I did as I was told, sticking the tip of the device into my sister’s stomach and pulling on the plunger. Thick liquid slowly filled the vial, and I squirted it into the jar. When I returned to the wound, it had already refilled with more sludge. I sucked out the poison again while Patrice worked on the other side.
We filled six vials a piece, the liquid reaching the jar’s rim before Ember’s own flesh and blood were visible in the gashes. Patrice hovered her hands above the wounds and whispered another incantation.
Ember gasped, her hands flying to her face as she looked around wildly. “What…?”
“Shh…shh…” I took her hand again, and this time, she held me back. “The demon poisoned you, but we get it all out. You’re going to be okay.” I looked at Patrice for confirmation, and she nodded.
“These gashes require sutures. Give me a minute to gather my supplies.” She patted Ember on the leg before turning and leaving the room. Patrice wasn’t just a witchy healer. She was also a nurse practitioner. Lucky us.
“Your healer is talented.”
“We’ve got the best of the best in our coven.”
Ember lifted herself onto her elbows. “We sure do. What kind of spell did you throw on him? He looked like he was moving through molasses.”
I shrugged. “I had to combine two spells since I didn’t have enough oil for another binding.”
“Well, it worked.” She winced and laid her head down. “Good job.”
I scoffed. “Hardly.”
“You don’t take compliments well.”
Not when I didn’t deserve them.
“Here we are. This will sting a little.” Patrice held up a syringe of what I assumed to be numbing medicine.
Ember laughed. “I’ve been through worse.”
“What happened out there, anyway? How did a shedim get through the veil?” She injected the wounds and threaded a hooked needle.
“Apparently, some wannabe witches got ahold of an actual dark magic grimoire.” I shook my head. “They never should have gotten their hands on it.”
Patrice pursed her lips as she sewed. “A mundane wouldn’t be able to summon a demon. Someone had to have witch ancestry, at least.”
“They could if the veil was already open,” Ember said. “We found a rift in the center of their summoning circle.”
“How did it get there?” she asked.
“Good question.” My brow furrowed. “And how would they know where to find it in the first place? We had to cast a spell to locate it.”
“Maybe the demon drew them there,” Ember said. “A beast that powerful can’t slip through the veil, even with how thin it is here. Ghouls and fae, sure. That’s what our job is for, but something with that much magical power would need to be summoned.”
The veil was good about that…keeping the baddest of the bad on the side where they belonged. The more magic an entity possessed, the harder it was to cross into our world.
“That is precisely what happened. The shedim sensed the people in the forest and drew them to the rift. Once they performed the summoning, he was free to pass through in both directions.”
“That’s got to be it,” I said. I bet they really did want to have a fun little séance. Poor kids. I couldn’t imagine what the demon did to them after he pulled them through the rift. If they were lucky, moving from our world to the other killed them instantly. The mundane couldn’t exist in their physical form in the spirit realm.
“What about the circle?” Ember asked. “Someone had to be a witch to put it up.”
“We’ll have to talk to Jason and see what he knows about his friends. I bet Patrice is right about the ancestry. If not for that circle, the shedim would be running rampant in Salem.”
Patrice tied the last stitch and cut the thread. “But that leads us back to the question of how the rift got there in the first place. If it wasn’t just a thin spot, someone created it. Purposely or not. Could there be an uprising on the other side?”
“There is no uprising.” A low growl rumbled between my ears. “Summoning a Prince of Hell can fracture the veil. The threads weaken and tear. It has happened before.”
Fantastic. It was my fault after all.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“How are you still awake? I feel like I’m about to keel over, and all I did was cast a few spells.” I unlocked the back door and held it open for Ember.
She trudged through and grabbed the handrail to haul herself up the stairs. “Casting spells can be more taxing than fighting, and you performed what? Five? How are you still awake?”
Eight if you counted the location and exorcism spells I tried before she got to the shop, but she didn’t need to know about those. I helped her onto the couch and took off her boots before turning on the television. A reporter with a solemn expression told the story of the kids. The police would be holding a press conference in an hour.
Ember’s phone chimed, and she groaned, wincing as she dug it out of her pocket. “It’s the chief wanting an update. I better call him.”
“'Kay. I’ll make dinner.” I kicked off my Mary Janes and padded to the kitchen while she dialed the chief.
“Your body requires rest.”
“No shit, Captain Obvious. It also requires food.” I rummaged through the fridge and found a bag of fresh mushrooms, some spinach, and half a rotisserie chicken. The pantry offered dried pasta and a jar of spaghetti sauce. A trip to the grocery store was in order, but I had enough for tonight.
“Chicken spaghetti it is.” I poured some olive oil into a pan and dumped in the spinach and mushrooms to sauté them. “Now that I’ve got you alone, I need answers.” The mushrooms sizzled in the oil, the spinach wilting as I pushed it around the pan. “Since I caused this trouble, how do I fix it? Will sending you back heal the veil?”
He didn’t answer.
