Page 89 of Strike It Witch

“I’d pay good money to try one,” he said.

I knew what they were doing. And the distraction was working. My anger was subsiding, and I was again thinking clearly. If only I could get my hands to stop shaking.

Focus on your commitment to Gladys. You can do this.

Joon scooped a handful of soil from a velvet bag tied to his trouser loop. It was pale and dry and a cloud of it blew out of his hand in the slight desert breeze.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Helping.” He pushed up my long sleeves and rubbed my forearms with dust. “Trust me. The soil will ground you.”

It was an intimate thing, to share powered soil with another magical. I was touched by the gesture.

Joon chanted in a voice too low for me to hear. When he’d finished rubbing my arms with his soil, he whispered, “Ida and I’ll monitor the wolves."

“That's right. We’ll keep our eyes on the witch you’d like to throat punch, too,” Ida said. “You keep your focus on the demon. Those bastards are slicker than snot on a doorknob and twice as gross.”

“Vivid image,” Joon murmured.

“Thanks.” I danced my fingers over the soil the mage had rubbed on my arms. It was starting to tingle.

Alpha Floyd appeared to have gotten his wolf back under control. His talk with Ronan appeared to have calmed him, despite the disgusted look on his face.

“Can we get started here?” Alpha Floyd folded his massive arms over his chest and harrumphed. “Some of us have businesses to run.”

As if the wolf had ever spent time slinging drinks behind his bar. “Yeah. Keep your witches and wolves out of my way.”

A muscle pulsed in Ronan’s cheek. He didn’t appreciate being lumped in with the others. Tough.

“Fine,” the alpha leader said. “Whatever. Just get on with it.”

“No interfering once I start," I said.

“My people will only act if I’m in danger,” he replied.

It was as good an answer as I would get.

I waved the bookseller out of her Lexus. Time to summon a demon.

Chapter

Twenty-Two

Iwas going old school.

Instead of the charms I’d used on the salt circle when the rats summoned discount Mictlantecuhtli, this spell required me to dig out my foundational summoning supplies, the ones I’d been trained on as a girl.

The thought that coven mother-effer Margaux would approve gave me pause. Mom had once told me she was a basic witch who appreciated the old ways of witchcraft. Still, I wasn’t doing this for her. I was doing it for Gladys. For the good of the park. For me.

I laid out four clay bowls at equal distances from each other outside the innermost circle, the first at north, the second at east, and so on. Inside each bowl was a representation of an element—dirt for earth, water from a bottle, a small, inflated balloon for air, and a large-wick citronella candle for fire.

Might as well keep the bugs away while I’m at it.

Margaux strode up to me. “What are you doing? This is supposed to be a book exchange. You appear to be summoning something.”

I rolled my head around to peer at her. “Get away from me.”

“What you’re doing here is dangerous. You can’t possibly?—”

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