Ahead of us, Harry whipped around the corner of the shed, barely a disturbance in the shadows. “He’s scouting,” Alaric breathed, fingers digging into my arms. “Give him a moment. I’m a decent sorcerer but it would’ve taken at least two people to carry that cabinet. We need to know what we’re up against.”
I made myself nod, made myself take a few long, deep breaths. I had no clue what I could do against a sorcerer. More information was a good idea.
Harry reappeared out of the weeds inches from my knee. I held back a yelp and pressed my knuckles to my lips.Don’t be ridiculous.
“Found a gap to look inside. Two men in there,” Harry said. “Marcus Barnes and his nephew.”
“Barnes?” Alaric sounded shocked. “He barely has the power to light a candle.”
“That was before a demon got hold of him.”
“Ah. Shit.” Alaric hissed through his teeth. “Powerful demon?”
“Can’t tell. They don’t have the cabinet open yet, for what that’s worth.”
“We need reinforcements, and a necromancer for the demon.” Alaric turned to me. “If I let go of you, will you stay put while I call for help?”
“Of course.” I wasn’t confused enough to ignore the wisdom of that. “How long will it take them?”
“We’ll find out.” Alaric released his grip on my arms and dug out his phone. He hit a contact, waited… “Miriam. It’s Alaric. I located the damned book but a demon-ridden sorcerer grabbed it first. Marcus Barnes. He has his nephew with him. Does that guy have any power?” He paused. “Okay, good. But we still need a necromancer for the demon and I won’t say no to some backup. How fast can you send someone…? We’re off Shrevepoint road— Yeah. Is that Barnes’s address? Sounds right… Okay, we’ll wait for you here.”
Alaric pocketed the phone and turned to me and Harry. “She says fifteen minutes. Maybe twenty. Sylvanwood may be even later, but if Miriam, Corbin, and I can restrain the demon, then we can hold him till Sylvanwood can get here and send him back to hell.”
“Real actual Hell? A real demon?” I stared at him.
“More like another dimension of smoke and fire which we call a hell, and dimensional travelers. No deities involved. I’ll explain later. I’m going to put a circle around the shed. Worst comes to worst, I might be able to hold them in there.” Without any better explanation, Alaric scuttled toward the building, staying low to the ground.
When I would’ve followed, Harry grabbed my hand between sharp teeth and growled.
“Okay, okay.” I raised my other hand in surrender and the rat let go.
“He’s busy, doesn’t need you juggling his elbow and giving him away.”
“Busy with…” As I watched, Alaric reached the shed wall and sketched a symbol that glimmered green in the darkness. That one floated to the wall and faded away. The next one he made drifted over to the door and sparked around the edges in deep red before extinguishing.
“Crap,” Harry muttered. “They have the door warded.”
“Warded?”
“A magical spell to keep other sorcerers from opening or crossing it. That red is the demon’s power.”
“So what do we do?” I crept a little closer to the shed, staying under the bushes, and Harry didn’t stop me.
He padded silently beside me and breathed, “We wait for reinforcements and then see if Alaric and Miriam can break the wards. Neither one of ’em is a slouch when it comes to power.”
“Do you do magic?”I’m talking to a rat.The surreal nature of the evening hit me again.
“I help Alaric with his.”
Alaric vanished around the side of the shed, duck-walking, trailing a hand along the siding.
“What’s he doing?”
“Chalking a circle. He’ll have to find a way to complete it around the door, but circles are powerful for containing magic.”
Noises rose from inside the shed, a deep male voice thundering in anger. “What do you mean, no? You don’t say no to me. If you can’t get it open with the axe, then you’ll bleed for me.”
A clang andthudresounded, the impact of metal on hardwood.
