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“Fair point.” I thought furiously for several seconds. “Crap. The only Jonta
ri demon name I know is Dekkak. But demons live a hella long time, which means he might still be around.”
Jill stabbed a finger at me. “Stop right there, chick. I read that memoir, too. You do remember that bit about how insanely hard it is to summon a Jontari—especially Dekkak? Not to mention that little snafu with the gut eating and mass slaughter.”
I winced. “Yes, I know, but it’s worth exploring as a possible option.”
Giovanni smacked his hands on the table. “You can do this binding,” he announced with fierce confidence. “You are the sorceress Kara Gillian!”
Jill folded her arms over her chest and glared, first at Giovanni then at me. “Don’t take this the wrong way, Sorceress, but do you even know how to do that kind of summoning?”
“No, I don’t,” I said. “A Jontari binding ritual is completely new to me. The only type of bindings I’ve done have been to enable the demon to stay on Earth, not to actually subdue it.” I certainly wasn’t stupid enough to think I could just wing it, especially with a demon that was sure to be at least the size of Big Turd. “It’s true that with the nexus I’d have the necessary foundation and power to manage it, but successful summonings aren’t just about having enough strength. They require skill, finesse, and a knowledge of the right protections and rituals. Brute force alone won’t cut it.” And if, by some miracle, I did succeed and survive, what then? I shivered as an image filled my mind of Big Turd rampaging through a hospital. How many people would end up hurt or killed during the rescue?
“It doesn’t matter anyway,” I said with a shake of my head. “Even if I was an expert at those bindings, summoning Dekkak—or any Jontari strong enough for our needs—would still be an absolute last resort. We simply can’t justify the risk of casualties.” I held up a finger to forestall Giovanni’s protest. “We’ll find a way,” I told him. “From what I saw, Elinor is being cared for and is in no immediate danger. I can cope with her interruptions until we come up with a workable plan.” I hoped. Until we retrieved her, I’d be rolling the dice that Elinor wouldn’t disrupt anything critical.
“Well, I for one thank you for not leaping headlong into suicide,” Jill said then gave a humorless laugh. “Maybe all the information about summoning Jontari was suppressed because too many summoners were being killed off.”
I chuckled. “There had to have been some successful imperator summonings, or the memoir wouldn’t have warned to build the perimeter with thirty bindings ‘lest the beast break free.’” Yet even as I said it, my humor faded to a frown. “Thing is, nothing about suppressing that knowledge makes sense. We know that summonings were possible. Even of Dekkak. So why scrub that info along with all references to the Jontari?” I shook my head. “I can’t help but think the why matters somehow.”
“I’ll keep delving for answers in the library,” Jill said, gaze sharp and steady on mine. “But you’re hoping I’ll find info on how to summon one of those things, aren’t you.”
“No!” I snapped. “I mean . . . shit.” I gripped my hair. “Believe me, I do not want to summon some humongous, brutal demon, because, fuck, I’m happier when I haven’t been torn in half. Summoning Dekkak is a last resort, but even a last resort might come into play.” I let my hands fall to my lap. “So, yes, I am hoping you’ll dig up a copy of ‘Jontari Summoning for Dummies’, and I want you to start looking now so that if the worst case scenario happens, I won’t get caught with my pants down and have to scramble for answers at the last second.”
She flushed, abashed. “Sorry. I can’t help but worry.”
I sighed. “I’m sorry, too. And you’re right to worry. I’m grasping at straws here.” I was all too aware that the chances were slim to none of finding nice, clear, step-by-step instructions for how to summon a Jontari imperator, especially since the books had obviously been censored to quash that knowledge. At best we might find bits and pieces, faded with age or in barely legible cramped handwriting.
“Then you need all the help you can get,” Jill said with a lift of her chin. “The memoir I gave you is the most extensive reference there is on the Jontari. I have a pile of fragments downstairs, though not everything’s in English. I’ve held the admittedly weak hope that we might be able to find someone to translate the languages that are too archaic for you to obtain via the nexus flows.”
“I read many languages.” Giovanni announced with zeal. “French, Latin, Greek—”
“Aramaic?” Jill all but pounced on him. “Can you read Classical Aramaic?”
“A smattering,” he said with a note of hesitation.
“Can you read it well enough to tell whether it’s about the Jontari?”
His zeal faded to uncertainty. “It is not my best language.”
“Wait a sec,” she said. “Remember that Jontari sketch I found? I archived the bit of text beside it.” She popped the SD card out of her camera and fiddled with the computer. The wall screen lit up with an image of a ripped and badly faded manuscript page, but after a few clicks, the barely visible smudges resolved into actual letters.
Giovanni’s brow furrowed as he puzzled through the remnant of text. “Jontari, yes. Warnings of the physical and magical power of the great beasts. And how it is, ah,”—he cleared his throat—“idiotic for a sorcerer to attempt to bind a Jontari warlord without a . . .” He frowned. “Without a gimkrah? I do not know this word.”
“Wait. A what?” I peered at the screen as if I could discern the meaning of the word through force of will. “What else does it say?”
“Only a few words. Without the influence of a full moon, the ritual is doomed to failure, and the sorcerer to death.” Giovanni shook his head. “The remainder is missing. There is nothing more regarding the gimkrah.”
“Huh.” I steepled my hands in front of my face. “Huh,” I said again. “Can we Google that word?”
“Sure, but we run the risk of tipping off anyone who might be monitoring our internet,” Pellini said.
“It’s a risk-benefit scenario.” I drummed my fingers on the table then shrugged. “Eh, I’m the Arcane Commander. Why wouldn’t I be looking for ways to deal with the invaders? But it can’t hurt to muddy the waters. Do a search on a bunch of different weird made-up words and throw gimkrah into the bunch.”
“On it.”
“Giovanni, you’re hired as a translator,” Jill announced then turned to me with a fierce smile. “I have books in all sorts of dead languages that I haven’t even touched yet, but the pictures make me think they have stuff about summoning.”
“And if they’re that old, there’s a chance it’ll pertain to the Jontari,” I said.
