Summoning the Night (Arcadia Bell #2)(13)

And ten days before Halloween now, I realized.

“But what interested me the most wasn’t in the kitchen,” Dare said. “It was what I found spread across the living room floor. Stacks of old grimoires and journal pages filled with handwritten notes containing bits of spells. I think he was researching transmutation. Trying to figure out the spell on his own.”

“Did he manage it?” Lon asked.

“We wondered at the time. Your father and I searched for him for several months. But it was as if he disappeared without a trace.”

“Why would you suspect that he took the kids, though?” I asked.

A pained look crossed Dare’s face. It took him a moment to answer. “The children’s names were written in his notes. They were cross-referenced with spell elements.”

“Jesus.” Lon shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“I think he was experimenting on them with magick,” Dare said. “There were notes regarding adolescent Earthbounds being stronger than adults for magical takeover. He called them ‘vessels.’”

“All seven kids taken in the eighties were Earthbounds,” Lon noted.

“Yes,” Dare confirmed. “I think he performed magical experiments on them on Samhain—the veil between earth and the Æthyr is thinnest then, you know. A good time for magick. So that’s probably what he’s planning again this time. I don’t know why it took him so long or where he’s been all these years, but he must have failed the first time around—and now he’s started up again. It’s no coincidence that both kids taken this past week are ours, Lon. It’s revenge. All the Hellfire teenagers are moving targets. My grandson, your son . . .”

A clammy chill slithered down my spine. Lon and I looked at each other, and I could see the cracks forming in his defensive facade, the fear behind his eyes.

Not Jupe. I’d be damned before he’d get taken again. I yanked out my phone and checked for my daily flood of texted Jupisms. There were three, the last one fifteen minutes ago. I exhaled in relief.

“He’s in social studies right now,” Lon murmured.

“School’s probably one of the safest places he can be,” Dare said, startling us. “The original kids never got snatched from public places. It was always when they were alone, and always at night. However, my grandson—Mark’s son—goes to Meadow Rue Academy.” The private school north of the Village. “Both of the children who went missing are students at the academy, so Mark and his wife are taking extra precautions when they pick him up from school. Even though Jupiter is attending public school, he’s still a Hellfire descendant, so I’d advise you to be cautious. Better safe than sorry.”

Lon’s leg bounced anxiously. Now I knew where Jupe got this nervous tic. I didn’t like seeing Lon scared. He was supposed to be the rock in this relationship, not me.

“Mr. Dare?” I asked, pulling myself together. “Did you call us here to warn us?”

“Not exactly. I called to ask for help. Yours, specifically.”

“Why?”

“I’ve heard what you can do, from my club members. Heard what you do in your bar, binding Earthbounds in public.”

I stiffened and glanced at Lon. Had Dare heard about my newly acquired Moonchild ability? Lon promised he would never reveal that secret to anyone, but Spooner had seen me use it in the Hellfire caves to free an incubus. I wasn’t ready to rent this ability out. It was a huge unknown—if I began using it, would I go crazy like my parents? Did it have a physical backlash I hadn’t yet discovered?—and I needed to figure it out for myself. Which I would. Soon. I just wasn’t quite over my parents’ betrayal . . . nor the loss of them, if I was being honest.

Dare’s words snapped me out of my thoughts. “If the police couldn’t find Bishop in the eighties, they’re probably not going to find him now. He’s had thirty years to tinker with experimental magick. He’s out of their league. Probably out of mine, too. But if what I’ve heard is even half true, then he’s not out of yours.” Dare leaned forward. “Do you know what my demonic ability is, dear? My knack?”

Lon had told me. “Rally,” I said quietly. To inspire groups of people and bring them together. An ace up the sleeve for someone in his position, no doubt.

Dare nodded. “I’m getting old. My ability isn’t what it once was—not even when I’m transmutated. When I die, my seat in the Hellfire Body will be offered to my family before it’s given out to the next member on the waiting list. My wife doesn’t want it, so that leaves my son, Mark. And though I’m trying to make amends with him, if he took my place, this club would fall into ruins.”

I cleared my throat. “You’ll have to forgive me when I say that the Hellfire Club disbanding wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen in this town.” It would surely cut down on illegal drug use and sexually transmitted diseases.

“See, that’s where you’re wrong,” Dare said. “The Hellfire Club is La Sirena. The mayor, city council, and all the major business leaders that funnel money into this community are all Hellfire members. We aren’t just decadents, Ms. Bell. We are the pillars holding up this town. Did you know that the largest population of Earthbound demons in the entire world lives within a sixty-mile radius of La Sirena?”