Page 9 of Commanding Chaos

“Demons’ abilities are limited in this realm. I could only portal back to Hell, which would kill you. I don’t recommend it.”

“He knows how to drive,” Ember said. “We’ll give him the keys to mom’s car.”

“And you trust him to wait for us and not run off to do his own thing?”

Her expression grew sullen. “No. What are we going to do with him then?”

I grinned. “I have an idea.”

4

ASH

“I remember seeing the spell in a book with a blue cover.” I grabbed my phone off the desk and shoved it into my pocket, not bothering to check the messages. If anyone else needed a sigil, they’d have to wait. Operation Cloaking Chaos was in full swing.

Thankfully, both Ember and my demon had found enough patience to let me shower and change clothes. The hot water had worked wonders on my sore neck, and I was feeling fully refreshed after a bowl of yogurt and granola.

“There must be a hundred blue books in here.” Ember pulled one from the shelf and flipped through the pages. “Do you remember what the spell was called?”

“I don’t, but that doesn’t matter.” I took a deep breath and straightened my shoulders. “What was lost will be found. Near or far, show me where you are. Cloaking spell.”

The energy in the room stilled, leaving only the tingle of the book with the spell. No, the books, plural. I felt a pull from three different volumes, which meant more than one spell of this kind existed. Perfect. If Chaos’s power was too strong for one, I could cast all three. Surely that would hide his aura.

He stood next to Ember as I made my way down the first aisle of books. Irritation pricked at my soul. This mess would be the death of me if our escapades didn’t kill me first. I stepped over a set of tomes strewn across the floor and tiptoed around a massive stack threatening to topple with the slightest disturbance.

Turning the corner at the end of the row, I found volume number one, a burgundy book with gold lettering. Not the specific one I was looking for, but I grabbed it just in case.

I made my way up the next aisle and found number two, a plain beige cover with a simple brown font. Tucking it under my arm, I focused on the spell’s pull and found the blue one two rows over. “Got it!”

I couldn’t help but grin as I bounded up the cleanest aisle and returned to the front. A quick search of the index found the cloaking spell in each book, and I spread open the volumes on my desk.

“Here we go.” I tapped my finger against the page in the red book, then the beige, then the blue. “Three different cloaking spells. We can use these to mask Chaos’s aura, so no one will know he’s a demon.”

Ember peered over my shoulder at the red book. “That might work if he was an artifact we needed to hide.” She ran her finger down the page. “This is an invisibility spell for inanimate objects.”

My heart sank as I skimmed the page. “Dang it. That’s okay; we’ve got two more.”

Chaos picked up the beige book. “I assume this one is for odor control. The title is Scent Cloaking.”

I slammed the red book shut and took the beige one, setting them both aside. “No worries. This is the one I was looking for anyway.” I read the spell, my heart sinking even more. Another object invisibility spell. “Well, crappity crap. I’ll try the location spell again. “What’s another word for cloaking?”

“Why don’t you use your gift?” Ember rested a hand on my shoulder. “I’m sure if you focused, you could find exactly what you’re looking for.”

I shook my head. “This is how I always find books.”

“That was before you learned how to use your power.” Chaos put his hand on my other shoulder. “You found the skulls’ hiding places by using your inborn magic.”

I shrugged them both off and rose to my feet. “That was different.”

“How so?” Ember crossed her arms.

“I had a demon in my head telling me what to do.” I threw up my arms. “Now is not the time for me to try learning new magic.”

“It’s precisely the time.” Chaos sent a pulse of energy through the sigil, instantly calming me. “You know the spell but not the name. Focus on your memory of it, and your power will guide you.”

“It would be faster if I—”

“Do it, Ash,” Ember said. “I know you can.”

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