“Ambulance is on the way,” Maricela said.
Spencer nodded absently as he filled his mageglobe with a cleansing spell that essentially scraped any last lingering traces of hell from Levi’s soul. It was definitely not a comfortable procedure, and coming hot on the heels of an exorcism, the spell caused Levi to curl up on his side and nearly get sick.
Spencer patted him on the shoulder. “Sorry, I know it doesn’t feel good.”
“Feels better than having thatthinginside of me.” Levi shuddered, squeezing his eyes shut. “How did you know?”
“I always know. It’s just how my magic works.” Spencer looked up at Maricela. “He’ll be all right.”
Maricela crouched on the other side of Levi. “I’ve called an ambulance, and I’ll send another agent to the hospital with you. Can you tell us what you remember?”
Levi grunted as he pushed himself to a sitting position, wincing as he moved. “It happened this morning. I was talking with Caitlin Adler at the Cascade Coven’s home when I—ittookme.”
“Did Caitlin initiate the possession in any way?” Spencer asked.
“No?” Levi made a face. “I don’t know. My head is pounding.”
“That’s normal after a possession. Are you sure it happened on the coven’s property?”
“Yes.”
Spencer met Maricela’s eyes over Levi’s head. “That’s the same location Fatima followed the poltergeist to.”
“Was it the poltergeist who possessed him?” Maricela asked.
“No, it was a different demon.”
“It said something about a Duke. What did it mean?”
“Demons have hierarchies, and it was referencing a rank. The good news is that tells me which hell we’re dealing with.”
“And the bad news?”
Spencer sighed. “There are nearly two dozen Dukes it could be, and none of them are easy to fight.”
Maricela’s lips thinned into a hard line. “But it would be easy for someone to help those demons cross over if they had an artifact created to do just that.”
“Yes.”
A commotion near the elevator caught his attention. Spencer looked over his shoulder and watched as a pair of EMS hurried off the elevator, pushing along a gurney. He and Maricela got out of the way as the EMS approached to check Levi over. Once they got him on the gurney, Maricela waved over another agent, whispering instructions to them that Spencer couldn’t hear. But the agent left with Levi to keep watch over him at the hospital.
“I need to bring our publicist up to date on the situation so they can deal with the news trucks that are going to be parked outside soon enough. Once I have that squared away, then you and I need to have a talk,” Maricela said.
“I was set to have a meeting with Director Kohli today,” Spencer said.
“I’ll make sure she’s on the line when we speak. Wait for me in my office.”
Spencer nodded, then leaned down to run his hand over Fatima’s head and back. “You did good.”
The demon is back in its hell, she said as she trotted beside him on the way back to Maricela’s office.
“Hopefully, it stays there.”
Spencer checked in with Olivia, who seemed shaken but was resolutely sitting back at her desk. She didn’t flinch away from Spencer, which was kind of her, and waved him into the office. Fatima curled up on one of the free chairs while Spencer stayed standing, too keyed up to sit and wait, though he didn’t have to wait very long.
Maricela came in fifteen minutes later, stone-faced and tight-lipped. She closed the door behind her and set a silence ward in it. Static popped in Spencer’s ears, but before he could speak, she held up a finger. “I’m calling the director.”
“Should we call in the SAIC as well?” Spencer asked.
