Page 83 of Wicked Deeds

“It shouldn’t be,” Damon said. “And we’ve already rolled out updates to prevent it happening in any VR environment I control.”

“Can you only do it to someone with a chip?” she asked, looking distinctly freaked out.

Damon’s brows shot up. “I’m not sure. I don’t think we’ve tested it with just a headset. Jack used a cuff that covers the chip.”

“We should test that,” I said. “A headset, I mean.”

“How do you test it?” Gwen asked, eyes wide.

“We have a VR environment set up with the kill switch programming disabled. Once you’re in, someone has to let you out,” Damon said

“And peoplevolunteer?” Gwen squeaked.

“Well, my team trust each other. And it’s only a select few.”

She squirmed uneasily. No need to ask what she thought about it.

“Callum can get out of it without any help,” I said, trying to be reassuring.

“With magic?”

“Yes, though we’re not entirely sure how it works. I’ve done it a few times, but I can’t do it reliably. Maybe you could, as you’re half-Fae.”

She shook her head, “I don’t think I want to try.”

“That’s fair. No one will make you. And, like Damon said, there’s nothing to worry about in any regular game.”

“What did he want?” Gwen asked. “Jack, I mean.”

“We’re not sure. Me, maybe.” I glanced at Cassandra.

Who only flapped her hand at me. “Tell her the rest of it.”

So I did. That Jack had hinted at working with darkness, not to mention had summoned imps and burned my house down in his escape.

When I finished, Gwen had lost all the color in her face again. I put a hand on her forearm. “It’s okay. It’s a lot, I know, but he can’t get to us here.”

The fact that he hadn’t been seen in the US since fleeing was one of the few things helping me sleep at night.

“He’s working with a demon? That can’t end well,” Gwen managed.

“Not for him, no,” Cassandra said. “People who make deals with demons usually end up dead. One way or another.”

Gwen swallowed hard. “You actually think he wants to summon one? What can that bring except death and destruction?”

So she’d learned something about demons in her time in the realm.

“Demons are masters of persuasion. They convince people it’s all going to work out. Well, people they don’t outright take over,” Cassandra said. “People who try usually want power or money. They all underestimate how powerful demons are. They think they’ll summon a demon and control it, rather than the other way around. That they’ll be the exception. Which is crazy, but by the time someone starts summoning imps, they’re not completely sane by any usual measure. They’re not thinking about death and destruction. But we are.”

The Cestis didn’t let a witch who had been tainted by demons live. I’d been tested for demon taint twice. I was under no illusions what would have happened to me if I’d failed.

“Which is why you need to learn some basic magic,” Cassandra said. “Hopefully you’ll never come anywhere near Jack, but if you do you need strong shields and some control of your magic. If you don’t control it, someone else might be able to control you.”

Okay, so she wasn’t pulling her punches now.

“Right,” Gwen said, chewing her lip. “Maggie, how did your mom meet Jack?”

“I don’t know. We only have that one picture of them. But my mom went off the grid well before she had me. Managedto stay under the radar. The Cestis didn’t know I existed until she died. Which was not long after I turned thirteen. Once my grandparents found me and registered my birth properly, they knew about me.” Or so I assumed. “But I didn’t show any power, so they left us alone.”

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