I positioned Rutherford and Ammon in front of the table with their backs to the beacon and the stairs.
“Okay,” I said to Glo. “Do your thing.”
“Undo, undo what’s been done,” Glo read from the book. “All spells be cast aside, all demons be banished…”
“Oh, um, excuse me,” Rutherford said. “That won’t work. We don’t want all demons banished. Ha-ha. No, no. This man holds the sleeping Prince of Avarice. The sacred demon Mammon is poised to emerge and assume his kingdom.”
“Silly me,” Glo said. “What was I thinking? Let me start over. Undo, undo what’s been done. All spells be cast aside, all demons with the exception of the Prince of Avarice our good friend Mammon be banished.” Glo looked at Rutherford and he nodded his approval. “Lickety lickety down it goes, round and round, step aside, spell be gone.”
Ammon was panting and drooling.
“Now what?” Rutherford said. “Is that it?”
“We have to get him to drink a teaspoon of the potion. A
nd then we have to pour it in a circle around him. And then when he steps out of the circle the spell should be broken.”
“Should be?” Rutherford said.
“Hey,” Glo said. “This isn’t a cake recipe. This is hocus-pocus.”
I thought I heard the trapdoor open and close downstairs. No one else seemed to notice.
Glo poured out a teaspoon and offered it to Ammon. He sniffed it and growled.
“Maybe he needs just a tad more tranq,” Glo said to Rutherford.
“I left the dart gun in the car,” Rutherford said. “Just get on with it.”
“Have you got any rawhide treats with you? Any bacon bits?”
“Is it essential that he drink it?” Rutherford asked.
“Yes! This isn’t cough syrup I’ve got here. This is spider legs and monkey gonads. It’s not like you can get this at Rite Aid. It’s a critical part of the ceremony.”
“Try again.”
Glo held the spoon out to Ammon, and Ammon knocked it out of her hand. He sniffed at her jacket and growled.
“Bad dog,” Glo said to Ammon. “Sit!”
Ammon lunged at Glo and sunk his teeth into the hem of her jacket. Glo grabbed Ripple’s and smacked Ammon on the top of his head with the book. Ammon growled and tugged at the jacket.
“It’s rabbit,” I said to Glo. “Take it off and give it to him before he mauls you.”
Glo shrugged out of the jacket, and Ammon ran to the other side of the room with it. Diesel appeared in the middle of the confusion and grabbed Ammon by the scruff of his neck. Ammon yelped and dropped the jacket.
“Search him,” Diesel said to me.
Two red spots appeared on Rutherford’s cheeks. “Foul! Foul! This wasn’t allowed. This is terrible. I can’t allow this. Oh my goodness.”
I ran my hands over Ammon. “The stone isn’t on him,” I said.
“We feared the stone would interfere with today’s treatment, so we stored it someplace safe,” Rutherford said.
“So then you don’t mind if we search you, too?” Diesel said.
“This is outrageous. I’m appalled. Truly appalled. You people have no honor. We had an agreement.”