“I’m fine. It’s just that I had a dream something awful happened here in Burlington. It woke me up. I drove around till I got near where I felt it and… well… there’s a dental office that feels like the devil’s slaughterhouse. I’m not on good terms with BPD or your department, so I thought I better tell you. Sorry to wake you.”

“Did you go in it? Or near it?”

“No, just on the street. Never got out of my car. But Darci, this is bad. I’m calling Chris Gordon next. That kind of bad.”

“Okay, okay,” she said. After a moment, she went on. “Just go about your morning. I’ll check in with BPD.”

“Okay. Talk later?” he asked.

“Yes, and maybe sooner,” she said, hanging up.

“Responding officers have called in a homicide. Additional units are responding. The Detective Services Bureau has been notified as well as the Vermont State Police Mobile Crime Scene Team.”

“Thanks, Omega. Let’s call Chris and Tanya. Have they left yet?”

“Not yet. Placing call. Line is secure.”

“Problems?” Chris’s voice asked over the line.

“Your demon is a tricky minx. She somehow called in the disturbance while I was fixing Nika’s problem. I think she has a human helper on the same street, so I’m expecting a call from Burlington PD at some point, wondering why I was there. I called Darci and told her about a prophetic dream, and that I then got up and went out to investigate.”

“Good thinking. What else?”

“I told her that I was calling you next because my feeling was that kind of feeling. She’s calling her contacts but BPD is already on the scene.”

“Okay, clever. Awasos, the twins, and I are driving up via Deckert convoy, so we’ll come up with our own reason for being aware of the demon. I’ll see you later, after we get the lay of the land. Oh, perhaps I’ll call Nathan Stewart at Oracle and tell him we think demonic activity is imminent. And Declan… stay away from anything more to do with this one. Remember the whole reason the dentist was involved was to get to Toni and put that layer of demonic scum over the God Tear. Seems like it was aimed at you.”

“Right. Listen, I’ll let you in on a little secret… I’m not at all fond of demons. I don’t like being near them, and I have a healthy fear of them. So I’m just going to get some food, then I’m off for classes. Wait, isn’t Tanya coming?” His voice had a little catch in it and he frowned at the uncontrolled shift. Not cool.