“I don’t know,” he answered. “I just…when I was walking toward the demon, something told me it wouldn’t hurt me.”
“A guess?”
“A feeling,” he said, shaking his head. “I can’t explain it.”
“Are you all right?” she asked.
He nodded. “I just need a minute. I’m exhausted.”
He looked around at the room as though for the first time. He had a look of shock on his face, and Abigail could relate: the entire chamber had been demolished with broken equipment, conveyer belts, tools, and other miscellaneous objects spread all around. It looked like a tornado had ripped through and disappeared.
Abigail’s side was agony, but her body was still pumping adrenaline, so she barely felt the pain.
“I’m not surprised that you’re so tired,” she said. “Doing things like that really takes a toll.”
“Like what?” he asked.
She hesitated. “Channeling.”
“Channeling what?”
“We can talk about it later. I need to get in touch with Frieda and let her know Belphegor has been dealt with. They need to call off the strike.”
“All right,” Haatim said, yawning. “I’ll be right here.”
Abigail headed outside and pulled out the satellite phone. She stepped out into the cool air and dialed Frieda’s number. Frieda picked up almost immediately.
“Are you OK?”
“I’m fine,” Abigail said. “It’s done. The demon is gone.”
“You’re sure?”
“Positive.”
“All right,” Frieda said. Abigail heard her speak with another person, telling them to call off the strike, and then Frieda was back. “We will send a cleanup crew and create a story to explain what happened.”
“That’ll be an interesting one.”
“Are you injured?”
“I’m fine,” Abigail said. “Couple of scrapes and bumps but nothing major.”
“What about Haatim? Did he get out of the city?”
“Something like that,” she said. “I’ll tell you all about it when you get here.”
“Is he safe?”
“He’s safe.”
“Good,” Frieda said. “His father is furious with both of us.”
“I assumed he would be,” Abigail said. “But there’s nothing we can do about it now. There’s something I need to tell you. Something I heard about Haatim’s father, and you aren’t going to like it.”
“What is it?”
“Not here. In person.”
