The doorbell chimes.
Immediately, the house erupts in the chaos of our determined doggy defense duo. Nobuddy and Somebuddyrocket past us like furry missiles, their high-pitched barking echoing off the walls.
Asher frowns. "Who shows up at—" He checks his watch. "Eight-thirty on a Wednesday?"
"Only one way to find out." I head for the door, the chihuahuas circling my ankles like manic satellites.
Asher sets the popcorn bowls on the hall table and follows.
I pull the door open to find Mica on my porch, flanked by two other young witches. I recognize Izzy from the wellness shop, but the third girl is new. She’s a petite black girl, that reminds me a great deal of Rue from the Hunger Games. Her dark blue eyes are fiercer than her size suggests, and her smile seems genuinely warm despite never having met her.
Mica's gaze travels from my sloth onesie to Asher's Scooby-Doo ensemble, and her lips twitch. "Did we interrupt a cosplay convention?"
"We're having a night in." I bend and scoop up Nobuddy before he launches himself off the porch. "And yeah, this is how we roll.”
Points to them that they seem more impressed than alarmed.
I shrug. “So, what's up?"
Mica's expression shifts, humor replaced by something sharper. More urgent. "We might have an idea about how to send the demons back to the Hell Realm."
Asher sighs. “Boo, the Life and Death Brigade doesnotget a night off.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Ilead the new arrivals through the house and gesture everyone into the family room, where Wylder, Orion, and Rowan have already arranged themselves on various pieces of furniture.
They look up as we file in—Asher and I in our onesies, followed by our three guest witches.
"We've got company." Asher hands one of the massive bowls of popcorn to Rowan and Orion on the couch and claims his usual spot on the oversized armchair with the other.
Mica, Izzy, and the new girl I now know is Clara, settle onto the fireplace mantle and the floor, while I perch on the arm of Asher's chair. Somebuddy hops into Asher's lap, still eyeing the newcomers with suspicion, and I reach down to scrub her velvety little ears.
Wylder leans forward, elbows on his knees. "What brings you ladies by? Has Poppy's confrontation with Laurel spread through the gossip grapevine already?"
Mica's eyebrows arch, and she looks at the other two before shaking her head. "No, we haven't heard about that."
Not wanting to get into that, I push the conversation in another direction. "They have an idea about how to banish Tharuzel back to the Hell Realm."
Clara fidgets with one of her braids, her dark blue eyes darting between us. She seems nervous, which makes me wonder how much courage it took to show up here tonight.
Izzy speaks up, her voice soft but steady. "We've been researching past demon events since the soul-siphoning at the Harvest Festival."
Mica frowns. "And after feeling the type of power we're up against while closing the tear on the veil, I’m guessing things are only going to get worse."
"They will," Wylder agrees, "because Tharuzel was only an entity then. He's building strength to become corporeal now, and if that happens, there's no way Sebastian's wards will contain him."
"Can we shore up the wards?" Izzy asks.
Wylder shrugs. "Sebastian has been focused on that since long before any of us got involved. But the truth of the matter is that it’s a temporary solution at best.”
“And what good does that do us?” Orion asks. “That just leaves us with a pissed-off major demon trapped in our hometown."
Clara frowns. "Maybe the elders of Emberwood don't understand the scope of what's happening. Maybe…."
"We're way past the point of claiming ignorance, Clara," Orion says. "Laurel knows exactly what's happening and how bad it's getting. But, instead of coming up with answers, she's covering her own ass and pointing the blame at everyone else."
Rowan scoffs. "And if she doesn't see how that will come back to bite her in the butt, she's more unhinged than she seems."
