“You have been a clever little girl, haven’t you? I haven’t seen that form of rune in centuries. It didn’t work then, and the one who used it was a master spell worker who I had a vested interest in paying attention to. You could say I was mildly obsessed with him. You, though. What worth are you to me?”
“Hey,” I said, though it was actually better if Myra wasn’t something he thought was worthy. But still, he had insulted my sister, and I couldn’t let that stand.
She never once looked up, her eyes narrowed and shoulders set as she continued to draw.
“What is that?” I asked. “Myra, what are you doing?”
“No one has successfully thrown that spell on me,” Bathin continued. “You are going to be terribly disappointed in yourself when you fail. Do you think I want you—that you are something I want—that you could really send me—”
Myra finished her drawing, looked up, and met his gaze.
“How sad for you. It won’t—”
She snapped the chalk in half.
Bathin disappeared with the sharp bang of a popped balloon.
One minute he was standing there smoldering and smack-talking my sister, the next he was gone, leaving nothing but an empty seat and a hint of his aftershave behind.
Aaron gave her an admiring slow clap. “Nice.”
Myra leaned back against her chair and stared at the broken chalk in her hand for a minute. A pink blush washed up across her cheeks and down her neck. Then she straightened and pulled herself together, all business again.
She wiped her palm across the table top, erasing what she’d drawn and pocketed both pieces of chalk.
“My?” I asked, stunned. “What did you do?”
She smiled, and the smile turned into a breathy laugh. “I popped him out of here.” She snapped her fingers.
“I didn’t even…how did you know…was that magic?”
“It was. Found that little trick in an old journal Dad had in his stuff. The journal belonged to a dwarf who retired here. He didn’t like demons much.”
“Sindri,” Rossi supplied.
“That’s right.” Myra looked around the table. It was just me, Aaron, Than—who had been even quieter than Bathin—Ryder, Rossi and Myra here now. It felt so much more peaceful and friendly, now that Bathin was out of the picture.
“Now.” She turned to Aaron. “Don’t make me throw you out in a more mundane manner.”
Aaron lifted his hands in mock surrender. “I’m here because you wanted my opinion on your plan. I’ll give you my opinion, even if I think your plan is stupid. Which it is.”
“We already heard that,” Ryder said. “Suggest an alternative.”
Aaron shrugged. “I don’t get involved in the mechanics. I’m onvacationwhich means nothing you do will get me involved in the mechanics.”
Myra rubbed at her eyes, her hand covering her face for a moment.
“Hey,” I asked. “Did doing that magic do anything to you?” I knew all magic came with a price. I didn’t want Myra to be giving up something important when we could have just pushed Bathin out the door, or duct-taped his mouth shut and tied him to the table leg for a little peace and quiet.
“Other than make me happy to finally get him out of my sight?” she asked. “Not really. I’m a daughter of Ordinary, a Reed. I’m connected to the land via the will of the original gods who created the place. All I had to do was make sure I was grounded to the town and my place inside it. Ordinary kicked him out. I just drew the doorway and pushed it open.”
“Will it work on all demons?” Because that could be useful. I was already pulling together a plan for dealing with the possessed vamps I figured Lavius might throw at us. If we lured them to an area we had chalked up with that spell, we could get rid of them.
Myra opened her mouth, but Rossi answered.
“No it won’t work on all demons. Not in a broad stroke, as you’re thinking. It takes…the spell is counter-weighted by the demon’s own desire. He has to want something about the person who is casting it, be invested in them in some significant way. A desire to kill them, to make a deal with them, to possess them, to love them.”
Myra startled at that last thing.
