Demons of Good and Evil by Kim Harrison

            Lee took another picture of the pentagram on the hearth. “You don’t have to use the ring,” he said. “Just make it. I’ve never seen a spell that uses a Möbius strip.”

            I went to shut the book, but Bis flicked his tail into the pages, stopping me. “Not happening,” I said. My voice was calm, but I felt sick as I imagined a stream of mystics too powerful for a demon to handle, much less a witch or elf. No need to tell Lee that twisting the curse requires the death of the spell caster. My reputation was bad enough already.

            “Mmmm.” Bis’s focus darted over the page. “Severing the connection to the ley lines is what turns the ring from curse to cure. Reconnecting to the line again flips it back to curse. You need the lens to do it, not just the invocation phrase.”

            Which probably means flipping the ring from curse to cure will likely kill the person doing it as well, I thought, knowing I was right when Bis nodded at my sick look.

            “You can read ancient elven?” Trent asked, clearly surprised, and Bis blushed a deep red.

            “A little,” Bis said, then frowned at Jenks when he dropped down onto the page, where his dust set Hodin’s notes to glow.

            “Hodin’s notes say he was grooming someone with the initial S to make a ring,” Bis said, his pebbly brow pinched as he studied the book in my hand. “Stephanie? It’s a good thing you put him away.”

            “The Turn take him,” I whispered as I recalled the theme book full of notes regarding her. Having put Hodin into a tulpa suddenly seemed way too good for him.

            Jenks’s dust went a thin yellow. “I bet Glenn could find out if there have been any missing high-magic users in the last six months,” he said, and my gaze went to the pentagram before the hearth. The spilled wax looked like melted flesh, and I stifled a shudder.

            Trent’s finger tracing a line of print made the book glow. “Bis, what’s your opinion here? Could this be the phrase to invoke the cure?”

            Hope lit through me when Bis nodded. “This? This is it?” I said as I found the Latin amid the elven gibberish. Humus, fluenta, accenderaet, I mused, translating the first three words into earth, water, and sun. Aer, aether, lucem, and spatium were the last four, which loosely meant air, ether, light, and the-nothing-that-was-all. They were the seven main chakras and, in hindsight, obvious. A thrill of anticipation raced through me. I had the cure.

            “The words, together with the ring, summon and direct mystics to get stilled chakras spinning again,” Trent said, and then he hesitated, taking the book from me and flipping the pages back and forth. “Bis, double-check me. A simple circle will protect the person summoning them, right? We’re not going to bring the Goddess into this, are we?”

            “I don’t think so,” Bis said, and Jenks snickered when his voice cracked. “But I’m going to go with you anyway,” he added, his tail tightening across my shoulders.

            I stared at Trent for an entire three seconds, a wealth of possibilities making my fingers itch. I have the cure. See, Vivian? I am a good person. “Sorry, guys. Bis and I have to go.”

            “Count me in.” Jenks’s dust was a cheerful gold. “How about you, Cookie Man? You got time to spot Rachel while she does some spelling?”

            “Let me call Quen.” Clearly pleased, Trent reached for his phone. “Five minutes.”

            “Wait, you’ve actually got one of these rings?” Lee said, eyes wide. “You’re kidding, right? Can I see it? Where did you get it?”

            Bis was practically humming with anticipation, and I touched his foot. “Al has it,” I lied, not knowing why. “And no way in hell,” I said, jumping when Trent snapped the tiny book in his hand closed and handed it to me again. I froze, startled out of my next thought as the book seemed to warm and settle, accepting my touch now that Trent had made it obvious I was to be trusted. Like a demon servant shelving books? Ancient indeed. “I have to go uncurse Cassie’s friends.”

            “What about your porch ward?” Lee asked as he headed for the hall—only to jerk to a halt when Trent stopped him.

            “Give me the lens,” Trent said, and Lee smirked.

            “You little moss wipe!” Furious, Jenks hovered between them. “You tried to lift it?”