Page 31 of Shadow's End

“No,” Monty said, “but if there’s something to salvage out of this, it’s the fact we won’t have to tell her it’s happened. She’ll already know.”

“And didn’t bother warning us,” Belle said. “I wonder why?”

“Given everything else she didn’t warn us about, it’s pretty obvious she’s treating us all as nothing more than pawns in her game” came Aiden’s grim comment. “It’s definitely past time we had a serious chat to the council about revoking her trading license.”

By “we’” he meant he, because it was doubtful the council would take too much notice of anything us witches said.

“I suspect our resident vampire will not only use anyone and everyone in an effort to survive, but also unleash every nasty trick in her repertoire to remain here if she does,” Monty said. “If it wasn’t for the fact both sides are taking out innocent bystanders, I’d be voting for the ‘stand back and let the bitches erase each other’ option.”

“You wouldn’t be the only one,” I muttered.

I walked on cautiously, studiously keeping my gaze away from the larger body of water and the death that lay within it. I couldn’t so easily erase the scent, however, and my stomach was twisting with ever increasing intensity.

Aiden reached into his pocket and held out a small blue tub. “Use this.”

I accepted it gratefully. It was basically an extra strong mentholated ointment that was dabbed under the nose to counter the worst odors. I’d used it before, and it was pretty damn good for cutting the foulness down to an acceptable level. I dabbed some on, then offered it to the others before giving it back to Aiden.

He applied some then tucked it back into his pocket. “I’ll start recording the scene while you deal with that demon.”

I nodded and motioned Ashworth and Monty to precede me. The demon snarled and growled, but its leash—magical, not physical—was relatively short, and its agitated movements were restricted to little more than a six-foot circle around Roger’s leg.Itremained pinned by white ash, the stake not only driving through Roger’s flesh but also deep into the stone. Either the ash had been magically strengthened or they’d used a spell to anchor it. I couldn’t tell because I simply wasn’t seeing any spell threads.

And that was scary, if only because if they could so easily hide this spell, what other types of spells could they hide? I really, really, didn’t want to think about that, though I also suspected we might find out sooner rather than later.

“Will we need to use multiple protection circles?” I asked. “Or do you think a weave of mine and Belle’s will suffice?”

“I honestly don’t think it will be necessary, given the nature of this demon and the fact banishment works in its favor,” Ashworth said, “but I would also never advise doing any sortof banishment spell without a protective circle, especially when we’re dealing with a beastie connected to a dark mage.”

I nodded and tugged my spell stones free from my pack. After ensuring I was well out of the demon’s reach, I began to spell, placing each stone on the ground and attaching the threads before moving on. Belle interwove her spell through mine and, once we’d both finished, we simultaneously activated them. A wall of power rose, shimmering softly and running with glittering luminous threads.

“Well,that’sa new development,” Monty said, surprise evident. “Has it anything to do with the wild magic you’ve leashed around your wrist?”

The threads around my wrist pulsed, and the voices briefly rose. It wasn’t a confirmation, but it wasn’t a denial, either. I wrinkled my nose. “Possibly? They want this place cleansed, and that would definitely include sending this demon back to whatever hell it came from.”

“Which suggests the Fenna might be far more than mere advisory spectators,” Ashworth said. “It makes me wonder what the future holds for your little one. It’ll be interesting watching her grow and develop.”

Worry briefly flitted through me again. “I wish we knew more. I wish so much hadn’t been forgotten.”

Wished I could jump into the future, if only in my dreams, and see what might lie ahead for her. But my dreams, while precognitive in nature, just weren’t playing ball.

“Indeed, lassie, indeed.” Ashworth grimaced and moved to the far side of the circle. Monty went right, Belle left, and I remained where I was, opposite Ashworth. The demon paced and growled, its anger stinging the air and its short tentacles darting in and out of its flesh, an agitated movement that made me wonder if it was trying to taste our intent.

I took a deep breath to steady nerves that never were by such an action and began to spell. A few lines into it, the demon stilled, and an almost anticipatory gleam shone in its golden eyes. It knew what we were doing. Wanted it, if the wave of satisfaction that swiftly replaced the anger rolling from it was anything to go by.

Once I’d finished, I guided Belle through her section, then Ashworth did his, and Monty finished off.

A deep void swirled into existence behind the demon, and its body began to vibrate, its tentacles becoming translucent smoke that was swiftly sucked into the void. As its body began to disintegrate, its gaze came to mine, and it bowed, either in acknowledgement or gratitude. Then it was swept away, and the void closed with an audible snap.

The ring in my pocket pulsed, and from deep in the distance came an infuriated scream. Maelle. She knew she’d just lost her demon.

Trepidation shivered through me, but I did my best to ignore it. Right now, we had bigger problems, like moving the ghosts on and cleansing this place.

“Well,” Monty said, once we’d dismantled the spell. “That was a whole lot easier than I thought it would be.”

“Aye,” Ashworth agreed. “But I dare say it was only because it recognized what we were doing. That beastie was a very old and powerful one.”

“Maelle likely made her deal with it just before she destroyed her coven, which means it has had centuries of feasting to grow in strength and power.” I collected my spell stones and tucked them away. “She felt it go. I heard her scream via the ring.”

“Well, she’s only herself to blame,” Belle said. “If she’d been semi-honest about what awaited, we might have killed rather than banished it.”

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