Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 87185 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87185 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
“Lives,” she says, looking back at me again. “Spells like that are dangerous and sometimes, someone has to sacrifice themselves.”
“Whoa, wait, what?” I curl the fingers of my right hand into the center of my palm, pressing against the still-healing puncture wound. It hurts, throbbing with every rapid beat of my heart.
“Binding a demon into a certain place…” She hesitates, looking away from me again. “Your family, the Blackwoods, were involved in several ritual bindings.”
“They really were hunters,” I say, mostly to myself. “What are the odds, right?”
“I’m starting to think it has nothing to do with odds.”
“These rituals…the bindings. What exactly is the purpose?”
“The purpose is to lock up what they couldn’t kill and then make sure it didn’t walk away.” She meets my eyes, looking farther than just at me. She sees me, all of my searching. “They kept many demons contained.”
“Where, though?” I ask. “I’m confused.”
Marie slowly takes in a breath and lets it out. “They’re called pocket dimensions. They don’t exist in this realm.”
“What?” I ask, though I heard her correctly. “I mean, I know what you said, but what?”
“It’s a complicated spell, and that itself isn’t technically against a rule, but it’s not something many are willing to help with. Because when you create a pocket dimension, oftentimes someone has to stay behind and seal it from the inside out.”
My lips part and I don’t realize I’m leaning forward, clinging to her every word.
“Inside that pocket dimension,” she goes on, “is a sealed and isolated place to hold a demon.”
A supernatural prison cell. My chest tightens. “And they can just stay there forever?”
“They’re supposed to.”
I shift my weight, straightening my shoulders. “What happens if they try to escape?”
Her eyes narrow ever so slightly. “Why do you ask?”
I shrug, trying to look casual, but it’s too late for that. “Curiosity. It’s not every day you hear about demons being locked up.”
“Curiosity is rarely simple,” she says and I think she’s talking to herself. “But if they try to escape, they won’t be able to. Not on their own.”
The little pin prick on the center of my palm burns. I force myself to take a slow breath in through my nose and out through my mouth.
“But theoretically, they could have someone bust them out, right?”
“Yeah. Theoretically. I’ve heard of demons being able to open a window or crack a door, so to speak. It’s not enough for them to escape but it is enough for…” She looks down, eyes lingering this time.
“Enough for what?” I ask, forcing my voice to be steady.
“Enough for power to slip through or for someone on the other side to tap in.”
My stomach twists. Everything she says tracks with what we’re seeing with Vaelric.
“So if someone knows there’s a demon trapped in a pocket dimension, they could use it?”
“In a sense. You don’t control the demon, like you can’t have it go out and do your bidding. But yeah, they could use the power for, well, terrible things.”
“The Order,” I whisper, shaking my head. “They’d love to get their hands on something like this.”
Marie lifts her chin, brown eyes locking with mine. She told me that her coven has a particularly jaded past with the Order, letting me know she’s not their biggest fan. But to accuse them of using a demon for personal gain…it’s a big accusation.
The a/c in the cafe kicks on, blowing cold air right at me. It’s hot enough outside for this to feel good, but it just makes goosebumps break out along my skin. I cross my arms over my chest and ask another question before she has time to switch the subject. “What keeps the door from opening all the way?”
“Every dimension has a key.”
“A key?” I echo, so freaking grateful she can’t hear my heart beating right now.
“Yes. It would be marked by the demon’s sigil and enchanted, of course. As long as the key exists, the demon won’t get out.”
“Can a key be destroyed?”
Her gaze sharpens. “It depends on who is trying to destroy it.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, anything can be broken, but it would be pretty damn hard to break something that was forged with blood magic.”
“That’s reassuring at least.”
“Yes.” She takes a sip of her tea. “Unless you got a witch from the same bloodline to break it.”
Her words hit like a punch to the gut. The same bloodline. I don’t want to believe it, but the truth is there, burning in the back of my mind. Everything was orchestrated from the very start.
I have more questions but I don’t want to ask and hear my words spoken out loud. Because if I do, then I can’t deny it and I don’t want to have to face the truth.
“You hit on something when you said the Order would love to get their hands on something like this. It’s another reason the Grand Coven frowns upon this kind of magic. In the wrong hands, a demon in a cage could be devastating. They couldn’t free it, but they would definitely use it.”