Demonsense (Demonsense series Book 1) Read Free

walked toward Jeremy, who had gone completely still. At every step, her Demonsense spiked further. And at this point, that's what she wanted it to do, in spite of the nausea it caused. Jeremy's eyes widened in fear, but Bree wasn't buying it. Her Demonsense let her know the demon had moved to the forefront of Jeremy's consciousness. It was in control now, miming the expressions of a terrified child.  
    She moved the bible closer to Jeremy, and he reared back, head impacting with a thud against Father Anselm's chest. "All sacred scripture is anathema to demon kind," Bree said conversationally. She wasn't talking to Jeremy.
    "I want to go home," Jeremy whimpered convincingly.  
    "Perhaps we should try blessed salt next." Bree turned back and set the bible on the floor, and picked up the narrow glass bottle of salt. Bree wished that plastic didn't kill off most magical energy. She'd cut herself on broken glass during exorcisms too many times to count. Once again, she poured salt into her palm, and she approached Jeremy. She felt some of the salt sticking to the sweat that had broken out on her hands as her Demonsense rose. She held her hand palm up and, gathering her will energy, spoke the words, "Reveal yourself, demon," and blew the salt gently onto the boy.
    Jeremy convulsed and howled, voice rising until it was a painful shriek. Father Anselm's voice rose along with the boy's, his prayers coming faster. He blinked at the sweat dribbling down into his eyes.
    Bree felt a moment's triumph. This was going to be easy. Only a young demon would show itself so early in the process. And the faster the process went, the more likely her spells would hold.
    "I see you, demon," she said, in a half-shout to override Jeremy's continual thin wail. "I see you and I command you. Leave this child. You have no place here." As she spoke, she sent her Demonsense questing, seeking to attune with this particular demon's energy. As she felt a connection click into place, Jeremy's shrieking cut off. He straightened up and looked Bree in the eye, a canny, weirdly adult look descending on his features.  
    "I'd like to tie you down and let a dog fuck you," the boy said.
    Bree couldn't help flinching at his words. She was used to this kind of talk from demons, but it was far more disturbing coming from a child. She reminded herself that she had the upper hand here.
    "So you're ready to show yourself. Ready to test my power. I assure you, you can't win."  
    Jeremy hissed like a cat, lips pulled back from his teeth.  
    "Such a small demon. Is that the best you can do?"
    Jeremy lunged hard against Father Anselm's grip and got an arm free. He raked his nails down his own face, hard enough to draw blood. Bree's adrenalin surged. This was a risky part of the working. Some demons began damaging their host when they felt threatened. For some reason, they were more likely to do it when possessing children. That's why Father Anselm had taken the risk of being in the circle with the demon. He got a grip on Jeremy's wrist and forced the child's hand away from his face. Jeremy turned his head, quick as a snake, and sank his teeth into Father Anselm's hand. The priest uttered a small cry of protest as he instinctively tried to pull away. The boy bit down harder and worried at the priest's hand like a dog, coming away with a chunk of flesh.
    Bree resisted the impulse to step forward and help in restraining the boy. Some demons could jump to another host on physical contact, and that was something she had to avoid at all costs. The demon would far prefer her to Father Anselm, given she was powered. Powered were like candy to demons.
      Instead, she pushed harder with her Demonsense, forcing her base energy along that conduit, and attuned more closely with the demon's energy. She was feeling for the shape of it within the boy's consciousness so that she could snare it with her will energy. Father Anselm struggled to restrain Jeremy without getting too close to his