Page 71 of Demon's Bluff

“Perhaps he remembers me.” I couldn’t beat her magic. I had to baffle her with bullshit.

“Remembers?” Newt’s gaze flicked past me to Elyse, the young woman blessedly quiet for a change. “I don’t remember you, but that’s not unusual.” She squinted. “Possibly because you are both…glamoured?”

Oh, yeah. I’m a blonde.I exchanged a nervous glance with Elyse before taking the purchased amulet from around my neck and tossing it to my bag. I wouldn’t be able to reinstate Elyse’s disguise until we returned to the library, but if we got what I came for, we could go home as soon as we got there.“Finis,”I said boldly, and Newt’s lips twitched.

“You dabble in demons, little witch?”

“No, but they tend to dabble in me.” I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, glad it was its usual color again.Now, if only I can get rid of this sequined shirt.“It’s good to see you,” I said, surprised to find it was true. I did miss her, as odd, dangerous, and erratic as she was. By becoming the elves’ Goddess, she had saved my life. I could never repay her.

Newt glanced up at Adagio as she came forward another step to study Elyse behind her double circle. “I think you mean that. You brought me someone to play with?”

Elyse took a breath, and I put up a hand, wanting her to stay quiet. “You have something I need. I’m here to bargain for it. She’s not for sale; she’s here to hopefully learn something.”

But Newt was shifting, her body growing smaller, thinner. A shock of red hair mirroring mine grew, and her robe vanished. Dressed in shorts and a white T-shirt, she leaned her scrawny arms on the railing circling the stage, freckles melting into existence as she grinned at Elyse. “Is she fun?” Newt said, her voice now high and young. “I’d give a lot for fun.”

“Sweet mother of God,” Elyse whispered, and I grimaced when she pulled the pin on that over-the-counter spell and a flimsy circle rose up around her.Great.

“She’s not for sale,” I said again. “She’s here to learn how to stay alive while dealing with demons.”

Newt laughed, the high giggle changing to a mature chuckle as she pushed off from the railing and became herself again. “How is that going?” she asked coyly.

“So far so good. But she imagines she knows more than she does. She doesn’t speak for herself. I speak for her. And I will continue to do so until she stops thinking that the best way to deal with a demon is to circle him and make shitty demands.”

Newt cocked her head at my obvious bitterness. “Mmmm. And what do you think?”

I dropped back, inviting her up onto the stage. “It’s complicated, but as you see, she’s the only one in a circle.”

Newt eased up a step and halted. Her black eyes narrowed, and I felt my heart stutter. “That’s my book,” she whispered, and I followed her gaze to my shoulder bag tucked behind me.

Pulse fast, I snatched it up, scrambling to catch the book when it fell free. “It’s not yours yet.”

But Newt had moved, and she now stood on the stage, her hem shaking. Unfocused magic snapped in her robe, and it was only the unknown of my talents that kept her from spelling me. “You stole it,” she intoned, a black haze spilling from her fingers. Mystics sparkled at her fingertips, and I felt my face go cold. “Give it back.”

“It’s still on your shelf,” I said, refusing to move. “It’s yours until you give it to me. Finder keeper, writer weeper.”

Newt’s jaw clenched as I tried to confuse her. “Indeed…”

“This isn’t working,” Elyse whispered.

“Are you alive?” I muttered. “It’s working.”

A patter of stones fell from the ceiling, and Newt glanced up at Adagio. “I will consider the incongruity that my book can be in two places at once as a possibility. What do you want?”

My grip tightened on the book. That she’d recognized it would help if I needed to give it up. I think. “I, ah, twisted one of the curses in it in error. I need an Atlantean mirror to break it.”

“And a stasis charm,” Elyse blurted, sash bells jingling.

Newt’s lip curled up in a smile. “All that for a book I apparently still have?”

I shook my head. “I’m keeping the book. You don’t need two, and this one is mine. The stasis charm isn’t a must-have, but the Atlantean mirror is.”

“It sure as hellisnecessary!” Elyse exclaimed, but Newt had dismissed her, her expression calm as she leaned against the Madonna statue.

That is, until a high-pitched whine sounded, and the demon’s aura flashed into existence.

Newt pushed from the statue, little arcs of black lightning popping as they snapped around her. “I don’t remember you. I’m done here.”

“Wait! Newt, the mirror,” I blurted.