The Good, The Bad, And The Undead

fingers slipped into my hand, giving me a quick squeeze before dropping it. The clock ticked from the living room, and the sound of the traffic past the window was hushed. Nothing happened.

'Is something supposed to happen?' I asked, starting to feel silly, standing in Nick's closet.

'It might take a while. Like I said, it's a trial membership, not the real thing.'

I took three slow breaths, listening. 'How long?'

'Since I've been putting myself in the circle instead of him? Five, ten minutes.'

Nick's mood was easing, and I could feel the heat from our shoulders almost touching. An ambulance sounded faint in the distance, disappearing.

I eyed the burning candle. 'What if it doesn't show?' I asked. 'How long do we have to wait before we can get out of the closet?'

Nick gave me a noncommittal, stranger-in-the-elevator smile. 'Uh, I wouldn't step out of the circle until sunup. Until he appears and we can banish him properly back to the ever-after, he can show up anytime between now and then.'

'You mean if it doesn't show, we're stuck in this closet until morning?'

He nodded, his eyes jerking away as the smell of burnt amber came to me. 'Oh, good. He's here,' Nick whispered, standing straighter.

Oh, good. He's here, I repeated sarcastically in my head. God help me. My life was so screwed up.

The pile of ash at the end of the hallway was hazed with a smear of ever-after. It grew with the speed of flowing water, up and out to take a rough, animal shape. I forced myself to breathe as eyes appeared, red and orange and slit sideways like a goat's. My stomach clenched as a savage muzzle formed, saliva dripping to the rug even before it finished coalescing into the pony-size dog I remembered from the basement vault of the university library: Nick's personal fear of dogs brought to life.

Harsh panting rasped, the sound pulling an instinctive fear from the depths of my soul that I hadn't even known I had. Paws tipped with nails and powerful hindquarters appeared as it shook itself, the last of the mist forming a thick mane of yellow hair. Beside me, Nick shuddered. 'You okay?' I asked, and he nodded, his face pale.

'Nicholas Gregory Sparagmos,' the dog drawled, sitting on its haunches and giving us a savage doggy smile. 'Already, little wizard? I was just here.'

Gregory? I thought as Nick shot an unrepentant grimace at me. Nick's middle name was Gregory? And what had Nick gotten in return for telling it that?

'Or did you call me to impress Rachel Mariana Morgan?' it finished, a long red tongue lolling out as it turned its doggy smile to me.

'I've a few questions,' Nick said, his voice bolder than his body language.

Nick's breath caught as the dog rose and padded into the hallway, its shoulders almost brushing the walls. I stared, horrified, as it licked the floor beside the circle, testing it. The film of ever-after reality hissed as it sent its tongue over the unseen barrier. Smoke smelling like burnt amber rose, and I watched as if through a pane of glass as Algaliarept's tongue began to char and burn. Nick stiffened, and I thought I heard a whispered oath or prayer. Making an annoyed growl, the demon's outline went hazy.

My heart hammered as the dog lengthened and rose into its usual vision of a British gentleman. 'Rachel Mariana Morgan,' it said, hitting every accent with an elegant precession. 'I must congratulate you, love, on finding that corpse. It was the sharpest bit of ley line magic I've seen in twelve years.' It leaned close, and I smelled lavender. 'You made quite a stir, you know,' it whispered. 'I was invited to all the parties. My witch's spell went to the city's square to chime the bells. Everyone got a taste, though not as much as I did.' Eyes closing, the demon shuddered, its outlines wavering as its concentration lapsed.

I swallowed hard. 'I'm not your witch,' I said.

Nick's fingers on my elbow tightened. 'Stay in that form,' Nick said, his voice firm. 'And stop bothering Rachel. I have questions, and I want to know the cost before I ask them.'

'Your mistrust will kill you if your cheek doesn't.' Algaliarept spun in a quick motion of furling coattails to return to the living room. From where I stood, I could see it open the glass-door cabinet to Nick's books. Its white- gloved fingers stretched and reached, pulling one out. 'Oh, I wondered where this one had gotten to,' it said, its back to us. 'How splendid that you have it. We will read from this next time.'

Nick glanced at me. 'That's what we do, usually,' he whispered. 'He deciphers the Latin for me, letting all sorts of things slip.'

'And you trust him?' I frowned, nervous. 'Ask it.'

Algaliarept had replaced the tome and taken out another, its mood lightening as it cooed and fussed as if having found an old friend.

'Algaliarept,' Nick said, mouthing the word slowly, and the demon turned, the new book in its hand. 'I'd like to know if you were the demon that attacked Trent Kalamack last spring.'

It didn't look up from the open book cradled in his hands. I felt queasy as I realized it had lengthened its fingers to better support it. 'That comes under our arrangement,' it said, its voice preoccupied. 'Seeing as Rachel Mariana Morgan has already guessed the answer.' It looked up, its eyes over the smoked glasses orange and red. 'Oh, yes, I tasted Trenton Aloysius Kalamack that night as well as you. I ought to have killed him directly, but the novelty of him was so fine, I tarried until he managed to circle me.'

'Is that why I survived?' I asked. 'You made a mistake?'

'Is that a question coming from you?'

I licked my lips. 'No.'

Algaliarept closed the book. 'Your blood is common, Rachel Mariana Morgan. Tasty with subtle flavors I don't understand, but common. I didn't play with you; I tried to kill you. Had I known you could ring the tower bells, I might have handled things differently.' A smile came over it, and I felt its gaze spill over me like oil. 'Maybe not. I should have known you would be as your father. He rang the bells, too. Once. Before he died. Do hope it's not a premonition for you.'

My stomach clenched, and Nick grabbed my arm before I could touch his circle. 'You said you didn't know him,' I said, anger making my voice harsh.

It simpered at me. 'Another question?'

Heart pounding, I shook my head, hoping it would tell me more.

It put a finger to its nose. 'Then Nicholas Gregory Sparagmos better ask another question before I'm called away by someone who is willing to pay for my services.'

'You're nothing but a squealing informant, you know that?' I said, shaking.

Algaliarept's gaze resting on my neck pulled a memory of me on the basement floor with my life spilling from me. 'Only on my bad days.'

Nick straightened. 'I want to know who summoned you to kill Rachel, and if he or she is now summoning you to kill ley line witches.'

Moving almost out of my line of sight, Algaliarept murmured, 'That is a very expensive set of questions, the two together far more than our agreement.' It dropped its attention back to the book in its hands and turned a page.

Worry crashed over me as Nick took a breath. 'No,' I said. 'It isn't worth it.'

'What do you want for the answers?' Nick asked, ignoring me.

'Your soul?' it said lightly.

Nick shook his head. 'Come up with something reasonable, or I'll send you back right now, and you won't be able to talk to Rachel anymore.'

It beamed. 'You're getting cocky, little wizard. You're halfway mine.' It closed the book in its hand with a sharp snap. 'Give me leave to take my book back across the line, and I'll tell you who sent me to kill Rachel Mariana Morgan. If they are the same person who is summoning me to kill Trenton Aloysius Kalamack's witches? That stays with me. Your soul isn't enough for that. Rachel Mariana Morgan's, perhaps. Pity when a young man's tastes are too expensive for his means, isn't it?'

I frowned, even as I realized it had admitted it was killing the witches. It must have been luck that kept Trent and me alive when every other witch had died under it. No, not luck. It had been Quen and Nick. 'And why do you even want that book?' I asked it.