Read The Devil You Need for Free Online Page A

bright blue. They were now a
soothing shade of sky blue. Well, just shit.
    Gus spread his long fingers over his desk and, in a flash of
light, a book appeared in front of him. He perused it for a while, one finger
sliding down each page as if he was speed-reading. I assumed it had something
to do with me and my problem so I waited, my fingers twining nervously. In the
interim, I looked around Gus’ office.
    Despite my initial perception, the office wasn’t entirely
white. At least not always. Every now and then an item would burst into color
and then slowly fade back to white. A picture frame on the wall of bookshelves
burst into blue and began to lighten. The large plant near the window, beyond
which only a fluffy bank of clouds could be seen, erupted into deep green and
then eased back to white.
    It was obvious that Gus, like me, was trying to buck the
system, with only limited success. But I appreciated his efforts. No wonder
they’d given me to him.
    Gus finally closed the book and looked up.
    “Does the story in that book have a happy ending?”
    “Again with the questions.”
    I snorted. “This time I really want the answer.”
    “Then I’ll try to get you one. But I don’t have it yet.”
    “Fair enough. So, where do we start?”
    Gus stood and came around his desk. I noticed his hair had
turned the color of young moss, softly green rather than vibrant. Apparently
Heaven leeched all color out of things and I found that disturbing on so many
levels.
    There had to be a way to fix that.
    Gus stopped in front of me and I started to stand. He placed
a hand on my shoulder, holding me in my seat. “No, sit. I just want to delve
into your aura a bit. Are you all right with that?”
    I wasn’t sure if I was all right with it or not. But I
realized I was going to have to trust him or the counseling thing wasn’t going
to work, so I nodded.
    “Good. Now I just want you to sit very still and try not to
tense up.”
    Easier said than done. Especially when I felt the first,
invasive, spectral touch sliding over the place, deep inside my body, where my
magic used to live.
    It was all I could do not to leap out of that chair and run
screaming from the room.
    “Close your eyes, Astra, and tell me when you feel a surge
of power.”
    I did as he asked, but didn’t really feel anything except
invaded. His spectral fingers danced along the edges of my aura with deft
gentleness. Despite his attempts to be gentle, however, I soon realized my
shoulders were encroaching on my ears and forced them down.
    “Relax. We’re nearly done.”
    “I don’t think it’s work— Whoa!” A jolt of power speared
through me and I jumped. “What was that?”
    Gus removed his hands and stepped back, frowning slightly.
“That was a tiny bubble of errant magic that you had stored.”
    I felt my eyes go wide. “Stored? Is there more in there?”
    He turned away and walked back to his desk, dropping into it
and sitting forward. Gus rubbed his palms together and looked at me, his brown
gaze filled with questions even I could see. “I’m sure there is. Not enough to
do anything with, of course, but it proves one thing…” He trailed off and I
nearly leapt from my chair.
    “What?”
    “Hmm?”
    “What does it prove?”
    “Oh. I’m not sure. I’ll need more tests.”
    Swearing like a Venutian soldier, I jumped to my feet and
started to pace again.
    * * * * *
    I spent the next several hours being poked and prodded and
sent through large, white tubes that made my skin crawl under a series of
intrusive pulses and tones. By the time I was led, shaking and exhausted, back
to Gus’ office, my clothing and pretty boots were pure white and I was pretty
sure my hair was too.
    Gus was sitting behind his desk again. His hair was bright
orange. He smiled when I walked in. “There you are. I have really good news for
you.” He stood up and I smiled. Good news could only mean one thing.
    “I can get my power back?”
    Gus grabbed a hat off his