Chapter 1

1

The nightmares didn’t just come when he slept. Nobody ever told Jesse about the sort of nightmares that could hit you in the middle of the day, in the middle of some task. Everything would be normal and then he would be stuck in a small, windowless room, his arms stretched above his head, his skin broken and bleeding. These moments weren’t just particularly vivid memories. He was there. He was in the room again. He was struggling to breathe. There was no world except this world of agony and no escape except through the locked door.

After the first one had left him winded, shaking, huddled at his desk, he tried to research his symptoms. Flashbacks. But a flashback seemed so innocuous. Flashbacks were what old hippies got after years of dropping acid. Jesse refused to think of the events as flashbacks. They were waking nightmares, and they could hit him at any time. There was never any warning, never a triggering event. And he couldn’t control them. Avoiding the other sort of nightmare—the regular nightmare—was easy enough. He just stopped sleeping. But that wasn’t enough to completely thwart the terror.

Jesse dropped his forehead to his desk and gasped for breath, trying to slow his racing pulse. His lungs burned each time he inhaled, and his skin felt sweaty and tight. Everything felt sweaty and tight. He needed fresh air. He needed to get out of the small office. He needed help.

He needed to pull himself together because Emma would be back from the museum soon, and Gideon would be up at dusk, ready to take out a nest of demons down by the docks. And he would expect Jesse to have the research done and the suitable weapons gathered, because they already knew enough to know that regular metal swords and axes wouldn’t penetrate their hides. Which meant he only had about ninety minutes to figure out what wouldkill the demons, and then track down whatever weapon Gideon needed, if they didn’t already own it.

Once it no longer felt like his heart was trying to escape through his ribs, he sat up, wiping a hand over his face. His cheeks were flushed, and it felt like he had a fever. He stood on legs he didn’t altogether trust and walked over to the water cooler. A drink would help his dry mouth and throat. A drink would give him a few more seconds before he had to get back to work. He ignored the way his fingers trembled as he filled the paper cup with water. Shaking fingers were the least of his problems.

By the time he made it back to his desk, everything was almost back to normal. Or as normal as things got these days. By some act of providence, neither Gideon nor Emma had ever witnessed one of his nightmares, or one of his panic attacks. Part of that was because they were both busy. Emma had been promoted and she often worked more than forty hours a week. Gideon had likewise thrown himself into work, attacking the demon population in Chicago with an almost frightening vigor. Part of that was because Jesse was good at keeping himself busy and avoiding spending time alone with them. He didn’t know why, but he didn’t want them to know that he was haunted. It was over. It was behind them. He shouldn’t be experiencing it every day. They were all ready to move on.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t that easy, and Jesse didn’t quite understand why.

The ringing telephone sent his pulse racing again, and he snatched it from the cradle, if only to silence it.

“Gideon Investigations.”

“Hello, this is a courtesy call for Gideon Keel from American Electric.”

“Yes?” Jesse knew why they were calling. There was no reason to get Gideon involved.

“We’re just calling to inform you that your power bill is now two weeks late. I’ll be more than happy to take your payment now with your credit or debit card.”

Jesse looked at the stack of unopened envelopes on his desk. He had no doubt the power bill was there. It was his job to pay the utilities and keep the office running smoothly. It had always been his job.

“I’ll pay it now.” He fumbled his own credit card out of his wallet, though he was supposed to use the office’s bank account. If this were the first time he had simply forgotten to pay the bills, he wouldn’t have hesitated to use Gideon’s card. But it wasn’t the first time. Or even the second time. And the last thing he wanted was to leave a paper trail of his mistakes.

It was just a matter of time until Gideon discovered all of his mistakes anyway.