Page 19 of Chaos Demons

I could barely do anything, chaos, rage, and confusion tore at me. I managed to stand and stagger into Ana’s bathroom, finding a garbage can to dispose of my condom. Then I stumbled back into her room and found my pants. My head was pounding so hard, it was difficult to think straight.

Slowly, I lurched down the stairs and heard the shouting match before I saw it. Descending to the main floor was like walking into a warzone.

Ana was shouting at the young woman, who was throwing anything in sight and shouting back. My head swarmed with pain and discordant thoughts. I could barely understand what they were saying, only that they were furious with each other. Somewhere above me a dog barked incessantly, and cats yowled. This was a madhouse!

Then Ana turned to me. “You!” she spat. “Your chaos isn’t helping any of this!Thisis why I told you not to come, you’re only making things worse. Come back when you’re able to drain away some of our chaos, not add to it.” She pushed me toward the door. “I just… can’t… right now. I’ll talk to you later. I’m sorry, but you have to go!” She opened the door and pushed me out. It was a testament to how disoriented I was that she was able to manhandle me so easily.

I stood on her front stoop for a long moment, dazed and confused and still so very angry.

“Fuck!” I bellowed at the sky.

Then I stumbled to my car, only realizing once I got in, that my pants were on backwards and I’d left my boxers inside.

I had no clue what had just happened, but I knew one thing for sure: if my chaos had been stormy before… it was a class-five hurricane now. And without Ana… I couldn’t think of any way to calm it.

ANAIS

My head hadn’t stopped poundingfor days and I’d barely slept. Every time I closed my eyes, I had nightmares of creepy crawlies and inescapable violence. I felt — and looked — like a royal mess.

“You have to help me,” I begged Harmonia.

I’d gone to see my gracious and helpful manager at Elysium even though I didn’t have a shift tonight. I’d told her about everything that had happened over the last however-many days — I’d lost track — since my daughter and Melinoe had arrived. We were all run ragged, barely sleeping and constantly arguing. Even quiet and stoic Reia was at her wit’s end. I’d left after I’d yelled at Grey for my tea being too hot.

I couldn’t believe I’d done that.

“It’s completely unbearable.” I slumped in my chair. “And I’m utterly exhausted.”

Harmonia blew out a long breath. “Melinoe is… not an easy daemon to live with. Even if she is controlling her powers, anyone near her will still probably have nightmares and slowly go mad. I’m not sure what Grey was thinking letting her in.” She shook her head.

“He said something about his void and being powerless around me and learning to control it.” I shrugged. I couldn’t quite remember now, muddled as my mind was.

Harmonia nodded. “Well, let me do this much for you.” She rose and came around her desk to stand behind me. She put her hands on either side of my head and her soothing power flowed into me. My muscles unbunched, shoulders slumping, jaw and neck untensed and—

Wow, I really had been uptight.

“Gods, you’re amazing, thank you!” I said with a heavy sigh. “At least I can think now. Although I don’t know what to do about any of this. If I tell Melinoe to leave, I think she’ll throw a fit and literally drive us all mad. And the way Grey looked when he asked for her to stay… I think he was truly worried about his powers. And I have no clue what to do about Eva. I haven’t even managed to tell her she’s a daemon yet, and according to Grey, she needs to know soon, because she has some blossoming aspect of violence or anger or something and it’s spilling out of her like mine used to.”

“Do you want me to come over and try to calm things?”

Yes. Yes, I did, very much.

“I can’t ask that of you.” I grimaced. “I don’t even know if it’s within your power to get this particular household under control.”

“Why don’t I stop by tomorrow and see if there’s anything I can do?” Harmonia offered.

Oh, thank the gods!

“You’re a saint, thank you,” I said, exuding gratitude.

My mind latched on to a part of what she’d said. Tomorrow… was a significant day… for some reason? A holiday? Even with a clear head, I was still a little confused as to what exact day it was. Then it hit me.

“Oh! Tomorrow’s Halloween.”

“Most daemons call it Samhain.”

“Sa-win?” I repeated. I’d heard that somewhere before.

“It’s a Gaelic harvest festival, a time when the barrier between worlds is thin and spirits sometimes return.”

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