Bane, who had stood silent by the door moved closer, but she ignored the Fae.
“You know I’m right,” she said louder. “What do you think you will gain from summoning a Daemon?”
Frederick snapped his attention to her, his smirk still in place. Without breaking eye contact he handed Adeline the fourth candle before slowly making his way back to her. Spirit was the element that closed the circle, so Kyra was prepared for the last candle when Frederick handed it to her, and for the dagger that sliced across her left palm to leave a smear of blood.
The wax melted against her skin, hot enough to burn while the cut across her palm stung, blood pooling at the wound. She left it relaxed, lifting her hand so the blood dripped down her arm rather than onto spirit at her feet.
“Ignite it,” he said, stepping back behind Bane who had created an outer salt line. The salt acted as a barrier, protecting anyone who stood behind it from the magic within the circle. It left all five of them within the circle vulnerable, but only if they broke the connection once activated.
There were stories of horned creatures made from nightmares who tricked those that summoned them with their lies and deceit. And most people lived their whole lives not believing that Daemons existed. Unfortunately the stories were true, just not what was written in the human testaments. In reality they were a dark and cruel Breed who once were forced to live in darkness beneath the earth’s crust. And she was about to summon one, and it wasn’t even the first time.
“I said ignite it!”
Kyra waited until the vampire heart had been tossed into the pentagram before quickening her candles flame with her blood. The connection was immediate, a dome made from all of their auras appearing around the central pentagram, but not around their individual circles.
The flames flickered, one by one like a heartbeat. Kyra felt it through her body, wave upon wave of noxious murk that wrapped around her like vines as Adeline began the summoning. Her words were Latin, a language Kyra was fluent in yet she couldn’t understand the High Priestesses calls. All she could concentrate on was the pulse that vibrated up from between her feet, all the way through her body until it rattled her teeth.
The magic burned across Kyra’s aura, the atmospheric film that surrounded every living being. The ability to harness her aura into a chi was what made her a witch, and right then she kept her chi tight, the pain sucking her energy until she locked her knees to stop from falling. Each word spoken was like blades against her skin, and as the crescendo came she knew that the sudden relief of the spell would only be fleeting.
The opaque dome was made up from shades of dark blues, purples, blacks and greys. The smudged appearance created by all four witches, plus Saul’s auras which swirled together to form the protection shield. In normal circles, it would be they who stood inside, except with a summoning it kept the one being summoned inside. The only way to break it would be if one of them touched the dome, their aura rebounding back and breaking the circle.
Smoke began to fill the dome, starting from the centre of the pentagram before engulfing up the sides to obscure the view.
A scream echoed, deep and full of such wrath that the walls began to tremble. “Who called me?!”
The smoke started to fade, allowing everyone to see the Daemon who stood trapped. He was tall, almost seven-foot with wide shoulders built to support the leather-like wings at his back.
“Who knows my name?!” he screeched again, his naked chest pumping violently. His skin was ashen grey, his irises red and full of fire.
Kyra immediately dropped her gaze, not wanting to draw attention. It wasn’t the first time she had met a Daemon, or even worked with one, but that didn’t mean she wanted to deal with a pissed off one.
It was Adeline who responded. “We do not know your name,” she said in her strongest voice. “We called and you were the closest…”
“Who the fuck are you, you little cun…!?”
“Daemon,” Frederick interrupted, stepping in between Kyra and Saul to press closer to the dome. “I apologise for the abrupt disturbance to your day.”
“Disturbance?” the Daemon echoed, the first hint of a smile touching his lips. “You call this a disturbance? What the fuck do you want, you little maggot?”
Faye let out a sob, loud enough the Daemon turned his attention towards her.
“Tell me your name,” Frederick demanded. “I have a…”
“You,” the Daemon growled towards Faye. “How have you summoned me without knowing my name?”
Faye’s shoulders shook, the candle dropping slightly in her clutched palms.
“It was a generic summoning spell,” Adeline replied instead, trying to control the situation. “It would summon any Daemon who happened to be the closest at the time.” It also meant they had no power over him, and he knew it.
“Did I ask you?” he snapped, his attention remaining on the young teenager.
Frederick clapped, the sound making Faye flinch as her hand gently shook.
“It was I who summoned you,” he said, voice like a whip. “So you answer to me.”
The Daemon’s shoulders trembled with laughter. “Do I now?” he asked, pressing his hand against the circle. Sparks burst, but the dome shaped itself around his palm rather than repel him.
Faye’s eyes widened, unable to look away from the hand that tried to touch her face, his nails long, black and razor sharp.
