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It wasn’t forgiveness, but it was a step forward, and the brief flicker of surprise through her expression said that Mom was well aware of that.
“I would appreciate it.”
I turned away before the damn tears stinging my eyes could fall. Maybe I didn’t need that pregnancy test after all. Maybe the roller coaster my emotions were on was evidence enough.
Not necessarily came Belle’s comment. Historically, your emotions have always been all over the place when thinking about your parents and your relationship with them. At least since Cat’s death, anyway.
And it was a situation that probably wouldn’t improve anytime soon, if truth be told.
I followed Ashworth and Eli out of the kitchen and down into the basement. They walked past several doors, then stopped at what appeared to be a tall fire hose cabinet. Eli opened it, revealing that it did, in fact, hold a fire hose, but reached past and pressed his hand against something I couldn’t quite see. A heartbeat later, a solid-looking section of concrete wall slid open just enough for a person to step through.
Eli switched on the flashlight he was carrying, then said, “Ira, hit the release as you enter.”
We followed him in. Initially the going was fairly straightforward—the tunnel was concrete-lined, and while it sloped steadily downward, it was clean and dry.
That changed the minute we stepped through a second door into the old stormwater tunnel. Water dripped from the ceiling and dribbled down the walls, the air smelled foul, and the base of the tunnel—through which a trickle of water currently ran—was full of refuse. I swept my light across the graffiti-tagged walls as we waited for Ashworth to appear. A couple of them were relatively new, which suggested that while this tunnel might officially be abandoned, it wasn’t unused or unknown.
We continued on. I tugged up my hood to avoid the constant drips soaking my hair and kept a close eye on where I was stepping. The rubbish and the slippery nature of the mossy tunnel floor meant our pace was far slower than it had been.
Thankfully, it wasn’t all that long before fresh air started sweeping the foulness away and, a few minutes later, we reached a junction. The main drain went left, but we followed the smaller branch, which inclined steeply before reaching a metal grate. Eli magicked it open, pushed the covering to one side, then helped us all out.
Not only were we greeted by a steep, well-treed slope but also, rather oddly, what looked to be a Tardis.
“If you tell me that’s bigger on the inside than the outside, I will order the drug squad out,” Samuel said, his tone amused.
Eli laughed softly. “Wish it was, because it’d provide the perfect cover.”
We followed a series of rough dirt steps that wound down the hill and eventually reached a plateaued area. The vegetation here was much thicker, and from deeper within the trees to our right came soft conversation. Belle’s parents and an older man, from the sound of it.
We followed the sound and a few seconds later entered a small but perfectly formed circular clearing. One that, given the scent of lemongrass and sage that teased my nostrils, had already been cleansed of any negative energy in preparation for the summoning.
Edward greeted us softly and then introduced Brian, a gnarled, no-nonsense-looking fellow.
“You’ll have to take the lead on this one, Belle, as you’ve got the feel of his energy,” he added. “Just give us the incantation to memorize and tell us what we need to do.”
Belle nodded and preparations began. We created a pentagram, placed candles on each of the cardinal points, and then circled the entire thing with salt. Belle and I circled the salt ring with our spell stones, then Ashworth, Eli, and Edward interwove theirs around this. Then, just for good measure, we did another salt ring around the edges of the clearing to ensure that if the demon did do the impossible and break through every other barrier, we had one final level of protection. It might be overkill, but as Ashworth noted, it was always better to be safe than sorry when dealing with these dark bastards.
He handed our summoners two sheets of paper—one containing the summoning, the other the banishment spell—and handed me a map of Canberra. He then pulled what looked to be two metal eggcups secured in a plastic bag and a pocketknife from his backpack, handing the former to Mom.
“Righto, I need you to prick your finger and put half a dozen drops of blood into each cup so Belle can use them for the summoning.”
“Why two cups?” she asked as Ashworth sterilized the blade.
“Because it’s possible the wraith has more than one demon working with him,” he replied. “The stronger dark witches often make multiple bargains to improve their power base.”
“I would have thought that impossible, given even a dark sorcerer only has one soul to give,” Mom said.
“Which would be the prize for the strongest of his demons. But he could have multiple lower caste demons that exchange power for the souls or life force of his victims.”
“But this Russel surely could not be possessed by more than one demon,” she said.
“No, but this wraith is doing many things he shouldn’t, so we dare not take the chance.”
She nodded, calmly accepted the knife, then cut the tip of her finger, letting the blood drip into each cup. Once there was enough, Ashworth took them from her and carefully placed the offering in the center of the circle, being careful not to disturb any of our protection lines.
I dug out the nearly empty bottle of holy water from my pack and washed the small wound. The knife had been sterilized but it never hurt to be cautious.
“Is that one of your potions or something else?” Mom asked, with just a touch of curiosity.
