Page 83 of Demon Apathy: Sunderverse
When we reached Union Station, we hopped off and made our way to the hotel. We waited outside as Sage checked in and later entered separately to avoid anyone wondering what two college-age couples were up to. Maybe we were being paranoid, and no one cared, but…
When I entered the room, Jenna, Benjamin, and Sage were already there. The guys had already started pushing the furniture out of the way to clear floor space, and Jenna was laying out our supplies on top of the small kitchen peninsula. Sage had definitely not gone cheap. It was nothing like the places where me and my family used to stay when I was little and we went on vacation. No ratty comforters or stained carpet. Nope. The place was newly built and had more than enough space once the furniture was out of the way. It even smelled good.
I set my backpack on one of the queen-size beds, pulled out the Demon Register, and examined Phenog’s sigil for thenthtime. When I’d summoned Phenog with LeBeau, the then-director had provided a summoning stone—a rock imbued with the demon’s essence. Summoning stones were created by hunters who were also witches or mages and had once quelled that specific demon. Through some spell, they captured the demon’s essence for later summoning. A stone was way safer than a Sigil because it left no room for mistakes. Drawing a sigil was as delicate as drawing the summoning pentagram. It had to be done with precision. Any mistakes could result in summoning the wrong hell dweller, one not as pretty as Dear Phenog.
Jenna held up a box of chalk. “Who’s going to draw the pentagram?”
“I’m not good at them.” Benjamin shook his head, making it clear it wouldn’t be him wielding the chalk.
“You do it, Jenna,” Sage put in, acting as if he was too good to stoop to drawing on the floor like a toddler.
Jenna clapped her hand and set to work. Confidently, she set up the trammel heads and made a large, perfect circle. After that, she proceeded to draw a pentagram within the circle and to position candles at each cardinal point.
“Done,” she announced.
We all walked around, checking for gaps through which the demon’s essence could escape. I saw none.
“Looks good?” I asked.
They all nodded.
I reached for the lighter and offered it to Benjamin. “Light the candles?”
He did it slowly as if to postpone the inevitable. When he was done, I offered a piece of chalk to Sage.
“Want to draw the sigil?”
“Nah, you do it. I want to speak the summoning.”
“Of course you do.” Jenna rolled her eyes.
“He just sucks at drawing,” Benjamin said with a mocking smile.
Sage glared at him, which made me realize it was true.
“I’ll do it.” Carefully, I stepped into the pentagram and drew Phenog’s sigil. It consisted of a circle with lines cutting across it and small runes in each section. As I stepped out, I reached for the Demon Register and double-checked every detail, then had the others do the same.
“Okay,” I said as the four of us stood in front of each candle, me taking the north-facing one. “Phenog is a Nachash demon, a trickster, remember that.”
Silence stretched as Sage frowned, probably going over the summoning words. After a long moment, he cleared his throat and began. “From the depths of hell, I command you to come forth. The circle will bind you. The flames will charm you. Phenog, you are summoned.”
The candlelight swayed, then a shaft of smoke rose from the sigil to a child’s height. My heart hammered as Phenog’s familiar shape solidified before us. Little Orphan Annie stood in front of us, hands on hips, her chubby face forming a pout. Except she was wearing a blue dress with glittery red slippers, like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz.
“Pish-posh!,” Phenog exclaimed. “Why have you summoned me here? I was busy.” She blinked her huge blue eyes and carefully scanned each face, stopping at Sage. She wrinkled her nose. “My master won’t be pleased.”
Oh, shit!
Had we pulled her away from doing something that related to Richie? I should’ve thought Drevan would be using Phenog for the mission. Like Khargon, she seemed to be part of the world-saving team.
“Um, maybe we should send her back,” I said.
“Too late,” the chubby girl said in a singsong voice. “He’s already mad.”
Benjamin took a step away from the circle. “Is s-she talking about Drevan?”
“Who else, silly?” Phenog pursed her lips and bobbed her head from side to side, looking all cute and lovable, except for…
“W-what is that?” I pointed at the back of her neck where a shiny brown carapace peeked from under her dress. My first thought was that something hideous had attached itself to her, and I needed to warn her, but it was the wrong thing to point out because she whirled on me. Her large eyes narrowed, piercing, and full of rancor.
