"What do you mean? Why are you here?" Allan growled at Ash.
"I'm here because maybe I can help them." Ash gestured at Sofia. "And because I'm supposed to bring her back, eventually."
Allan shook his head. "This is so fucked up," he muttered.
Ed woke after another few minutes and came over to join them, sad puppy dog eyes resting on everyone for a moment before he completed the circle they had formed around Sofia's body. He didn't say anything. He did glare at Ash, but the demon ignored him.
Nikolai stared intently at the demon. "Ash, do you know how to release the bindings?"
"We all know how." He winced, as if talking about it pained him. "But if I think about it too much, the magic punishes me. If I actually try, or were to try to tell someone else, well…" He gestured at Sofia.
Nikolai sighed. "If only I had access to my library."
Ed straightened and looked at Nikolai. "What about the Anderson's library?"
"Please do not discuss your plans around me," Ash grumbled.
Everyone fell silent.
Doc heard Sofia's breathing change, and he focused his attention back on her. He took his arm from Victoria's shoulders in case he needed to restrain Sofia as she straightened.
Her eyes fluttered open, and his heart clenched. Her normally gray eyes were golden, and no hint of her lavender magic shone in them.
She looked around at them before they settled on Ash. Screaming in anger, she launched herself at the demon.
Ash held up his hands, protecting himself like a boxer. Doc scrambled to his feet and grabbed Sofia, pulling her off of the demon.
She turned on him, swinging.
He caught her arm as gently as he could and held her until she stopped struggling.
As soon as she did, he released her and stepped back.
She staggered, looking around the room, wide-eyed. "I know this place, but I've never been here before."
Ash stood up and went over to her.
She snarled and took another swing at him. Doc snatched her arm and pulled her back against his chest. He guessed eventually he wouldn't be able to hold her back, once the demon really had control, but for now, it wasn't any more difficult than restraining any other human.
She kicked his shin. He ignored the brief pain.
"You're going to hurt yourself."
"When I have control of this body, then I will hurt all of you," she snarled.
"They didn't do this," Victoria cried out. "We're trying to help."
Sofia turned her now golden eyes on Victoria. "I know," she fumed and jerked away from him. He let her go this time, and she sank to the ground.
He settled back next to Victoria, keeping a wary eye on Sofia.
No one knew what to say.
Finally, Nikolai broke the silence. "How should we address you?" He spoke respectfully.
Her attention jerked to the mage, and she pursed her lips. "This body was called Sofia?"
Nikolai nodded.
"Perhaps you should stick with that." She clenched her fists and then stared at her wrists. The golden cuffs that imprisoned her glinted in the early morning light from the big window.
"I have some things to tell you, that will help should you choose to listen. Most I learned the hard way," Ash said.
She glared at him. "You helped them do this."
Ed growled.
"I had no choice. You will have no choice once your powers meld with Sofia's." Ash pulled his long sleeves up and showed his own cuffs. Unlike Sofia's arms, which weren't damaged, his arms were red and cracked where the cuffs dug into his skin.
"Talk," the demon inhabiting Sofia growled.
"You seem to know that these people aren't responsible." He gestured at the others.
"Yes, we've spoken already." She waved her hand dismissively. "Carry on."
Ash looked confused at that. "You have?"
"Tell me what I need to know," she ground out.
"My apologies. They weren't able to completely push Sofia out of her body. Which is unusual. Normally, as I understand it, your powers would integrate with that body right away. You would probably fight the restraints, and the magic would cause you a great deal of harm, but you would recover and eventually stop fighting."
She glared at him. "So, you've given up?"
"I fought every day for three hundred years. I still try it occasionally. It never goes well." He shrugged as if it didn't matter, but Doc could see the pain in his eyes. "If it weren't for Sofia, I would let you learn the hard way. However, she will experience everything you do, I believe."
The demon nodded. "It is likely. She seems like she's listening now. Ah, yes, she's now quite upset. Her yelling is giving me a headache." She touched her temples. "Strange sensation."
"So, if you don't fight them, you won't damage Sofia."
"You expect me to give up? I do not wish for an existence of servitude," she snarled.
"No. I'm suggesting you do your best to keep Sofia in her body as long as you can. It will limit your usefulness to the Andersons until your magic fully integrates. I don't believe it can while Sofia is present. We won't tell them it's because of Sofia. We'll tell them it's because the integration takes time. Maybe they," he gestured toward Doc and Nikolai, "can figure out how to unbind you before she's gone."
The demon frowned and looked at Nikolai. "You know how to bind demons?" She did not sound happy about that.
Nikolai shook his head. "It is very specialized magic. I know something of bindings and unbindings, but how to fix this?" He shrugged. "I am trying to find a solution. May I?" He gestured toward her wrists.
Glaring at him the entire time, she held out her arm.
Nikolai's hands glowed with his dark blue magic signature for a moment while he studied the restraints. He pushed magic into them. Magic flared, flinging Nikolai backward.
Doc didn't use his full speed that often, and he almost didn't react fast enough to save Nikolai from being flung through the large glass window, but he managed to get across the room to catch the mage before he got
