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“Shopping is necessary if we want to eat. Besides, living together on a more permanent basis will involve boring moments. Life’s full of them.”
“Not when one has you in their life.”
I snorted and would have nudged him if not for the fact it would have spilled the rather full cups of hot chocolate. “Then what do you want—”
I stopped as bells chimed, a sound that was accompanied by a wash of rainbow light. Then magic stirred, and my gut clenched.
It wasn’t any old magic.
It was dark magic.
“What’s wrong?”
My gaze met Aiden’s. “I placed an alarm around the Manananggal’s tracking spell—it just activated. She’s on her way.”
He swore softly and pushed to his feet. “What do we need to do?”
I thrust a hand through my hair. “We need to call Monty, but I’m not sure he’ll get here before her.”
He frowned. “Can’t you cage her until he does get here? You’ve done it with other demons.”
“Her awareness of my presence makes it more difficult.”
“Or it may act as an enticement—remember, she’s tried to kill you twice now.”
“True.”
I twisted around and studied the now alive tracking spell sitting on a bookshelf. An idea stirred… probably a bad idea, but right now we were out of options. She was closing in fast, if the quickening pulse of the tracker was anything to go by.
“I know that look,” Aiden said. “I’m not going to like what you’re about to suggest.”
A smile tugged my lips. “Possibly not.”
He made a low growly sound. “What do you want me to do?”
“I want you to grab the salt and run a line across the bottom of the stairs. Then I want you to go upstairs and run a line along all the window sills up there.”
“While you’re doing what?”
“I’ll be creating two circles in the middle of your living room—one to protect me, the other to snare her. When she’s caught, you’re going to shoot her fucking brains out.”
“I’m liking the sound of that last part; the rest, however—” He stopped, then kissed me fiercely. “I know I keep saying this, but please be careful.”
“I’ve never left a good hot chocolate unfinished, Ranger. I’m not about to start now.”
He laughed softly, then kissed my forehead and headed toward the pantry. I followed him across to grab a butcher knife from the wooden block near the stove. Then, with a deep breath that did little to settle the uncertainty churning within, I sat cross-legged in the middle of the living room and carefully placed the Manananggal’s spell in front of me. The knife I tucked behind me; it was a last means of protection, and one I hoped I didn’t have to use.
But for this trap to have any hope of working, I had to appear weak. Vulnerable.
After removing the alarm spell from the tracker, I closed my eyes, centered my energy, and set to work. I started on the outer ring first, creating my cage, keeping the threads tightly woven and pushing as much strength into them as I could. Hopefully, it would hold long enough for Aiden to shoot her.
The tracking spell’s threads pulsed with greater intensity. She was close, so damn close. My heart hammered so hard, I swear it was going to tear out of my chest. I sucked in a deep breath and tried to calm down. Panic wasn’t going to help me; it would only help the bitch who, even now, was swooping down from storm-held skies.
I began the protection spell. I didn’t have my spell stones with me, but Ashworth had taught me how to create one without using anything as an anchor. It wasn’t the strongest of spells—at least, it wasn’t for me, thanks to the lack of practice—but it didn’t need to be.
Once the circle had shimmered into existence, there was nothing I could do but wait.
Seconds slipped into minutes. My breath was a harsh rasp that filled the silence; though Aiden was perched midway up the stairs, he was barely visible in the darkness and ghostly quiet. I felt alone, even if I wasn’t.
