abandoned my bedroom and the scantily clad demon in my bed.
Brushing my teeth in the bathroom a few minutes later, I tried to remember more about that strange dream. A desert landscape … a rudimentary community of stone houses … that red-skinned hand, small and feminine, drawing the door-like curtain open.
The more I tried to analyze the details, the more they jumbled together until I wasn’t sure what I’d dreamed. Putting it out of my mind, I focused on my tasks for the day.
An hour and a half later, Amalia trudged out of her room, her hair tied into a messy ponytail. When she saw me in front of the coffee table, she broke off her yawn.
“Do I want to know what you’re doing?” she asked dryly.
I shrugged, playing it cool even though I was proud of my efforts. Spread across the table was a web of flashcards and colorful sticky notes.
“Okay, so.” I pointed to the card in the center. “Claude. He’s in the middle of everything, so that’s where I put him. Here, the vampires. Here, Varvara and the golems. Over here, the albino sorcerer. I added Ezra too, since we don’t know if he’s connected to Claude.”
Amalia wandered closer. “You’ve got my family on there, I see. And yours. And the grimoire.”
I nodded. “Without knowing Claude’s goal, it’s difficult to guess what the connection is between all these people. The only clear link is Demonica, even if it’s just demon blood.”
She sat cross-legged beside me, studying my work. “We know Claude wants all twelve demon Houses. He told you he was the first summoner since the Athanas family to have all twelve names, but he doesn’t know how to summon the Vh’alyir House.”
“If that’s all he wants, why steal those grimoire pages? They were spells, not names.” I chewed on the back of my pen. “That makes two things he wants that we don’t understand—the spells in the grimoire, and an alliance with Varvara.”
“If we figure out one, we could probably figure out the other, but we just don’t have enough information.” She pointed at a flashcard. “I think the creepy sorcerer is our best lead. He knows NazhivÄ“r, and he was taking one of the golems. I’d bet he knows the deal Claude made with Varvara.”
“I’m going to find Tori’s case about him.”
“You do that.” She pushed to her feet again. “I have some errands to run, and we’re low on groceries. Want me to stop at the store?”
“Yes, please. Can you pick out something for Zora while you’re there? Flowers or a get-well card or something …”
Amalia’s expression softened. “How is she?”
“I called the healer this morning. No change.”
After Amalia left, I checked on Zylas—catnapping in the middle of my bed with Socks sprawled across his legs—then set up with my laptop. I started searching for demon mage cases, since they were what Tori had asked Naim Ashraf about, but when that turned up nothing, I tried a bunch of keyword combinations. Morning crept into afternoon as I clicked through case after Demonica case.
As the afternoon waned, I set aside my laptop with a frustrated sigh. My head ached from too much time staring at a screen. I needed to do something else.
When I pulled the grimoire’s metal case from under my bed, Zylas woke up enough to give me a sleepy stare, but he didn’t shift from his lazy sprawl. I promised him something to eat later, then carried the grimoire out to the breakfast bar.
Opening the ancient book to Myrrine’s first entry, I studied the short passage, then flipped ahead. I found her name only six pages later, squashed in the bottom corner of a page detailing incantations for one of Anthea’s experimental arrays. This entry was longer and took a while to translate. By the time I set my pencil down, my headache had increased significantly.
My eyes linger, sister, on a marvel unlike any other.
As I write these words, a son of Vh’alyir watches me. He is not beastly as I expected, and I confess I am surprised to find his form and visage pleasing to look upon.
Do you laugh at my foolishness? At times, I question my own wisdom, that I would trust this creature. You certainly doubt, Melitta, though his promises are sound and thus far, he has held our safety above all else.
I have not told you my promise to him. You are too young yet to understand, but an elder sister must walk harsh roads to protect her