A Demon Does It Better Read Online Free PDF Page B

leave, and the Demon Council need not fear he will escape from here. The asylum is heavily shielded to prevent anything of that sort happening.”
    Lili thought about seeing said “deranged” patient in Inderman, but she silent. She preferred to find out on her own what was going on. “Considering his crimes, why wasn’t he immediately destroyed?” She might not know a lot about demons, but she did know that they preferred to kill first and forget about asking any questions.
    “As I explained, his mother is a high-level demon. She interceded on his behalf. She believes that I can find a way to counteract the insanity the vampire blood ingestion caused.”
    Lili felt the abrupt drop in temperature. A heaviness in the air indicated a strong magick that raised uneasy prickles across the surface of her skin. She tucked her hands in her lab coat’s pockets and felt relief from the magickal protection her clothing provided her.
    He wants to keep this place as a true Bedlam. A madhouse of old. His own kingdom.
    She sensed a noxious miasma of sorrow and pain in a place she could only call a dungeon.
    Upstairs was modern, healing magick at its finest. Down here was a return to the dark past. She was grateful Dr. Mortimer hadn’t tried turning the rest of the hospital back to an earlier time.
    “Dr. Carter, is there something wrong?” Dr. Mortimer asked, frowning at her inattention.
    Lili quickly snapped herself back to the present. “No, sir. I just realized that this place reminds me of a hospital I worked at in London years ago.”
    He nodded with a smile, taking her statement as a compliment instead of dismay at the gloomy surrounding. “I was very lucky to find a sorcerer who could create just the right receptacle for the inmates. All of the wards here are set very high. How Patient 1172 left his cell is a mystery I intend to solve.” His expression momentarily darkened then shifted to his usual bland face. “Since I was given free rein, I thought I would create a place that reminded me of the hospitals I presided over in Europe. They were all excellent institutions that kept the patients safe.”
    Lili’s nose twitched at the musty scent of old tobacco that lingered on the wizard’s coat along with something else she couldn’t detect. She wanted to ask more questions about the demon. She refused to refer to him as 1172. She needed to learn his name. She had a good idea the only way she could do that was to go to the source.
    “What afflicts the other patients held here?” she asked. As they passed each iron slab that doubled for a door, she felt the mental infection leach out of the metal and the walls. She knew it wasn’t just from the present patients but also from those who’d been here in the past. She wasn’t an empath, but her healing power meant she sensed all kinds of sickness. Sometimes even illness that had happened in the past lingered. This kind was strong and skittered over her nerve endings.
    Her first inclination was to open the doors and bring the ones incarcerated there to the main floors. They needed heavy waves of healing and calming magick that could help them more than anything down here. Luckily, she knew better, since some distressed patients didn’t do well unless they were cocooned in a comforting darkness.
    As she turned her head, she caught sight of a wisp of pink smoke swirl in the air before the form of a little girl wearing an old-fashioned blue print ankle-length dress materialized.
    Lili glanced at Dr. Mortimer and realized he either didn’t see the tiny wraith or preferred to ignore her presence.
    The little girl stood there, her small face upturned, staring at the witch with a sad expression in her eyes.
    He never sees me , the ghostly girl told her in a breathy voice that echoed softly inside Lili’s head. I don’t think he wants to talk to me. She clutched a tattered teddy bear in her hands. Will you talk to me? she asked plaintively. I’m very lonely and afraid. I