Page 56 of Demon's Bluff
“Teneo!”someone shouted gleefully, and I put my arm across Elyse’s chest like my mom used to do when she had to stop the car fast.
“Got ’em!” someone else said, and the three fleeing people cried out as black coils of energy wrapped around them, yanking them into an unmoving knot…a scant few feet from the sidewalk.
“Not bad. You actually saw daylight,” the first voice said, and Elyse cringed when two officers hopped to the pavement, inches from us. “The last you’re going to see for months, numb nuts!” he added derisively.
But they didn’t spot us, and as they casually walked to the still-squirming people, I drew Elyse to her feet and we slunk behind the dumpster. Again, not my go-to hiding spot, but it would work.Please work.
“Can you tap a line yet?” I whispered as we wedged between the filthy container and the cold brick wall, and she shook her head, hand trembling when she held up her wrist in explanation. There was a strip of charmed silver around it, and she watched, anxious, until I dug in my bag for my clippers and cut it.
The snap was loud, and we both froze as the two officers continued to cajole and berate the three people shuffling back to detention.
“How about now?” I asked, truly concerned, and Elyse winced.
“Not yet,” she whispered. “Two days, maybe.”
It was about what I had expected, and I exhaled as I leaned to see if the camera was still out. It was.
The fire door shut, and the alley became quiet. I worked my cautious way out from behind the dumpster, scanning for any more cameras. There’d been only the one when I worked in shipping my first six months in the I.S., but that was ages ago, even if I was two years into the past.
“Like you really care if I can tap a line,” Elyse muttered, and guilt pricked me.
“I didn’t know that it would burn,” I said. “And I don’t remember asking you on this magic carpet ride to begin with. And yes, I do care. I’ve burned my synapses before, and it’s awful. Two days sounds about right. Don’t push it. You’ll make it worse.”
“I know how to handle sensory burns,” she snapped, and frustrated, I started for the bright rectangle at the end of the alley, knowing she’d follow. I was her ticket home.I hope.
“Ah, we can get a cab at the corner,” Elyse said, voice subdued as she joined me.
“And go where?” My voice was harsher than I’d intended, and I felt a surge of sympathy as she took a long step to come even. She was cold, and alone, and in an ugly pair of sweats.
Speaking of which…“Hey, hold up,” I said as we scuffed to a halt, the sidewalk and the rest of the world three steps from us. “You are a moving target dressed like that. I can glamour you if your coven sensibilities can tolerate a demon charm.” Yeah, it had sounded a little bitter, but I had yanked her ass out of I.S. lockup, and she hadn’t even said thanks.
“Demon?” She looked at me as if I was trying to entrap her. “I’m not taking the smut.”
I rocked back, arms over my chest. “Wow. Just wow,” I grumped. But I didn’t want to get caught, and she was in institution gray sweats. Irate, I motioned for her to stay where she was as I dug about in my bag to find the stone. A sudden prick of pain lanced my finger and I jerked back.
Jenks!I thought, utterly terrified as I pulled my bag open wider. But it was only Elyse’s coven pin snuggled up next to the glamour stone, and my shoulders slumped as I took them both out. The pixy had stowed away before. It would have been awful if he had again—awful even as I desperately missed him. Fingers shaking, I handed the pin to her.
“I think this is yours,” I said, and Elyse’s eyes widened as she practically snatched it away. “Sharps found it in the water. I’m guessing it fell off when you lost your clothes.”
“Oh, my gosh,” she said, sounding all of fifteen as she rubbed the dried muck from it. “Thank you.”
That’s what I get a thank-you for?“You’re not going to wear it, are you?” I said as she began to fasten it to her collar. It would look utterly ridiculous on a pair of sweats.
“I am the lead member of the coven,” she said haughtily, and I eyed her until indecision pinched her features. “But I see what you mean,” she added as she fastened it to the inside of her sweatshirt instead, hidden.
Satisfied she wasn’t going to move, I looped the glamour stone over my neck and peered out of the alley, studying the passing people.
A woman in shorts and a tank stood across the street waiting for her dog to finish his business. She was about the right age, and knowing Elyse would try to find a way to use it against me, I tapped a line and peered through the stone at the woman.“A priori,”I intoned, feeling the tingle behind my eyes as her image went into holding, so to speak.
I turned to Elyse, and her eyebrows rose in question.“A posteriori,”I said softly, then blew through the stone.“Omnia mutantur,”I finished, and a pulling sensation raked through me, stiffening my spine as a haze of my aura settled over her and soaked in, taking the image with it.
Elyse shuddered, clearly feeling it. “Thatis a glamour curse?” she said as I took a quick peek at her through the stone, satisfied by the result.
Head down, I tucked the stone behind my shirt. “Yeah. I didn’t even have to kill anything,” I said sourly. “You look like yourself to me, but everyone else will see her, right down to her shoes.”
Elyse followed my gaze across the street. “The woman with the dog? That’s got to leave a mark.”
What she meant was smut, and I scanned the street, not liking how busy it was getting. “Your aura is clean, Madam Coven Leader. All the benefit, none of the cost. Your aura issafe.”