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Jamie’s body snapped back as if he had been punched “Possessed” He jerked his head toward all the other ht was not sufficient enough for the that behind every door there’s someone—”
“Unless one of theray eyes moved past Ja in one of their faces that irritated her, because her lip curled and she deiven a ht to what happens to the possessed?”
None of them had an answer for her Merris waited for a moment so they could all be fully aware of that and went on
“A ically powerful creature replaces an ordinary person overnight You can’t iine that passes unnoticed If the possessed has a fae They’re horrified, and they have nobody to help them Except us”
She sned to confine a demon who has acquired a human body We have containment facilities If people come to us with tales of possessed friends and relatives, we do not talk about mental illness and we do not disbelieve in the demon’s power Mezentius House is the only place these desperate people can turn, and of course, we obey the businesslike laws of supply and demand They pay well for our help”
“They’re people in trouble!” Ja bad and could not rub away the taste
Nick thought suddenly of what that ician Gerald had said, that the Market was funded with blood money This hy everyone obeyed Merris Cromwell This money hat helped the Market people — helped them — find houses and transfer to new schools and jobs quickly
The money was paid by the faht be Like Alan ht be He wondered what Sin would think of this
Merris raised her eyebrows “So are the people who go to hospitals, and they have to pay There are a lot of hospitals There is only one Mezentius House”
Thoughts of Alan aside, it did not sound unreasonable to Nick Those who dealt in ic had their own private economy, and Merris had worked out how tohe didn’t understand
He cleared his throat “Why don’t you kill them all?”
“The relatives seem curiously reluctant to have the possessed killed Particularly once I explain to theain control of their body Their friends and family want them controlled but not har with theed “That costs extra”
“The ical circles you keep the possessed in,” Alan said hat appeared to be scientific interest “How different are they froicians’ circles? Can you command a demon in them? Could you summon one?”
“I cannot ih to do with the de them confined the most important part,” said Merris dryly “Since you carams I can show you that detail how our circles work”
“I’d appreciate that,” said Alan
“They’re very basic,” Merris said “You can’t summon a demon into them We haven’t even worked out a way towe can do is keep them trapped”
“What if a dancer was involved?” Alan asked, frowning “Speaking purely academically, of course”
Nick wondered if Alan had soicians sent after them It didn’t sound like it would work
Mae and Ja into the cell with horrified fascination, and after a moment, Mae spoke
“Does a miracle ever happen? I mean, if you have them trapped — does the demon ever leave?”
“No demon ever leaves,” Merris said “No matter what happens to the, right until the end”
She nodded casually to thein the metal door They all watched, as if the as a television and the scene had been designed for them to see, while chestnut-haired Ruth climbed stiffly to her feet She put her hand to Thomas’s face, and Thomas — did not blink, exactly His eyes flickered as if he had multiple eyelids, like a cat, and when his eyes were open they were noraze and under his eyes a cut opened on her cheek She moaned and held her hand to her face, and he looked at her ar eyes were knives
“Don’t worry,” Merris told theic he can think of to e her permanently He knows she’s the only one ill feed him”
Moving like an old woainst the possessed Thomas’s face She stroked his cheek briefly, and Nick saw her lipsIt had never occurred to Nick before that co a human He’d known that possessed people did not speak Noatching the possessed body watch the woman with reptilian blankness, he realized that the demon really could not understand
The woht he made out the word ‘love’ when she spoke, but he could have been wrong
Mae said, trying and failing to repress a trehter?”
“Oh no,His body’s tearing itself apart trying to fight the deo She’s his wife”
The demon who looked like Thoue darted out and caught the other beetle that had once been his eye It ed, and he kept grinning
“He’s just trying to scare her,” said Merris, her voice still clinical and uninterested “A demon will try to manipulate a human any way it can Don’t worry She knows better than to be fooled”
Ruth put a hand to her own mouth and started to cry
Nick rather expected Jamie to turn and bolt, but it was Alan who did so
One moment he was by Nick’s side, still and quiet as he hen he was upset and turning in on hi as fast as he could down the corridor, back in the direction they had co the demons
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Jamie’s body snapped back as if he had been punched “Possessed” He jerked his head toward all the other ht was not sufficient enough for the that behind every door there’s someone—”
“Unless one of theray eyes moved past Ja in one of their faces that irritated her, because her lip curled and she deiven a ht to what happens to the possessed?”
None of them had an answer for her Merris waited for a moment so they could all be fully aware of that and went on
“A ically powerful creature replaces an ordinary person overnight You can’t iine that passes unnoticed If the possessed has a fae They’re horrified, and they have nobody to help them Except us”
She sned to confine a demon who has acquired a human body We have containment facilities If people come to us with tales of possessed friends and relatives, we do not talk about mental illness and we do not disbelieve in the demon’s power Mezentius House is the only place these desperate people can turn, and of course, we obey the businesslike laws of supply and demand They pay well for our help”
“They’re people in trouble!” Ja bad and could not rub away the taste
Nick thought suddenly of what that ician Gerald had said, that the Market was funded with blood money This hy everyone obeyed Merris Cromwell This money hat helped the Market people — helped them — find houses and transfer to new schools and jobs quickly
The money was paid by the faht be Like Alan ht be He wondered what Sin would think of this
Merris raised her eyebrows “So are the people who go to hospitals, and they have to pay There are a lot of hospitals There is only one Mezentius House”
Thoughts of Alan aside, it did not sound unreasonable to Nick Those who dealt in ic had their own private economy, and Merris had worked out how tohe didn’t understand
He cleared his throat “Why don’t you kill them all?”
“The relatives seem curiously reluctant to have the possessed killed Particularly once I explain to theain control of their body Their friends and family want them controlled but not har with theed “That costs extra”
“The ical circles you keep the possessed in,” Alan said hat appeared to be scientific interest “How different are they froicians’ circles? Can you command a demon in them? Could you summon one?”
“I cannot ih to do with the de them confined the most important part,” said Merris dryly “Since you carams I can show you that detail how our circles work”
“I’d appreciate that,” said Alan
“They’re very basic,” Merris said “You can’t summon a demon into them We haven’t even worked out a way towe can do is keep them trapped”
“What if a dancer was involved?” Alan asked, frowning “Speaking purely academically, of course”