remember."
Reid did what he was told. He was glad she left the bucket for him. With every heave a new horrible memory surfaced.
Him shoving his tongue down J.J.'s throat. Him savagely kissing Simms as he thought she was J.J. Her playing along as they pulled off most of each other's clothes until she lured him on to the bed with a pentagram painted on it. Then, her securing him with restraints and lightly cutting a pentagram onto his chest to keep the demon at bay. Finally, the revelation.
At this point he was dry heaving. He felt her hand wiping aside the sweat and tears on his face.
"There are more aren't they?" he said.
"Who do you know who would promise their child to the devil?" she asked.
"An assassin named Cat Adams I had arrested. From behind bars, she tried to get me imprisoned for a murder I didn't commit. She also tried to trick me into thinking the child she was pregnant with was mine, but it isn't. The FBI confirmed it with a paternity test after he was born."
"Do you know his name?" she asked.
"Adam."
"Because Damien would have been too on-the-nose," she muttered.
"Please tell me he's not the anti-Christ."
"He's not the anti-Christ," she said. "Promising your first born to a being isn't just a joke. People do it occasionally."
"Does it work?" he asked, fearing the answer.
"If the woman can be described as a monster, then the odds of it working are in her favor."
"How did I not know she was a witch?"
"Witches don't have to practice magic to be witches. They can merely possess the ability without ever needing to use the skill. Or some of her kills attributed to luck and planning were magic. She might not have known she possessed it until she summoned the devil."
"If she had magic, wouldn't she have found-magic doesn't always work," he said with a sigh.
"Tracking magic is a skill that needs to be practiced regularly with the right tools and guidance," she said. "I got very lucky with you the first time."
Reid's head suddenly felt very heavy.
"I need to go," he said taking a weak step forward while clinging the sheets. "I'll clean the bucket at my place and have your sheets cleaned. You've done enough for me."
Simms offered him the keys to his apartment. He took them.
"I don't suppose 'thank you' and 'sorry' begin to cover all that you've done for me," he said.
"My presence caused some of the disruption," she said. "We'll figure this out, I promise."
"You really believe that?"
"I have a firm rule about not lying to you," she said.
He walked to the door of her bedroom and then stopped and turned.
"My team?"
"Do you trust me to give an abbreviated version?" she asked.
"With my life."
"Then I'll I knock in a few hours to check on you. Try to sleep some more."
"Okay," he said and walked out of the room. He cringed at the sight of various articles of clothing strewn about the apartment. This wasn't fair to Ruby Simms. It wasn't at all.