Page 9 of Baking and Angels

Chapter 4

MyFlawless

Accent

The door openedonce more.

The two agents who held his fate in their hands filed in, followed by beautiful Helena.

To his relief, she came straight to him, offering her hands, which he took in both of his, his heart leaping at her touch. She squeezed, smiling reassuringly as she sat down on the couch with him. Her eyes alighted on the cookbook in his lap, that he had moved there because it felt safer. She reached to touch its cover, giving him a questioning eyebrow, but there was no time or safety of space to say anything about it. He slid it off his lap and tucked it under his coat on the couch as the two agents took seats acrossfrom them.

Agent Archon sat in the other normal chair which left Agent Sophia with the rocking chair, but she seemed plenty cheerful with the option. He knew this was it, and he would do whatever it took to protect Helena.

“We have come to a preliminary conclusion that you, Ms. Rhodes and Mr. Lares, were victims of a demonic possession,” Agent Archon stated.

Rafferty couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “What?”

Helena seemed surprised too. “But the summoning circle in mykitchen—”

“Is completely benign,” Agent Sophia said, clearly trying to be reassuring.

Agent Archon shook her head. “Just carving a summoning circle into a floor doesn’t make it a real summoning circle, and the symbols around it are just utter gibberish. It is most likely that the real demon summoner planted that to convince you, Ms. Rhodes, that you had done the deed and that your boyfriend was that same demon.”

“The agency has seen this before,” Agent Sophia added. “One time it was a husband who the demon summoner had convinced that his wife was a succubus that he had summoned. She survived but hedid not.”

Agent Archon folded her arms protectively across her chest. “This sort of deception,” Agent Archon said, shaking her head in disgust. “It never works, but some of them try. All it accomplishes is just more people getting hurt.”

“Then… what do you thinkdidhappen?” Helena asked, utterlyperplexed.

“We aren’t going to comment further on an open investigation, only on the details that concern you.” She sighed. “I know this is going to be very hard for you to accept. But with time and counseling, you will be able to get on with your lives.”

“For the time being, we would like you to stay under our protection,” Agent Sophia said. “The demon that caused all this is still out there, and it may focus on one of you to become its new anchor.”

“Without the anchor, it will be ejected from creation naturally, but it will cause a lot of destruction before that happens. We would rather find it before anyone else gets hurt.” Agent Archon flipped open another folder and showed her a brochure. “If you will allow us, we can put you up in a hotel. It’s already prepared with a protection circle and other charms, so you wouldn’t have to worry about the demon coming to get you while you sleep.”

“I… I just want to get back to my life,” Helena said.

Agent Sophia nodded. “Of course you do, this is just until we can get your house inlaid with its own protections.”

Helena nodded, wrapping her arms around herself protectively. Rafferty slid his own arm around her shoulders as well. He knew they were safe now, that he could rely on the deal he made with Vassago, but mentioning it now would only tip off these agents and voidthe deal.

Pulling out another set of forms from the folder, Agent Archon handed them to Helena. “If you sign this, we can have the protection circle set and everything over the next couple of days. It’s all covered by the state’s Demonic Barrier Act, so there is no cost to you. You won’t even notice that it’s there, but if the demon should get desperate enough to return, we’ll also bealerted.”

“And then you can go home,” Agent Sophiafinished.

“But…” Helena bit her lower lip, “What if… what if what I said was true, even if you are having trouble finding evidence for it. I summoned a demon; shouldn’t I still bepunished?”

It was Agent Archon’s turn to sigh but remain otherwise professional. “If you had, in fact, summoned a demon, as you say, and it was an accident… the worst that would happen to you is you would incur a fine and require classes on the dangers of demon summoning.”

Rafferty blinked. “That seems… incrediblylenient.”

“There is a degree of mercy in the laws as written,” Agent Archon explained, reusing the phrase Agent Sophia had said earlier like it was a creed.

“Nor is it really justice to lock away people who simply made a mistake and to ruin their entire lives,” Agent Sophia added. “Especially if it’s teenagers. They are often rebelling by doing something stupid with Ouija boards, that sort of thing. If no one gets hurt and they learned their lesson, it’s not something to destroy their lives over.”

“The demon is worse than any punishment we can dole out,” Agent Archon agreed. “We are only interested in the unrepentant who will continue to be a danger to society. Nothing you’ve told me today, if true, rises to meet thatstandard.”

“Well… I’m not going to lie, that does make me feel a little bit better,” Helena said.

---