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Cash had gotten to his feet when I cut Tansy, and I could see him debating with himself whether or not he should go to her now. Instead of doing his usual hero routine, he hung back and watched, but I could tell it pained him not to jump in and comfort her.
It didn’t help that she was giving him the most pathetic, sad, puppy-dog eyes I’d ever seen.
“I’ll go to the police.” Tansy phrased this as an offer, not a threat. “I’ll tell them I killed that guy.”
“Liam,” I corrected. “His name was Liam Casey.”
She fell silent.
“And yeah, if we get through this, you will go to the police. And you’ll tell them what happened, and I’ll find people who will corroborate what demon possession can do to a person.”
“Tell me,” came a cool voice outside one of the windows. “You seem like an expert, so I want to know. What happens when a demon can take human form?”
Tansy’s eyes bugged out so wide I thought they might fall right out of her head. Cash and Santiago both moved away from the speaker, instinct telling them this wasn’t something they wanted to be a part of.
“Please don’t let me die,” Tansy whispered.
“I won’t.”
“Promises, promises, the girl loves her promises.” Gamigan stepped into sight, darting in front of the hole that was once a large window. As quickly as it had appeared it was gone. Scrabbling sounds drew our collective attention up, until we could see it perched atop the brick wall, gazing down on us with a knowing smile.
That it was still in Tansy’s form, wearing the pretty floral dress, made this all the more unsettling.
It hadn’t mastered her voice. When it spoke, the sound wasn’t quite human, reminding me of the way it had whispered through the door to me. “Tell me what you know of hell, little girl.”
My palm was damp with sweat, and I ached to pick up the ceremonial knife just so I’d have something to arm myself with.
This wasn’t the kind of situation where weapons would be my greatest asset though. Instead I closed my eyes for a fraction of a second and envisioned my little jade stone, my mental protection ward. I pictured Memere and called up everything she’d taught me. When I opened my eyes again, my hands were still and dry.
I was ready.
“I know more than you think,” I replied.
“Yes, yes. You’re a wise one, aren’t you. Smart little girl, precious little girl. You were an innocent once too, you know. I know, I know. Oh, I have seen so much more of you than you realize. You wear your history around you, and it’s dark, dark, dark.” Gamigan smiled. “I know what you are.”
“Oh yeah?” I inched around the circle towards Santiago, while checking for Wilder’s whereabouts out of the corner of my eye. If this went south, I might need the other witch’s power. I’d used up so much of my energy tonight I wasn’t sure if I’d have it in me to do this alone. Likewise, I had my doubts as to whether Santiago would be able to contain the demon without some bonus assistance. He was watching the creature with careful, veiled interest, showing no indication if he was frightened or not.
Wilder, having determined there was no reason for him to block the door anymore, had wisely decided to move away from the walls and was standing next to Cash in the middle of the room. They both stared expectantly at the demon.
I really wish I’d had a chance to ask Secret a hundred more questions about demons when I’d had her on the line yesterday. Seemed like there might be a few pointers she could have given me aside from Don’t let it touch you.
No shit.
“Yes, yes, yes. I know what you are. I know you down to the very heart of you. To your blighted soul.”
“My soul is fine. Worry about your own eternal damnation, thanks.”
Gamigan laughed, and it sounded like dry leaves scraping a sidewalk.
“I’ll have fun with you forever.”
This made a shudder rock my whole body so violently my teeth clacked. “Why don’t we send you home, and you can wait for me there?”
“Another promise.” It scuttled along the top of the wall, and I fought back the urge to let out a small noise of horror. For all its efforts to look like Tansy, it had made no attempt to learn how the human body moved. It had disjointed her limbs so she resembled a four-legged spider, legs and arms bending in ways they were never meant to go. And it moved much, much too quickly, so fast it was almost hard to track.
I knew we had to get it down to our level if we had a hope of trapping it inside the idol, but now that the damn thing was here, I didn’t want it coming any closer to me.
“Tell me what I am. I’m dying to hear what you think.” Possibly I could have chosen better phrasing. Too late now.
