“Really? Well, let me tell you something,” he said. “I don’t appreciate being threatened by jumped-up mortal witches who want me to be their errand boy.”
Raya narrowed her eyes. “He’s bluffing. If he could’ve freed himself from the summoning, he would have left already. He’s just trying to scare us.”
“Why did he even show up in the first place? We summoned Andy, not this demon.”
Raya shrugged. “This isn’t exactly precision stuff.”
“Excuse me? I’m sorry, am I interrupting?” He waggled the flutes at them.
Erin glared at him. “Shut up.”
The demon’s eyebrows shot up and his wings dropped a few inches.
“I’m not a witch. I’m Erin. I want my friend Andy back, and you’re going to promise to help find him, or she’s going to blast you. Are we clear?”
His bluster faded. “All right, you don’t have to be such a pill about it.”
She didn’t dare take her eyes off him. “Raya? What do we do now? Can you make him sign some kind of binding something-or-other?” Phoenix pressed the back of his hand against his forehead and closed his eyes. “For the love of all that’s unholy. A binding something-or-other? Really? Is that what I’ve come to?”
“Again—demon, shut up,” said Raya. She addressed Erin. “He has to be bound in some way. Otherwise he’ll just take off at the first chance.”
“You wound me,” said Phoenix, pressing the champagne bottle over his chest, where his heart would be, if he had one.
Blaze barked joyfully and surged into the kitchen.
“Blaze, no!” said Raya.
Erin realized as she lunged for the dog that the banging sound hadn’t been from the spell—it had been the sound of Blaze ramming the dog gate.
The dog barrelled past her and slid into the salt ring like a baseball player sliding home.
A snapping sound cracked across the kitchen, accompanied by a shower of sparks.
The demon in the circle grinned triumphantly.
“He’s escaping!” said Erin.
The dog barked wildly as the candles extinguished themselves, leaving the kitchen in darkness.
14
Erin made her way to the light switch and flipped on the lights.
The demon lay sprawled in the middle of the kitchen floor with Blaze draped across his chest.
Raya stood over them with her wand raised. “Hold still, demon!”
“Get this beast off me, witch!”
Blaze licked his face with a large and very slobbery tongue.
“Oh, gross!” he said, using his fingers to wipe away the drool. “I give up. I’ll do whatever you want. Just get this thing off me.”
“Good dog,” said Raya, patting the hefty dog’s back.
Erin picked her way through the detritus of salt, rose petals, and other assorted ingredients to stand beside Raya. “What happened?”
“He tried to escape, and Blaze stopped him.” She tugged at Blaze’s collar. “Come on, old girl.”
