The Entity Within

“She’s the best. She doesn’t know about me being a hybrid druid or anything about Vamptown.”

“My lips are sealed.”

“Keep them that way. You can’t go kissing Damon or who knows where it could go. Okay, we both know where it could go, but it can’t.”

“Or Vamptown will go up in flames?”

“Right.”

“Maybe it isn’t meant to be taken literally. Flames in dreams can represent spiritual cleansing or transformation,” Zoe said.

“These were real flames,” Daniella insisted. “I could see them clearly.”

“Was a building on fire?”

“All of them were.”

“Including the funeral home?” Zoe said.

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“I don’t know. You’d probably know better than I would. It was your premonition, not mine.”

“I’m telling you, this is all about you and Damon and sex.”

“What about Damon and sex?” Gram asked as she entered the room.

How could Zoe have missed the sound of her grandmother coming up the stairs? Probably because she was rattled by Daniella’s announcement.

“You don’t have to go all shy with me,” Gram said. “You can talk about sex in front of me.”

“I had a premonition that if Zoe and Damon have sex, Vamptown will go up in flames,” Daniella said.

“Oh my,” Gram said. “I’ve heard rumors that vampires were great lovers but I had no idea they were that great. I’m impressed.”

“I’m not talking about vampires being great lovers,” Daniella said.

“So they’re not?” Gram said,

“I don’t know about the rest of them, but Nick is awesome,” Daniella admitted.

“We are being watched,” Zoe belatedly reminded them. How could she have forgotten? Her brain was mush today. “And don’t use magic to mess with the recording,” she warned Gram. “You know what kind of trouble that got us into last time.”

“I know.” Daniella grabbed the legal pad Zoe had been making notes on. We will write instead of speak out loud.

Zoe took the pad from her to scribble I don’t think we should write or talk about it anymore.

Daniella yanked the pad back. But I have to warn you.

And you did.

“What are you all up to?” Damon demanded.

Damn, she’d missed hearing his footsteps on the stairs, too, although odds were that he’d used vamp speed so by the time she heard him, he was already in the room. So was Pat.

“Don’t all answer at once,” Damon said. “What’s going on?”

“You and Zoe can’t have sex or Vamptown will go up in flames,” Daniella burst out. Turning to look over her shoulder at Zoe, she mouthed, Sorry.

“Does everybody and their grandmother know about what happened last night?” Damon demanded angrily.

Gram raised her hand. “I don’t know what happened. Why don’t you fill me in.”

“I had a premonition,” Daniella said. “I didn’t know anything about a recording until I got here and Zoe told me.”

“That’s true,” Neville said via the surveillance system.

“Shut up,” Damon growled at him.

“Tell me about your premonition,” Pat told Daniella.

“You know I don’t have them very often but I had to say something. I had a premonition about my mom’s car crash before she died and I never said anything about it. I shrugged it off as a bad dream. But it wasn’t. I didn’t take it seriously and she ended up dead.” Daniella’s voice cracked.

“I’m taking it seriously,” Pat reassured her. “You shouldn’t feel guilty about the one you had concerning your mom’s accident. You didn’t know you were a hybrid druid then. You didn’t realize the gift you have. Now you know. When did you have this latest premonition?”

“An hour ago.”

“You were sleeping?” Pat asked.

Daniella shook her head. “No, I was making cupcakes.”

“What happened?”

“I closed my eyes for a minute and I got this vivid picture of all Vamptown on fire,” Daniella said.

“Maybe it was the demons putting that image in your head. Did you hear any voices that sounded like Darth Vader? Or had an English accent?” Zoe asked.

“I thought you put a protection spell over me,” Daniella said.

“I did.”

“So now you’re saying it doesn’t work?”

“I don’t know.” Turning to Damon, Zoe said, “Can’t you tell if she’s been affected by demons? Don’t you have a demon detector like they have a metal detector at the airports?”

“No, I don’t have that,” Damon said.

“You’re freaking me out,” Daniella said.

“I’m sorry.” Zoe gave her a hug. “It will be fine. I didn’t mean to upset you.” The truth was that inside, Zoe was just as freaked out as Daniella, but she couldn’t reveal that right now. Keep Calm and Carry On. She couldn’t just wear the T-shirt saying that, she had to talk the talk and walk the walk. She could fall apart later. When there were no cameras around. When the demons were gone.

Damn. So much for getting any more work done today. Not that fighting demons wasn’t work, but it wouldn’t pay the bills. It might pay Damon’s bills because it was part of his job description but it sure as hell wasn’t part of hers.

Wait, maybe she shouldn’t be tossing around words like damn and hell even if they remained in her mind and she didn’t speak them aloud. Not when demons were around. Maybe she should do what Damon suggested she do last night.

Okay, ordered was probably closer to the truth than suggested. Damon was good at giving orders, and he’d told her to chill. So maybe she should just chill. The modern version of Keep Calm and Carry On.

“I’m sure this will all work out. I mean, what chance do three measly demons have against an entire community of vampires plus a Demon Hunter and two witches?” Zoe said.

“And a hybrid druid,” Daniella said.

“And a hybrid druid,” Zoe agreed. “It’s no contest. Right, Pat?”

“Right. No contest. The demons would win,” Pat said.

Zoe blinked. “What?”

“If the demons get their hands on the Book of Darkness, they win.”

“How do you figure that?”

“Because they can call forth billions of demons.”

“They can do that by themselves?” Zoe said.

“With the book and a special witch,” Pat said.

“You mean Gram?” Zoe said.

“Or you.”

“I didn’t open the book.”

Pat looked Zoe in the eye. “Did you touch it?”

“Yes, but—”

“There are no buts,” Pat said.

“We never saw that book before,” Zoe said. “Why did it show up here and now all of a sudden?”