In exotic India, Gabrielle finds she has the power to cure people, but that ability may come from a sinister source. She's just a Devi(l) woman with evil on her mind, beware the Devi(l) woman!

In India, Xena and Gabrielle are amazed by the sights they see performed at a street bazaar fakirs lying on a bed of nails and people walking across hot coals.

In the midst of a magician's routine, his assistant Maya is suddenly inhabited by an evil spirit. Xena fights the powerful demon.

The possessed girl collides into the magician and as Gabrielle pulls the girl off to help him, the spirit is cast out. Gabrielle is heralded as a devi, a healing deity, while Vikram, the village priest, accuses Eli, the magician, of bringing demons with him. As Gabrielle tries to calm the crowd, Xena helps Eli escape.

Xena hides Eli in the temple, figuring that it's the last place Vikram will look. She learns that when Eli was young, he once spontaneously cast a demon out of a man, and has been searching the world ever since to learn how he did it and rediscover this power.

He is curious about Gabrielle, but Xena assures him that Gabrielle is no Devi.

Meanwhile, Gabrielle, surrounded by an adoring crowd, somehow gives a man back his sight. When Xena returns, she finds Gabrielle with followers and bodyguards. Gabrielle believes a good spirit has given her the power to heal, but Xena is skeptical about where this power comes from.

Gabrielle: "I can't explain it. It was real, Xena. I'm wondering ... I know that you had a spirit inside you, what does that feel like?" Xena: "Is that what happened? Because, Gabrielle, there are spirits good and bad, but they are smart, and sometimes you can't tell one from the other." Gabrielle: "Whatever this is, it wasn't bad, Xena. How could it be? It was beautiful. I healed. That is all I have ever wanted to do. That is all I have ever dreamed about doing. Now that I have this ability, I think I understand that Power, the Power to control life ... and death."

Xena returns to the temple to find Vikram dead. Signs point to Eli, who swears he was out looking for food when it happened.

Headed back towards Gabrielle the pair are attacked by feral dogs, whom Eli believes to be Gabrielle's bodyguards transformed by evil magic. Meanwhile, Gabrielle is paraded through the streets, wearing pearls and being honoured by her followers. Eli and Gabrielle collide spilling her pearls. Eli begs for Gabrielle to save him and soon he is levitating off of the ground apparently through the powers of the Devi. As the worshippers praise Gabrielle again, Eli makes his escape back to the Temple.

Eli: "Please, Devi, save me. The demons have me ... please ... free me ... please ... (levitates) ... bless you ... bless you Devi ... bless you ... thank you, Devi ... bless you ... She did it, she healed me. She lifted me up, you saw." Gabrielle: "What's going on here? Xena, I didn't heal anything."

This alerts Xena and she returns to the temple to find Eli is still there. He tells her about the attempt on his life and whilst she is there, Xena spots a picture on the wall of the demon, Tataka. She is someone who heals people to gain their love and then persuades the men to follow her into battle and die for her.

Gabrielle: "That bad, huh? Okay, it's a bit much, I know. What can I do? These are all gifts from the people I've healed, now how can I refuse that? I think the more I dress like them, the more they seem to turn to me for my help. I mean, underneath all this, I'm still me." Xena: "Thank goodness, for a moment there you had me worried."

Gabrielle: "What's this?" Xena: "A little insurance I took out, sacred water from the Ganges." Gabrielle: "Insurance? Against what? Against me?" Xena: "Gabrielle ..." Gabrielle: "... Against my being a demon?" Xena: "That's ridiculous." Gabrielle: "Is it? Why else would you have it? ... This is a test. Fine. You want to test me, let's do it. Let's see if sacred water eats through my skin, shall we? ... Huh? Am I sizzling now? Am I burning? Am I still Evil Incarnate, Xena?!" Xena: "It was not a test. It couldn't be. Gabrielle, sacred water only burns in the hands of a priest or exorcist. This is all the Holy water because I knew that Eli wouldn't leave town without some."

Gabrielle: "I just know you have doubts about me, and I tell you that this Power is Good, that it's my Calling. Instead of being happy for me, you think that I'm Evil."

Gabrielle: "You're taking the word of a street magician over mine?" Xena: "It's not that." Gabrielle: "Why is this so hard for you to accept? Xena, I do not hurt people, I heal them ..." Xena: "No no, don't cry ... don't cry now ... I'm sorry ... I'm sorry ..."

Later, Xena goes to check on Eli when he is attacked by Gabrielle's head bodyguard, Xena makes Eli squirt him with holy water. The water burns and destroys the demon. Xena, knowing that the water can only hurt spirits when it is handled by a priest, tells Eli that he is actually the devi.

He cast the demon out of his assistant -- and right into Gabrielle.

Gabrielle: "So, Eli's hurt, is he, Xena?" Xena: "Not nearly as bad as Ravi ... Tataka." Gabrielle: (as Tataka) "Well, it's a good thing I sent backup."

Eli refuses to believe that he has this power, and Xena is forced to try to exorcise Gabrielle alone.

Xena: "We have to have an exorcism." Eli: "Exorcism?" Xena: "It's either that or kill her, and I won't kill Gabrielle." Eli: "I can't do an exorcism." Xena: "Then I'll do it." Eli: "You?" Xena: "If you don't have the guts, I'll have to."

Xena attacks Gabrielle/Tataka in the streets and she is beaten back by her again and again. Finally, she captures her and then enlists Eli's help. Gabrielle/Tataka tries to trick Eli into thinking he is powerless but Xena tells him it is a trick and he must save Gabrielle.  Xena puts the pinch on Gabrielle to give him time to cast out the spirit. Eli casts Tataka out and Gabrielle is saved. Xena and Gabrielle thank Eli and he sets out alone to find his way.

Devi introduces yet another spiritual personality in Eli. He is a man who experiences the gift of healing in his youth and yearns to regain the extraordinary power. Yet, in learning that his spiritual gift is his to exercise, he is left confused and uncertain of what he is to do with it. His first conscious act in adulthood is to free Gabrielle from the Tataka's possession. At the story's end, however, he journeys alone. For Gabrielle, though she experienced the strength of an evil, she suspects that a greater power for good exists. Xena is simply grateful to have the bard at her side once again.