Page 22 of Wicked Deeds

Callum shrugged. “I do not know that Cerridwen would necessarily agree, if there is a demon here.”

“If there was a demon here, we’d be dead already. What I’m worried about is relics of spells. Or deliberate traps. Things we could trigger without meaning to. Especially if you’re right about there being a hidden room. The external wards have faded, but that doesn’t mean all the magic has. Not if they concentrated whatever they were doing in one room. And not if someone was in here, messing around with something recently. This is human magic, and while you might be able to help contain it, we’re the ones who know how to undo it. You’re strong, yes, but brute force isn’t necessarily the answer.” Lizzie put her hands on her hips. “So, no more arguing. Both of yougo.”

The tone of voice was so much like Cassandra that I was moving before I realized it. Callum gave Lizzie one last unhappy look and then strode out of the room. I followed, staying close, straining my magic to feel for any wards. We moved fast and silent until we were outside again, blinking in the moonlight.

“Gloves,” Callum said gruffly.

Right. Lizzie had said to leave them. I stripped mine off, balled them up, and left them with Callum’s outside the back door.

“Come on.” Callum took my arm and walked me back around the house yard, moving faster now we were outside.

“Do you think she’s right?” I asked him, half jogging to keep up with his longer stride.

“About her knowing better than me?” he said. “That remains to be seen.”

“No,” I said, “About me being in danger if something triggers?”

“Yes.”

The answer felt like a slap, making me dizzy. Well, I’d asked. I tried to focus on breathing until we crossed the property line and were back at the car. I glanced back. So far there was no sign of any activity from inside the house.

“I’ll call Cassandra,” I said.

“We will use the salt water first. In fact, stand still.”

I did as instructed.

Callum muttered a few Fae words under his breath, holding his hands either side of my face for some time. He huffed out a breath, lowering his hands. “Let me see your hands.”

I lifted them obediently and he slowly passed his over mine. “Can you see anything?” I asked, nausea rising again. I hoped not. And I really hoped the Cestis wouldn’t want to use demonstone on me again. Twice in one lifetime was two times too many.

“No,” Callum said, relief clear in the word.

“Can you check yourself?”

“No need. I would know if something was wrong,” he said. “Cerridwen will confirm when she arrives. Let’s go. We must rinse our hands with salt water.”

We could ring the whole damned car with salt as far as I was concerned. But I didn’t think it would make much difference. “The car’s not going to help us if a demon comes through.”

“No, but if we sit in the car, we are less likely to be noticed. The last thing we need now is nosy humans interfering.”

“They’ll notice if a whole bunch of cars turn up at this hour,” I objected.

“Yes, but it will be Cassandra’s task to explain. I’m sure she is more than capable of dealing with them.”

“Aren’t you?” I asked, trying to lighten the mood.

“Yes, but you do not approve of my methods,” he said.

Right. When we’d fought the afrit we’d been interrupted by a squatter in the building we were searching. Callum had put him into some sort of magical Fae sleep. And casually dropped the fact that the guy would never wake up if Callum didn’t choose to wake him.

The thought of being trapped asleep until you eventually died of old age gave me the heebie-jeebies. So, yeah, better not to leave crowd control to him.

I glanced back at the house again as I hit the remote to unlock the car. I hated the idea of Lizzie being alone in the house, but I also knew she could handle herself. The fact that she was younger than me didn’t mean she was less powerful. In fact, quite the opposite.

Callum and I rinsed our hands with salt and water. Then climbed into the car and did as Lizzie had ordered.

I called Cassandra while Callum called Cerridwen. Cassandra backed Lizzie up when I explained the situation, telling us to stay put and wait.

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