Worried, Quentin cast an occupation spell.
Only one light glowed ahead of them.It flashed green, then gray, then red.“Shit!”
Jaks grabbed him as he tried to push past once more.
“What does that mean?”
“Green means there’s a life-force here.Gray means it’s a necromancer, and red means he’s seriously injured.Now let me go.”
“No demon?”Jaks double-checked.
“No.”
Jaks released him.
Truthfully, he wasn’t entirely sure his spell would detect a demon’s presence, but this wasn’t the time for honesty, not when his friend potentially lay dying.
He raced down the hall and through the kitchen to reach the small stairway tucked behind the pantry.It led to Grevin’s private ritual room.He had a larger one on the main floor for clients, but he had once explained to Quentin that most of his individual rituals required complete privacy and that he didn’t trust his clients not to interrupt at a critical stage.He had keyed Quentin into the protective wards as a safety measure, knowing Quentin would never interrupt without a good reason.An emergency text was as good as a printed invitation.Disturbingly, he felt no wards brush against him as he raced down the short stairway.
He froze at the bottom.Like the front door, the ritual room door was open, wide open, allowing him to see inside.A waft of metal and brimstone-soaked air almost choked him as he dared to step through the entryway.
Blood.
Everywhere there was blood.
CHAPTER6
Quentin swallowed convulsively to keep the contents of his stomach inside and not join Grevin’s blood splattered across the stonework like a macabre artwork installation.In the middle of a growing puddle lay Grevin.
He wasn’t moving.
A sob escaped him before he clamped his lips tightly together.He couldn’t give in to his emotions while his friend bled out.Grevin had called him for help, not hysteria.He had to be strong enough for both of them.
Hands and legs trembling, he stumbled across the stone floor and dropped to his knees beside Grevin’s still, bleeding body.His fingers shook as he struggled to locate a pulse.
“C’mon, Grev, don’t die on me now.I’m not necromancer enough to bring you back,” he pleaded.He’d only taken one introductory necromancy class.One wasn’t enough to troubleshoot this problem, especially since he didn’t have the right magic.
A faint pulse vibrated beneath his fingertips.
Alive.
He let out a lungful of oxygen he’d unconsciously been holding in.“We need to get him to a doctor,” he said, not daring to look away from his friend as if Grevin couldn’t die while he was watching.
The large amount of blood pouring from Grevin’s wounds hid the extent of the damage beneath the gory mess of his friend’s body.He had no way of determining how deep the injuries went, but this much blood couldn’t be good.
“You can’t heal him?”Jaks kneeled beside them, ignoring the blood seeping into his designer clothes.
Quentin shook his head.“I don’t dare.”His magic had too much crackle and snap to shape into the smooth, soothing energy needed for proper healing spells.He could seal minor cuts, but the few times he’d tried true healing, the recipients had been less than happy with the electrical burns he’d left behind.
“Huh.And here I was certain there wasn’t anything you couldn’t do.”
Quentin gave Jaks the glare he deserved, only to receive a cocky grin in reply.
A soft moan jerked his attention back to Grevin.He leaned over to be in Grevin’s line of sight.“Shh, it’s okay.I’ve got you.We’re going to get you help.”
Grevin’s eyes flew open.He gripped Quentin’s shirt and jerked him closer with surprising strength for someone bleeding out.“You have to stop it.”Grevin’s pain-filled eyes focused on him with a feverish intensity.
Quentin shivered.“What?What do we have to stop?What did you summon, Grevin?”What had escaped Grevin’s circle?From the damage to the house, it had been something big with claws and maybe an ice element, not a creature he was used to dealing with.
