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The summoning circle, a mixture of salt and mountain ash, was prepped and ready for us. Other candles were there to light the way for us, and what was left was the summoning ritual.
Placing our candles in a perimeter around us, we took hands and arranged ourselves in two circles—an outermost one and an innermost one, all surrounding the trap in the very center.
I stood before the inner circle with the tome in my hands and nodded for them to begin.
Their humming grew louder, turning into vague words from a language long gone as they sang, swaying in their places. Their movements were hypnotic and synchronized so perfectly that anyone unguarded and unprepared would likely find themselves compelled by it.
The wind picked up as the power began to surge, awakening from beneath the soil and slowly moving upward. It came to life like a sentient being, making gooseflesh rise from my skin.
Cracking the book open, I pulled in a deep breath and began the chant.
I read the first line, forcing my voice to travel with conviction. I brought it from a place of power and determination, letting my magic rise to the surface.
My sisters repeated my words as they swayed and lost themselves to the rhythm of it. Their voices hit me hard like a choir, powerful and unwavering.
Continuing, I led the chant as flawlessly as I could, noting how a swell of power came from our magic combining. It was intense and resilient, and it gave me hope that everything would work out fine.
As our power mounted, swelling and pulsing like a living thing, our chanting grew louder until my voice merged with theirs, and we spoke in perfect synchronicity.
Above us, what started as dark grey clouds deepened in tone, turning as black as ink. They moved faster, and the wind cut all around us. That force pulled together, tighter and tighter, until it focused in the center of the trap.
The black clouds signified what was coming as our magic worked, and the air around us seemed to drop ten degrees at once.
Our frocks shook and snapped in the roaring wind, and they didn’t still until the wind stopped in the blink of an eye.
That wind dissipated as black vapor pooled inside the circle and spread across the grassy floor until it, too, vanished.
In the middle of the storm stood Keres, and my skin went cold.
I stopped my chanting as the girls continued to sway from behind me, humming to focus their strength on keeping the circle closed. To keep the demon inside it.
Keres, like a feral cat stuck in a cage, paced back and forth, testing the confines of her trap. She tried to press against those invisible walls but to no avail. She snarled and cursed at us from within the circle of ash and salt, but she couldn’t go anywhere.
It worked.
Giving up, Keres sighed and crossed her arms. The ends of her tattered dress sleeves rippled with that darkness that emanated from her. She made the trap seem like a minor inconvenience.
Despite knowing she was stuck and at our mercy, I couldn’t shake how intimidating she was. With all that ancient power and wrath, I didn’t want to find myself on the receiving end of her punishments.
Swallowing back my creeping fear, I took a steadying breath and watched her closely.
“All right, you trapped me,” Keres began before I could, looking uninterested. “What do you want?”
“Why did you take the shifters’ powers?”
It was straight to the point but a question that everyone wanted to know. We were missing too many pieces to be able to put it together ourselves.
The demon scoffed and looked irritated by the question. She tapped those grey, bony fingers against her arm. “I’d rather not share.”
It seemed an entity as old as Keres had time to burn, and she didn’t intend on giving us that information quickly.
Luckily for us, the night was only just beginning.
“You’re in no position to deny me what I want from you,” I fired back at her, hoping my anger came through as I intended. “This book contains spells far stronger than that trap.”
Keres laughed a chilling and gut-wrenching sound, but I managed to catch a slight reaction in those pit-like eyes. Hesitance.
When I didn’t let up, Keres sighed. “If you must know, I’m a sort of scavenger, if you will. As of late, feeding on underworld scum has been lacking its usual shine, and I came in search of something more satiating.”
