Demon's Vengeance The Complete - Jocelynn Drake Page 0,28

to reproducing that same energy without blowing the roof off this place is fire.” Striking the match, I let it burn for a second so that the flame was as large as I could get it and then dropped it into the center of the circle. Like the drops of water, the burning match stopped falling a couple feet from the ground, flickering within the thickening mist.

The magic energy within the basement thickened, and a strange breeze stirred the hairs on the back of my neck. This spell tapped into something deeper, more basic than what most warlocks and witches ever bother with. It was as close to the old magic as any of us ever got. Old magic, the stuff of the big bang and the start of life, was wild and untamed. It didn’t like to be controlled, and the inhabitants of the Ivory Towers were all about control.

I took one last glance up at the back wall and the protective spell that had nearly attacked Serah just minutes ago. It wasn’t completely dormant but appeared content to watch us. I was really gonna have to find a new security system for down here.

Plucking the wadded-up paper towel out of Serah’s open hand, I whispered the last words of the spell and dropped it into the center of the circle. The air shifted and stirred within the circle as if I had created a mini tornado. The dirt, water, and fire mixed together, spinning around so that the bloody towel was at the center. What I hadn’t told Serah was that the blood contained the tiniest bit of the killer’s soul and I had just added it to the pseudo-person I had created. Unfortunately, I’d never had a reason to use this spell and I wasn’t quite sure what the blood was going to carry into my creation.

After a couple of seconds, the swirling mist started to clear and we could see the beginning of some form. The creature had two legs and two arms, which didn’t help to narrow down the species much. Color flushed its pale skin, revealing a human-like complexion, which narrowed the field a little further. The killer was proving to be slighter in frame than I had been expecting, considering it had overpowered Kyle, beaten him to a bloody pulp, and stabbed him in the chest with his tattooing gun.

“Holy shit,” Serah whispered.

Following her gaze, my own mouth dropped open. “Fuck.” Whoever this was had a really nice set of breasts. I was not expecting a woman to be Kyle’s killer. After seeing such brutality, I had been sure that it was a man who’d killed him.

The creature within the circle stirred, lifting its featureless face. Glowing red eyes focused on me and my heart jerked in my chest. The creature was conscious in some way, which shouldn’t have been possible since it was little more than a shadow of the original person. But it was aware of me. This was not good, particularly since my protection spell had noticed it as well. Was the protection spell going to think that a third person was now in the basement? Really not fucking good. “Serah, I want you to go calmly and quickly up the stairs now.”

“Why?”

“Please, do it now.”

Too late.

Something had finally snapped within the creature I’d summoned. Its face contorted, as though it was screaming, but no sound came out. It launched itself at me and slammed into the invisible barrier that rose up from the circle. Lurching back, it pounded its fists and clawed at the binding spell, fighting to get at me. At the same time, the defensive spell broke free, ready to shred the creature that was trying to attack me. Unfortunately, the spell was prepared to go through me and Serah to get at my would-be attacker.

Diving into Serah, I tackled the small woman into the dirt, covering her as best as I could. Pain slashed across my back near my shoulders like someone had taken a hot blade to my flesh. I swallowed back a scream, tightening my hold on the woman beneath me. A black mass circled the bound creature I had summoned. They slashed again and again at each other, but neither made contact because neither was technically there. Only Serah and I were at risk of being killed.

As soon as I could draw in a breath through the pain, I shouted the counter-spell to lock up the protective force in the symbol again. The