possessed people had stolen it.
Rachmort strode forward, reaching into his pocket, going for God knew what. My hand itched to draw a switch star.
He withdrew a piece of paper, along with a pair of gold reading glasses that he perched on the end of his nose. I let out a breath I didn’t even know I was holding.
“Welcome family and friends,” his voice boomed over the crowd. “We are here today…”
Maybe I could call for the necklace. I closed my eyes and pictured the teardrop emerald. I imagined the weight of it, the size, like a large grape. It radiated heat when it was about to act. It vibrated with energy and power. Dimitri’s palm warmed against mine as I squeezed tight and let his strength merge with mine. I felt our connection like a physical entity. Dimitri and I were one. The stone was linked to both of us. It had been a gift from him, freely accepted, and meant to be mine.
Mine. It hummed, responding to me like nothing else I’d ever owned. It called to me, wanted me.
I could almost, almost feel it. And then, suddenly, I knew where it was.
It was behind me, in the crowd. I turned as Rachmort began waxing poetic about love.
Grandma sat in the front row, her hands folded over her loose orange tunic dress. She didn’t fidget or even blink. Next to her, my mom and dad remained equally distant and detached. It hurt to see the people I loved stare at me so coldly.
Something had grabbed hold of them. The longer they sat in the garden, so close to the center marker, the worse it would get.
I tunneled my thoughts, tried to bury my anxiety, quiet the ticking clock as I forced all of my thoughts, hope and energy toward the stone.
Grandma hissed as a lump formed on her shoulder. My first thought was that something was attacking her, hurting her. I rushed for her as she fought. Groaning and straining, fighting the emerald as it emerged from a hidden seam in her sleeve.
“You took it?” I balked.
The second’s hesitation cost me.
She clutched the emerald, used her other hand to grab a live spell from her bra. Dimitri reached her before I did. She hurled the twisting silver spell at me. Dimitri blocked it, and it slammed into his shoulder. Screams erupted from the crowd as black smoke shot up. Dimitri gasped. Horrified, I saw the plume bury him in ash and vapor.
“Dimitri!” I reached him too late. His limbs twitched and stiffened, and he froze solid where he was. She got him with a paralyzer. Damn it.
I ran for Grandma, ready to tackle her if I had to. I couldn’t shoot her.
Frieda tossed a spell jar that broke behind me as Grandma took off toward the center-most dark mark. Behind me, I heard my mom scream.
“Go!” Rachmort hollered.
Right. So he could attack her? I searched the crowd. Flappy snarled and beat his wings. Pirate was attacking the ring pillow on his back and mom glared at me with murder in her eyes. Cripes. I didn’t want to have to hurt her, or anybody I loved.
Gertie was pushing seventy-seven, but the possessed could move fast. Not to mention the fact that she’d had a head start, and I was in heels. Not like I could take them off around here. I watched her disappear behind an overgrown hedge and ran headlong for that spot.
It opened up onto an arched trellis, laden with vines. Dammit. I kept my hand on my switch stars and ran, my wedding gown catching against my legs, my mind racing to think of a way to take her down. I had crystals. Every stinking one of them was for healing only. I had the ghost, who had disappeared as soon as trouble started and was chained down herself. There was the creature that lived in the back of my utility belt, but I didn’t know what he could do, and I hadn’t even seen him in a month.
The path curved once, twice. My rib cramped. How hard could it be to catch up to an old lady? One with super-human demon strength.
Cripes.
I saw the center clearing straight ahead. Grandma stood waiting for me, smiling. She held a silver paralyzing spell. It wiggled and curled around her thumb.
I nearly tripped over my heels trying to slow down. She had me alone, in the center of the demon’s power zone. She wasn’t going to kill me. Not by a long shot. It was clear she wanted me for something far worse.
My heart hammered against my chest, and my breath came in short pants. She merely waited. I couldn’t screw this up. Everyone was depending on me—Grandma most of all.
Even if she was about to kick my ass.
Birds screeched. A winged beast the size of a Clydesdale flew in from the west. It was a griffin, with the head of an eagle and the body of a lion. I desperately tried to see if its eyes were red, but it was impossible from this angle. It threw its head back and roared. The griffin’s tail swishing against the blue sky, it reached for us, claws outstretched, like a hungry bird of prey.
Grandma threw herself to the ground, and I did, too, not sure who was attacking until I saw gold tips at the end of the wings. Dimitri! Grandma drew the same conclusion, rolling on to her back and hurling a red spell at his head. A death spell.
It exploded against his chest.
Ash and fire rained down. Grandma and I scrambled out of the way as Dimitri landed hard, rolling onto his side. His massive lion’s body shuddered, his eagle’s beak gaped. Death spells killed by strangulation.
My throat itched, my breath came short as I breathed the putrid air. Or maybe because I was so closely tied to his life force. I rushed to him and tried to turn him over, but he was too heavy.
He lowered his head, gasping as his muscles flexed. I felt the pain of it as his body forced a jarring shift. His wings shook and crumbled. The coarse lion’s fur retreated, his griffin form collapsed in on itself until I clutched a gasping, choking, naked human being. My beautiful husband.
Grandma stood above us, smirking.
“Reverse it!” I demanded. It came out as more of a desperate plea. This wasn’t a jar spell. I couldn’t control it with a counter-brew. If I even had one. No, this was a personal, live spell that would do her bidding and kill the man I loved.
She towered above me, her eyes glowing hot. “You will do as I say now,” she demanded, in a hollow voice. “It will be quicker if you are moving and acting freely.” She raised her hands and I watched as the sky above us darkened. The ground began to tremble.
Sweet Jesus. “Grandma, push through this,” I implored. I needed her back. Desperately. If there was some trace of her inside this shell, I needed to see it. I needed to work with it. I had to find some way to save her, and Dimitri, and myself.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The Earth gave a mighty jolt as Dimitri grasped for breath in my arms.
The demon was coming.
Grandma loomed above me, eyes burning, jaw clenched as she ripped away my slayer essence, channeling my power straight to hell. Holy mother. The last time a demon had tried to do this to me, I’d killed him by ripping his heart out. Could I really do the same to my own Grandmother?
Yes. If it was the only way, I would.
She wore my emerald around her neck, suspended by its delicate bronze chain. It pulsed as the demon drained it as well.
