Free Demon Master (Demonsense series Book 2) by Sara DeHaven

“Normal cops see a big increase in assaults, rapes, gang violence, normal guys suddenly killing their entire families, you name it.”
    “So when was the last one, the last war?”
    “They tend to be somewhat localized,” Daniel answered as he dropped his napkin beside his plate on the table. “The last one in the States was in the mid to late sixties. The last one in Europe was World War II.”
    “World War II?” Bree repeated faintly.
    “Yeah, this ain’t no light weight shit we’re talking about,” Dion rumbled.
    “It doesn’t always go to that level,” Daniel reassured Bree, “not by any means.   But it can get very, very bad.”
    “And we’re thinking it might happen here? In Seattle?”
    “There is more activity here on the West Coast, by all accounts,” Dion replied.   “More in L.A. than here. There’s a Keltoi leader down there by the name of Marton Varga who’s taken over in a big way. He’s consolidated most of the California Keltoi under his leadership, and he’s been making some big moves.”  
    “Did you say Varga? Marton Varga?” Daniel asked tersely.
    “Someone you know?”  
    “If it’s the one I’m thinking of, yeah. Someone I’m related to, actually.” Daniel folded his hands across his stomach as he explained. “Varga was my mother’s maiden name. I think Marton is a second cousin of some kind, a couple of times removed. I can never keep all those degrees of cousin straight. Anyway, that side of the family is from Hungary. I think I met him once when there was a big family reunion in Budapest. I was only a kid at the time, maybe nine or ten. He’s five or six years older than me, so it’s not like we hung out. I heard later on that his father was a Keeper who turned dark and went Keltoi, and they lived somewhere in California. So it could be the same guy.”
    “Well, you might be interested to know that Keeper intelligence has it that your old flame, Franchesca Gambrini, is involved with him.”
    The light went right out of Daniel’s face at the mention of Franchesca’s name.   She was a childhood friend and former lover of Daniel’s, the crazy, demon burned ex-girlfriend from hell, as far as Bree was concerned. She was pretty sure Daniel had finally seen her for what she was when she kidnapped their friend Kevin’s son last fall as a way to get to Daniel, but she knew that Daniel was still very much pained by the path Franchesca had taken, probably not least because it was a path he could so easily have taken himself. And wasn’t it a little creepy that Franchesca had ended up with a cousin of Daniel’s? She had a very unhealthy obsession with Daniel, and Bree couldn’t help but wonder if this was just another aspect of it.
    Daniel’s reaction wasn’t completely lost on Dion. His features softened as he said, “Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, man. In any case, if a demon war is starting, it’s starting there. But we’re all worried that Seattle won’t be far behind.”
    “Don’t you think the powered community should know about this?” Bree asked.
    “We don’t want to start a panic,” Dion began, but Bree interrupted.
    “People need to review their defensive spells, get up to speed on personal wards.   Maybe we can prevent some of the possessions that way. You know possessions of powered are way worse than possession of normals.”
    “It’s a hard line to walk,” Dion tried again, but this time Daniel interrupted. “I think she’s right. There has to be a way to alert people without starting an all out panic.”
    “The Council is debating that now, as is the Ecclesias. And in the end, it’ll have to come down from the Ecclesias, you know that,” Dion finally finished with some show of irritation. “I share your concerns here, but you have to realize that harm can be done if everyone gets all paranoid. That can divide the powered community right when we should be pulling together.”  
    Bree sighed. Dion was ultimately a political