Read Online Hexed by Michael Alan Nelson - Free Book Online Page B

rushed over and grabbed the chair. She slid it to the center of the room and then took a few tentative steps back as Lucifer led Olivia to the chair and sat her down.
    â€œIs her head going to start spinning around?” Kenna asked.
    Olivia shot her friend a terrified glance before Lucifer said, “No, that’s not how it works.” Usually , she thought. Lucifer grabbed Olivia’s shaking hands. “I know you’re scared and that’s okay. I was scared the first time it happened to me until I realized how easy it is to fix.”
    â€œYou’ve been possessed before?”
    Lucifer smiled. “Not me personally, but someone I knew. And by something much nastier.”
    â€œWhat . . . what is it?”
    â€œA filcher demon.” Before Olivia could begin another frantic freak-out, Lucifer put her hand up to stop her and continued. “It sounds bad, I know, but trust me. As possessions go, this is weak sauce. You only looked in the book a few days ago, and it takes weeks if not months for a filcher demon to eventually get control of you. The longer you wait, the more difficult it is to get it out of you, but anything less than a month or two is cake.”
    Kenna stood next to Olivia, wringing her hands. “Am I possessed, too?”
    â€œNo. You saw the symbol on my phone. And filcher demons are Fibonacci-blind.”
    â€œFibo . . . what?”
    Lucifer opened the drawers in Olivia’s bureau and started going through their contents. “Fibonacci. There’s something called the Fibonacci sequence. 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 . . . it’s a ratio thing. It shows up everywhere in nature, but filcher demons have a hard time seeing unnatural things with that sequence. Like the symbol I showed you.” She pulled out a handful of scarves and some long socks then turned back to Olivia. “How you doing, Olivia?”
    â€œI’m freaking the Mack Truck out and you guys are talking about math!” Olivia’s hair was stuck to the side of her face by sweat and tears as dark streaks of mascara streamed down her puffy cheeks. A tiny ball of guilt sat in the pit of Lucifer’s stomach. She wanted to get back at Olivia for her condescension, but she didn’t want her to be this scared.
    Lucifer gently pulled Olivia’s arms behind the back of the chair and started tying her wrists together with one of the scarves.
    â€œWhat are you doing?”
    â€œThis is just so you won’t hurt yourself. Kenna, use the socks to tie her ankles to the chair legs. Tight.”
    â€œHurt myself? Why . . . why would I hurt myself?”
    Finished, Lucifer stepped in front of Olivia and put a comforting hand on her arm. “This is just a precaution. Sometimes the extraction can be . . . violent.” Lucifer didn’t think it was possible, but Olivia’s eyes opened even wider.
    Lucifer opened her trick bag and pulled out a small glass jar filled with a rusty powder. “Kenna, sit here on the bed behind her. Whatever you do, don’t get in front of her. Understand?”
    Kenna nodded.
    â€œWhat’s that?” Olivia asked, nodding toward the jar in Lucifer’s hand.
    â€œIt’s just paprika. See? Nothing to worry about,” Lucifer said.
    Olivia jerked back wildly, the wooden chair creaking under the sudden strain as it teetered on two legs. Lucifer reached out and caught Olivia before she fell over, but the poor girl was still struggling to get away.
    Kenna jumped up from the bed and screamed, “Oh god, her head is going to start spinning!”
    â€œHer head is not going to start spinning, now will you get a grip!” Lucifer turned back to Olivia. “Olivia, calm down. I said it’s just—”
    â€œI’m allergic to paprika! I’ll go into anaphylactic shock!” Olivia shouted.
    Lucifer wasn’t expecting that. It wasn’t really that big of a deal since almost any spice