Page 58 of Malice

“Yeah. Theoretically. I’ve heard of demons being able to open a window or crack a door, so to speak. It’s not enough for them to escape but it is enough for…” She looks down, eyes lingering this time.

“Enough for what?” I ask, forcing my voice to be steady.

“Enough for power to slip through or for someone on the other side to tap in.”

My stomach twists. Everything she says tracks with what we’re seeing with Vaelric.

“So if someone knows there’s a demon trapped in a pocket dimension, they could use it?”

“In a sense. You don’t control the demon, like you can’t have it go out and do your bidding. But yeah, they could use the power for, well, terrible things.”

“The Order,” I whisper, shaking my head. “They’d love to get their hands on something like this.”

Marie lifts her chin, brown eyes locking with mine. She told me that her coven has a particularly jaded past with the Order, letting me know she’s not their biggest fan. But to accuse them of using a demon for personal gain…it’s a big accusation.

The a/c in the cafe kicks on, blowing cold air right at me. It’s hot enough outside for this to feel good, but it just makes goosebumps break out along my skin. I cross my arms over my chest and ask another question before she has time to switch the subject. “What keeps the door from opening all the way?”

“Every dimension has a key.”

“A key?” I echo, so freaking grateful she can’t hear my heart beating right now.

“Yes. It would be marked by the demon’s sigil and enchanted, of course. As long as the key exists, the demon won’t get out.”

“Can a key be destroyed?”

Her gaze sharpens. “It depends on who is trying to destroy it.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, anything can be broken, but it would be pretty damn hard to break something that was forged with blood magic.”

“That’s reassuring at least.”

“Yes.” She takes a sip of her tea. “Unless you got a witch from the same bloodline to break it.”

Her words hit like a punch to the gut. The same bloodline. I don’t want to believe it, but the truth is there, burning in the back of my mind. Everything was orchestrated from the very start.

I have more questions but I don’t want to ask and hear my words spoken out loud. Because if I do, then I can’t deny it and I don’t want to have to face the truth.

“You hit on something when you said the Order would love to get their hands on something like this. It’s another reason the Grand Coven frowns upon this kind of magic. In the wrong hands, a demon in a cage could be devastating. They couldn’t free it, but they would definitely use it.”

“They would have to have access to it somehow?” I need to just stop talking because everything she says just confirms what I don’t want to know.

Her eyes widen. “Knowing a demon’s name usually is enough access. And then if they can figure out how to crack the door…it would be very bad.”

The waiter brings me the iced tea I ordered and I tear open a sugar packet, mixing it in. “Yeah, sounds like it would be terrible.”

“You’re asking some very specific questions.” She holds her hand over her tea, stirring it without touching the spoon. “There’s a specific demon you’re worried about. And it has something to do with the Order.” She leans forward, reading my energy. “They’re up to something?”

“They always are,” I say ruefully, tearing open another sugar packet to buy myself a little more time.“And…” I say each word slowly with careful consideration. “I’ve heard mention of a demon.” I pause, just long enough to make it seem deliberate. “Vaelric.”

Marie looks up, brown eyes cloudy as she thinks. “Vaelric,” she repeats. “That’s not a name you hear often.”

“You’ve heard of it?”

“Mh-mh.” She slowly bobs her head up and down, something clicking in her memory. “Very powerful demon. It was a difficult binding. Not any coven could have taken him on.” She shifts her gaze back to me. “It was Blackwood work.”

My stomach drops and if I weren’t sitting, I would lose my balance. In my head, the world spins around me and it takes everything I have to stay grounded. I stare back at Marie and the silence that stretches between us is suffocating. Marie leans back, watching me with a newfound curiosity.