efforts.”
“Wrong place, wrong time?” Jeremiah asked. “Yeah, that sounds about right for Nathaniel.” As much as she didn’t want to agree with him, she had to. Nathaniel had a knack for getting himself into trouble. Unfortunately he wasn’t as skilled at getting himself out of it.
The summoning circle was complete, whole, except for a foot-long gap where the Master’s symbol stood. She tapped next to the opening with her foot. “Whoever wanted this demon called up is the one that broke the circle. He never planned on the other witches living. Or it’s possible he’s not even a practitioner, that he hired them to do the work. We need to get James over here to look at this.”
James, Thomas’s brother-in-law, was also an inkmage and the leader of the Gathering. The Gathering was the mage equivalent of the vampire Council, only much larger and more structured. The mages made the mafia look like amateurs. It was also what they called themselves as a whole. Mages were much more into the whole solidarity and unity thing than the vampires were. Community was very important to the mages, but Juliana had never been able to decide if she wanted to be a part of it or not. Hence, the reason she was still untrained despite James’s many offers to teach her.
“Look at this,” a voice said from the side of the room, drawing her attention. One of the agents—human from the looks of his signature—pointed at something on the far side of the room. A book with dark pages, a large tome of some sort, lay open on top of a box. Its pages fluttered in the breezeless room. Just the sight of it enraptured her, enthralled her. Too late, she noticed it had the same effect on the agent. He reached a gloved hand forward.
“Don’t touch—” The words were sucked from her throat along with the air from her lungs as one finger touched the page and power swamped the room in a wave. Colors blazed across her vision. Pain exploded behind her eyes. Wincing, she shut her gift down. Even without it, the room was lit in a putrid green light.
Arcs of power shot from the page and wrapped around the arm of the agent like lightning bolt snakes. A wind swept through the room howling as it went and bringing with it the smell of ozone and rain. It made it impossible to hear anything less than a scream. “Get everyone out,” she yelled at Jeremiah and moved toward the human.
“What are you doing?” Jeremiah shouted back, only to scream, “No!” as she threw herself at the other agent.
The power released its hold as contact was lost but the trap had already been sprung and the spell continued to rage around them. A crack of thunder boomed in the room making her ears ring. Cold rain began to fall from nowhere, the brutal wind turning each drop into a blade slicing into her skin. Jeremiah hurried over and she pushed the shell-shocked man into his arms. “Get him out of here.”
Jeremiah shook his head. “Not without you.”
Adrenaline and a giddy feeling of expectation pumped through her veins, helping her ignore the pain in her arm. This was the part of the job that she loved, that she was good at. She grinned at him. “I’ll be along in a moment, Dad. Go.” When he hesitated, she added, “That’s an order.”
The muscle in his jaw twitched, but he nodded once and did as instructed. Turning back to the book, Juliana squinted against the force of the wind and the rain. Another peal of thunder rolled through the room and an involuntary cringe had her hunching over in response. This was screwed up. And it was obliterating her evidence.
If she closed the book, there was a possibility the spell would terminate. Maybe. But closing the book without touching it, that would be the real trick. She studied it, deciding on her next move. Large bolts of lightning shot from the page to the ceiling with an electrical hiss. She was out of time. Hopefully no one was directly above this room.
If the summoning spell came from the book, then at least part of its magic was dark fae. Dark fae magic wouldn’t kill her. She hoped. “Screw it.” She dived for the book. Her hands wrapped around the edge of the covers as she tried to force it closed. It resisted with every ounce of its power. Shards of pain shot up her arm and fresh blood started to run from her wound.
Whips of lightning wrapped around her body and lifted her off the floor. Tongues of fire lapped her skin. Her heart sped and the soles of her feet tingled as she neared the ceiling. The floating didn’t worry her near as much as the landing.
Blood trickled down her arm and she twisted, trying to keep it from touching the book. Some spells were fed with blood and she didn’t want hers adding to the power if that was the case. Despite her struggles, the magic kept her bound to the tome in her hands. She watched helplessly as one red drop ran down her wrist and onto the page. Instead of fueling the spell as she’d feared, it had the opposite effect. The book slammed shut with a resounding bang.
She wrapped her arms around it to keep it closed. The force of the spell terminating tossed her backward through the air. Her head bounced off the wall. Stars flashed across her vision. Nausea welled.
Jeremiah’s face popped into view. “Juliana?”
“Don’t let anyone touch this book,” she heard herself say. Then everything went black.
Thomas hung up the phone convinced his conversation with his fellow Council member Catalina had been a success. The Council would place a call to the Agency and suggest Juliana would be better suited for less dangerous work. She would never have to know he was behind it. And the gods help him if she ever found out.
The phone on the table beside him buzzed and he frowned. Michael had been most displeased when Thomas had taken possession of it. He supposed it had been a petty thing to do, taking away the easiest way for Juliana to contact her lover, but Thomas found himself unable to work up any guilt over his actions.
He snatched it from the table. The screen showed a text from Sara Piper. His sister.
Thomas’s stomach tightened in aggravation and fear. There was no question in his mind that “J” was Juliana. And his sister was texting Michael about it instead of him. Even though she knew he was in town. He’d told her himself last night. His sister and he would have words later. But right now, he needed to check on his bride. He knew if she had a choice she would be anywhere other than the infirmary.
“Where’s the infirmary?” he asked, the words coming out sharper than he’d intended. All four of them looked at him, the three men narrowing their eyes.
“Can we help you?” one of them asked. He was one of two younger men who had to be twins.
“I believe I already made that clear. Where is the infirmary?”
“Why do you want to know?” the other twin asked.
He did not have to answer to these men. But perhaps if he told them why he was here, they’d take pity on him and just give him directions. “It is my understanding that Juliana Norris was injured. I am here to check on her.”
“You’ll wait here like the rest of us then.” This came from the bald man with red skin. Undoubtedly a fire elemental of some sort.
Thomas fisted his hands at his sides to keep from clawing out the man’s throat. Who were they to keep him from Juliana? “You will tell me where she is.”
The twins stood in unison, one of them moving toward him. “Listen, I don’t know who you are, and I don’t care. You’re no more important than the rest of us. Either sit down or leave.”
Fury clouded his vision. The muscles in Thomas’s legs tightened in preparation to launch him at the infidel’s throat. A hand pressed against his chest, pushed him into the wall.
