Demons (Darkness #4)(5)

“Not good magic over here…” I mumbled.

My magic spread like a fog over the body. For a second, nothing happened.

“Sasha?” Tim asked into the din.

“Don’t go in there, mong—”

Jonas’ voice cut off as my magic started to sizzle and pop. Like water splashing into hot grease.

“What’s it doing?” I asked Jonas with a quiver in my voice.

“This isn’t normal…” Jonas’ voice drifted away.

“Back out of there, Sasha,” Tim urged from the door.

Something tugged at my magical senses. It was like undertow, rolling and fierce, sucking. Consuming. As fast as magic surged into my body, elements desperate to get in, something in that area stole it again, using my draw to fuel itself.

“Crap,” I mumbled, scrabbling to pull my power back.

“What is it?” Jonas asked, stepping into the building, his tattoos lighting up like a Christmas tree. A great, gleaming sword swung into his hand, the blade glowing orange.

“Get out of here, Jonas! I need to tie off this weird spell. It’s sucking magic to it.”

Jonas took a hasty step back, his body once again receding out of the doorway. Tim backed out with him, but hesitantly.

I got to work, sweat beading my brow, fighting the draw both of that corner, and from the elements fighting to rush into my body.

“Nasty spell-working, this,” I said under my breath, sensing the elements within the casting. “They’re, like, reaching for me. Feeding off my magic. I’ve never dealt with a spell like this. I didn’t even know this was possible.”

“Dark magic,” Jonas whispered. “Hard to work. Harder to control. Someone has balls of steel.”

“Well, it’s not me,” I wheezed.

I snubbed out the elements that made up the spell, like soldering wires, closing the spell in a sort of circuit.

“I don’t think the wielder knew exactly what he was doing,” I murmured, analyzing the lacy structure of the orangey incantation. It hovered within a shaky line spilled on the cement floor. Spilled because it looked suspiciously like blood, sticky and slick, gleaming in the soft light from the window.

As I was about to turn away toward Jonas, wanting to talk about what I’d done, the lacy spell cleared away like mist. In its place grinned the head of a black monster, staring at me like a hungry lion would a fresh steak.

“You did not call me.” Sharp, ragged teeth filled a mouth too big for its face.

Terror jolted me back as a stringy leg stepped forward.

“Sasha?” Jonas’ voice held hard fibers of alarm as it echoed through the cavernous space.

The monster slapped into an invisible barrier. Orange sparks rained down on its head as a tall circle flared to life around it. It glanced up, and then around, noticing the hazy orange circle trapping it. And then its face straightened out, staring right at me out of black pits instead of eyes. In a raspy voice that shivered across my body, it said, “We can rule, you and I. Our power, combined, will be indestructible. Join me.”

“Oh lovely, one of you. Fantastic.”

I eyed its cage as it did, sensing the weakness of it. The shaky spell barely held together. Even as I stood there, the thing was starting to eat away at its cage.

Super.

Was this a terrible spell by design, or some sort of failed attempt?

“We gotta get out of here!” I roared at Jonas, backing away as quickly as possible. “This thing is way, way stronger than other Dulcha I’ve seen. It’s feeding off of the magic containing it, somehow. We need Toa for this one.”

Jonas flicked his gaze at Tim, whose eyes were directed in a flat stare, at the scary monster pacing within its sphere. “You wanna go check if the dead body is one of yours?”

Tim started forward immediately. When that thing’s hollow gaze locked on him, his step did not falter.

“Don’t touch the orange cylinder surrounding it,” I whisper-yelled as he passed.

“When he’s done, pull your magic out, but you’ll need to seal off the building,” Jonas instructed as I neared.

“Yes, Jonas, I know. I’m not an idiot.”

His face had turned to point down at me, the area around his eyes tight.

“This isn’t just a normal Dulcha, is it?” I asked in a tiny voice, following Jonas as he backed away from the opening. My eyes scanned the enormity of the building. I thought of the spells at my disposal—the ones I could do well. “I’m not really sure how to seal off something of this size. I mean, containment spell, obviously, but it seems to be eating away at the one locking it in right now. How did the wielder create that thing?”

“Old magic,” Jonas said in a low voice, stepping aside so a grim-faced Tim could exit the door and move past. “More power makes the process easier, but humans that don’t know how to work their magic can call them, too. It takes chants and sacrifices. Blood and death.”

His haunted eyes took me in. “I’m only orange. You are black. If that thing breaks free, my magic isn’t going to stop it. Which means you need to work this shit out. That thing cannot escape this building.”

I grimaced. True words.

“Don’t blow up the building, either,” he added. “It’ll laugh at the fire and keep on coming.”