Heart of Glass [manxman]

Chapter Fourteen

If Louis felt it, then I was certain it wasn't dream tampering. No, someone was definitely in my house. That dream hadn't been a dream at all. It had happened, it was reality, and that tracker had gotten close enough to take me... What stopped it? It had me right there. There was no reason to drag it out. Not unless a demon of fear was involved and wanted to toy with me, break me apart, and paralyze me with fear before finally capturing me.

The assignment the next day suddenly felt much more threatening. Before, I'd been concerned, because they were demons of fear after all. If I were caught by one, it would get ugly, but if a demon of fear had visited me, had gotten a taste of my emotional aura, of my fears... Only gods knew what I would walk into tomorrow. What the fuck had I gotten myself into?

I actually had a similar problem. Something just felt off, but I ignored it. It might not hurt to ask those Covenant reps to do a campus-wide sweep, try to detect any demonic residue.

I agree. The last thing we need is a campus attack with students involved. I'll send them an email in the morning. Well, I'm gonna try to get some sleep. Goodnight, Ace!

Goodnight, love.

I slid the phone back onto the table and sighed, tipping my head back against the sofa cushions. Talking to Louis, despite it being brief and mostly work-related, had been a nice distraction. Turning over and laying on my side on the sofa, I got comfortable, pulling the fleece throw on the back over my shoulders. While I might've not been able to rest in my room, the couch was cozy, and the lights were on. It was relaxing. Just a change in scenery would be enough for the night. Tomorrow night would be different. The tracker might try something new. But, if my theory was right and a demon of fear was involved, I would be safe for the rest of my night.

I was safe.

Everything was fine.

I needed to relax.

*** *** ***

"I'm going in," I said into the comm. I was positioned on the other side of the tunnels that connected to the underground lair the investigative units had pinpointed the demons to be in.

"Keep us posted," Louis said.

Without a word, I stepped up to the entryway and waved a hand over it. The entrances to the tunnels had been opened without any charms or spells on them, making it all too easy to reach the center of the tunnel system. Those doors, however, appeared to have some sort of light sheen of magic coating them.

I pushed at it, gently, so as to feel it, but not set it off and alarm the demons inside. It didn't feel particularly dangerous. No sparks or anything of the sort emanated from it. It didn't seem strong either; instead it bent with the ease of flimsy plastic.

"There's some sort of barrier on the doors, but I'm not sure what it is. I'm going through. If it sets off anything, I'll let you know."

"Whoa, hold on. What if it's a trap?" Louis asked, voice urgent in my ear.

"Then we're not going to find out by just standing here. Investigative and the strategy team knows that if we aren't back in three hours, something has gone wrong. You know if I go quiet for more than fifteen minutes, something's wrong. We have protocols in place if this is a trap. Besides, we have to handle this before it gets out of hand."

Louis sighed. "Don't do anything stupid while you're in there alone, Ace."

"When do I do anything stupid, love?" With a deep breath, I stepped in and phased through the doorway. A bright, violet spark zapped the doorway, but it didn't make a sound, and none of the demons in the room seemed to notice.