A week and a half later, I was as healed as I was going to be. I hadn’t exactly gotten an all-clear from the doctor yet - how do you even ask a doctor if they’ll okay you for an exorcism? But I had been up and moving, even going on a long walk with Liam, and so we deemed me physically healthy enough to try it again.

  I didn’t want to try it again.

  I mean, don’t get me wrong - I desperately wanted the demon out of me. I wanted my ability back so I could go back to talking to ghosts. I didn’t want to have to fight the fear the bubbled up in my gut every time I went to sleep - the worry that the demon would be there again and this time, I wouldn’t be able to make it out. I’d woken up in a cold sweat so many nights that Liam didn’t even wake up with me anymore. Instead, he just pulled me closer to him in his sleep, and I would lay there silently, waiting for the adrenaline to stop flowing so thickly through my veins.

  I didn’t want to try again because there was something in the back of my mind that kept telling me that this time, it would be worse. The demon hadn’t managed to kill me yet, but that had been a result of pure luck on my part. There was no telling what would happen if we tried to exorcise it again. And even with all the potential preparations on everyone’s part, who’s to say that it wouldn’t jump into one of them next?

  I wasn’t all that worried about my own mortality, which I suppose is something that comes with the ability to see what lies beyond it. But I didn’t want to lose some of the few friends I actually had. Or Liam - I desperately didn’t want to think too much about what he meant to me, since we hadn’t known each other for that long, and plus I didn’t want to give the demon any extra ammunition, but still, I was pretty sure that if anyone looked at us too close, they’d see that he meant enough to me that I’d be willing to give up a lot to save him. Probably too much.

  But, as I helped sprinkle down a thick line of salt, I forced myself to push those fears to the side. I told myself that nothing was going to happen. Probably.

  Circe finished waving around a burning bouquet of mixed herbs and popped back to me. Considering the circumstances, she seemed far too happy to be trying another exorcism. Then again, she always seemed either happy or pissed off, so maybe those were the only two emotions she ever felt like showing, and it certainly wasn’t a moment for anger. “I like the extra thick touch to the salt line,” she said, lightly disturbing a mound of salt, careful not to break the line. “You’re lucky I always bring twice as much salt as I need, just for these sorts of situations!”

  I shrugged. “I wasn’t sure how much salt I should use, but in this situation, it seems like more is better.”

  “It won’t stop the strongest demon, regardless of the amount you use,” she said, standing up straight and dusting the residual salt from her hand. “And based on the multiple attempts on your life, I’m assuming you’ve ended up with a particularly strong demon. But I can’t guarantee that, so we’re taking every possible precaution.” She waved the still-smoldering bouquet of herbs toward me, letting the smoke waft in my general direction. “If we were smart, I’d crush up these ashes and have you drink them with some holy water.”

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  “I’ll try it - it can’t be any worse than your holy oils,” I joked.

  Circe burst into a huge grin. “Yeah, the oils are the most effective tool I have, but they sure are gross, aren’t they? The first time I used them, I had heartburn for a whole week.”

  “My diet has mostly consisted of the oils and Tums,” I agreed.

  “Well, hopefully, it won’t be long now, and you won’t have to take them again for a while! Although if you’re planning on still going hunting with the boys, you’ll have to use them sooner than you probably want - it seems like once a year, those two get something attached to them.”

  I nodded, going back to sprinkling the salt in a thick line. Once a year seemed like a lot to deal with, but then again, every other time they’ve apparently gotten a demon attached to them has not been a big deal. “So you’ve worked with the guys a long time, then? How many exorcisms have you taken care of?”

  She nodded. “I’ve worked with them for about as long as Caitlin. God, when she first got here, they had so many attachments that it took a few weeks to get rid of them all! But I think I’ve done,” she paused for a second to think, “maybe 15 exorcisms for them specifically, and probably a couple hundred in total.” I raised my eyebrows and she shrugged. “It’s not like they’re my only clients. A girl’s gotta eat, and I’m sure you know just as well as I do that some people aren’t meant to work a traditional job. Can you imagine me working in an office?” she asked, lightly flicking one of the space buns in her hair.

  “Are you guys done yet?” Luke asked, walking into the room holding a large box that, from the sound of it, seemed to be filled with glass bottles. He carefully stepped over the salt line I’d been working on and sat it next to the chair in the center. “The sooner we can get Andi unpossessed, the sooner we can stop worrying about the demon trying to kill her every few seconds and get back to our actual job.”

  “Honestly, I was waiting for you to finish setting up the cameras,” she said, gesturing to a small filming setup off to the side. “We can be ready to go as soon as the salt line is finished, but I assumed that you’d want some more angles.”

  “Nope,” Caitlin answered, following behind Luke with a slightly smaller box. “The analytics seem to show that the viewers are getting tired of this whole journey, especially with extended breaks for healing in between demon attacks. I just about sent the boys on a small hunt while she was healing so that we could have something else to put up.”

  “She did try,” Liam added, following the rest of them with another large box. He set it down by the others, then came over to give me a quick peck on the cheek. “I told her specifically that I wasn’t going to leave until we got rid of the demon. I didn’t think I’d be able to forgive myself if I was gone for that and…” he cleared his throat rather than finish the sentence.

  “Yes, yes, and we would have all been very sad at that, but we also need to think about the business,” Caitlin argued. “We ended up putting up a small filler episode of them talking about haunted objects from the internet, and while that’s not doing great, it’s still doing better than the last demonic possession episode. So, the plan is to get some footage of the exorcism, but we’re going to wrap up that little plot at the beginning of a different ghost hunting episode. So, I’ll come in with the handi-cam, but we don’t need much more than that for the amount of footage we need.”

  I poured another large clump of salt on the ground, making sure to link up the two ends of the circle. It wasn’t particularly round, but it would work in a pinch, I thought. I handed the bag of salt to Liam and stepped inside the circle. “Well, in that case, let’s get this started so we can get back to hunting.”

  “You sure you’re ready for it?” Liam said, eyeing me with clear concern on his face. Something warm bubbled in my stomach at the fact that, even though we hadn’t known each other for all that long, he could still tell exactly how weary I was of starting this. But, I pushed that feeling down, telling myself it was just the heartburn from the oils. Sentimental feelings toward any of them would not help me right then.

  “No,” I admitted, “but I’m not sure I’ll ever really be ready for it. So, we might as well get it over with.”