building, his back to us.
'Shit,' Lee swore. 'What the hell is he doing here already?'
I spun to Lee and the soft hiss of metallic chalk against pavement. It was a ley line witch's version of duct tape, and it would make a very secure circle. My heart pounded as a shimmer of black and purple rose between us. Blowing hard, Lee tucked his chalk away and smiled confidently at me.
Shivering violently, I looked over the sunset-red slumps of broken rock. I didn't have anything to make a circle with. I was a dead witch. I was on Al's side of the lines; my previous contract didn't mean anything.
Al turned at the sensation of Lee's circle going up. But it was to my eyes that his fixed on. 'Rachel Mariana Morgan,' he drawled, clearly pleased as a cascade of ley line energy washed over him and his attire shifted to what I thought was an English riding outfit, complete with whip and shiny, calf-high boots. 'What did you do to your hair?'
'Hi, Al,' I said, backing up. I had to get out of there. There's no place like home, I thought, feeling the hum of the line I was standing in and wondering whether it would help if I clicked my heels. Lee had flown over the rainbow, why, oh why, the hell couldn't I?
Satisfaction all but glowed from Lee. My gaze went from him to Al as the demon carefully picked his way down the slide of rubble to the floor of the large square.
The square, I thought, hope catching in my throat. Spinning, I tried to place myself, tripping as I pushed rocks with my foot, searching. If this was a mirror of Cincinnati, then this was Fountain Square. And if this was Fountain Square, then there was a humdinger of a circle all laid out between the street and the parking garage. But it was really, really big.
My breath came fast when my foot revealed a battered arc of purple inlay. It was the same. It was the same! Frantic, I realized Al was almost to the floor of the square. I quickly tapped the nearby line. It flowed into me with the mirror-bright taste of clouds and tinfoil. Tulpa, I thought, desperate to gather enough power to close a circle this size before Al realized what I was doing.
I stiffened as a torrent of line energy flooded me. Groaning, I dropped to one knee. His aristocratic face going slack, Al drew himself upright. He saw my intent in my eyes. 'No!' he cried, lunging forward as I reached to touch the circle and say my word of invocation.
A gasp slipped from me as, with the feeling of being poured out of myself, a shimmering wave of translucent gold swam up from the ground, bisecting rocks and slumped rubble, arching to a humming close high over my head. Staggering, I fell back, my mouth gaping open as I stared up at it. Holy crap, I had closed Fountain Square circle. I had closed a circle thirty feet across that had been designed for seven witches to set comfortably, not one. Though apparently one could do it if properly motivated.
Al skidded to a halt, arms swinging to avoid running into the circle. A faint bong of reverberation echoed in the dusky air, crawling over my skin like dust. My eyes widened and I stared. Bells. Big, deep, resonant bells. There really were bells, and my circle had rung them.
Adrenaline shook my knees, and they rang again. Al stood to look peeved a mere three feet from the edge, head cocked and thin lips pressed tight as he listened to the third peal die away. The power of the line running through me ebbed, settling into a soft hum. The silence of the night was frighteningly profound.
'Nice circle,' Al said, sounding impressed, bothered, and interested. 'You're going to be grand fun at tractor pulls.'
'Thanks.' I twitched when he took off his glove and tapped my circle to make rippled dimples waver across it. 'Don't touch it!' I blurted, and he chuckled—tapping, tapping, ever moving, looking for a weak spot. It was a huge circle; he might find one. What had I done?
My hands tucked into my armpits for warmth, I looked at Lee, still in his circle, doubly safe within mine. 'We can still get out of here,' I said, hearing my voice tremble. 'Neither one of us needs to be his familiar. If we—'
'How stupid can you be?' Lee edged his foot across his circle, dissolving it. 'I want to be rid of you. I want to pay off my demon scar. Why, on God's green earth, would I save you?'
Shivering, I felt the wind bite at me. 'Lee!' I said, turning to keep Al in my sight as he moved to the back of my circle, still testing. 'We have to get out of here!'
His small nose wrinkling at the scent of burnt amber, Lee laughed. 'No. I'm going to beat you into a pulp, and then I'm going to give you to Algaliarept, and he's going to call my debt paid.' Cocky and self-assured, he looked at Al, who had stopped pushing at my circle and was now standing with a beatific smile. 'Is that satisfactory?'
A lump of fear settled heavy in my belly as a wicked, contriving smile spread over Al's chiseled face. An elaborately detailed rug and a maroon velvet chair from the eighteenth century appeared behind him, and still smiling, Al settled himself, the last of the sun making him a red smear among the broken buildings. Crossing his legs, he said, 'Stanley Collin Saladan, we have an agreement. Give me Rachel Mariana Morgan, and I will indeed call your debt paid.'
I licked my lips, and they went cold in the bitter wind. Around us came the soft scrabblings as things crept closer, called by me ringing the city's bells and lured by the promise of darkness. A soft plink of stone brought me spinning around. Something was in here with us.
Lee smiled, and I wiped my hands off on my borrowed dress suit and stood straighter. He was right to feel confident—I was an earth witch without her charms up against a ley line master—but he didn't know everything. Al didn't know everything. Hell, I didn't know everything, but I knew something they didn't. And when that ugly red sun set behind the broken buildings, it wasn't going to be me who was Al's familiar.
I wanted to survive. Right now it didn't matter if giving Lee to Al in my stead was right or not. Later, when I was curled up with a cup of cocoa and shaking with the memory of this, would be soon enough to decide. But to win, I'd first have to lose. This was really going to hurt.
'Lee,' I said, trying one last time. 'Take us out of here!' God, please let me be right!
'You're such a girl,' he said, tugging his dirt-stained suit straight. 'Always whining and expecting to be rescued.'
'Lee! Wait!' I shouted as he took three steps and threw a ball of purple haze.
I dove to the side. It skimmed past at chest height to hit the remnants of the fountain. With a rumble, a section of it cracked and broke away. Dust rose, red in the darkening air.
When I turned, Lee had my business card in his grip—the one I had given the bouncer at his boat. Shit. He had a focusing object. 'Don't,' I said. 'You won't like how it ends.'
Lee shook his head, his lips moving as he whispered. 'Doleo,' he said clearly, the invocation word vibrating the air, and with my card in his grip, he gestured.
Jerking straight, I caught my harsh gurgle before it came from me. Gut-twisting pain doubled me over. Breathing through it, I staggered to my feet. I couldn't think to come back with anything. I staggered forward to try to free myself from pain. If I could hit him, it might stop. If I could get my card, he couldn't target me but would have to throw his spells.
I crashed into Lee. We went down, stones jabbing me. Lee kicked out, and I rolled as Al applauded, white- gloved hands a soft patting. Pain clouded me; thinking was impossible. Illusion, I told myself. It was a ley line charm. Only earth magic could inflict real pain. It was an illusion. Panting, I forced the charm from me with pure will. I wouldn't feel it.
My bruised shoulder throbbed, hurting worse than it actually did. I fastened on the real pain, willing the phantom agony away. Hunched, I saw Lee from around my hair, now completely fallen out of that stupid bun. 'Inflex,' Lee said, grinning as his moving fingers finished his spell, and I cringed, waiting for something to happen, but nothing did.
'Oh, I say!' Al exclaimed from his rock. 'First rate. Capital!'
I wove on my feet, fighting the last shadows of pain. I was in the line again. I could feel it. If I knew how to trip the lines, I could end this right now. Bibbity bobbity boo, I thought. Alakazam. Hell, I'd even twitch my nose if I thought it would work. But it didn't.
The rustle around me grew. They were becoming bolder as the sun threatened to set. A rock fell behind me, and I spun. My foot slipped. Crying out, I went down. Nausea hit me as my ankle twisted. Gasping, I clutched at it, feeling tears of pain start.
'Brilliant!' Al applauded. 'Bad luck is extremely difficult. Take the charm off her. I don't want a klutz in my kitchen.'
Lee gestured and a brief whirlwind smelling of burnt amber lifted through my hair. My throat tightened as the
