Possess

be working.
    “Then . . .” Undermeyer launched to his feet. “THEN SHOW PENEMUEL TO US!”
    “I—I can’t. He’s gone.”
    “Gone,” Undermeyer mocked as the guards slapped him back into his chair. “Gone, gone, gone.”
    What had Penemuel said right at the end? “His penance was done,” Bridget said, quoting the demon’s words. “He was released.”
    There was a moment of agonizing silence while Undermeyer’s eyes darted around the room. His lips didn’t move, but she could hear the voices in his head as clearly as if they were speaking through him still. “Released? Penemuel released? Can we trust? Do we dare? We cannot be released until we deliver the message. We cannot. We cannot.”
    Released. Penemuel had sounded joyous when he said that word. Maybe these demons were the same?
    “I can release you,” she lied. Was it like banishing? She had no clue, but it seemed to be working. “I released Penemuel after he told me to find you. I know how.”
    Undermeyer’s face went slack with longing, like a man dying of thirst when he catches a glimpse of an oasis. “You?”
    “Yes.”
    The voices started again, babbling rapidly in the same language Bridget couldn’t understand, arguing among themselves, trying to come to a decision.
    “Please,” she said.
    “Bridget, who are you talking to?” Matt asked. He was freaked out, only hearing one side of this conversation.
    But she couldn’t stop to explain. She was so close.
    “Yes,” the voices said in unison. “Yes.”
    Undermeyer closed his eyes; his body stilled. Then the voices filled the room again.
    “We did not kill David Liu, David Liu of the Nephilim, David Liu, the Watcher.”
    Somehow she knew this was coming. “If you didn’t, then who did?”
    “Emim. Emim. An agent of the Emim.” The voice broke into gibberish, harsh and biting. Then the voices stilled. “We have a message.”
    A message. That was their purpose, their penance, their price for release from the legions of Hell. But she wasn’t going to let them off that easy. There was something she needed to know first.
    “If Undermeyer didn’t kill my dad, then who did?”
    “Bridget!” Matt grabbed her arm. “What the hell are you talking about?”
    She shook him off, focusing on the demon voices. It was just more gibberish, heated and loud.
    “I promise I can release you,” she said. “Only I need to know this first.”
    “Find the tapes,” a voice said.
    “Tapes?” Her dad kept tape recordings of all his sessions, but according to the police they were all accounted for in evidence. “We have the tapes.”
    “More,” said a voice.
    “Hidden,” said another.
    “Don’t tell her!” a third hissed.
    “The truth,” said the first. “The Watcher demands it.”
    More. Hidden. “There are missing tapes from Undermeyer’s sessions?” Bridget asked.
    But the demons’ patience had run out. They had a message to deliver, and they were done being distracted from it by Bridget’s question.
    “We have a message for David Liu of the Nephilim, David Liu the Watcher,” they said, back to their script. “The Emim are rising, called forth from their exile by the King of the West, the wielder of the silver ring, the prince of Hell. Amaymon calls his servants to arms!”
    Undermeyer shivered in his chair and slumped forward. The interview was draining him.
    “Hurry!” a voice said before launching into unison again. “The priest is their minion, he serves the Emim. You must stop the conjuring. If Amaymon takes form in this world, all will be lost.”
    “Why are you telling me this?” Bridget said. Even if they felt different to her, these were demons, after all. Why would they warn her about one of their own?
    “To warn David Liu, to warn David Liu, to warn a Watcher of the threat.”
    “Bridget . . .” Matt’s hand was on her shoulder. “What is—”
    “It is our penance. Amaymon wishes power, to control the other kings of Hell. Must not let him. Must not let him. Must not let him. Must not let him.”
    “Okay!” Bridget yelled to cut off the chant. “How?”
    “Stop the priest. The Emim cannot summon Amaymon without him. They need the priest. The priest wields the sword.”
    “The priest is working for the Emim?”
    “Yes.”
    The priest? Yeah, that narrowed it down. “Which priest?”
    But that was it. The demons had reached the end of their message.
    “We tell David Liu, we tell the Watcher. Our penance is done.”
    “Release us!”