Emily’s desire was for the building to crumble to absolute ashes. She wanted the building so decimated it could never be used again. Never to be involved in furthering evil schemes.
Dad and Michael were soon done arming themselves with weapons. Michael had finally settled for more than a sidearm. He wore full combat fatigues, although not with all the weight of several weapons.
He also wore a Kevlar vest and a helmet with a headlamp attached to it.
Dad must have spotted Emily’s surprised look because he said, “He needs to be protected if we’re going to be blasting through rocks.” Dad patted the Kevlar vest protecting Michael’s torso. “You can’t be too careful.”
Michael twitched his lips.
At the one-hour mark, Aunt Anastacia came in. She was dressed in her red robes and held two large jars in both her hands. “Are we ready?”
“What are those?” Emily inquired.
“Woah!” Michael squealed, coming close to Emily. “I read about those. Are they . . . ?”
Aunt Anastacia nodded grimly. “I’m afraid so. Don’t touch them unless you want them unleashed here.”
The jars were red and covered with lids. They had metallic handles, which was how Aunt Anastacia was able to hold them. They looked fragile. As though the moment they hit the ground, they were going to shatter and unleash their contents. Intricate designs covered the bodies of the jars.
“So what are they?” asked Emily, unable to contain her curiosity.
“They’re elemental demons,” Aunt Anastacia replied nonchalantly. “They’re here to even the odds against the Alfred kids, and further ensure this mission’s success.”
Emily liked the sound of that. “How would that work?”
“Simple.” Her aunt held one up. “As soon as your father and Michael are ready to breach, I’ll unleash them and give them one instruction. To destroy all living Alfreds.
“Of course, I doubt they’ll be able to actually kill a warlock, especially those as trained as the Alfreds, but they can give the Alfreds a run for their money. In other words, they should keep the Alfred kids occupied long enough for your father and Michael to get away with the girls.”
“Plus, it will keep me free to burn down the house to its foundation!” Emily added triumphantly.
They all nodded their agreement.
“If the Alfreds don’t have a place to stay in town, maybe they’ll give up and leave,” said Aunt Anastacia hopefully. “That’s good.” She looked around. “Are we ready?”
They all said yes.
As they left the utility area for the anteroom, Michael grabbed the key to Aunt Anastacia’s Beetle, while Aunt Anastacia grabbed something else hanging on the key holder. What she grabbed looked black and sleek. In fact, it was a key fob for a fancy newer vehicle.
Emily frowned. Whatever car the key fob belonged to was going to be a far cry from the Beetle that Michael and Dad were going to drive.
Aunt Anastacia led them through the tunnel into the annular room adjacent to the anteroom. Once they were all there, Aunt Anastacia muttered a few phrases. Emily flinched, expecting some kind of intense blast. But it didn’t happen. There was only an explosion of light and a sensation of weightlessness.
It lasted for a few seconds. When it cleared, they were standing in the living room of the roofless house.
There, Dad handed a walkie-talkie to Aunt Anastacia. They synchronized the equipment so they could communicate with each other.
“I’ll let you know the moment we get into position,” Dad told Aunt Anastacia as they made it out of the building.
Emily detached herself from the group for a moment and walked a bit down the road. The light was bright and stunning. The air was fresh. It looked like a wonderful day. The industrial estate was so immense and dreadfully silent that she felt like her ears were about to implode.
She could also feel the blanket of the spell over the town. It was very thick. And very powerful. It was a wonder they weren’t under its influence. Of course, she knew why. The spell only worked on the completely unsuspecting.
She wasn’t completely unsuspecting. And she hadn’t been when the spell was first cast. The same went for Dad, Michael, Rina, Joanna, and, of course, Aunt Anastacia as well.
Emily knew that finding the nexus and destroying it was the logical play. The ideal thing to do next. But she couldn’t leave her friends. Even though Rina and Joanna had little to contribute to their fight against the Alfreds, still she owed it to them to rescue them.
And while it might be increasingly more difficult to find the nexus and destroy it with the Alfred seniors awake and kicking, it didn’t mean it would be impossible. Plus, she still had the Adoption. She could still transform into a supernatural killing machine. Whatever the case, she needed her friends safe. If not for anything aside from the moral support they supplied.
Aunt Anastacia came up beside her at about the exact same time Emily heard the Beetle roar to life. They stood aside and watched the car drive by. Michael and Dad waved their goodbyes before they shot down the street and disappeared along the left bend.
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Aunt Anastacia chided.
Emily bit her lip. “I hope I know what I’m doing, too.”
This drew a glare from Aunt Anastacia, but Emily didn’t turn to meet it. “We can kill two birds with one stone, can’t we?”
“How?”
“When we leave the Alfreds, in theory, the girls will be free, and the castle will be a smouldering ash pile on the ground.”
“True.”
“Why can’t we go after the nexus then?” Emily reasoned. “From what you described, it’s not going to be guarded or anything if the Alfreds are squirming out of their burning house.”
“That might be too much.”
“Look, we don’t need the whole team for this,” Emily pressed. “We just need the locator spell done, and you and I will track down the nexus and destroy it.”
“And what if it’s guarded?”
“With what? Mercenaries or spells?”
“Anything supernatural.”
“Then we pull
