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voice, "and I answer, no doubt for some mundane task."

"We're going after a demon bear," I said, moving briskly toward the trail and trying my best to ignore the cold. My jacket wasn't suited for this weather at all, but it was the best I had.

"A more challenging task than most," he observed.

I ignored his condescension as I stopped before the sign indicating the various routes and levels of difficulty for these climbs and hikes. Volusian was a cursed spirit I'd subdued and enslaved. His power made him a useful asset - and a risky one. He hated me and spent a good deal of his time planning how to kill me, should I ever lose the control needed to bind him.

I closed my eyes, attempting to become one with the air rather than its victim. The world was silent here, save for the rustling of wind in the pines and chatter of birds and small animals. I spread my senses out, seeking something out of place. My abilities weren't perfect, but I could often sense a presence not from our world.

"There." I opened my eyes abruptly and pointed near a trail marked "moderately difficult." "Do you feel anything?"

Volusian studied the area, using his senses as well. "Yes. But more there." He pointed not at the trail itself but more toward its left, off into the woods. I grimaced but knew his senses were slightly better than mine.

"Off-roading. Lovely."

We set out in that direction. Volusian shifted to a more ghostly form that floated along with me, rather than treading through the underbrush like I had to. It wasn't anything I couldn't handle, but it made for slow going. Yet, as I traveled farther and farther, that magical feel increased.

"It will sense you too, mistress," said Volusian, in a rare show of unsolicited commentary.

I didn't doubt it. "Will it come after me? Or will it run?"

"Run? No. Hide? Perhaps." There was a calculated pause. "It won't try to force itself sexually on you, however. The blood of the shining ones is too alluring. It will simply try to eat you."

"How reassuring," I muttered. "I'll do the banishing. You distract it."

Soon, I needed no special senses to know we'd reached our goal. The forest had grown deadly silent. No more birds or other signs of life. A strong sense of ... wrongness filled the air. The worlds were stacked: human, Otherworld, Underworld. With our proximity, Otherworldly creatures could sometimes move throughout this world without me feeling anything. Something from the Underworld was too foreign. It stuck out.

"We're close," I murmured. "We're practically - oomphf!"

A massive arm swung out from a cluster of trees and hit me in the stomach, knocking me painfully backward. There was nothing I could do to prevent my fall onto the forest floor of sharp sticks and rocks, but I did manage to grab hold of my wand as I went down.

A giant form loomed in front of me, almost eight feet tall. Long-limbed, with clawed feet and hands, its muscled body could easily be mistaken for that of a Bigfoot. Its ears - while definitely bearlike - were flattened against its head, adding to the humanoid appearance. It roared, showing a mouthful of sharp teeth. Black eyes, filled with nothing but mindless rage, peered down at me.

Volusian, compelled by my orders, threw himself against the bear. The power radiating around Volusian's body had the substantiality of a ton of bricks. The creature staggered backward, eyes shifting angrily to my minion. The fact that Volusian hadn't knocked it to the ground was concerning. They were either well matched, or the demon was even more powerful than Volusian. The latter would be problematic, seeing as I wasn't strong enough to banish Volusian.

Well, that is, I wasn't strong enough to banish him and fight him. If someone else subdued him, I could have sent Volusian on. If this demon bear had the means to defeat Volusian, then I'd be cake. Hopefully, the demon bear couldn't obliterate Volusian while distracted by something else - me. I scrambled to my feet, holding my wand out as I prepared to open a door to the Underworld. Volusian and the demon battled it out, neither capable of killing each other.

I gathered my will, channeling the power of my soul to spread past this world and the Otherworld, on to the Underworld. On my arm, a tattoo of a black and white butterfly sacred to Persephone began to burn as I touched her domain. The