“Pen!” Carter yells.
I look up to see the knife-carrying demon lunge toward me. The magic responds quickly. I send it out toward the demon and the demon strikes the concrete hard, slumping over in the alley. I don’t waste any time saying the incantation. In seconds, all that’s left is yellow goo. It’s like a party with demon guts for confetti.
All that’s left is the maroon demon.
It moves toward Ric and I leap to my feet. I’m ending this thing. Carter’s hand squeezes around my arm.
“We can’t kill it yet,” Carter says.
I meet his gaze. He’s mentioned this to me before in the past few days, about finding a demon that might know what happened in the woods, questioning it. It may know something. That’s what he thinks, anyway. I don’t like the idea of keeping it alive, but I nod.
Carter runs toward it, magic flying from his fingertips. Watching him is sort of incredible. His feet are fast as he corners it, knocks it over, and traps it without blinking an eye. I lead Connie away; she’s staring back at Carter and the demon in confusion.
“Put up a barrier, then go to the restaurant,” I say. She hasn’t taken the tests yet; she can’t be part of this. Connie shakes her head at me, but no words come out. “Connie! Now!”
Connie looks at the demon one more time before running down the alley. She stands at the end of it, putting up the magic barriers. When she’s out of sight, I move to stand by Carter. Ric is there too, staring at the two of us like we are crazy.
“What are you going to do to it?” Ric asks. Neither of us answer.
The demon is thrashing against the ground in pain. I don’t see any iron, so I’m not sure what incantation Carter’s doing to keep it there. I look toward Ric, and he nods. I guess he’s on board with this. I yank my vial of salt from my necklace.
“Why are you after us?” Carter asks the demon. It hisses in response, and I toss a handful of salt on the demon. It howls, cries, and spits at Carter.
“Answer or I will send you back,” Carter calls.
The demon gets quiet. It stares among the three of us, weighing its options. “You smell good,” it says to me. I hurl salt on the demon because I never want to hear that phrase again. Its flesh starts smoking.
“Kill me! Do it!” the demon screeches. It goes on and on, rambling, saying the same thing over and over again. Carter shouts at the demon, but it doesn’t change its tune, just keeps yelling for us kill it. Carter growls and flings more salt on it.
“What are you looking for?” I ask, stepping forward. It jerks toward me, but it can’t reach me.
The demon laughs and screams. “Smells so good. Kriegen would like that.” Then it goes back into its “kill me” mantra. The sound of that name makes the hair on my arms stand on end. Kriegen—that’s the demon they mentioned in the woods. Carter asks it more questions that it doesn’t answer and a new plan hatches in my head.
I grab Carter’s arm before he can heave more salt on the demon. “Expel this thing.”
The demon laughs some more. Laughs and laughs.
Ric steps up next to me as we walk away. “Is this the new normal?” he asks.
“It’s definitely becoming more frequent,” I say. We turn the corner and I hear Carter mutter the incantation behind us.
After lunch, Ric, Carter and I leave Connie and head to the library, which is empty as usual. Poncho looks happy when I come in with Carter. We haven’t been here in a few days with all the practicing, so maybe the old guy is lonely.
“What can I do for the fantastic duo?” Poncho asks.
“We’re here on official business,” I say, tapping the side of the desk.
“What do you know about a demon named Kriegen?” Carter adds.
Poncho shakes his head. “Never heard of that one. You can look in the database.”
“I’ve got it,” Carter says before he kisses my cheek. He and Poncho go to the computer. I take a seat at one of the tables and pull out Emmaline’s journal. I might as well do something while I wait.
25 September 1841
Will this life ever be one I am proud of? I fear not. It is far too difficult to pretend to be joyful. With each passing day the pretending feels more and more as though it is slowly killing me. “Be happy, Emmaline.” “Smile, Emmaline, the day is a glorious one.” Surely I see no glory in it. I see merely a moment of someone else’s glory.
“Learning things you desired?” Poncho asks me, his eyebrow raised.
“I’m not sure how helpful this will be. But it’s good to know. Thank you.”
Poncho places a book on the shelf and I glance back down at the pages and back up. “Poncho, ever heard of a demon named Azsis?”
“The one who loved Lucifer, they say.”
I put Emmaline’s journal down. “Do you know if it’s still alive? Or how to find it?”
Poncho rests his hands on one of the shelves. “Azsis is a powerful demon, dangerous. Hard to find. It is not one who’s sought out, but one who seeks.”
Great. I stare back down at Emmaline’s journal when I feel Poncho sitting near me. “Sometimes the things you see are not what they seem,” Poncho says.
I chuckle. “Are you a fortune cookie?”
Poncho shakes his head. “Make sure your eyes are open to more than what you see.”
A chill runs down my spine as Poncho leaves me again. Why do people keep telling me that? I stand, about to ask him, when Carter returns. I manage to pull my gaze away from Poncho, who is petting the cat, and look at Carter.
“What happened?” I ask.
“There’s nothing,” he says. “No record of any demon named Kriegen.”
I peer over his shoulder at Poncho. He whistles, picks up the cat, and disappears down an aisle. There’s nothing on Azsis or on Kriegen. Not to mention Alfie and Emmaline Spencer. That seems a little too convenient. Limited information is one thing, but none?
“We’ll find something,” Carter says, kissing my forehead as we sit in our spot overlooking the city. “It doesn’t make sense how there is no record, at all, of that demon.”
“Yeah,” I start. Except it’s not weird. It’s not the first time. It’s got to be all connected. Someone’s hiding something.
I sit straight so I’m facing him. “You asked me once why I wanted to be an Enforcer, but I wasn’t completely honest with you,” I say and then pause. Carter doesn’t take his eyes off me, and I wish he would. I’m not sure what to say next.
“You said it was about your magic,” he says.
“It is.” My fingers twist around my salt necklace. “I wanted to be an Enforcer because it’s the only way I could get into the library. And the library was the only way I could gather information.”
“About?” he asks softly.
“The demon that killed my parents. I’ve been in the library researching that, because I have to find it first.” I tell him how the search for the demon led me to Alfie Spencer and the increase in demon attacks, which lead me to Emmaline Spencer. I tell him about the journal that Poncho found. “The weirdest part is that there has been no information on anything. Just like now, with this demon.”
Carter nods. “And you don’t think that’s random?”
“No,” I say.
“How does the journal lead back to your demon? What connection does Kriegen have to all of this? ”
“I don’t know,” I say. “Not yet.”
Carter is quiet, and I can tell he’s thinking about all of it. It’s too much to be random. It has to be connected.
“Why do you want to find it?” Carter asks, his voice low. He looks past me, out over the city. “Is this all about revenge?”
“No,” I say. “No, it’s not revenge. It’s all about getting my magic back. I know it sounds crazy, but I found a ritual.” He looks at me when I say that word. I take his hand reassuringly. “I can do it, but I need my demon. That’s where it’s all coming up short. There’s nothing.”