“He’s being held for psychiatric evaluation. It’s not like he’s going anywhere.” I shoved half the bar into my mouth and carried the coffee downstairs. It was hot as hellfire, but I sucked down as much as I could on the drive to the hospital and popped a mint into my mouth before we headed inside.
Frigid air blasted my skin as the doors slid open, and the sterile scents of bleach and antiseptic made my nose tingle. We hung a left and paced down the hall toward the psychiatric ward. Fluorescent lights hummed from above, tinting the white walls and floor in a greenish-yellow hue.
“What is this place?” Chaos asked.
“It’s a hospital. I guess a demon wouldn’t have much need for medical professionals.”
“It’s not like any hospital I’ve seen.”
“It’s exactly like every hospital I’ve seen.” I jogged to catch up with Ember.
“You look like you belong in this ward when you talk to him like that. Put in an ear bud so you can pretend to be on the phone.” She stopped outside a door. “What’s he saying?”
“He’s never seen a hospital like this.”
“What did they look like in his time?” she asked.
“Dark. Rancid stench. The candles had exposed flames rather than being held behind glass in the ceiling.”
“Whoa.” I tugged my ear buds from my pocket and put one in my ear. “He’s from before hospitals had electric lights.”
“I hate to break it to you, buddy.” Ember knocked on the door and peered through the little square window. “If your skull was stolen before Salem had electricity, it might not exist anymore. We’re looking at your vanquishing happening at least one hundred fifty years ago. Maybe longer.”
“It must exist. Discord was freed.”
“So were you, kinda,” I said. “You’re trapped in me now, but you’re not in prison. Maybe another Ink Master made the same mistake as me.”
“Let’s hope not. Otherwise, your life will end soon.”
I flinched at his words. “Thanks for the reminder.”
“What did he say?” Ember asked.
Chief Higgins opened the door, and thankfully, I didn’t have to answer. My sister had enough on her plate right now without worrying about my impending doom.
“His story hasn’t changed since yesterday,” Higgins said as he stepped into the hall. “He’s sedated, so I don’t know how much help he’s going to be.”
“Any details he can provide will help us get to the bottom of it.” Ember caught the door before it could close and stepped inside. I followed without making eye contact. I was still miffed at the chief for blaming us.
Jason Monroe lay in the bed by the window. The curtains were open, and he squinted against the sunlight. Ember walked around the bed and pulled them halfway closed.
“Better?” she asked.
He nodded and stared blankly ahead.
“I’m Ember, and this is my sister, Ash. We’d like you to tell us about what happened yesterday. Can you do that?”
“I already told Higgins and three of his officers. I’m not talking to any more police.” He slurred his words, an effect of the drugs they pumped into him.
I stood at the foot of the bed and rested my fingers on the plastic. Jason’s hair was a mess, his eyes rimmed with red. Otherwise, he looked completely unscathed. “We aren’t police.”
“What then? Reporters?” He crossed his arms. “I’m not crazy.”
“We know,” Ember said.
“How did you escape the monster?” I asked, and his gaze flicked to mine. “You said it pulled your friends through an invisible hole. How did you get away?”
“I shouldn’t have.” He clasped his hands in his lap and lowered his eyes.
“But you did.” Ember touched her fingertips to his shoulder. “And we need to know how.”
He laughed dryly. “I wasn’t inside the circle.”
“And the other kids were?” Why on earth would they be inside a summoning circle?
“Amanda said it would protect us. That we should stay inside it while we held the séance, and no spirits could harm us. She, Andrew, and Caitlyn did what she told them. I was showing off, trying to impress Caitlyn by being the tough guy. But the circle didn’t protect them. It trapped them.” He choked on a sob.
My heart ached for the poor guy. This Amanda chick either didn’t know what she was doing, or she meant to sacrifice her friends. Or both. “I know it’s hard to relive this, but tell us about Amanda. Is she the one who brought the book? Did she claim to be a witch?”
He toyed with the edge of the blanket and shook his head. “The book was Caitlyn’s. She collects old stuff, found it at a thrift store forever ago. She’s used it before and nothing happened, so I don’t know how…” A tear slid down his cheek. He didn’t bother to wipe it away.
“And Amanda?” Ember asked.
“Andrew met her last week. We were hanging out in Caitlyn’s basement, drinking, when Amanda told us she was descended from witches. She’d turned eighteen and found out the names of her birth parents. She traced her ancestry to Salem, so she came here to find her roots.”
A witch who grew up human. That explained why she might not know the difference between a summoning ring and a protection circle. “Why that particular spot in the woods? Why not do it in the basement?”
He shrugged. “Amanda said witches worked in nature. The rest of us went along with it.”
