Taming Demons for Beginners (The Guild Codex: Demonized #1)(2)

“Robin.” Uncle Jack’s voice cracked like a riding crop. “Come here.”

I slunk to his side and resumed my inspection of the floor, my glasses sliding down my nose. I pushed them back into place. Uncle Jack wasn’t a tall man, but I was the opposite of a tall woman and his cold attention beat down on my shoulders, which were half the width of his.

He cleared his throat. “How are you settling in?”

My brow wrinkled at the odd high note in his voice and I snuck a quick appraisal of his face. His lips were turned up in a grimacing smile. It looked painful.

“You’ve been here … a day now, haven’t you?”

“Two days,” I mumbled. Forty-five hours and twenty minutes, if I were counting. Which I wasn’t. Not constantly, at least.

Okay, it was constantly.

“And how are you doing?” he asked with forced friendliness.

“I’m fine.”

“Has Kathy shown you the ropes?”

“Yes.” Minus the Stay Out of the Basement So You Don’t Discover Our Illegal Activities rule.

He brushed his hands together like I was trash he was preparing to haul to the curb. “Well, it’s time to give you your final introduction. I’d planned to wait, but since you’re already down here …”

I wilted. “Kathy had mentioned a library and I just wanted to …”

“Ah, yes, you like books, don’t you?”

Had he phrased that so patronizingly on purpose? “I don’t need to see—”

Deaf to my quiet protest, he waved at me to follow him into the library. I minced in his shadow, boring holes into the floor. I didn’t want to know what was going on in this room. I didn’t want to know about the magic.

Stay away from magic and it’ll stay away from you.

Uncle Jack stopped in front of the podium. “Do you know what this is?”

Reluctantly, I lifted my eyes to the glaringly out-of-place feature in the elegant library.

A flawless circle, ten feet across, had been carved into the beautiful hardwood floor and filled with silver inlay. Straight lines, sharp angles, and perfect curves intersected along the circle’s outer edge, but runes, sigils, and disturbing marks that twisted into unpleasant shapes interrupted the precise geometry.

Inside the circle, darkness formed a perfect dome that seamlessly matched its circumference. The half-orb sat on the library floor like a black igloo from hell, sucking light into its inky depths.

“Do you know what this is?” he repeated with an impatient bite.

I worked my tongue, wetting it enough to speak. “A summoning circle.”

“Have you seen one before?”

“No,” I whispered.

He gave me an odd look, as though surprised I’d recognized a summoning circle with no prior exposure. But what else could it be? The circle on its own I might not have identified, but that dome of nothingness was not of this world.

Gooseflesh prickled on my bare arms and I wished for a sweater. The library was uncomfortably cool, the leather-scented air chilling my nose, and shadows lurked in the room’s farthest corners.

“Why is it so black?” I asked before I could stop myself.

“The demon is hiding itself,” Uncle Jack answered irritably. “Thus far, it hasn’t been interested in negotiation.”

Demon.

The word thudded into my skull. Each syllable, each sound, struck like a mallet against a gong. A demon in the circle. In the library. In the basement of the house I was now living in.

I never should’ve come here.

“Your parents weren’t interested in the family business,” Uncle Jack went on, “but summoning is lucrative. It’s also … sensitive. A delicate process. We don’t need distractions.”

I counted the floorboards between my sock-clad toes. Distractions like … an MPD investigation into their illegal activities?

“I expect your full support, Robin.”

He didn’t need to say, “Or else.”

“Yes, Uncle Jack.”

“For obvious reasons, this room is off-limits, but you should know the rules either way.”

He grasped my elbow and pulled me toward the circle. My socks slid across the polished hardwood as I tried to stop. I didn’t want to go any closer.

“The circle is a barrier. It’s impenetrable to the demon, but only to the demon.” He gestured at the black dome. “You can pass through it just fine. You wouldn’t even feel it. One slip …”

His hand tightened on my arm, then he shoved me toward the flimsy silver line. A terrified gasp seized my lungs and I flailed backward, even though I was several steps away.

He laughed. “So don’t get close. One toe over that line and the demon will haul you in and rip you apart. Don’t drop anything in there either. Even a coin can be deadly in a demon’s hands. It can’t get its magic through the barrier, so make sure you don’t hand it weapons.”

I automatically checked my jeans pockets for change. I never carried change.

“If it tries to get your attention or calls you over, don’t listen. And don’t ever speak to the demon. If it shows itself, get me or Claude immediately.” He glowered at the impenetrable darkness. “Not that I expect it to. The most obstinate demon I’ve ever encountered. If it doesn’t respond soon …” He abruptly refocused on me. “You’re to stay out of this room, understood? I don’t want you in here alone.”