She scanned through the rest of the text. “It basically says that each serpent depicted on the seal represents one of the two demons. One is named Seth and the other...oh…”
“What?”
“The other one is named Nathaniel.” She murmured. “That’s a weird coincidence.”
“What would a cleric be doing with a demon seal?” Theo shook his head in confusion. “He was a man of God, he denounced evil and the devil. Why would he have such a thing in his possession? Do you think he knew what it was?”
“I don’t know. Perhaps Nathaniel was not as he seemed,” she mused.
Theo’s face paled as he raked his paint-stained hand through his hair. “But...if he did know, that would mean…”
“Theo, this isn’t your fault.” She reached out and grasped his hand, drawing him down to the couch next to her. “You were all raised to trust the clergy. You would have had no reason not to believe him.”
“I knew,” he whispered. “I knew there was something dark inside him. I knew he was not to be trusted, and I said nothing.”
“Theo.” She frowned, unsure what to say.
“He denounced and tortured those women when the sin was his all along,” he said quietly.
“You can’t think about that now,” she replied. “What’s done is done, and you can’t change it. All we can do is try and figure this out so no one else gets killed.”
“Do you think the killer took up where Nathaniel Boothe left off and is in league with these demons?” Theo whispered.
“I don’t know,” Olivia murmured. “This is a little out of my sphere of expertise.”
“How so?”
“In witchcraft, there is no devil, there are no demons, not as you know them.” Her brow creased as she tried to explain herself. “We believe that if an evil act is committed, it was a result of choice rather than an outside force of evil.”
“Really?” He seemed quite surprised by that.
“I know it’s not the version of witchcraft you were warned against.”
“No, it seems nothing is as I thought it was.” He sighed.
“This is just nuts.” Olivia huffed. “There is no such thing as demons. It’s impossible.”
“Are we really going to have a discussion on what’s possible and impossible again?” A familiar voice startled both Olivia and Theo, making them glance across the room at the sturdy old desk.
Sam stood casually propped against the desk, wearing an amused smile. Theo stood abruptly at the sight of the man who had pulled him from a burning barn, only to drop him in the middle of the road.
“You.” His voice held a note of accusation.
“Hello, Theo,” Sam replied easily.
“Why are you here, Sam?” Olivia’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Last time I saw you, you said you couldn’t help, that I needed to figure things out on my own.”
“And that is still true, but it doesn’t mean I can’t give you a little nudge in the right direction.” He grinned and his dimples winked to life. “Starting with this issue of demons. I will state for the record that demons are very real, and not only are they real, but they are very dangerous, particularly if some idiot lets one loose on earth with no limitations.”
“I don’t understand.”
“If a demon is raised to walk the earth in its natural form, it’s so powerful it cannot be controlled.”
“So, if someone wished to raise a demon, they would have to find a way to control it?” Theo surmised.
“Exactly.” Sam gave a nod.
“But how would they do that?” Olivia asked. “And why?”
