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Instinct hated the very idea of it. “It’s still a damn dangerous move no matter how many protections you raise.”
“Yes, but the risk will ultimately be worth it. Besides, it’s no more dangerous than gadding about willy-nilly to ensure the wraith’s attention is on you rather than us.”
“That’s not what I’m doing—”
“Yeah, it is, and we both know it.”
I wrinkled my nose but couldn’t entirely deny the accusation. I did want his attention on me rather than the three of them, but I wasn’t going out of my way to present myself as a target. That was just a consequence of events.
Events he was orchestrating.
“Even if you do successfully summon his demon, it’s unlikely it can be compelled to reveal any information about its master. The contract between them would surely be watertight.”
“Maybe, but it’s possible we can compel it to reveal the names of any other demons working with our dark sorcerer. If we can also banish them, it’ll leave him with the choice of either summoning new demons to deal with or continuing his bloody revenge on his own. Either way, it gives us additional time to find him.”
I grunted. Belle knew what she was doing when it came to the spirit world, and anything she didn’t know her guides could undoubtedly help her with.
That didn’t make it any less dangerous. Didn’t make me any less scared for her safety.
I reached for a third half-sandwich. “There’s one thing that’s making me uneasy about this whole scenario—”
“The fact that he’s been one or two steps ahead of us all the way?”
I nodded. “I know it’s unlikely he’d guess you could sense his demon remotely, but I don’t think we dare discount the possibility either.”
“Which is why Ashworth and Monty are researching broad-based summoning and banishment spells.”
“If we banish this demon, won’t it just mean it’ll be free to answer the wraith’s call again?”
“Not if we find the right banishment spell. And if we can get the names of his other demons, we can repeat the process with them.”
“The wraith isn’t likely to sit around twiddling his fingers while you deprive him of his demons.”
“No, but if we’ve prepared the summoning circle properly, he won’t be able to track our location.”
“That suggests you not going to perform it here.”
“We’re not. This place is too big, has too many distractions, and would be too hard to protect. Besides, the moon’s full tonight, and her power would help the strength of our spells.”
Which meant we’d be heading outside at around eleven to take advantage of the witching hour, which was between midnight to one.
“It’s not so much the summoning that’s worrying me but rather the fact you’ll be doing it alone. Wouldn’t it be better to disperse the load and any possible counter the wraith or his demon might have set?”
She hesitated. “We haven’t time to—”
“Your dad is a strong spirit talker and could undoubtedly get hold of another at short notice. Not only will three of you disperse the overall load of the summoning, but if the demon does come at you, you’ve two other summoners present to stop him.”
She hesitated and then nodded. “That’s sensible. Besides, my dad would have my hide if I tried this alone and things went wrong.”
I smiled. “It seems the years he spent drilling in the need for caution has not been totally undone by time spent with me and my somewhat cavalier attitude to self-protection.”
She laughed and pushed up from the stool. “I’ll go contact Mom and get things started. You might want to grab a shower and rest up after you finish that last sandwich. It could be a long night.”
I nodded and, as she headed into her bedroom to start making calls, poured myself another cup of tea. Then I pulled out my phone and called Aiden.
I just needed to hear his voice.
“Hey,” he said softly. “How’s it going?”
