“In theory,” I said. “Yeah. Of course, the difference between theory and reality is what you aren’t aware that you don’t know.”
She gave me a long look. “What happens if I step out of the circle?”
“Depends,” I said.
“Upon?”
“What your Hunger does in reaction. Um, how hard the two of you are stuck together, for lack of a better term. How much energy I’ve got to pour into this. I’m creating a very specific kind of energy field. I’m going to stretch reality a little here.”
A little white showed around her grey eyes. “Is that dangerous?”
“If you don’t step out of the circle,” I said, “it should be fine.”
“In theory?”
“Hmm,” I said.
She gave me another look and exhaled through her nose. Then she bent slightly, lifting her feet one at a time, and slipped her heels off. It did interesting things to her calves. “How long will this take?”
“This is just a test run,” I said. “Not long.”
“You’re not going to”—she frowned—“do anything permanent to me?”
“Not really set up for it,” I said. “This is a proof-of-concept sort of thing. Modified exorcism. If it’s working, I should be able to tell, and we’ll back off.”
“If?” she asked. “Should? There are more conditionals in that statement than I prefer.”
“That’s magic for you,” I said. “I did say it would probably be dangerous.”
“Probably,” she muttered. “More conditional statements.” She tossed her shoes onto the couch we’d pushed against the wall and delicately stepped into one side of the infinity loop. Her fingernails and toenails, I noted, had been painted a blue that matched the dress.
I stepped out of the circle, checking over everything once more. Then I took a deep breath and irritably removed my tie, opening the shirt at the throat.
“Ready?” I asked.
She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, her eyes closed. Her toes flexed a little and she folded her arms across her stomach. “Very well.”
“Right,” I said. “Here we go.”
I closed my eyes and took several deep, slow breaths, drawing together my concentration and focus. That came together quicker than I had thought it would. Well. I had been meditating every day lately.
And I’d been doing something close to the inverse of this ritual almost every night for months.
I pushed that thought away, too.
First the circle.
I opened my eyes, pointed my finger at the nearest candle and murmured,“Flickum bicus.”
A small surge of power flowed out of me to the candle, and flamekindled upon its wick and flickered to life. I repeated the spell four more times for the candles, then went about again for the incense, giving the last one a little bit of extra power, which spilled over the cone of incense into the circle and brought it to life.
The air hummed with unseen power as the circle became active, jumping up in an invisible screen around Lara. She shivered as it did, gooseflesh erupting across the skin of her upper arms.
“Steady,” I murmured. “It’s going well so far.”
“Okay,” she breathed. She opened her eyes and they were paler than they’d been when she shut them.
Oh yeah. The Hunger within her knew something was up.
