Sitting a raid out was far worse than actually participating one. Especially if you did all the intel legwork for the raid in question. And all that was even worse when you knew they could run face first into an angel and get run over en masse like a squirrel on a highway.

Which was why I was up at the unholy hour of six am, coffee in one hand and book in the other, reading about the best ways to remotely manage summoned demons. Fixing those holes in my orders was a must.

I hoped they had the good sense to call me in. After all, I felt fine; totally rested and good to go.

"It is unbecoming to fidget, my Mistress."

"I'm not fidgeting, Grex."

"Of course you aren't, my Mistress."

I rolled my eyes at him and returned to the book. It was more than a little sobering to read a laundry list of failed orders and what the demons did to the summoners who gave said order. More experienced summoners than I had died trying what I attempted; the only thing that made me different was the aura of command or whatever granted by my pact.

Well, that and Grex would have probably gleefully murdered them all for trying anything. If not, well, he had to follow my orders anyway, so we weren't really in any danger of an insurrection. Still, the whole 'freedom to summon more imps' thing was a hole that needed to be closed down, if for no other reason than to keep appearances.

Breakfast was Belgian waffles slathered in strawberries with hash browns on the side. I would have liked some sausage but I apparently forgot to stock up; it was hard remembering everything when trying to catch a killer. There was too much here for one person, really; Grex had outdone himself.

I finished up, all polite decorum. "This sucks!"

Grex raised an eyebrow.

"They're going to be raiding in minutes, and I can't be there, or even see what's going on! They could need me!"

Grex smiled. "Oh, is that all? Would you like to see how the raid goes, my master? Perhaps even affect the outcome, without disobeying the orders of your superiors?"

Was Grex going to make a suggestion? This was bound to be good... or end in blood. "What do you have in mind?"

"A spell of course."

"What, some sort of crystal ball or oracle spell?"

Grex paled. "No! No, visions of the future are specifically the realm of God or his mortals alone. But with a proper spell, you can see through my eyes. Your superiors did not forbid you to send me, after all."

Well, he wasn't wrong. "Alright, how do I cast it?"

I felt a little twinge about using Grex this way, but he was volunteering for it. That made it okay, right? It was legal to film or watch someone doing something public, right? Just as if you were a reporter pointing a camera at a raid? Right, that was all I was doing... sending a willing cameraman to cover the doings of the ADTF.

While it wasn't against the law, there weren't many reporters that actually shadowed the anti-demon task force, but we were mostly covered by the hardcore print and net journalists instead; the ones that used to be war correspondents and still wanted that hazard pay. Journalists of all types seemed to die pretty often around us since if the demons got past us the media were the next people in line.

Come to think of it, I hadn't dealt with any of the journalists or reporters in the city yet, even though I've been involved in most of the recent cases; had Karen or someone else been body blocking me? If so, why? Was the reason innocent, or not so innocent?

Something to worry about later.

Grex taught me the words while he grabbed a bowl of water. Just a simple bowl of water. Then he grabbed a book from my library and thumbed through it until he reached a page, and put the book in front of me.

The spell did what Grex said it would do; create a link between my mind and Grex's eyes. I would see through his eyes until I canceled it, and the only side effects were I'd be personally blind until I canceled the spell. It was only usable between the willing, and formed a link....

Wait a minute, I was an idiot. "Wait, can't I just use our link for this, and circumvent the spell? Other summoners probably do that all the time."

"Perhaps, but then what excuse would I use to teach you the spell? "Grex replied with a smile.

I rolled my eyes at him and inscribed the needed circle on some parchment. Setting the bowl in the center of it and candles on the points, I watched as Grex added one of his old feathers (we still had plenty of loose ones left over from his now mostly healed wing) and an eyelash.

I started the chant, and within moments I was looking down at myself. My voice came from me, but the center of my vision was on me; it was very disconcerting. "It worked. Go scope the raid out."

My vision swam a bit, landing on the floor as Grex bowed. "Your wish is my command, Mistress."

I was a little worried about the lack of communication we'd have, but if I needed to I could just call him back.

No, wait, that was stupid. We weren't doing that. "Wait. Go to the nearest convenience store and buy a phone, and activate it. Keep it safe and on you. If I need you to do something or don't do something, I'll call you."

Grex's vision bobbed again. "Of course, my Mistress."

And then I got to play the waiting game... only blind, so I couldn't read. I refocused on Grex's eyes to find he was already at the store. The cashier didn't even look up as he rang Grex up; Grex must be pretending to be human. Well, either that or the cashier was very inattentive.

A blurring and Grex was airborne. No one batted an eye, so Grex must be invisible now. This spell kind of sucked since any quick movement cause my (or maybe Grex's) peripheral vision to blur, and the vision to narrow. I hope it didn't affect Grex's own vision. Then again, if it did, I couldn't imagine Grex would suggest it; there was a little danger involved in where he was going.

I saw as Grex fiddled with the phone; it was too bad I couldn't use this spell to hear. But then again I didn't think I'd want to be blind and deaf, even in the safety of my apartment. Soon enough he dialed my number, and my phone rang.

"Hello, Grex."

"Hello, Mistress. I thought I'd make sure this contraption worked. Do you need anything from me?"

"No, thank you. Continue your mission."

"As you command, my Mistress."

A minute of blurring and pinpoint vision focused directly ahead into the bright blue sky and my field of view expanded again as Grex looked below him to reveal one of the staging areas. By chance, or perhaps not, he was directly over the staging area for my team. I could see right away that Sarah and company were being escorted by Baron.

I probably shouldn't worry, Baron had five years and a tour in; at the very least he was a survivor, which meant he had to be competent. But any teamwork was likely to be the minimal standard. the other side of the pincer had the Captain and Karen, with a few subs on the more mundane side. It was hard to tell who was who past the masks when I only seen them in passing for the last couple weeks.

I didn't need to check my watch (which was a good thing, considering I couldn't see it) to know the raid had less than six minutes to kick off. I had pushed for dawn, being a fan of the classics, but the more experienced heads had pushed for eight am, citing it as a time in which hyper-alert or hyper-paranoid would be even less vigilant than at dawn.

We would find out who was right; I hoped they were.

Promptly at eight, the two teams went in, with Grex close behind - invisible, of course.

The first set of traps were set just past the door. My team almost blundered into them, a series of explosive circles set into the floor amid a series of other, fake circles and wards. Roddy saved them at the last minute by pointing them out as he almost stepped on one. It took ten minutes to map the correct path through the minefield. There was no visible evidence of explosions or signs of panic among the team, so it was safe to assume that the other team had found them too if spells covered both entrances.

I pondered the handiwork as the team paused. Maybe I could recreate them or something, but it wasn't a tradition I was familiar with; if anything, it looked older. I filed it away for later.

Roddy was just giving the all clear when my vision blurred again; something yellow and orange to the left just before my field of view shrank. My field expanded to show my team already fighting a Baal-Rog, moving for cover like the well-oiled unit they were while Baron fumbled to catch up.

Baron's summon was a cacodemon and an actual lord of Hell judging from the elaborate headgear, which was mildly surprising, I wouldn't have suspected he had it in him. Of course, the cacodemon was at least a little outclassed, but the baal-rog's flames weren't reaching the team, so that was something.

Then lightning announced Karen and Thor's arrival on the scene. The baal-rog fought both the team's demons off for over a minute before Karen managed to get a banishment on it; Baron was only steps behind. He really was as good as his reputation suggested, for all that he was an ass.

The baal-rog vanished, and Grex panned his eyes around; no one had been hurt beyond some minor burns, and most of the spellwork had been scoured from the floor, which was a bit of a bonus.

The summoner of the baal rog was nowhere to be seen; the search for them began. I noticed a few imps I recognized going through the warehouse too, so there were more summoners from our side about, helping from a distance.

I called Grex.

"Yes, my Mistress?"

"Find the summoner, now."

"Yes, my Mistress." Grex sighed out and then hung up.

I saw him look around a bit, then my vision blurred again. Jeeves didn't have to look far, because coming out of the bathrooms was the very picture of 'crazy summoner.' Tall but stooped, wearing corduroy pants caked in dirt and a shirt that was half rags under a jacket that looked surprisingly well cared for, the man's beard had grown in strange ways and all but taken over his face.

His mouth opened and he yelled something I couldn't hear. I wish I couldn't see; his teeth were broken off pits in his gums. I could have done without that, really.

He was down on the ground before he'd taken a step, already being zip-tied and gagged.

Karen started gesturing around and giving orders. The team started snapping to, finishing the clearing of the building while the demons took point.

My phone rang.

"Hello?"

It was Karen. "I get it, Snow, you wanted to be here where the action is, see what was going on, and all that. You're not technically breaking orders since you aren't here, but get Grex out of here, alright? We don't need him here, and he's contaminating the site."

Uh oh. "Um, whoops?" I had kind of forgotten about that.

"Don't whoops me young lady, just do it. Don't worry, we'll preserve the scene and let you see it to your heart's content tomorrow. We need to figure out where this idiot came from, after all."

"Got it. Okay, hanging up now."

Grex had watched Karen make the call. I called him.

"Yes, my Mistress?"

"Pull back, somehow they, or Karen at least, knows you're there."

"Understood." My eyesight blurred again, and I tried not to get motion sick.

Wait, why was I bothering? A quick fumble to find the candles and I blew on them, putting them out. Then I blinked my own eyesight clear of the stars. Well, that worked and didn't blind me or anything, so that was a plus. Next time I should both read and remember how to cancel the spell, just to be sure.

There were blind summoners for various reasons, but joining them due to a miscast spell wasn't something I wanted to do.

I was sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee when Grex arrived, breaking all kinds of land speed records but not teleporting like he usually did. I let him make his own cup and sit down before grilling him; he had done well today and it was the least I could do.

"So, your impressions?"

"I've none, actually."

"No opinion either way, huh? What did the summoner yell out when he saw everyone?"

"'The dark lord will take you all for interrupting his great work!' is the direct quote."

The dark lord? "Which one? Aren't there dozens of those?"

"Hundreds," Grex corrected me. "But in this case, I feel he was speaking of someone well placed on our hierarchy; perhaps even at the top."

"So, someone you know then; lovely. Well, at least I'll be able to make some impressions of my own when I go to the scene later."

Jackpot. Grex's face stayed still and relaxed, but I was pretty sure I'd spotted a reaction. Grex knew something, and it was probably something he couldn't say, rather than wouldn't. At least, unless not knowing put me in direct danger - so whoever the dark lord was, it was higher up than he was himself.

Or I was totally off on what he was concerned about; I'd find out tomorrow, with some luck.

Time to make sure Grex couldn't hide anything. "Alright Grex, well I'm a bit worried here. So stay close to me."

Grex bowed. "Of course, my Mistress."

I sat back, relaxed, and read while Grex watched the nature channel.

I couldn't find anything in any of those books on the symbols I saw, so I decided to go to the source. Well, before a nap; I was a little tired. Perhaps even tired enough to warrant a day off; maybe I'd even owe Karen an apology.

"Grex, do you remember those symbols in the warehouse? The circles and inscriptions?"

He didn't even bother looking over. "Of course I do; I saw them, as you did."

"Well, I'm not finding any matches in these books."

"Of course not, the language the circles were scribed in is long since defunct. It was ancient when Rome declared itself a republic or even Greeks decided they were civilized."

"So what language is it, and how did some crazy homeless looking summoner learn it?"

Now Grex looked over. "Well clearly, a demon taught him."

That followed to an extent, but something didn't add up there. "If so, then how did he summon a demon in the first place? He had to have another tradition, and we were operating on the assumption of German... but I don't remember seeing any evidence of past or present German influence in the writing."

Grex turned back to the show. "To be honest, I did not either. I suppose it will be something that bears investigating."

Good, he thought he was safe. Time to strike. "So exactly what language was it Grex?"

Grex flinched; a tiny but still visible one. "A language that as much in common with the early languages of this world, but whose root structure and basic concepts are demonic."

I gave him my best stare. "Don't try to tell me that language was a demonic invention because that doesn't fly."

Grex chuckled, though that could be from the lion taking down the gazelle... had we seen that episode before? "No my Mistress, not at all. The language was invented by God, and both our peoples are borrowing from the same source. But much as next door neighbors borrow substances from each other, so too has language evolved."

"So then this means...." He was trying to squirm away from something, I knew it.

Grex gave a sigh and held his hands up in surrender. "The language is demonic in origin but shares some words and ideas from human languages. However, it does not originate on Earth and has no true correlation here. Thus, it has no name you'd be familiar with."

Yeah, no. "Grex, the name."

Grex winced again; perhaps I'd let some of my authority trickle into my voice in anger. "The name of the language is Encian, after the human language of Enochian. Before it was given that name, it had none, and was just referred to as 'the language.'"

"Thank you Grex."

Grex turned back to the television. "You're welcome, my Mistress."

He didn't ask if I had any other questions for him, which was a little rude, but given what I'd just done to him I could understand it.

There was nothing in my books about anything named Encian, or a brother language to Enochian. Not even the ones Grex gave me; a closely guarded secret perhaps, that I'd forced Grex to spill?

"My Mistress...."

I looked up; when had it gotten dark? Grex was staring at me, something that might be concern pooled in his inhuman eyes. "My Mistress, please; days off are meant for relaxation. You've gone through everything you can here, why not watch television with me?"

Technically if I was supposed to be relaxing, then Grex should be home so I could recover from the drain of summoning him... not that I felt any such thing really. Wait a minute, if the apartment served as a gateway to Hell, and I sent Grex home, didn't that mean he was only a few doors down from me when I slept here or something? And what of the other demons, weren't they right outside my door? A scary thought.

At least they couldn't get in unless I let them in... right? A quick glance at the walls assured me it was so; someone would need to lay siege to this place mystically to crack it.

"My Mistress?" Oh right, Grex was still here.

"Fine, but we aren't watching that channel anymore." I plopped down on the other end of the couch and grabbed the remote.

I finally settled on a marathon of action movies, because mindless violence that I didn't need to think about was a thing.

....I woke up when Grex tried to approach. "Grex, what are you doing?"

He actually scuffed one foot on the other, like a naughty school boy. "I was going to put you to bed, as you had fallen to sleep."

All of the no. "Yeah, let's not do that at all. Go home Grex, I'll see myself to bed."

He bowed and disappeared in his customary burst of flame.

I steadied myself on the couch and shook my head to clear it; I felt a little compressed as if my head were in a cushioned vice or something, and someone was turning the crank for it slowly.

I knew this feeling; it felt as if I were too full of power as if I were a carbonated drink and someone shook me.

My earrings were in place, and so were my bracelets. I took them all off and set them on my nightstand. I could tell the difference immediately, as the feeling of being about to pop like an overripe tomato started to fade.

I luxuriated in both my sheets and the feeling of freedom.

I did not luxuriate in the alarm the next morning; I hopped out of bed. There were things to investigate today, mysteries to solve, and jewelry to ignore.

"Grex, Veni huc!"

Grex wrapped me in a hug; I pointed to the books. "Breakfast, the usual rules apply, and then clean that mess up."

"As you command, my Lady."

By the time I was done with my shower breakfast was on the table and the books were all back in their places; even my notes were organized alphabetically and by book.

Grex was a cheater.

At least breakfast was waffles again; he couldn't completely break the laws of physics. Well, all of them at any rate. Or was it all of them at once?

"You aren't wearing your earrings," Grex noted. I guess coming out of the bathroom still drying your hair made it obvious.

With a shrug, I dropped the towel. "I felt... constrained last night, so I took them off. I'm safe enough here, aren't I?"

Grex nodded. "You are, but it wouldn't do to forget them. Once you step foot into the hall..."

"I know, I'll be a beacon for everyone. I won't forget." I swear, usually, it was one time and no one let you live it down. I hadn't even forgotten once and I was still hearing it.

"Meanwhile I'll work on the problem. It wouldn't do to have you burst at the seams, as it were." Grex continued.

I had to admit to some curiosity, even if I was a bit fatalist about the whole thing (After all, who could change my fate now?). "Can that actually happen?"

Grex smiled with his teeth on full display. "Not to worry, there are steps that can be taken."

Well, that was comforting.

A knock sounded on the door.

"Grex, would you get the door please?"

"Of course, my Lady."

As expected, Karen was at the door - which was a good thing, since I was half expecting a slavering demon to come rushing through it. I really needed to get a grip there, my own visualizations controlled that transfer and if I wasn't careful I'd have no one to blame there but myself.

"Good morning Snow! Ready to get your Watson on?"

I rolled my eyes at Karen as she stole a waffle. "Oh please, you're totally the Watson of this little group."

Karen shook her head and choked down the pilfered treat. I got up and slipped my robe on and started patting it down for all the essentials; the best thing about robes were the pockets they could provide.

"Nah, I'm the Holmes; I'm the witty and fun one, and you're the dour and serious one who moves the plot along with obvious questions. Or maybe the Cagney to my Lacy."

I knew of that show but had never seen it. Wasn't Lacy supposed to be the dour one though?

Whatever, I had a response to make. "That assumes you can pull off being brilliant, which is something anyone who knows you should question. Also, not a hint of casual drug use from you."

She punched me on the shoulder. Well more of a tap, really, since Grex was there. "See? That's what I'm talking about! And if casual drug use is a prerequisite, what about yours, huh?"

"I didn't make the comparison in the first place," I replied loftily. My own addictions must never be admitted to.

"Details, details," Karen stated, brushing me off with a reasonable imitation of my own tone and voice.

I had to give her credit. "Not bad."

She grinned and bowed, almost bowling someone else over (she ignored his glare entirely) "Thank you."

I shrugged; it wasn't like the other summoners didn't know what Karen was like, he would get over it.

Grex cleared his throat. Loudly.

Oh, right. "I'll be right back."

There was another set of bracelets in my jewelry pile; how had he done that?

I slipped them on and worked on the earrings. At least it wasn't a nose ring; because I would nope right out of anything like that; hearing Gloria's horror stories of her piercings was enough. Then again, I was running out of ear; hopefully, this crap would end or I might have to go for my belly button or something. No, more bracelets were best.

"My car or yours?" I asked as I rejoined Karen at the door.

"Both. I know, not very environmentally friendly, but I might get called away, or you might."

Well, I guess I could wait until we were on the scene, but I really wanted at least one question answered. "You found something there, didn't you? After Grex left."

Karen nodded as the smile fled her face. "Bodies. It's no secret, and I've got pictures if you want to see... but I don't recommend it. The remains were sent away for DNA testing, and we should have identities soon, but it looked a lot like people just plucked from the streets and sacrificed to me."

Something seemed off about that. "Was there a bump in missing persons?"

A spike in missing persons was one of the signs you looked for regarding increases in demonic activity, for just this very reason.

Karen nodded again. "We didn't have much to go on, normally there's some evidence of the demonic. In all of these cases, there wasn't any, so the normal cops were working them."

That was stupid; they still should have been mentioned in the morning briefings. I didn't remember any such statements, and that seemed a terrible oversight, even taking into account that we were a rapid response force, not an investigative one.

"How did they know there was no evidence?"

"They brought me in, duh."

Well, that explained some of where Karen had been the last couple of weeks. I guess I could trust her that far.

The drive was directly over to the warehouse, and accompanied by some classic rock; I was officially clocked in and expected to take a look over the scene in case there were more around the city, so I'd know what to look for before my actual shift in the replacement transport started. I sang along since I was alone and could get away with it.

I didn't like that transport, it was too new and it smelled funny. It wasn't the glorious smell of new car either, but something else, and the air fresheners could only do so much.

I chafed at the traffic. Was it wrong of me to want to stop time and weave through all the morning snarls? I tried to tamp my normal urges - when I drove more aggressively traffic had a tendency to freak out a little.

Whatever, twenty minutes later (Almost the entire inna goda davida song!) I was in front of the warehouse. Only two cars had pulled to the side and let me pass, so I hadn't garnered too much attention to myself this time. Well, no more than my silly car normally generated at any rate.

I parked next to Karen and went right in, completely unchallenged by all the uniforms surrounding the place. There were two summoners here to keep the peace as well, one of the Charlies and Magilla. They were here to keep the cops out of the scene in order to avoid triggering traps or worse, as much as keeping civilians out, since only the most diehard insane types would dare enter this warehouse now.

It would likely get torn down and just left undeveloped, like any of hundreds of other sites like it, even after we cleared it completely and gave it a clean bill of help. Though in a few places in the bible belt churches had been built on a few of the more infamous spots; some of those Christians had guts.

The scene had already been partially cleaned, but seeing it through Grex's eyes didn't do it full justice. There was blood painted on the walls, and both arcane and profane symbols were carved or painted on top of it. The floors were all rust red, and under all that, there was a huge circle chased with runes.

The stench of death was still thick enough to choke on.

It was hard to read all this; there was so much interference from all quarters and all senses. I turned to find Karen at my shoulder, holding out a mask.

I put it on and it had been treated with something that cut most of the stench. "Thanks."

Karen waved it off. "Think nothing of it. Just take it off first if you intend to toss your breakfast."

Please. This was bad, but she had to know I'd smelled worse at boot camp. "As if."

I pulled out my notebook and found an empty page, and started making notes.

I was onto my seventh page and third round of the space when a brightening of the dim light caused me to look up. Straight into the face of the oncoming angel, who already had his white shining sword raised and was less than twenty feet away.