Page 123 of Demon and the Raven

The other members of law enforcement took Lorne’s statement as gospel and got to work, though everyone quietly informed him there was no way Tanner Murphy wasn’t long gone. There would be a BOLO put out, of course, but this would be, at most, a one-day search.

“I’m happy about that,” Lorne told me when we were alone for a moment. “I don’t want them wasting resources on a fugitive they’ll never find.”

And they would not. Ever. My lord Arawn had turned Tanner Murphy’s body to dust. While I worried about Tanner having been killed, and I needed more answers, the demon had said the man was a murderer. That provided solace for the time being.

Pete volunteered to stay and babysit the CSI team and coordinate with everyone else so Lorne could brief the mayor, who would then make a statement to the citizens of Osprey.

But first, Lorne and I followed Father Dennis’s ancient Ford pickup back to the rectory, where he notified Sister Andrea that he was cancelling evening Mass. Then he got in the back of Lorne’s Jeep to go home with us.

“I know you two saved me, as well as the whole town,” he said quietly as we drove toward Corvus. “And though I’m the only person who knows, I’m very thankful.”

“Well, again, I’m sorry you had to lie about how it all went down, Father.”

“It’s true that Pace had set that up with me days ago, and the only reason I went out there was that I couldn’t get him on the phone to cancel. The other part—about you two battling a demon who possessed Tanner Murphy—that part I cannot disclose, as I would be summarily placed in a mental facility for the rest of my days. So a small lie to cover the bigger truth, as I said before, was in order.”

“Why didn’t you answer your phone earlier today?” Lorne asked him as that was clearly still bothering him.

“It died, and I forgot to charge it.”

“Well, that scared us enough to check on you, so thank goodness you told Mal where you were going.”

“It was all God’s plan,” Father Dennis said, and when I turned in my seat to look at him, he smiled. “I know what I know, Xander Corey.”

I didn’t argue with him.

After a few minutes of us driving in silence, I remembered something. “Father, did your friends ever get back to you with any information about the demon?”

“Who cares?” Lorne stated irritably. “It’s dead.”

“I care,” I soothed him. “Because as you know, I need to write all this down in my journal, just like I did with the events of last fall.”

Lorne glanced at me a moment before his eyes returned to the road. He knew, as well as I did, that it was important for future generations to have the full record of everything challenging that transpired on Corvus as well as to the guardian.

“They did actually,” Father Dennis said cheerfully. “Well, one of them. My friend Father Acosta, he gave me a laundry list of the usual suspects, and based on what I saw—the shadowy figure, the nightmares, the forced insomnia—I believe it was some kind of drude.”

“And what exactly is that?”

“It’s a demon that’s closer to a dark, malevolent spirit known for causing vicious night horrors and having a non-corporeal form. There is, however, nothing about a drude being able to conjure anything, so I suspect, that’s either unknown information or this was a special case. Unfortunately, we’re never going to know definitively.”

“I’m okay with not knowing, and even happier with it being dead,” Lorne muttered.

“Oh,” Father Dennis said excitedly, “I almost forgot, apparently drudes can shapeshift as well, so we’re certainly fortunate that it didn’t turn into a yeti and rip off our arms.”

Slowing to a stop at the end of the street, Lorne and I both turned to look at the priest.

“Let me understand, you don’t believe in demons, but a yeti makes sense to you?” The man was unbelievable.

“Much like Bigfoot, that’s simply evolution at work.”

I was nonplussed and Lorne shook his head.

“And of course, I believe in demons now,” he said matter-of-factly, and then coughed softly, probably to hide his chuckle. “Although, I do think––”

“No.” I cut him off. “Just no.”

“Okay, you two need to be quiet now,” Lorne grumbled. “I gotta call the mayor.”

She answered on the second ring. He explained to her that it was more than likely that Murphy killed Pace, unless Father Dennis heard someone else carving him up.