A Perfectly Empty Vessel

Wendy Stoffel and FBI agent Stephanie Callaghan are hiding from President Damien Greenfield with help from Stephanie's boss. But Wendy has bigger problems than Damien. And some of her problems are festering inside her, ready to erupt with near-fatal consequences. Even the efforts of modern science, a halfing, an elf, and a daemon are not enough to restore Wendy to full health, and her powers are beginning to tax her body and mind. Despite her need to stay hidden and not do anything unusual, Wendy's time-freezing abilities misfire and expose her to a young necromancer, Rafael Montoya. As Wendy's shaky recovery begins, Rafael and Wendy make a play-date, unknowingly stumbling across the path of a sadistic serial killer, Phillip Cassidy. Phillip knows Wendy, and even being warned off of her by his daemonic ally, Phillip moves to "court" Wendy with a body covered in a gruesome puzzle. While Wendy assists the local police in hunting Phillip, Rafael wanders with his spirit guide in search of another killer, in the process rescuing two traumatized children. But because Rafael cannot explain how he found the property, the police hold him for premeditated murder. Without exposing himself, there is no way Rafael can buy his freedom, and even the help of Wendy and her friends can't pull him out of jail. The police bring in Phillip for what should be an easy interrogation, except Phillip is displaying terrifying powers. He's even made the bold promise that if he can't speak with Wendy, he will get up and walk out of the precinct unopposed. The detectives start to believe his claims when lab reports confirm that Phillip isn't fully human. Meanwhile in the daemonic dimension of Heil, Lucien has gotten wind that there's something special about Phillip, something that makes him far more dangerous than a mere human, or even a mutant or a halfling. Lucien sees an opportunity to set his plans for revolution in motion, but he plays a dangerous game, betraying the current leader of