Insufficient Evidence

Later that day Adrian stood outside of Christine’s office. There was no way around it, this was going to suck. He had planned on never seeing her again, but things had changed. If he was going to bring squires along on his mission, he'd be crazy not to bring Christine. She was the only one who already knew about the ritual, albeit in hypothetical terms. She was smart, worked hard, and researched old artifacts for a living. Plus, he knew he could trust her. She’d always kept up her end of their arrangement. It made sense to ask her, but that didn’t mean that talking her into it was going to be fun.

Adrian knocked on the door.

“Come in,” came Christine’s muffled reply.

He stepped into the office and let the door close behind him. Christine sat with her feet perched on the edge of her chair with her hair done up in a loose bun. Her half-eaten dinner had been shoved to the side. “Hey,” he greeted her.

“Adrian?” Her confusion faded to excitement. “Are you here to give me the book? Can I finally publish?”

Adrian sat down across from her. “Christine...” This was going to be some hard news to break. He'd hoped to avoid delivering it face-to-face. "Things have changed."

“What?” she blinked.

He took a deep breath. “That ritual I've been having you translate? I tried it. ”

“Why?” she almost laughed.

“To see if it would work. And, it did.”

Christine frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"The ritual worked. It summoned...something. A creature. We can't go public with this."

"We can't go...?" Christine’s expression went blank, then grew serious. “You’re keeping the book?”

"It's not like that. This thing is dangerous. It isn't safe to-"

"I can't believe you're backing out on me now!" Christine fumed. "After all the work I did! We had a deal!"

Adrian tried to recover. "Just listen to me. I can prove it."

His eyes darted over Christine's body. He needed proof. If she had been changed like Rhys had, though, he couldn't see how. Nothing seemed different about her at all.

"Honestly," Christine spat. "It's insulting that you thought this would work. The ritual summoned a monster?" She let out a mocking laugh.

Adrian knew his chance was slipping through his fingers. Driven to desperation, he turned to the whispers for help. "I need to know what you did to her."

With his permission, they answered. "We admire her passion," one started. "She's eager to travel and learn."

"But there was one passion she lacked," continued another.

The third voice drove the point home. "We want her horny and wet, eager to fuck."

"She has a long way to go," the first voice spoke up again. "But it's a start."

"Are you just going to sit there?" Christine demanded. "After everything I've done for you, you're going to stab me in the back?"

"Please, just...give me a second," he pleaded.

The information from the voices was no good. He needed something obvious. Something undeniable. That was how he'd won Rhys over. "Is that all?" he asked the spirits.

"No," a new voice replied. "We planted a seed."

Another whisper laughed. "Soon, she'll be looking for someone to fuck a baby into that belly."

Adrian grit his teeth. It had been stupid not to ask them this before he'd met with her. Instead, he'd walked in blind and overplayed his hand.

"I'm done with this," Christine said, growing ever more furious. "You made me a promise and like an idiot I staked my reputation on it. Do you understand that you're leaving me with nothing?"

“If there were any way to…”

“There is! Let me have the book!”

“You aren't listening! It isn’t that simple.”

"Stop bullshitting me!"

Adrian needed a Hail Mary or he was going to leave with nothing. "The ritual is affecting the people around me. One of my coworkers...it changed his body. Reshaped it. It's going to happen to you too. You'll be..." Adrian winced at what he was about to say. "Hornier. And interested in pregnancy. Sexually."

Christine's face was a mask of cold fury. "Get out," she hissed. "Before I call security."

"Please, just-"

"Out! Now!"

He’d never seen her like this. Christine was usually so well composed. He knew she'd be upset but he'd thought he'd at least have a window for conversation. It seemed obvious in retrospect; he had opened by ripping away a career-defining discovery from her, pivoted to discussing her sex life, and justified it all by talking about a demon. Of course he hadn't won her over. He'd been so wrapped up in his own problems that he hadn't put himself in her shoes.

“Maybe once we…” Adrian tried to walk things back, but Christine wasn't having it.

“Leave.” Her finger pointed emphatically at the door.

Adrian knew when to admit defeat. He’d handled this all wrong. If he was ever going to get her back on his side he needed to go before he made things worse.

On his way out he paused in the doorway. “Just, call me if anything weird happens.”

Christine’s glare didn’t falter. She had nothing left to say to him.