Donkeys and Demons recap

New MLO community agent Fi investigates the bloodless murders of Lucille and Hackett while learning greater control of her electrical magic. When Bea and other Magic Club children collapse, Fi and Nell discover that their energy is powering a demon-summoning portal and that the murders supply its blood sacrifices. Magic Club leader Valerie is the demon's vessel and attacks donkey wrangler Alf as a third victim. Nell blocks the demon from taking his blood, Mort keeps him alive, and Fi breaks Valerie's possession without killing her. The portal closes, Valerie is arrested for the two murders, and the children recover. Fi and Mort begin dating, but the escaped demon survives inside a donkey confined by a WWWI ward.

Previously: Fi's family in Omensford includes her mother Nell, her sister Agatha, and her niece Bea. Mort and Fi had developed an unresolved personal connection. Nell's psychic friend Effie had acquired a younger body and left to travel. Fi faced a continuing work decision between a community role with the Magical Liaison Office and an IT leadership opportunity.

Fi begins work as the Magical Liaison Office community agent for Omensford, though she has not completed her training and has little experience beyond minor reports. She speaks to Bea's Magic Club, led by Valerie Blanc, while her small dragon-like familiar proves more popular with the children. On the common, an elderly resident named Lucille angrily confronts children playing football. Nell and Agatha are meanwhile preparing the village donkey derby despite extreme heat. Soon afterward, the MLO summons Fi to a homicide on the common. The victim has a cut throat, no blood in or around her body, and signs of severe drying. Fi's familiar also detects brimstone beside burned grass. Mort attends as the doctor and later asks Fi to clarify the feelings left unresolved after their encounter at the spring social. Fi cannot yet define what she wants. When she finds Lucille's distinctive cane at the scene, she realises that the murdered woman is Lucille.

Lucille's identity is formally confirmed, bringing Fi and the MLO into the police investigation. A post-mortem establishes that a straight blade cut her throat, but neither the wound nor any ordinary method explains the complete loss of blood and the condition of her body. Searches of her home and interviews with neighbours and pub regulars show that she was hostile to children and had many strained relationships, yet they produce no specific suspect or trace of the missing blood. Fi considers forbidden blood magic but lacks enough knowledge to explain the killing. Valerie worries about continuing Magic Club after the death, while Bea reports that her teacher Hackett mistreats pupils. The MLO also orders Fi to submit case information and attend mandatory training. Feeling overwhelmed, Fi turns to friends she knows through online gaming. Their suggestion to consult books leads her to the sentient house's library, where her request for material about blood magic draws Nell's alarm.

Nell helps Fi examine the library's books, but their warnings about blood magic and demonic invocation do not reveal how Lucille was drained. Fi then struggles to reach her MLO training near Oxford, flying on a vacuum cleaner and crashing into the site's protective ward. After treatment, she joins Gwen's demanding course. Gwen identifies Fi's electricity as exceptionally destructive and teaches her to direct it with precision rather than suppress it. Fi learns both a controlled electrical strike and a way to sense nearby electrical energy, although she still needs advanced training before receiving a crossbow. She buys a replacement vacuum and uses her improved control to fly it home. Preparations for the donkey derby continue as wrangler Alf brings the animals to Omensford. Nell's inquiries within the WWWI and Fi's continued research still provide no killer or motive. Just as Fi, Nell, and Fi's familiar inspect the derby donkeys, the police investigator calls with news of a second murder.

The second victim is Hackett, found at the sports hut with the same combination of a cut throat, total blood loss, and brimstone. His thermos becomes important because the killer may have needed to disable him. Police checks of Fi's tenants and of Steve and Glenn lead nowhere, while pub witnesses and a search of Hackett's flat establish his hostility toward both children and magic. Robbie's test ultimately shows that Hackett's tea was drugged before the killing. Fi reports the linked deaths to the MLO but still cannot identify a reliable suspect. The investigation changes when Bea suddenly collapses. Nell recognizes that magical energy is being drawn from her, and Fi's familiar detects brimstone again. Agatha insists on immediate action. Fi notices that angular symbols appearing in Bea's drawings may be evidence rather than decoration. The murders now appear connected to a magical attack affecting Bea and the other children from Magic Club.

Fi identifies Bea's symbols as part of a demon-summoning scheme. She and Nell conclude that the Magic Club children are supplying energy while the murders provide blood for a portal, with a third sacrifice potentially allowing the demon to enter fully. Mort reports a disturbance on the common, and Fi and Nell hurry to the donkey derby. Nell initially restrains a shadowed figure but discovers it is Mort. He reveals that his family monitors passages between realms and confirms what the ritual requires. The three trace the portal to Alf's caravan and find Alf with his throat cut. Mort works to keep him alive while Nell wards his blood away from the demon. Valerie Blanc is exposed as the summoner and the demon's vessel. She claims her victims were adults who harmed or frightened children, connecting her distorted purpose to Lucille, Hackett, and Alf. With Alf's blood blocked, Valerie turns toward a child also called Alf as another possible sacrifice, while the demon remains close to crossing over.

Fi drives Valerie back and tells Young Alf to escape, but he first tries to free the donkeys. Fi's familiar intervenes and is injured. The demon shields Valerie from direct electrical attacks, and blood from Valerie and then Fi feeds the ritual knife. Mort restrains Valerie and prepares to kill her to sever the possession, but Fi insists she can stop the ritual without making him do so. Using the electrical perception learned in training, Fi locates Valerie's brain activity and temporarily stops it. The blood transfer breaks and the portal collapses before the demon can enter completely. Fi restores Valerie to consciousness. Alf survives Mort's treatment and reaches hospital, while Valerie is arrested for the murders of Lucille and Hackett. Bea and the other children wake after Valerie is incapacitated. The WWWI cleans the common and the derby proceeds. Effie plans a Halloween reopening of her cafe and asks Steve to oversee the work, with Fi helping. Fi and Mort agree to date. The demon remains a threat, however: Fi discovers it occupying a donkey contained inside a WWWI ward, where it refuses to disclose its true name.

Fi, Nell, and Mort stop Valerie from completing the demon's passage into the world. Nell prevents the wounded Alf's blood from reaching it, Mort saves Alf, and Fi interrupts Valerie's brain activity long enough to break the possession and collapse the portal. Fi then revives Valerie, who is arrested for murdering Lucille and Hackett. Bea and the other Magic Club children recover, while Alf remains alive in hospital. The WWWI clears the common and the donkey derby goes ahead. Fi and Mort agree to begin dating. Effie plans to reopen her cafe at Halloween and asks Steve to manage its refurbishment, with Fi also committed to help. The demon is not destroyed: Fi finds it inhabiting a donkey held inside a WWWI ward, and it withholds its true name. Fi remains an MLO community agent with better control of her electrical abilities but further training still ahead.