“I cast—” Romy choked. “I cast this rune for new beginnings. May you find the strength required to accept the second chance at life.” Tears rolled down her cheeks, falling upon Kai’s smooth skin. “And I cast the rune for success. May you not fail me, may you not fail yourself, and may younotfail your coven. So mote it be.”
The knife clattered to the floor as Romy sagged over Kai’s legs, leaning her forehead across his thigh. “Please, Kai. Find us, follow the light and come back.”
Arwyn reached over and laid a gentle hand on Romy’s shoulder, his thumb moving slowly to comfort her.
“We’re almost done,” he said, voice sure and soft. “Keep faith for a little while longer.”
His care with Romy, his encouraging voice and the way his expression crumpled as he too recognised the pain of someone else’s suffering, made my insides melt. Arwyn looked up andcaught me staring over Romy, regret heavy in his once bright eyes.
Although Arwyn didn’t speak, I could hear what he had said to me repeat in the back of my mind.“Necromancy requires a great sacrifice. The old texts suggest a life for a life, but since we haven’t got the time to go searching for a Hunter to take that place, that leaves us at yet another crossroads.”
A life for a life, or something of greater value.
“Ashes to ashes,” I began, drawing both of their attention. If I didn’t start in that moment I didn’t think I could see this through.
Old magic, although a useful tool, was still a dull and unused one. There was no saying what trickery we were walking into.
Romy righted herself, the whites of her eyes bloodshot, her back hunched from the weight of her grief. Arwyn returned to his position, lifting two hands on either side of him. We all did the same. I closed my eyes as I opened myself up to untapped power, letting it overtake my body as I led the chant.
“Ashes to ashes,
Dust to dust,
Earth to earth,
I call for you.
Life to life,
Heart to heart,
Shadow to shadow,
I conjure you.
Death to death,
Pain to pain,
Gift to gift,
I welcome you.”
An unnatural gust billowed around our circle. I creaked an eye open as Arwyn and Romy recited the chant, to watch as flames danced, bending in tandem with the stream of air until itformed a single ribbon of heat that surrounded us. The ground trembled beneath our feet, dust rising from the floor until it blurred the vision of the room beyond us.
“Bahmet,” I whispered beneath the roar of magic. “I havesomething you want.”
From beyond the protective layer of elements, I heard the faint clip of hooves against stone. Glowing eyes of brimstone and fury flashed from the shadows as a ram-horned head stepped free of the darkness slowly.
The demon lord had been waiting for this very moment.
“Well, would you look at this,” Bahmet sang, praise lingering in his voice like a pleased father. The demon lord looked around the pub, drinking it in with his boiling gaze. “When I felt you tug on the threads of my reality, I never thought it was possible you could actually make anything from it. And it feels so… real. I must say that I am equally as impressed as I am perplexed.”
“You know why I have called you here then?” I asked, choosing to ignore his praise and the unwanted warmth it made me feel inside.
“Yes, actually. I do. The day has finally come that you have sought after me for a bargain.” Bahmet’s hot breath whispered into my ear, and yet the demon was nowhere near me. “Although I was not expecting this moment so soon. It took Eleanor Letcombe years of my whisperings and promises for her to finally request my aid. Here you are not but hours into these games… alreadydesperatefor me.”
The demon’s sultry tone turned my stomach inside out.
