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Slowly I began to chant.
Demon waken, demon dreams,
demon days, demon wings,
night-veil, creature of shade,
wake to your host, fulfill the pact you made.
Chatter stood beside me, his voice weaving with mine, providing a countertonal response. Surprised, I glanced at him—he had an excellent voice and could have easily been a professional singer.
Waken to life, waken to death,
Waken to void, waken to breath,
Waken to the world, waken to the grave,
Waken to your host, wake and be saved.
Kaylin began to stir. Or rather, he began to convulse. I motioned to Chatter, who hurried over to my side. Kaylin was shaking and it was all I could do to keep him down. He frothed at the mouth, his eyes rolling back in his head, and I leaned forward, pressing his shoulders down, holding him still. He’d be bruised and sore, but it would be worse if I just let him flail.
Chatter pulled out a little bottle that the shaman had given me before we left the Court of Dreams and dropped three drops of the potion into Kaylin’s mouth. Kaylin let out a long scream—really more of a howl—and I felt his arousal as he began to wake. Crap. This could end badly.
Kaylin thrashed and I suddenly found myself flying through the air, onto the floor, as he stood. He rose up, standing over me, erect and hair flowing, his eyes flashing with an odd light. Chatter backed up, reaching down to grab my hand, pulling me out of the way.
As if he’d never seen himself before, Kaylin held out his arms, examining them, then glanced down at his erection and let out a low, throaty laugh as he turned toward me.
“Thank you for waking me, Cicely. Let me show you just how grateful I am.” The look on his face was insolent and yet—and yet—there was Kaylin, behind the new attitude.
“Kaylin—do you remember what happened?” The thought ran through my mind that maybe this hadn’t been the best idea, but Lainule had insisted we needed him and how could I leave him in a vegetative state? I might as well have killed him as done that.
“Oh, I remember,” he said, slowly stepping toward me. “I was sleeping for a long, long time and then . . . something stirred and it was time for me to wake.”
“You’re the night-veil—where’s Kaylin? I see him in there. Let him through. It’s his body and you only share it.”
“Share it? No, I think not. I’m going to take this body and thoroughly enjoy the freedom.” The demon laughed, holding out his hand. He made a fist and brought it up, gazing at it joyfully.
“Cicely—you have the fetish!” Chatter frantically motioned to my hand.
Crap! I was supposed to break the fetish against Kaylin’s heart! Otherwise the demon would be free to control him. I scrambled to my feet, nodding.
“Help me, Chatter—I can’t do it by myself.”
The demon snorted. “You think I’m going to let you carry through with the rest of the spell? I know perfectly well what you’re up to and it’s not going to work.”
I glanced at Chatter, wondering if we could take him. We didn’t dare let him loose. “We have to,” I murmured. And so, without another word, we both jumped Kaylin, trying to take him down.
Chapter 8
Kaylin burst out in laughter again and he swung his fist, connecting with my stomach to send me reeling across the room. I landed hard on my tailbone, feeling like my midsection had met a sledgehammer. But I still had hold of the fetish. I wheezed, struggling to right myself as Chatter landed a blow on Kaylin, my wolf growling low and long.
“Cicely! Chatter! What the fuck’s going on in there?” Leo pounded on the door. “Open up!”
“Stay out until we call you!” I didn’t want them in the way of those fists. As it was, my midsection was going to be sporting a nasty bruise for a couple of weeks. I rolled to my feet while Chatter and Kaylin engaged. Chatter was stronger than I was, but Kaylin had suddenly developed a strength that could match—or best—one of the Shadow Hunters. I glanced around the room and suddenly remembered my street-fighting days and the advice from Uncle Brody: When facing the enemy, think dirty. Anything for a weapon.
I grabbed a bottle of cologne off Kaylin’s dresser and aimed it for his eyes, then pressed the button. The scented spray of Spice hit him directly in the face, and he let out a roar as he covered his eyes with his hands and stumbled back.
Chatter tackled him, knocking him to the floor as I scrambled over to his side and brought the fetish down hard against his heart. The clay figurine shattered into pieces and I leaned over him.
