Page 60 of Demon's Bluff

“Sure, but—”

“But nothing,” I interrupted, setting a second memory charm next to the first on the “take” pile. “At the moment, there aren’t any laws protecting people against demons. That little gem won’t come into effect until, oh, a few years from now, thanks to Trent.”

I looked at the books surrounding me. One of them might interest Newt if it was hers, but all the really old ones had been in the glass cabinet and were gone. Stymied, I glanced at the one I had brought with me, the one that Newt had written.No. I only have a few books as it is.

“Okay, so what are you going to give her?”

I glanced at my new pinky ring, and my hand fisted. “Yeah. That’s the question.” I weighed my phone before setting it by the forget charms to take. “I woke up a few days ago—the me of this time period, not the one we belong in—with Newt in my head. She had possessed me so she couldwalk on hallowed ground to search the church. At the time, I’d assumed she was looking for the focus, which is currently in David’s freezer turning the women he is having sex with into Weres, but now I think Newt was searching for a memory of when we first met.” My eyes dropped to the filthy carpet. “I think she guessed I was a demon straight off. The only reason Al snagged me first was because Minias, her caretaker, probably dosed her with a forget charm, accidentally obliterating the information. She might trade that memory for the mirror.”

“A memory of you is going to buy a priceless, one-of-a-kind mirror?” she asked, and I felt myself warm at the scorn in her voice. “Morgan, you are my ticket home, and I’m not risking you being abducted by a demon because you trust in the importance of your birthright. I’m coming with you. You need some firepower, and I’m it.”

Son of a moss-wipe pixy pisser.My jaw clenched, and I forced it to relax. She was right about needing more, though, and I reluctantly moved the spell book to the “take” pile. I’d offer it as a last resort. Clearly I was connected to the demon collective and didn’t need it to get home. I’d rather lose that than Trent’s mom’s ring.

“Ah, youcanget me home, right?” Elyse asked suddenly, taking my silence for unease.

“Probably.”

Elyse blanched. “You’re not sure?” She sat up, shoulders stiff. “You came here and didn’t have a way home? Were you planning on living those two years again?”

“It was supposed to be five,” I snapped, thinking I was going to have to surprise her if I had any hope of downing her, singed synapses or not. “And no.Ihave a way home.You’rethe problem. You’vealwaysbeen the problem.”

She was silent, her expression empty as I began shoving my “take” pile into my bag.

My eye twitched. It was going to require a defunct, ancient stasis charm to get her home, but if I told her that now, she would insist on coming so she could barter one from Newt. I knew Trent had one, but it wasdefunct, and not only would I have to steal it, I’d have to rekindle it, too—in front of a coven member.Son of a moss-wipe troll hickey.

“You can’t get me home?” she asked, her voice high, and I felt a moment of sympathy. “Is that why it hurt so bad?”

“I don’t know,” I said truthfully. “The curse I used doesn’t simply move you back in time. It shifts your entire body to an earlier state. That’s why you’re younger. You lose energy going into the past and require it going into the future.”

“I’m hearing a big ‘however,’ ” she said, her face pale.

“Yep,” I said sourly. “It’s not designed to move living things, so I twined an energy-spindling spell into the traveling curse to catch the lost energy. That part of the curse is illicit, but I figured since I was stealing my own energy, it would be okay. The energy is stored in the demon collective and will unspool on the way home. I didn’t know you were there. I didn’t include you in the, ah, curse.”

“Then…” She studied the racks of books. “How the hell am I going to get home?” Her focus sharpened. “This was all a trick, wasn’t it! You want me dead. If I’m stuck here, you get away with everything!”

Oh, for little flying pixy turds…She was starting to lose it, and I rubbed my forehead as if tired—which I was—hoping it made me look nonthreatening. Singed synapses or not, the woman was dangerous. “Relax, Elyse Embers. I can get you home with a stasis charm.”

“You mean a stasis charm that spontaneously breaks after three days to prevent death by dehydration? Try again!”

I nodded. The auto-break was a coven mandate—for good reason. Stasis charms wouldn’t work any longer than three days on the undead, either. “You’re right, if it’s witch made.” I slung my bag, feeling confident at its book-heavy weight, though I would be loath to lose it if worse came to worst. “But I’m not a witch, am I.”

Elyse licked her lips, eyeing my bag. “I’m coming with you to the ever-after.”

“No, you aren’t.” I picked up my splat gun and the rest and took them to the shelves.

“Hey! I may look eighteen, but I’m really twenty!” she said.

Oh. My. God.“I’ll be back once I have the mirror. If I wanted to leave you behind, I wouldn’t have bailed you out of jail.”

“You didn’t bail me out. You broke me out. And if you screw any of this up, I’m stuck here! I’m going with you.”

I tucked the splat gun behind a couple of tomes and turned. “You think you can play the part of my familiar?”

“Your what?” she said in repugnance. “I’m not going to be your slave.”

Elyse had stood. Maybe I could knock her down, sit on her, and tie her to a bookcase. “It would be safer if you stayed here and went through the books for a stasis spell that will last longer than three days. I suggest the old ones without titles.” Because if she couldn’t find one, I’d be stealing one from Trent.

Elyse lifted her chin. “You can’t stop me from following you.”

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