Demon's Vengeance The Complete - Jocelynn Drake Page 0,108
wound the goblins had given me. The skin was red and puckered around the dark thread. It looked so barbaric and medieval compared to the neat and tidy touch that magic was capable of. Lightly holding the wand in one hand, I concentrated on the healing spell that Gideon had shown me. The power flowed easily through me and up the wand to hit my arm with laser-like precision. The wound closed and healed before my eyes while the stitches slipped from my flesh, leaving the thread coiled on the coffee table. In a matter of seconds, I had completed what would have taken weeks of natural healing. Magic had some positive purposes and I was going to show Trixie that.
Putting my wand down on the table, I picked up the piece of chalk and cleared a large open space in the middle of the scarred coffee table with my arm. I drew a large circle on the slightly uneven surface and then decorated the edge with a series of symbols, linking the circle to a specific location within Trixie’s apartment on the other side of town. With the circle grounded and locked against any potential intrusions, I put down my chalk and picked up my wand again.
Holding the hawthorn stick and my free hand up before me, I paused to draw in a slow, deep breath. My eyes slipped shut and I relaxed the muscles in my shoulders. The energy in the air seeped in through my flesh and flowed through my veins so that my soul was now bound to the energy of the world in a deeper way. In my mind, I created the image of a tall crystal vase filled with colorful flowers. I could see purple and yellow irises, pink carnations, and orange birds of paradise.
As I released the breath I had been holding, I pushed the energy out through the tip of the wand, directing it toward the circle, building the image in my head up from the bottom. The crystal and the water in the vase caught the light coming in through my blinds and bounced it about the room. The flowers formed in a colorful profusion, overflowing from the vase.
When my creation was complete, I spoke a word, activating the connection I had drawn with the circle. There was a flash of light and the vase of flowers was gone. If I had done it right, the vase was now resting in the center of her dining-room table. She’d see it when she walked to the kitchen to brew her first pot of coffee for the day. If I had done it wrong, it was very likely that I had created a large mess in her apartment.
After sending the flowers, I swiped my hand over the top of the table, smearing the chalk so that the writing was no longer legible and the spell couldn’t be tapped by another. Feeling confident and a little more at ease, I finished getting ready and left for Asylum.
Something was wrong.
Stepping over the threshold at the Asylum parlor, an odd tingling crept over my body. Something felt wrong about the place. Locking the door behind me, I sent a series of seeking spells through the building to see if anyone was hiding or if any spells had been left on the place that I hadn’t put there. But nothing turned up. I used more aggressive spells, but still nothing turned up. I restarted the antiglamour spell and searched every inch, including the second floor apartment and the basement.
It was only when I stepped into the basement that I finally relaxed. And I realized why something felt wrong when I stepped into the lobby. The tattoo parlor was my home; the one place I was sure I belonged in this world, but it wasn’t helping me find my center any longer. The sickening part was that the cellar now gave the peace I unconsciously longed for.
The symbol spray-painted on the far wall rippled as the demon shifted, its powers stirring to life with my presence. I couldn’t sense its emotions or feel the contact with its thoughts like I could in the Towers. The spell that bound it at the parlor kept it more tightly locked down, but there was no question that it was watching me.
Pulling my phone out of my back pocket, I checked the time. It was barely after eleven. I had nearly an hour before the parlor was supposed to open and my