Page 7 of Commanding Chaos

“What is that odd vibration?” Miles moved toward the hall, Ember widened her stance, and I slipped out of view.

“I told you it’s Ash. Her vim is messed up right now.”

“They sense me,” Chaos whispered behind me.

“Whatever gave you that idea?” I joined him in Ember’s bedroom.

“Their reactions make it obvious.” He reached above my head, resting his hand against the doorjamb and leaning forward to listen.

His close proximity made my stomach flutter, so I ducked and moved away. “We need to work on your grasp of sarcasm, but first we need to get them out of our house.”

“With pleasure.” A pulse of energy permeated from Chaos’s body. A second later, all three visitors began talking at once. They used their normal voices at first, but it didn’t take long before they were shouting over each other, sounding more and more like total…

“Chaos!” I backhanded him on the shoulder. “That is not what I meant. Stop it.”

He reeled in his magic and shrugged. “Be more specific.”

“I will get them out of here. You. Stay. Put.” I poked my finger into his chest with the last three words, which earned me another mischievous grin.

Hecate on a hambone. What was I going to do with this demon?

First things first, I brushed a lock of blue tangles out of my face and strode into the living room. Shade, Miles, and Ginger stood there staring at Ember, a look of confusion clouding their eyes. Thankfully, it seemed people didn’t remember exactly what happened when Chaos messed with their minds.

Ember gave me the side eye, knowing full well what had gone down, and I patted her shoulder. “I’m much better now. Gnomes, you said? So defense against venom and tougher skin? Those are easy.”

I motioned for them to follow me and headed down the stairs. They shuffled across the floor, still confused as all get out, but I played it cool. Not cool, though, were the remnants of the exorcism still visible in my studio. The salt ring, still intact except for the spot Ember swiped her foot through, took up most of the floor. Was it too much to ask for her to clean this up while I slept it off?

Apparently so. I was the neat freak, not her.

The witches caught up with me, but I stopped them in the library. “Wait here a second. I got sick in my studio, and Ember didn’t clean it up.”

Shade curled his lip. “Make it fast.”

“Do you want some help?” Ginger asked.

I shook my head. “It’s kinda embarrassing. I’ll only be a minute.”

I closed the door between the rooms, grabbed a handheld vacuum, and sucked up the salt. The candles, which had burned out when Chaos reformed, sat at the five points of the former pentagram, so I swept them into my arms and stuffed them into a storage case. I spun around, checking for any more signs of light witches behaving badly, and grabbed the exorcism book before adding it to the case with the candles.

After a quick spray of air freshener to mask the fact I had not just cleaned up vomit, I opened the door and gestured for them to come inside. “All done. Who’s first? Ginger?”

Her brows drew together in sympathy. “Are you up to doing three? I’m sure the guys can handle it. Want me to sit this one out?”

I waved a hand dismissively. “Nah. They need all the help they can get.”

Both guys bristled, but they didn’t say anything. I wasn’t surprised. Chaos’s playtime in their minds still had them off their game. They really did need all the help they could get.

I expected Ember to make her way down to reassure them they had not in fact sensed demon energy, but she never showed. I guess she trusted Chaos even less than I thought. His little display earlier didn’t help.

Ginger sat like a champ, barely flinching when I reached the tender part inside her elbow. Shade ground his teeth, a whimper escaping his mouth at the sensitive spot. I suppose I could admit I pressed a tiny bit harder on his tattoo, but I couldn’t resist him looking like a wuss in front of his man crush.

Miles went utterly still as I applied his sigil, almost as if he’d checked out of his body so he wouldn’t feel the pain. I went even heavier on the tender spot to see if I could get a reaction out of him. He sucked a breath through his teeth and opened his eyes.

“You’ll have to give a lecture on how to do that.” I wiped the excess ink off his arm. “Some witches can’t handle the pain.”

No, I did not make a face at Shade, thank you very much. My statement wasn’t a jab at him for once. We really did have a few in the coven who’d rather go in unaided than sit for a sigil.

“I don’t feel the low vibration anymore, do you?” Miles rested his hand on Ginger’s back.

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