“Are you a real witch?” Purple approached the counter with a smudge stick in her hand. “Do these really work?”
“Witches who cannot recognize their brethren?”
I cleared my throat. “It depends on what you’re using it for, but yes. Sage helps to cleanse negative energy from a space.”
She grabbed three more sticks from the bin and laid them on the counter.
Green Hat put the heart-mending spell back on the rack and brought the love spell to the register. I held in a chuckle. If she planned to make whoever hurt her fall in love, she would be sorely disappointed. Our magic never interfered with free will, and the spell kits we sold didn’t do much more than help the mundane focus their intentions.
“What century is this?”
“It’s the twenty-first.”
“What is?” Purple tilted her head, looking at me quizzically.
Crap. If I kept talking to Chaos like everyone else could hear him, I’d be on the fast track to the looney bin. I grabbed the spell kit and scanned the barcode. “This is the twenty-first love spell we’ve sold this week. Must be in the air.” I waved my hands, wiggling my fingers to indicate magic.
“Must be.” Purple cut a sideways glance at Green, clearly disapproving of her choice. The women turned to leave, and the bell chimed again as Ember strode through the door.
“We’ve got a case…” She froze and flicked her gaze toward the customers. “…of smudge sticks in the back. Can you help me?”
Purple and Green scurried on to the next shop while Em locked the door behind them.
“Nice save.” I strode to the entrance and flipped the Open sign to Closed. “What’s up?”
“You are supposed to be retrieving my skull, not selling trinkets to humans playing at magic.”
I gritted my teeth. No way in all the Underworld could I let my sister know how badly I’d screwed up this time, which meant not answering the disembodied voice. Light witches were forbidden from summoning demons, and especially from trapping them inside their own bodies.
“I demand you release me.”
I raised a finger toward my sister. “Hold that thought. I need to pee, and then you can tell me all about it.”
Ember huffed. “Hurry. I took off work for this. The police chief is waiting for us.”
“’Kay” I scurried around the counter.
She followed me into the back, through the sigil area, and into the library, where I was planning to have a pointed conversation with the demon in my head.
“Actually, I think it might be number two. I’m going to head upstairs for some privacy, if you don’t mind. That breakfast burrito I had this morning isn’t agreeing with me.”
“I thought you had cereal.” She plopped into the squeaky chair at my desk, making a face as it groaned.
“I had the burrito after you left. Be right back.” I darted up the stairs before she could say anything else. Rounding the corner, I paced down the hall and ducked into the bathroom. After turning on the extraction fan and running the water, I fisted my hands.
“Listen, Chaos. Since you can’t release yourself, I don’t think you’re in any position to be demanding stuff from me. My coven and I are the supernatural police of Salem. A select few humans in high positions of authority know about us, and if they ask for our help, it’s because something bad happened and they suspect magic was involved. The veil is thinner here in Salem than anywhere else.”
He had the nerve to growl after my speech. “I am aware of the magical nature of this town. I was summoned here long before you came into existence.”
“Good. Then you understand the kind of shit that can go down here. We just took out a nest of vamp ghouls who’d somehow made it to this side, so there is no telling what’s going on now.”
“Locating my skull is the first step to solving your problems.”
I scoffed. “You have no idea the scope of my problems right now. My sister is the acting High Priestess. She absolutely cannot find out I summoned you.”
“Perhaps she could be of assistance.”
“Nope. No way. I made this mess; I’ll clean it up. But first I have to deal with the humans’ problem. Once that’s done, I’ll find your skull. I need you to keep quiet while I’m around Ember. We could be looking at mutiny if the coven found out I was consorting with a demon.”
Ember rapped her knuckles on the door. “You okay in there?”
I flushed and whispered, “Please be quiet.”
His growl reverberated through my entire body. “Very well.”
After shutting off the water and the extraction fan, I sprayed some air freshener to cover up the fact I had not stunk up the place and plastered on a smile as I opened the door. “All better.” I linked my arm around Ember’s and guided her away from the bathroom. “What’s going on?”
Her boots clunked on the wood as we descended the narrow staircase. “A group of teens has gone missing from the woods. One made it out and swears a monster took his friends.”
Chaos rumbled inside me, so I cleared my throat, stopping him from speaking. “A monster, eh? Did he get a good look at it?”
Ember stopped at the bottom of the stairs, resting one hand on her hip. “Cracked skin the color of partially burned charcoal.”
The skin around my eyes scrunched as I tried to imagine the description. “So like black and gray?”
She nodded. “With curly horns coming out of its forehead.”
“That’s a demon. Lower-mid-level. Still not capable of maintaining a human form.”
