Page 5 of How To Summon A Memory
“It wasn’t his fault,” the one behind Tanner says as the two on Tanner’s other side shake their heads in agreement.
Tanner sinks his fingers into his hair. “I should have known better than to trust either of them. Lettie handed me the bottle. She never even looks twice at me, ever. I’m like gum on the bottom of her shoe, but today…”
“She was nice, I know,” the back rubber says.
Someone sniffles beside the pair and rubs at their eye. “I hope he recovers. He’s the only teacher that made protection spells make sense.”
My face grows hot. Protection spells were Ethan’s specialty. I helped him understand them. “Who needs to recover?” I ask through gritted teeth.
“Professor Speller,” back rubber says so nonchalantly I don’t think they realize how wound up I am.
“What’s the professor’s first name?” I growl.
“E—Ethan,” Tanner squeaks out.
Before anyone can blink, I shove the person away from Tanner and have Tanner pressed against the bar top with my hand gripping his throat. “What did you do to him?” My voiceechos through Flutter and Fangs and everyone’s eyes are on us. On me.
My tail shakes as if to warn people off. Someone grabs at my arm and tries to yank me off him. Tanner’s face turns a delightful red and his eyes widen as he tries to gasp for breath.
“Warwick.” Gabe’s fingers glow as he lays his hand over my forearm. “Release him or you’ll know what a nephilim’s sting feels like.”
“He hurt Ethan,” my voice rumbles, shaking the walls. And I press in, just to see Tanner’s legs scramble beneath him, trying to find purchase on the floor below.
“Get off him!” Someone beats me with a purse.
Gabe’s fingers spark along my skin, but he’s just warning me.
“What is the meaning of this?” Pike stomps toward me from one of the backrooms adjusting his shirt with a disheveled Lark trailing behind him. “I’m trying to feed and you’re disturbing me.” His leathery wings fan out behind him and my feathered ones pop out, keeping him from seeing what I’m doing and pushing the students beside me away.
“Tell me what the fuck you did to Ethan.” I give another little squeeze for good measure before releasing him. It’s just Tanner and me wrapped in my wings.
Warwick—Age15
Look at this little wannabe trying to summon a demon. They’re kinda cute in a super nerdy way. They push their thick glasses up their nose as they look around. Mousy brown hair flops in their face. They have pretty, blue eyes. They set downthe tote bag they’ve been carrying all the way from the main road and start digging things out. Salt, crystals, a knife, tea lights, a lighter, and what appears to be holy water. I snort at the assortment. All they really need is the salt, a summoning statement, and a drop of blood.
Right now, they can’t see me because I’m behind the veil. I just like to hang out at my crossroads. I’m five years too early being bound to it because it’s a punishment for my brother Van. For some reason, the king of the crossroads demons decided I should get roped into Van’s punishment. I hated them both for a few weeks. But now I’m used to the soul sucking boredom of not being with the other crossroads demons my age. Being bound means I’m not allowed in classes anymore. Not being in classes means I don’t know all the rules. So I read and watch. Of course, I read the rule books I can find, but most of them are centuries old and don’t have the new rules. I figured if I’m good at this for a few months, maybe, just maybe, Poe will let me have an updated rulebook to study. Despite my brother defying Poe for years, I think the king is a good one. He keeps us all in line, though not my brother so much. No, Van wants to rule us all and honestly, I’m not in favor of it. Van is too volatile. He needs more education, and that’s me saying that.
The summoner looks younger than I am, which could be a problem. They’re the first one at my crossroads since I’ve been bound, so I want to do this right, but if they aren’t old enough, we can’t bargain. I groan to myself and throw my head back.
The summoner drags the box of salt across the gravel road, making a giant circle. I’m impressed because it’s big enough for the both of us. Then they take the crystals, looks like clear quartz, and make a circle within the circle. Curious choice. They circle the crystals with the tea lights and light them. I wonder if they just like showy magic because this is a lot of effort.
They shove the bottle of holy water into their pocket and step outside of the circle. It really takes everything in me not to laugh when they raise their knife to the sky.
“I, Ethan Gregory Speller, summon the crossroads demon assigned to this place.”
He’s the Speller heir. The lone son of Aiden Speller, former ruler of the Hex coven.
Ethan takes the knife and slices it across the back of his forearm. Not enough to make a gash, just a hairline break of his skin and he lets the blood drop on the salt in front of him.
A high pitch sound rings in my ears. My skin shimmers and before I know it, I’m standing in front of him from within his circle.
Ethan gasps and stumbles back, clutching his bottle of holy water to his chest. “It worked.”
“It did.” I tip my head, examining him close up. “How old are you?”
“Old enough!”
“It doesn’t work that way. How old are you?”
