Sadie glanced at the charm he had tossed on the table. “What’s wrong with it? It was supposed to vibrate when the demon was near, right? It shouldn’t have activated at all while we were with Beatrice.”
“Right. Except it started vibrating every time you projected your thoughts into my mind. I must have miscalculated when choosing which runes to use.”
He had purposefully attempted to exclude Sadie’s power, and to a certain extent it had worked. The charm hadn’t vibrated when she listened to his thoughts, only when she spoke to him telepathically. Which meant it probably wouldn’t activate unless the demon tried to possess him, either. Not what he had wanted for the charm.
He began carving, changing the runes slightly as he created a new glyph. Sadie sat on a stool next to him, twisting the ringhe had given her around and around her finger. Belatedly, he realized she had nothing to do.
He set down the stone. “Sorry. You don’t have to stay with me while I do this.” He wanted her to, though. Not only because there was a demon in the manor and he wanted to know she was safe at his side. He simply enjoyed having her near.
“It’s fine. I have a lot on my mind, and this is as good a place as any to work through my thoughts. Plus, I thought you wanted to test your anti-demon ward before supper.”
“I do, but we could do that first if you don’t want to be stuck waiting for me to finish engraving this charm.”
“If it is all the same to you, I’d rather not give Abigail or the demon a chance to get you alone.”
“Abigailorthe demon, huh? Which one worries you more?”
“Abigail, naturally. You’re too nice to reject her as harshly as it would require to send her packing. I have hopes you might be tougher facing a demon.”
“We’ve assumed that she is willingly working with the demon—is there really anything I could do that would make her leave?”
“Probably not.” Sadie shifted on her stool, leaning toward Nicholas. “Let’s try your anti-demon ward.”
“All right. This may take me a moment.” He summoned a ward around himself, the standard barrier his magic manifested as, blue and glowing. He didn’t worry about what it looked like. He could make it invisible later. First, he needed to adjust what the ward blocked.
According to the explanation in the journal he had read, a ward to block demonic possession was similar to the aural ward Nicholas already knew how to craft. Instead of sound, he focused his power on thoughts and mental auras.
“Oh.” Sadie’s mouth rounded. “It’s like when my amulet was active. There’s no hum of thoughts that I can’t quite make out.”
“Try to project a thought at me.”
She rubbed a finger over the ring he had given her and pressed her lips together. “I can’t. My power bounces off your ward.”
“You can sense it blocking you, then?”
“Yes. Even when I’m not actively trying to use my power, there is an awareness that some sort of barrier exists. Which means the demon will know we are onto it once you use the ward.”
“Wards are stationary anyway, so it’s not like I can walk around cloaked in it. We can save this for when we confront the demon.” Nicholas dropped the ward. He’d have to practice more to be able to summon it in an instant, though it sounded like he didn’t have to worry about making it invisible. “I want to try casting the ward over you instead of me and see if that changes anything.”
Sadie nodded. “Go ahead.”
He cast the ward and watched her through the shimmering blue. She cocked her head to the side, then hopped off the stool and stepped through the barrier. Nicholas would have to remember to cast a second, physical ward behind the demon-blocking one.
“It felt more-or-less the same. A little more muffled, I suppose, since my power couldn’t go in any direction, though it is hard to say since no one else is close enough for my power to pick up.”
“Perfect. It will be easier to ward the demon than erecting protective wards around everyone, if needed.”
“Now we just have to find the portal it came through, lure it there, and seal it back on the other side.”
Nicholas placed his hands on her waist, stepping closer. “You don’t have to take on the demon, Sadie. It isn’t your responsibility.”
She scowled at him. “I’m not leaving you to deal with it alone.” She stepped out of his hold, back through the ward he hadn’t yet dismantled, and sat on her stool. “Now you finish your charm, and I’ll brainstorm how we can administer the mental fortitude potion to everyone without alerting the demon.”
Nicholas liked this bossy side of Sadie. Honestly, he liked every side of her. Well, not just liked. He wasn’t sure exactly when it had happened, but his feelings had certainly tumbled over the line into love at some point. Sadie was it for him, and he was going to have to brace himself and thank his mother one of these days for inviting Sadie—even if she wasn’t one of the original ladies meant to be his guests.
Better to work up to that conversation and his mother’s gloating, though. He’d start with something simpler, like trapping a demon.
Nicholas took down his ward, then paused. “Did you want to stay in the ward? Is it more comfortable for you to have all thoughts blocked?”
