Demons of Good and Evil by Kim Harrison

            “Elyse, don’t!” the youngest boy in black robes begged, and Lee grabbed her arm.

            “Stop!” Lee demanded, and the woman, Elyse, apparently, jerked her arm free. “We are not here to break the law,” he said, but his attitude said different. “We are here to curse the demons into the ever-after. Your task is to gather the witches of Cincinnati into a functioning coven. If you engage her, we will never garner enough people to spell the demons into exile.”

            “It’s a curse, Lee, not a spell. Get it right,” I said, and Elyse’s brow furrowed. Angry, she pulled from him again, sullen as the youngest coven member tried to talk to her. The plaza only seemed empty. Enough people were huddled in doorways and under the overhangs to make an effective coven. Even the news vans had found a dubious shelter in the lee of the stage.

            I know how you feel, babe, I thought when Elyse shook her head in frustration as the boy at her elbow begged her to stop. The demons were in trouble. Their idea to close the lines to translocation travel would give them the isolation they wanted—needed, perhaps—but it would fail. They were too few to manage it. It wasn’t as if they could convince an entire city’s demographic of witches to help them.

            I blinked, going still at a sudden thought. True, the demons couldn’t gather enough communal energy to close the lines. But they might have enough to bounce the coven’s own curse back on them, I thought, pulse quickening. Making witches the focus of the curse would leave the demons free to travel as well as exile the witches to reality. The demons would be happy with that, and it might drum up enough anti-coven sentiment that someone might consider that Lee had killed Vivian, not me.

            My breath came in fast. Trent’s eyebrows rose. He knew I had an idea. “What?” he asked, but I had already sent a sliver of my awareness into the demon collective. Dali?

            “I will not ignore that she murdered Vivian!” Elyse said, pointing at me. But I knew how to fix this, and excitement tingled to my fingertips. Breath held, I glanced at the I.S. agents standing with David’s people, both sides waiting, both smart enough to not want to actually engage. In the foggy patches of my thoughts, I could hear the demons arguing, their quarrels going in circles. Dali!

            “I’m with Elyse,” the youngest coven member said, the last two coven members at his shoulders. “We can’t fight Morgan and twist the spell at the same time. Subdue Morgan first, then curse the demons. If not today, tomorrow.”

            “Why aren’t they arresting her?” Elyse exclaimed as she pointed at the I.S. “She’s wanted for murder. They have a warrant!”

            “Because they know I wouldn’t kill Vivian,” I said, and Elyse spun to me. “She was my friend. Elyse, please. Lee is using you. He knows the coven can’t best me. That’s why he’s trying to curse me to the ever-after. Don’t do this. Ask yourself, Who is going to gain the most?”

            Dali! I shouted into my thoughts, starting to get ticked. This wouldn’t work if the demons weren’t ready.

            Elyse wasn’t listening to me, either, and Trent pulled me closer as the woman’s long black hair begin to lift, sparkling with the energy she was gathering. “I did not take the coven’s oath to talk. Per fas et nefas!” she shouted, looking magnificent as she threw the spell, red and purple twining into a binding force to twist and rend.

            “Got it!” I shouted to keep Quen clear, simultaneously sending an arc of unfocused energy out to meet it. They hit with a roar, shaking the ground. I staggered, finding my balance as I pulled the energy to me instead of letting it dissipate. Absorbing it, I made it mine.

            “Rachel!” Trent called, and then another thunderous boom rocked between the buildings as he deflected a second blast.

            But I stood firm, breath shallow as I took in Elyse’s anger-driven energy. Her frustration made a bitter tang on her aura. It lingered in her magic as I funneled most into the ground, keeping enough to make my hair float and my fingers tingle. “Elyse.” Hands fisted, I stepped free of Quen and Trent. “I didn’t kill Vivian. Lee—”

            “Down!” Trent shouted.

            I dropped and rolled. Trent was there when I rose, and I started, surprised to see his circle around us. That is, until I saw the stone melted where I’d been. Damn, girl!

            “How do you want to play it?” Trent said, his attention fixed on Elyse. Lee had spun her around, arguing with her. Quen stood ready, the dark elf looking like Death himself as green and black dripped from his hands to hiss against the stone. The I.S. was beginning to move, no longer able to ignore us, and pushing forward with a smattering of witches in front.