I cringed, and I wondered if I should just have made a stupid wish, like for a box of cookies or something. My thoughts went to Al and how he had given me my marks, and then Newt. "Newt didn't touch me," I said, feeling the mark heavy on the bottom of my foot.
"You know this... how?" he said, making me feel even better.
Oh, God. My stomach tightened at the idea of letting Minias out. Ceri could hold a circle bigger than my kitchen circle. She could make an airlock of sorts. "Ceri?"
"I can hold him, but to trust his word he won't hurt you? I... I don't like this."
It had been hardly a whisper, and I pulled my gaze from Minias's satisfied stance. Her eyes were worried, and she looked frightened. "There is nothing else I can do," I said. "And he won't hurt me." Sandals squeaking, I turned to him. "Will you?"
Flowing into a relaxed stance, he actually bowed. "I promise I won't hurt you. Until I leave, that is."
"Promise you'll go the instant the mark is made," I countered. "Alone and leaving me untouched."
He straightened and touched his hat to be sure it was in the right spot. "As you say."
Yeah. Right. I glanced at Ceri, who nodded, though she had yet to regain her color. Her motions subdued and unhappy, she took a piece of magnetic chalk from her waistband and, with a single unbroken line, sketched a circle a foot outside of mine. Jenks's wings hummed in agitation, and, steadying myself, I stepped over it. The demon watched it all in a bored satisfaction. Why am I doing this again?
"I'm going in with you," Jenks said, his wings cooling my neck as he hovered beside me.
"No you aren't." I didn't have time for this.
"Like you can stop me?"
"Jenks..." But it was too late, and I gave Ceri a nasty look when her circle went up, trapping him with me.
"You need someone to watch your back," she said, not at all apologetic.
Oh, man ... I thought, eyeing her through the sheet of ever-after between us. Once she got that hard slant to her eyes, arguments were useless. Jenks landed on my shoulder with a smug harrumph. I smelled the oil he used to clean his garden sword, and I wasn't surprised he had bared the lethal blade. "Let's kick this pig," he said, trying to lighten the mood.
Kick the pig? How about kick the witch? She apparently needs some sense knocked into her. I turned to Minias. "You got any problems with this?"
Taking a symbolic step backward, Minias gestured for me to come through.
Steadying myself, I reached to touch the inner bubble, breaking it. I stiffened as the energy needed to hold the barrier suddenly flowed into me, filling my chi before slipping back to the line out back. I didn't let go of the line, wanting it in case I had to do something fast, but it was a relief to bring the levels coursing through me to a more reasonable level. Jenks's wings fanned my neck, and my hair ticked me.
Minias breathed deep as if cataloging my scent now that it wasn't tainted by a sheet of ever-after, and my stomach knotted. "It's a pleasure, Rachel Mariana Morgan," he said.
My blood quickened at the new sound of his voice, deeper almost. "Just Rachel, okay," I said, hoping I wasn't making as big a mistake as I thought I was. Minias smiled. Great. Another charming demon. I sort of prefer the insane ones. My eyes darted to the clock. I had to get this done before Ivy got back. I jerked when he moved, but all Minias did was pick up the knife I'd left on the counter behind him. Oh, God, I'm going to be sick.
Jenks took flight when Minias extended the blade to me, hilt first. "Cut me with it while saying abyssus abyssum invocat, and it should trigger the curse."
My hand shook as I took the dagger from his long fingers. It was a curse? Well, duh, I thought, recalling that my demon marks had transformed along with me when I'd been a wolf. Swallowing, I pulled my gaze up to his curly hair and his eyes, so very wrong. "That's it?"
He nodded with no expression, and my tension rose another notch. "It's a public curse. To do it longhand would require some time and be pointless."
I accepted the dagger. It felt heavy and smooth in my grip, the ornate carvings obvious against my fingers. "Who gets the imbalance?" I asked.
At that, Minias started. "You know about the cost?"
"Of course she knows about that!" Jenks said. "You think you're dealing with a sophomoric leviter?"
He scowled, and I smiled, admittedly a sour one. Ceri moved so I could see her. She was smug, pleased her student was holding her own. "Who gets the smut?" I asked again.
Minias ran a finger down the embroidered edge of his sleeve. "The wearer of it. But unlike most curses, the smut vanishes along with the mark. Unless the wearer dies before paying it."
Ceri nodded, saying he was telling the truth. My legs were shaking. I had to get rid of my demon marks. I didn't know how much longer I could keep my body and soul together if demons kept showing up in my church.
Dagger in my grip, I stared at him. I was going to have to cut him. Demon magic sucked. "Tell me where you want it," I said.
Minias drew back, his purple robes shifting about his ankles. "You're asking me?"
"Well, unless you want a big R on your forehead."
It almost looked like he wanted to smile. "Behind my ear, if you would."
I ran my gaze up his formidable height. "You're going to have to bend over."
Jenks snickered. "You want some lubricant? Rachel's going to screw you over good."
"Jenks!" I exclaimed, then stifled a shriek when Minias swooped forward and, before Jenks could react, grabbed me about the waist. Twisting, he plunked my butt on the counter.
"Can you reach me now?" he said, his eyes happy that he had scared me. Damn it, I wasn't safe in here, I don't care what he'd agreed to.
Ceri paced outside the circle, and Jenks was shedding white-hot sparkles. "Don't touch me," I said, my voice high as I sat frozen on the counter, shaking as I gripped my knife. "You touch me again, and I'll... I'll do something!"
"This is the most backward bargain I've ever made," Minias muttered sulkily, not impressed with my threat. He glanced at Jenks hovering out of his reach with his sword bared, then moved his attention to me. "Well?"
My hand was still shaking. He was at the right height, and nervous, I reached out with my free hand and brushed his curly hair aside to show the pale skin behind it. I could smell the ever-after on him, but combined with the herbs around me it sort of smelled nice. I let his soft hair slip through my fingers, then pulled his curls back once more, enjoying the sensation.
"Touch me like that again," Minias said in a low voice, "and I'll rip your fingers off."
I glanced at Ceri and remembered her twisted affections for her demon captor. "Sorry." Immediately I strengthened my hold on the line. Steeling myself, I felt my grip on the knife go slick with sweat. "I'm really sorry," I said, then made a quick downward cut.
Normal-looking blood flowed, and Jenks's wings hummed in agitation. Minias stiffened. "Invoke the curse, you idiot!" he snapped.
Ceri was standing helplessly outside her circle, and before I lost my nerve, I said the words. A curious sensation pulled through me, like when I had called Minias the first time. I was tapping in to a communal spell, and it gave me the willies. My lips parted, and Jenks swore as the cut mended right before me, a line of scar tissue showing when the smear of ever-after vanished.
"Holy crap!" Jenks blurted, and Minias jerked away. Three steps from me, he felt the skin behind his ear and frowned. Remembering the knife in my hand, I dropped it. The clatter of it hitting the counter was loud.
"You promised you'd leave," I reminded him. "Now."
His goat-slitted eyes fixed on me, and though I knew it was impossible, I felt as if he were seeing my past, or maybe my future. Face unreadable, Minias leaned close. The cloying odor of burnt amber mixed with the dry scent of his silk robes, and I refused to shrink away. "I can change my eyes if I work at it," he murmured, and I jerked back.
"It could be you didn't hear my voice because you're an unregistered user," he added, as if not having said his previous words. "You need to change that."
Ceri was pale, and, feeling ill, I said, "I don't want to be in a demon registry. Go."
Minias touched the crucible, his fingers coming away with ash. "It's too late. You put yourself on it when you called me the first time. Either update your information so I can reach you, or I have every right to pop over here anytime I think I have a way to remove my mark."
My head came up, and I stared, sick with dread. Damn. Was that why he had agreed to wear the mark in the first place? Minias's eyes glittered with success, and I dropped my head into my cupped hand. Double damn. "How do I register?" I said flatly, and he snickered.
"You need a password. Connect to your calling circle as if you're going to contact me, and while connected to aline, think your given name, and then follow it with your password. QED."
Simple enough. "Get a password," I said, feeling weary. "Okay. I can do that."
Minias was eyeing me from under some curls that had escaped from his hat. He was silent for a moment, and then, as if he didn't really want to, he crossed his arms over his chest and said, "You have a common name that everyone calls you and a password that you keep to yourself. Pick it carefully. That's how people pull demons over the lines."