“We need a translator,” said Ezme from the other side of Jinx.
I yelped in surprise, I’d all but forgotten she was there. It was a great idea, but I didn’t know any demons. Apart from Ezekiel, who didn’t speak the language anyway.
Ezme spoke again. “What about an Allure Array?”
Another good idea. An Allure was not a summoning. It was more an invitation to appear in a circle and talk to the mage. Curious demons sometimes answered. The array confined them within it and the caster could close it down at any time, effectively banishing the demon back to hell. Though technically they would have never left. The Array was like a window between the realms. I could pop one open for a chat.
The space within the circle would be like a bubble of hell. Pushing up into the human realm temporarily. I steered my thoughts away from the semantics. Now wasn’t the time for theology. I knew how to do one and it was safe enough. That was all that really mattered.
“Good idea,” I said to Ezme. “Help me do one tomorrow?”
“Okay,” she agreed.
With Jinx in my arms and a plan in place, I finally fell into a restful sleep.
Chapter nineteen
HenrycameandcollectedDaisy in the morning. He didn’t ask why she and Ezme were staying at mine. I got the impression he was too wary of Ezme to ask.
As soon as the front door had shut behind them, Jinx came out of the bedroom where I had told him to hide. He grabbed my hand and started pulling me down the hallway back towards the bedroom. We were half-way there before my mind caught up and I dug my heels in.
“Jinx, stop!”
He let go of my hand and whirled to face me. His eyes were glassy and bright and his skin feverish. He needed to feed. Suddenly he was dropping to his knees and trying to yank my jeans down.
I yelped and jumped back. “I know you’re hungry! But we need to do something first.”
He looked up at me as he kneeled on the floor with a scowl. He looked thoroughly pissed off and not the least bit scared of me. If anything, my primal sense of self-preservation was screaming at me to run away from the angry demon.
I smiled, this was very promising. “You have forgiven me?”
He nodded and reached for my fly. I took another step backwards. Had he really forgiven me or was he so hungry, he didn’t care about anything else? Was my longing for forgiveness clouding my judgment and making me see what I wanted to see?
“It won’t take long, I promise. Come on, let’s go to the study.”
He whined and didn’t move. Seeing him in that position was giving my libido all the wrong ideas. Which, no doubt Jinx could sense and was adding to his confusion.
“We are going to see if we can talk to a demon,” I explained.
That got his attention. His eyes lit up, and he jumped to his feet with unnatural grace. He followed me to my study, where Ezme was just putting the finishing touches to the array. Her neat white chalk lines on the dark hardwood floor made me feel wistful. Her runes and sigils were so precise. My writing looked like a toddler’s compared to her’s. It was unfair.
Jinx tilted his head and looked at the array curiously. It was so lovely to see him being like his normal self. It was hope for the future. This mess could be fixed and everything could go back to how it should be.
Ezme stood up and dusted chalk off of her hands. “Ready?” she asked.
Nodding, I got into position. Wasting no more time, I closed my eyes and called on my magic. The words of the incarnation spilled easily from my lips and the array flared to life. Using magic always gave me joy, it was part of me and I was good at it. I opened my eyes just in time to see Jinx’s impressed look. The way he looked at me made it hard not to puff up my chest in pride.
I turned my attention back to the array. I had created a bubble of Hell in my study, I needed to concentrate.
For a long agonizing moment nothing happened. The chalk lines were glowing, indicating that it was working, but the circle remained empty. Silence itched against my skin. Disappointment breathed down my neck. I was just about to give up, when with a whoosh someone appeared.
My eyes took in long blond hair and a blue frock coat, as my magic senses took in how very powerful he was. He had to be a duke. Alarm caused my heart to start racing. I wasn’t sure if I was strong enough to contain a duke of Hell. The thought that one might answer the Allure had never crossed my mind. High ranking demons were supposed to be above such things.
The demon’s gaze went straight to Jinx, ignoring me and Ezme completely.
“There you are, you little shit. I knew you’d be up to no good.”
Then the demon’s gaze flicked down to Jinx’s collar, and all Hell broke loose, literally. With a roar and blazing eyes the demon broke the array, stepping forward with golden magic swirling in the palms of his hands. I went flying backwards through the air until I slammed into the wall, my feet dangling and my throat choking as golden magic twisted around it.
