“Yeah.” Roma’s shoulders are still tense, like they always are when she so much as hints that she might disagree with the Council. “I think it’s because they’re ramping up their testing program—that’s why they’ve had us prioritize capturing demons instead of killing them lately, right? They want every cell in the prison filled.”
JJ fights back a shudder. While he’s still not quite sure how testing differs from regular torture—apparently, not even Chester is privy to that aspect of interrogation—he knows that demons who are subjected to it are usually never seen again.
Not for the first time, he’s beyond grateful that he didn’t resign Desi to that fate.
“And that means it’s on us to provide the demons tofillsaid cells,” Bryant says, resting her chin on her fist. “And our team can’t afford to take any more heat on this. So let’s start small. JJ, was there anything different about this demon? Like, did it seem especially powerful?”
It.Anger festers behind JJ’s sternum. They’ve all known from the start that this demon is a girl—alittlegirl, based on her summoner’s late daughter—but they still insist on referring to Desi as an “it.” He struggles to keep his voice even. “Not disproportionately so. Just seemed like a regular neophyte demon to me.”
Roma drums her fingers against her leg, considering. “I might have an idea about how to find it, but only if it’s still local to Redwater. Soul tracking.”
Bryant sighs dramatically. “You and your soul tracking,” she teases, bumping Roma’s shoulder.
“What?” Roma demands, eyes narrowed. “It’s howwefind each other, after all—our hunting enchantments increase our soul energy to the point where even anti-tracking spells can’t hide us. I might be able to modify the parameters to track our neophyte demon, instead.”
JJ’s stomach lurches. “Really?” he asks cautiously. “But how would that work? Demon souls are more powerful than human souls, but human souls have higher energy at baseline, and soul tracking relies on that higher energy. Right?”
“Aw,” Bryant says, punching his arm affectionately. “Look who actually paid attention in spellcasting class.”
“You know I paid attention. You used my notes to study.”
“Touché.”
Roma ignores them both. “You’re right, but studies show that neophyte demons tend to have higher-energy souls than established demons. Our neophyte has been on Earth for less than six months, right? It’ll still have higher energy—not comparable to a human soul, but noticeably higher than a demonic one. If I can track down a high-power, high-energy soul, odds are good that it’ll be our wyvern—or, at the very least, another neophyte demon.”
Nausea licks up JJ’s throat. If anyone could pull off a spell like that, it’d be Roma. He’ll have to tell Cass to reinforce the defensive spells around his house—they might not be able to block a soul-tracking spell entirely, but there are definitely ways to redirect the signal.
Anything to keep Desi safe. “That’s cool,” JJ says faintly. “When, um. When do you think you’ll be able to cast that spell, Roma?”
Roma wrinkles her nose. “Dude, I haven’t even done the research yet. It might not even be possible—just because it makes sense theoretically doesn’t mean it’ll work in practice. I’ll have to build out the spell before I can test it.”
“I love how she says that like it’s nothing,” Bryant says to JJ. “‘Oh, yeah, just gotta create a new spell from scratch. No big deal.’”
Roma rolls her eyes. “It’s notfrom scratch,Nehemiah. Creating original spells without proper precautions is how people blow themselves up.” A smile twitches on her lips. “But modifying established spells in field-tested, peer-reviewed ways is absolutely on the table. I’ll see what I can do.”
“Sounds good,” JJ says, nodding. “Just, uh. Just let us know when you get close, yeah? So we can help.”And so I can tell Cass to keep his guard up.
“Full offense,” Roma says breezily, “but I don’t want either of you anywherenearmy spellcasting. You’ll just muck it up.”
“Rude,” Bryant says.
“But true,” JJ agrees. “Just keep us updated, okay?”
“Will do.”
Abruptly, a loud buzzing cuts through their conversation—the buzzing of three cell phones vibrating in unison. Frowning, JJ fishes out his phone.
His eyes widen.“Anothernew mission?”
Bryant groans, dropping her head back. “Seriously? We just got back from the last one!”
“And it looks like a long haul,” Roma says, ignoring their theatrics as she scrolls through the preliminary info. “But it could be worse—only five days or so.”
JJ’s heart plummets. His next day out with Desi and Cass was supposed to be in two days. If they’re gone for five, he might missbothof next week’s field trips. “Oh.”
“Yeah.” Bryant is still wrinkling her nose at her phone. “You’d think these stupid eclipse chasers would’ve gotten the hint that they’re not welcome here by now, but…”
The words throw JJ for a loop. “Eclipse chasers?” he repeats, frowning. “What do eclipse chasers have to do with anything?”
