shut.
“They’re too damn awkward in the bush. I’m better off without them.”
“If you fall over, none of us are stopping to pick you up,” Ashworth grumbled.
“I’m not going to fall over. I wouldn’t give you the pleasure of seeing me do that, old man.”
“One more ‘old man’ comment, and I really will clip you over the ear.”
“As will I,” Eli said, amusement evident in his voice. “Especially given I’m the oldest here.”
“Yeah, but you don’t look it. Ashworth is all weather-beaten and wrinkly.”
Their banter continued. I let it roll over me and drove on, pushing the SUV to its limits in an effort to get to the area that held the tree cave as fast as possible.
When we could take the SUV no further, we continued on foot. Monty managed to both keep up and not fall over, and we made good time through the trees. But we were not alone in the forest. My watcher was out there, in the distance, tracking our progress.
Vita.
It had to be. It certainly couldn’t be the tracer—not when the presence was ahead rather than behind. It made me hope that if we had caught one of the Empusae, it wasn’t the elder one. Belle wasn’t here, and the last thing we needed or wanted was to piss off our magic-capable White Lady by depriving her of the kill she’d waited centuries for.
We reached the clearing. Shadows wrapped the semicircular mound of rocks and dirt that supported the tree cave, and there was no immediate sense that anything or anyone lay within it.
Nothing except the smell.
It was ten times stronger now than it had been the first time we’d been here, and it was so damn putrid I started to gag.
“Fuck,” Eli whispered, a hand over his nose. “Why did no one warn me these things smell like—”
“Meat left too long in the sun and cheap, cheap perfume.” Monty hobbled past Eli. “Shame your partner didn’t think to bring nose plugs, like some of the smarter portions of this outfit did.”
Eli shook his head at Monty’s back and stopped several yards inside the clearing. “I take it the smell is confirmation that we have indeed snared one of the Empusae rather than some other kind of demon?”
“Not entirely, as the spell we set was a general demon snare rather than Empusae specific,” Ashworth said. “But there’s few who have this particular scent.”
“And isn’t that a good thing.”
I stopped beside them both. The glittering threads of wild magic that powered my spell moved in a lazy circle around the tree cave. Despite the fact I’d only set the spell to raise the alarm once, the underlying magic remained strong. It was yet another example of the wild magic changing the intent of my spell.
Monty stopped close to the edge of my spell and bent to inspect the cave. “I can’t see any movement—are you sure we’ve actually caught—”
Something flew out at him; something that was all flesh and talons and howling rage.
He jumped back instinctively, but lost his balance and would have fallen had Ashworth not lunged forward to grab him.
His naked attacker hit the invisible boundary of the snare and tumbled back into the darkness of the cave.
“I think that rather succinctly answers your question,” Eli said, his tone dry.
“Yes.” Monty nodded his thanks to Ashworth. “They’re rather fearsome-looking things, aren’t they?”
“That they are.” Ashworth swung his pack around. “Let’s create a double protection circle around the cave. We can then force her out and kill her.”
I handed Monty his pack. “How are you going to do that? A stake isn’t practical, because if you get within arm’s reach of that bitch, she’ll tear you apart.”
“The youngster here can freeze her. I’ll handle the staking and decapitation part.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Why both?”
“When it comes to demons, I always work on the theory that more is better.”
“What are you going to do if it’s the elder we’ve caught? Our White Lady isn’t going to be pleased if you steal her vengeance.”
“It’s not the elder,” Monty said. “It doesn’t feel that strong.”
“Agreed,” Ashworth said. “Which means if the other one does attack, you two are going to have to capture her rather than kill.”
“You do know how to spin a demon snare, don’t you?” Eli asked.
I nodded, and didn’t admit just how recently I’d learned or that my knowledge came from watching Monty rather than formal training. I didn’t think either he or Ashworth would appreciate that sort of information right now.
Ashworth began placing his