Page 7 of Claiming Chaos

“I require more clothing if I’m to blend in with your world.” He gently gripped my fingers, brushing his over the tops before bringing them to his lips. “And we need to work on your self-defense skills.”

Yes, my stomach fluttered. So what?

I tugged from his grasp and glanced at Ember. She gave me a reluctant nod and shrugged as if the simple movement of her shoulders wore her out. I understood exactly how she felt…

Spent.

“There’s a store two blocks over.” I laid my hand on his chest where I’d hit him. “I’ll give you my card after you help us unravel whatever Chrys did to our building.”

He peered at the roof before raking his gaze over the property. “I take it she did not cast a ward to keep out ill intent.”

Plopping onto the back steps, I rummaged through my bag for supplies. “She put multiple layers on the building. The outermost is a ward to make sure we wouldn’t suspect, but it’s only to keep out the fae.”

“The fae?” He arched a brow.

“Next is probably a cloak to hide whatever’s beneath it.” Ember sat next to me and crushed the herbs I’d dumped into the bowl.

“We need to remove the ward first, and then we’ll figure out the next layer, unravel it, and hopefully get to the final layer.” I poured in the oil, and the potion sizzled.

“And you need my assistance to ascertain her spells?” Chaos placed his palm against the wall. “I feel dark magic, but I’m no witch. I can’t tell you what hexes she cast.”

“Not exactly.” I stood and tugged Ember up. “We need to borrow your power to undo her darkness. We’re running on fumes.”

His brow furrowed. “Fumes?”

“We’re tired and hangry,” Ember said. “Whatever is underneath the ward fought back and wouldn’t let us set up another one.”

I tossed the potion onto the faery ward and held Chaos’s and Ember’s hands. My poor sister was as drained as I was, but as Chaos’s demon magic flowed through me, I opened up and shared it with Ember.

She gasped. “Whoa.”

“It’s a rush, isn’t it?” My entire body heated, especially my nether region, and I could only hope Ember didn’t feel that part of Chaos’s essence too. It didn’t matter at this point. I just wanted to get our house protected so we could eat and crash.

Ember and I recited the undoing spell. Thankfully, the ward unraveled easily. We cast the magic-revealing spell, and it hit Chrys’s cloak. Similar to the one Cinder had placed in her room, it fought back, sending out a pulse so strong it rattled in my chest.

I mixed up the next potion and blew the powder at the cloak before we joined hands again and spoke the incantation. I couldn’t tell you if Chrys’s spell was weaker than Cinder’s, or if Chaos’s power made us that much stronger, but the cloak dissolved, leaving only the final layer. Hopefully.

“Hold on. I need a break.” Ember sat on the steps and rubbed her palms on her pants. “My nerves feel like they’ve been dipped in alcohol and rubbed with salt. How are you still standing?”

“Ash’s magic counters mine,” Chaos said. “She is the epitome of order. I believe the human expression would be ‘she is the yin to my yang.’”

She pursed her lips and nodded. “I can see that.”

“We can do the next one.” Clutching my demon’s hand, I recited the revealing spell one more time. Golden sparkles clung to the windows and doors, revealing an icky, sticky, dark magic hex.

“Good goddess.” Ember stood and moved next to me.

“What is it?” Chaos asked.

“It’s a…” I tilted my head, squinting at the magic. “It looks like a vim-draining spell. Or maybe not draining but making it hard to replenish. She’s been keeping us weak.” And that explained so much.

My sister’s hoarse laugh sounded forced, and she crossed her arms, irritation evident in her tight expression. “How long do you think it’s been here?”

I traced my gaze along the tendrils of the hex. “It’s stuck on pretty well. See how it slips between the building and the cobblestone? She rooted it in the earth.”

Ember sighed heavily. “Of course she did. And we can’t dig it up without breaking the cobble and having the city on our asses.”

“Maybe we don’t need to. Wait here.” I darted inside to the library and walked straight to the book I needed. I’d have to ponder how easy that was later. I returned to the back of the building and opened the book right to the spell I wanted. So friggin’ easy!

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