Why did Lydia have so much faith in me? The last time I'd been in her office, I almost caused the room to implode. And whatever that white light coating the plant had been, I imagined it could do a lot more damage than what we'd witnessed.
But Leclair claimed that Lydia knew what she was doing, so I had to trust her if I ever wanted to acquire better control. And if there was one thing I was good at, it was control.
I let out a shaky breath. "Okay. Let's do this."
"Close your eyes," She instructed.
Without a word, I laid back on the couch and took a series of deep breaths, but was unable to keep my eyes shut for long.
Lydia smiled gently, and I heard the wheels of her chair move closer.
"You're probably worried that we'll have a repeat of your last session. Don't worry. I have every faith in you."
"That makes one of us," I muttered, but managed to weigh my eyelids down.
A few minutes passed, and Lydia began reciting the same steps as last time, trying to help lull me into that lucid state. She moved even slower through the meditative process than she had last time, but there was no set time limit on this session, unlike the last. Even though it took longer, I thought perhaps it felt easier to find that same final state, as if I was climbing up a hill instead of a mountain. As soon as I reached its peak, my mind tried to drift, and again it was only through focusing on my breathing that I didn't fall into unconsciousness. The near-blackness was soon replaced by a million crystallised thrums of energy, and yet, at the same time, they were all connected as one, reaching to the sky. I longed to open my eyes and see the true colours and sights of this place beyond its mere feel, but I didn't dare risk breaking my link.
I sat up, keeping my eyes tightly scrunched. I didn't allow myself to revel in the energy like I had last time, and reached out for Lydia's warm arm. I ran my fingers over her injury, hoping it didn't cause her any pain. It was just a small surface gash, and as I moved my fingers, I could feel the energy reconnecting with her tattered skin, knitting together, peeling off the dead flakes. I kept my eyes closed through the process, focusing on the energy coursing through me and into Lydia- just in case it proved overwhelming.
If Lydia had been suffering a cold or another injury, I was sure that the energy would have begged to heal it, too. If it had, I wasn't sure I'd have been able to stop it, but thankfully she was otherwise in perfect health. As soon as the energy flow was restored in her arm, I pulled away. The moment my fingers left her skin, I felt a cool chill wash over me. Without an outlet for the alien energy still pouring into me, I was sure that it would soon trigger the switch that had been so dangerously flicked last time.
I wanted to stay in that beautiful state for just a moment longer, to venture around, but I knew that was what aided in causing the last overload. I quickly snapped out of the connection, and opened my eyes, finding Lydia smiling proudly.
The wound on her arm was gone. In its place was fresh, pink skin, like a newborn's. There was no trace of the graze, and if I hadn't been the one to heal it, I never would have believed such a feat was posisble.
Lydia let out a long breath. "That went better than I expected. I thought you might at least glow a little like last time."
"You didn't think I could do it? Wait- I glowed last time?" Why hadn't she told me? Considering what Gabby could do, I'd say glowing was a pretty exciting skill to add to my resume.
"No, I really had no idea how your powers would react to my energy. But I had faith in you." She said kindly, perhaps a little breathlessly.
"And the glowing? Was that just a side effect of my powers?"
She looked uncertain. "Like I told you, your abilities may manifest a little differently to that of a traditional shaman or witch. But I've never seen another react to using healing magic in the same way you did. It was... quite a sight to behold."
Her tone implied that it was less of a sight, and more of a frightful attraction, like a tiger at a zoo. But I was on too much of a natural high to worry much; being in that other state, whatever the place was called, gave me a peace of mind that paralleled Nick's company. It was like I'd been a part of those free, unburdened energies, and yet separate from it all, as if behind a glass screen.
***
The high that came from my training session was still flooding through my veins as I walked across the lawn to my dorm. I was absently wondering how long it would last, when Jackson suddenly appeared beside me and tugged at my arm to stop.
I almost scolded him for the roughness- until I saw the panicked look on his face.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
He was puffing slightly, as if he'd just run across the entire campus. "I've been looking for you everywhere. Where have you been?"
"Training in Lydia's office. Why?"
"I was worried that you'd..." He shook himself from his thoughts. "Never mind. I did a little digging in the school's archives. You won't believe what I found."
He said it in a way that reminded me of a lawyer finding condemning evidence.
"Wow, you work fast. What did you find?" I asked.
He led us toward a shady tree close to my dorm, but far from nearby ears. When he deemed us a safe enough distance away, he said, "Most of the better known supernatural beings have accounts open to anyone's interest, but I wasn't sure if I'd have to get Theo to sweet talk the librarian into giving me restricted access. Luckily, it wasn't necessary. I found everything you need to know on this Nick Serafin." He spat the name.
A dark feeling was uncoiling in my stomach. Two seconds ago I'd been floating on the clouds, and now I felt like I was sinking beneath the earth's surface.
"Who is he?"
He sucked in a deep breath. "He's a demon, Lila. Just like Lucas is an angel of God, Nick Serafin is a demon of Lucifer."
His words took a minute to process. Demons? They weren't real. Even in a world of angels and werewolves, demons were just the stuff of nightmares and cheap Halloween TV specials. They couldn't be real.
But if they were, then... Nick was one of them.
I stumbled back, feeling my face pale as the truth sunk in. But maybe it wasn't as terrible as it sounded. I knew Nick; he couldn't be demonic.
It took me a while to remember how to speak. "What does that mean?"
Jackson shook his head with dread. His shoulders were hunched, as if the news alone was weighing him down. "It means that he's bad news. Nick Serafin is a known alias for the demon Anikriel. He's long thought to be dead, or at least burning in hell. But I guess those assumptions were wrong."
I exhaled sharply, knowing I needed to move passed my shock. I could panic later. "What else did you find out?"
He spread his empty hands. "That's it. His file made it clear that he's the worst kind of bad news in the supernatural world. But other than that initial warning, nothing else is known about him." Jackson frowned. "It's so strange. It wasn't even like most angelic profiles, where they're blocked or have restricted access. Nick Serafin is practically non-existent- which should be impossible, given his age. It's as if someone has worked to keep him off the world's radar."
"What could he have done to deserve that?"
Jackson huffed disbelievingly. "Does it matter? He's a demon, Lila. I don't think you understand what that means. He kills, steals, sins. It's his life's mission to make others sin. It's his way of life."
No. I refused to believe that. I knew Nick better than some misinformed database. Even if he was a demon – which technically he hadn't lied about – there had to be an explanation. He was a small-time musician, for crying out loud. Not some murderous psychopath.
Jackson seemed to sense the shift in my thoughts. He opened and closed his mouth before asking, "Why are you asking about this guy?"
I tried to shrug his questions off, but he wasn't having any of it. Jackson moved in front of me when I tried to half-heartedly turn away. "No- don't try to tell me that it's not important. How did you even hear this guy's name? Are you in some sort of trouble?"
He looked down at me with such clear worry in his brown eyes. I confessed, "I'm not in any kind of trouble. Trust me on that. But... I have met him."
"You've met him? You mean there's a demon near Faith Heights? We have to tell Leclair, now."
He began marching away in the direction of Leclair's building. It caused more than a few people to look our way. I rushed to catch up with him, but it took me several paces to pull him to a stop.
"No, he's nowhere near here. Please, you can't tell anyone about this." I pleaded.
From Jackson's horrified expression, it certainly wouldn't be a good idea to tell him how much I was drawn to Nick. But I knew that Jackson could sense there was more that I wasn't telling.
"Please, let it go." I urged. "Let me handle this."
It took a few more minutes of begging on my part, but eventually, I managed to convince Jackson to drop the subject. For now. I could tell that he was torn between wanting to protect me from a demon, and being terrified of the demon himself.
I wasn't too sure how I felt myself, but I was certain that I needed to find Nick.