Simon held his silence, watching her intently.

  “The first thing I need to do is to get used to this new situation and find where I fit in. I’m thinking I’ve got a good start already. Riley has been great and so have you.”

  He nodded his understanding.

  “Then there’s my family. My brother and sister are okay with what I do. My parents aren’t, and that’s created a lot of tension. When I was being cheated out of my wages, I went from supporting myself to not being able to pay rent and being homeless. Part of that was my own fault, but not all of it. When I asked my mother for help, she said I could move back home, but only if I stopped being a trapper.”

  “That wasn’t right,” Simon said. “Your folks should be supporting you, not issuing ultimatums.”

  “I know. Part of it was because they were afraid I’d get killed, especially after what happened to Kevin.”

  “Still, you are an adult, and this job is your choice. They should honor that,” he replied, his voice tighter now.

  “I won’t argue that. No matter what I did it felt like everyone was trying to run my life. Part of that was my fault because I let them. I won’t let that happen again.”

  He cocked his head now. “You think I’m doing that?”

  “No! I’m sorry, not you. You have always accepted me for who I am. It’s been that way since I met you that first day. That means so much to me, Simon,” she replied. “But before I commit to a relationship with anyone, I need to do a few things first.”

  “Such as?”

  Please let him be okay with this.

  “I need a place of my own. Apartment, house, doesn’t matter. I need my own space. Grand Master Stewart and Mrs. Ayers are great, but sometimes I just like to be alone. It’s hard to do if you’re living with someone.”

  “I understand that. I’m the same way. What else?”

  “I need to deal with my family. I’m not sure if that’s fixable or not, especially when it comes to my mother, but it’s driving me crazy. If I can’t get that worked out, I need to move on. I need my head firmly in this game, especially when the game is so damned deadly here.”

  She sucked in a breath. “And I need to deal with this chaîne thing so I don’t keep sucking up magic and trying to kill myself.”

  “That’s it?” She nodded. “You can’t do that while we’re going on a date or two?”

  Could she? “No, not really. I only have so much bandwidth right now. If we’re dating, I want both of us to be fully committed, Simon. You’re far too important to me to phone this in. I just couldn’t do that to you.”

  “You’re putting a lot of weight on yourself,” he replied, not looking at her now.

  “I know. That’s what I need right now.” She shrugged. “Who knows, in a couple of weeks I might change my mind about all this life-changing crap. But right now it feels really important, like something I’ve put off for too long.”

  “You almost died, more than once. That makes you step back and examine your life, look at all the things you take for granted. I’m been there, too.” His finger traced down her cheek now. “You do what you need to do. I’ll wait. I want you happy, Katia. That’s the most important thing to me.”

  Oh God, he’d meant it too.

  “I think I need to get things worked out in my own head as well,” he admitted. “Not about you, but other stuff. The job, mostly.”

  Their eyes met. “Then we’ll wait for each other.”

  “Yes, we will.”

  Simon’s strong arms encircled her and she curled up against him. As she closed her eyes, savoring this moment between them, another kiss was placed on her forehead. It felt like a promise of good things to come.

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  The next morning, Simon drove Katia to Stewart’s house and left her in the care of the housekeeper. He knew Mrs. Ayers would watch over her, but it was still hard to see her go. The housekeeper had even arranged for Katia to have a room on the first floor until she was cleared to climb stairs.

  Now his house felt empty. He hadn’t realized how much life she’d brought to it just by being here. But at least she hadn’t shut him down, told him he had no chance with her. Instead, Katia treated his feelings with respect and had let him know what she needed to do before they could move forward. That had to count for something.

  She’d left behind three options for his flower beds, complete with diagrams. Once he decided which he liked best she would give him a cost estimate. It’d been fun watching her pull all that together, and it appeared that Katia enjoyed the process. All that had happened in between the frequent naps. Once he knew she was feeling better he’d decide what design he liked best, and they’d do the work together. He looked forward to that.

  When Riley texted him and asked if she and Beck could drop by, he’d immediately agreed. When they arrived, the grand master’s expression said this would be all business.

  They’d settled on the back porch after he’d brought out one of the kitchen chairs so there would be enough seating. Beck turned down the offer of a beer and Riley wasn’t interested in any iced tea. Definitely not a social call.

  “We need to talk about what’s goin’ on here in Atlanta. What ya think about all of these portals and things,” Beck said.

  Riley had once told him that if the grand master used “ya” instead of “you” he was tightly wrapped, and that was the case here. But he didn’t think it was entirely because of the Chaffin thing, or the gateways popping up in the city.

  Simon studied his guests’ faces, then nodded. “I just finished my report to Father Rosetti about some of that.”

  “Ah, before we go too far,” Riley said. “Do you have any issue with me using a spell to shield this conversation? I don’t want to do that if you’re uncomfortable with having magic used at your house.”

  “Go ahead. And thank you for asking.” It was a little late for the “no magic” decision given what Chaffin had done at Simon’s front door.

  She waved a hand in a circle. Simon felt a spell brush up against him, one of the “sound booth” ones, as she called it. It did solve the problem of the dog yapping next door as a cushioned hush fell around them.

  “That feel right?” Beck nodded. “Okay. I need to ask this question first: Do you have to report everything to Rosetti, or can you just not bother to tell him certain details if needed?”

  That was interesting. “I have some leeway. But if there’s a threat to the Atlanta Archdiocese or Rome, I will have to let Rosetti know immediately.”

  Riley seemed to relax now. “No, this isn’t anything like that.”

  “So, what won’t I be telling my bosses?”

  “This afternoon the Summoners Society will deliver a video to the governor and the mayor. It will show a magical duel between Chaffin and Mort. Our rogue necro supposedly dies during that battle. It’s totally fake, of course. Mort and Lady Torin created it and both the glamour and illusionary spells are solid. Ozy reviewed it and said it’s the best he’s ever seen.”

  Beck nodded. “And because the summoners asked this be kept private, by tonight that video will have been leaked to the press. Always happens that way,” he said.

  “Which will make it look even more legit. With Chaffin supposedly dead, the Powers That Be will stop screaming for his head,” Riley added. “Also, the Society gave each of the reanimates’ family a sizable check to cover their pain and suffering, and for the reburials. As long as the rogue necro stays in that other realm, we’re all golden.”

  “Ya wouldn’t know how we can tell him that, would ya?” Beck asked.

  So that’s why they were here.

  “I have a secret too,” he said, and then told them about the note that had been delivered, along with their weapons.

  “Then it’s all good,” Beck said, smiling now. “Damn, I was worried.”

  “Really good,” Riley added. “Mort will be happy to hear that.”

  “Except that we keep havin’ more of those portals openin’ up downtown.”

  “Two last night,” she said. “Nothing came out of the first, but something large, green, and hairy came out of the second. Luckily, Jackson was at that site, and he hit it with a Holy Water sphere. It went back home before it hurt anyone. He’s not sure if that was because of the sacred water, or just pure luck.”

  “This is just going to keep happening,” Simon said.

  “We think so too. We talked to Katia right before we came to see ya. She thinks it has somethin’ to do with the Angel of Death because she found some ashes in The Gulch. She’s thinkin’ that they’re makin’ these doorways into other worlds,” Beck said, giving his spouse a cautious glance.

  Riley frowned at him. “And you know I took care of those during the battle.” At Simon’s confused expression, she explained. “The Death Angel created warriors to fight us, and the ashes of those things is what Katia believes are the trigger for the portals. Mostly because Death can go everywhere since it’s, well, universal.”

  “You don’t think that’s possible?” Simon asked, intrigued.

  “I took out those warriors by wetting them down, and then sealing their ashes under the pavement in The Gulch. I think I got all of it, but maybe not. It was kinda crazy there for a while.”

  “I saw the videos and it was more than crazy. What does Ori think about all this?”

  “He’s made himself scarce, as in hard to find,” Riley said. “Which means something is playing out between him and the folks upstairs. More Heavenly drama it appears.”

  “But wouldn’t there be some of these ashes left over at the other cities the angel attacked?” he asked. “Shouldn’t they be having the same problem?”

  “The other sites were totally destroyed, so anythin’ left behind would be burnt.”

  “Okay. So, what does Serrah think about this?”

  “I did finally track her down and she wouldn’t talk about it at all. She’s still settling into her new job,” Riley replied. “I know Ori, he won’t let her fail, but things aren’t going well for her right now.”

  “In the meantime, we’re tryin’ to figure out what is makin’ our city into an ‘all ya can eat’ snack bar for those other realms.”

  Riley winced at that phrasing. “I know, I’m not happy about it either. But we’ll figure it out.”

  “What would you like me to do?” Simon asked because he knew there had to be a request somewhere.

  “Keep an eye out and let us know if ya see anythin’ ya think is related to this. We gotta figure it out, soon, or more of these door things will just keep openin’ up.”

  “I can do that.”

  “Okay, then, thank you,” Beck said, shooting to his feet as if eager to be gone. “And, well, glad to see yer better. Ya two did a helluva good job in that other world.”

  “We did.” He wasn’t going to thank him because it was the truth. “Fair warning, next time I see Ori it isn’t going to be pretty. I want to know why he didn’t bother to tell us it was a demon over there. He had to know that. We could have planned ahead, taken different weapons.” Not been so near death that they’d needed a summoner to help even the odds.

  “Good luck getting a straight answer,” Riley said. “Divines can be really obtuse sometimes.”

  “Most times,” Beck muttered, shaking his head.

  After she broke the spell they walked back through the house. Riley gave him a wink over her shoulder, then she and Beck headed to their car, talking quietly between themselves.

  “Realms here, realms there.” Simon frowned, then shook his head because it made zero sense. Looking up at the blue sky, he pleaded, “Any help would be appreciated.”

  The faint breeze crossing his front porch delivered no answers, just the scent of a magnolia tree in full bloom.

  As usual, they were on their own.

  Epilogue

  There had been near universal rejoicing that Mathias Chaffin had died in a spectacular duel. Of course, there were the usual conspiracy theorists claiming he was still alive. When one of the reporters caught up with Katia at Mr. Means reinterment service and asked what she thought of those claims, she’d spoken the truth.

  “Chaffin is no longer a threat, and I am happy about that,” she’d said.

  Mrs. Means had finally gotten the message and dropped her lawsuits. It was that or face several thousand dollars in legal bills for cases she would not win. Especially now that her husband’s body had been tucked back into his grave.

  That hadn’t made her any less unpleasant, and she’d glared at Katia and Riley during her husband’s second funeral service. Katia ignored her. Mr. Means deserved their respect for all he had done, and she made sure he received it.

  As they’d left the cemetery, she’d stopped by Anna Lanier’s grave one last time. A fresh bouquet of roses rested there, and the name on the card indicated that Anna’s husband had paid his respects. Only a day earlier, Mr. Lanier had been released from jail after the cops had finally determined his alibi during the time of her murder was righteous. The investigation was ongoing, they said. Hopefully, her killer would be found and she could finally rest in peace.

  According to Riley, Harry Hawkins, the necro wannabe, had been packed off to Wisconsin rather than facing charges here in Atlanta. He was now apprenticed to a summoner in Madison, had a place to live, a basic salary, and would begin his magical studies soon. All of that was Mort’s doing. The man truly had a forgiving heart.

  Mort’s nephew had moved back home and was back to gaining new bruises with each new magical spell. Katia planned on razzing Alex about that the next time she saw him. And just as Riley had predicted, Jaye had aced her journeyman’s exam.

  Then there was the news from Rome which wasn’t as good. Father Rosetti and another senior cleric would be touring the U.S. in the next few weeks, visiting various cities and evaluating the skills of their respective lay exorcists. Atlanta was on that list. Katia didn’t believe that itinerary was just a “let’s check on the troops” tour. Not with the way things were going here.

  Simon cleared his throat, bringing her back to the present. He stood a few steps above her, on the porch of a tan house in Berkeley Lake. Katia was still on the sidewalk, trapping bag in hand. The house was a well-kept older structure, two stories with mature oak trees in the front yard. A lovely home, unless you could feel the Hellspawn lurking within.

  This was their first exorcism together since their adventures in the other realms. Katia dreaded it.

  “You ready for this?” Simon asked, shifting the bag on his shoulder. In his other hand he held the cross-covered box for the fiend once it was exorcised.

  Katia tried to stop another yawn but failed. “Oh yeah, sure. I only slept eleven hours last night, and I might not need a nap today.”

  Which wasn’t what he’d asked.

  “You’re much better than you were ten days ago,” he said politely.

  She’d been dying ten days ago, and they both knew it.

  When she didn’t comment on that observation, he pushed the doorbell.

  An older lady immediately opened the door. She was in her late sixties with curly salt-and-pepper hair. She had that look in her eyes, the one that said she’d seen Hellspawn in person, and was frightened out of her mind. That her last hope might be the pair on her doorstep.

  “Mrs. Barbosa?” The lady nodded. “I’m Lay Exorcist Simon Adler and this is Journeyman Katia Breman. We’re here to rid your house of Hell’s evil.”

  The woman’s eyes clouded in tears. “Oh, thank God. Come in! Come in!” she said, frantically waving them forward.

  Simon entered immediately, but Katia hesitated. She had her gear, the Holy Water was in place on her forehead. She even had her collapsible bō in her trapping bag. This was her job, the one she’d trained for.

  But still she hesitated.

  Even though the nightmares were beginning to lessen, they still showed her Simon’s death. Never hers, just his. Hell was ruthless when it came to exploiting one’s weaknesses.

  Her partner reappeared in the doorway. He studied her for a moment. “You can wait in the car if you’re not ready yet. I’ll be okay.”

  It was a kind offer, a thoughtful one. But it was an offer she dare not take or she’d never face another demon again. Hell would win.

  I am Katia Allyson Breman.

  I am a trapper. I walk in the Light.

  She climbed the last few steps, then walked across the threshold to begin anew.

  The End

  Acknowledgements

  I really hope you enjoyed Katia’s story. Much like Denver Beck, who elbowed his way into the first book, Katia did the same in LOST SOULS. I’ve not regretted that at all. I love the trapper from Kansas. She mouthy, insecure and has such a bright future if she’s willing to risk everything. Let’s face it, Katia’s personal history isn’t pretty. A gaslighting boyfriend, an emotional absent mother, the loss of her beloved grandmother, and loads of guilt about her brother’s near death. I’m really looking forward to what happens with her and Simon in the next story.

  On a personal note, in late 2022 I was diagnosed with Follicular Lymphoma, a “chronic” cancer of the blood. There is no cure for this disease, but it can be managed. Treatment began in March 2023 and I completed six sessions of chemotherapy in the autumn of that year. The chemo worked as we’d hoped.

  When I wrote about Lay Exorcist Snyder’s daughter having cancer, I hadn’t been diagnosed at that point. When I was, I left that in the story. It’s important to acknowledge how those unforeseen challenges affect us and those around us.

  I was deeply touched by the support of my friends, my dear husband, and the medical pros at Hospital da Luz Coimbra as the cancer treatments rolled out. I continue to receive immunotherapy infusions, but hope to finish those in autumn of 2025. I count myself very, very lucky. My hematologist agrees.