The night air was balmy, but chills trailed sharp claws along my flesh.
I held up my lantern, trying not to cringe away from the shadows dancing around the light. Summoning a demon—in a dank cave where my screams couldn’t be heard if something went wrong—wasn’t exactly how I would’ve envisioned my life three weeks ago.
Back then I would’ve happily spent my nights creating new recipes for Sea & Vine. I would have read a steamy romance, and wished a certain fratello would forsake his oath to God for one night and worship me instead. That was before I found my sister’s desecrated body.
My current wishes centered on two things: finding out who murdered my twin, and why.
Well, three wishes if you counted my dream of gutting the bastard who killed Vittoria. That was more than a wish, though. That was a promise.
Satisfied there wasn’t anything lurking in the cave with me—like rats or snakes and other unpleasant surprises—I set my lantern on a flat rock and my basket of supplies on the packed dirt. I’d studied the summoning spell until my eyes crossed, but shivered a little anyway as I pulled out the items I needed.
Black candles, fresh fern leaves, animal bones, a tiny jar of animal blood, and a bit of gold. I didn’t have much of the latter lying around, so I brought the gold serpent dagger with me. It seemed only fitting that the mysterious stranger’s blade would be used to hunt him down.
If everything went smoothly, a lesser demon would be contained within the circle. I knew it wouldn’t be able to leave the designated area, but I was still less than excited to be in a darkened place alone with a monster from Hell. Even one easily controlled and magically bound.
I glanced over the sheet of carefully written notes again, stalling. For the summoning to be successful, I needed to follow the rules of the ritual precisely. Any deviations could unleash the demon in this realm. First, I needed to set up the circle, alternating the candles, ferns, and bones. Next, I’d set the tiny jar of blood inside the circle’s boundary. Then I had to formally invite a demon to join me, using Latin, their native tongue.
I hesitated on that point. Latin wasn’t my favorite subject Nonna tried teaching us. There were so many words that were similar but whose definitions were vastly different. One slight shift in meaning could bring disaster. It would’ve been less worrisome if I had more than a base understanding of the dark arts. Or if Vittoria’s summoning spell also included a trusted ancient phrase to use instead of simply indicating one was needed based on the witch’s intent.
My true intention was to find out what my sister had been doing before her death, then track down the person who murdered her and kill him. Violence and blood vengeance wouldn’t be the politest way to open a summoning, though. And I worried about the repercussions it could have. Luckily, I’d given great thought about what I wanted from the demon. I didn’t want to offer it any opportunity to escape the circle, and I certainly didn’t want it to harm me, so I decided on aevitas ligati in aeternus protego. Which roughly translated to “Bound forever in eternal protection.”
Forever seemed like a wise idea when it came to making sure a demon couldn’t leave the circle. And if it was forced to protect me, it couldn’t very well attack me. For the final portion of the spell, I needed to prepare an exit. Apparently, demons were creatures of strict rules and had to adhere to them, so if I invited one to join me, I had to formally uninvite it and send it back to its realm. Good manners were advised, but I wasn’t sure how well I could carry out that part.
I took a deep breath. “All right, Emilia. You can do this.”
I slowly set objects down in a circle. Bone. Fern. Candle. With varying lengths, they looked like rays of an occult sun. I lit the candles and walked around the perimeter, clutching a bird’s skull to my chest, the final piece I needed to make it complete. I hesitated.
If I placed this last bone in the formation, the circle would be set.
I inhaled, then slowly exhaled. I had no idea what kind of demon would answer my call. Some looked human and others were walking nightmares, according to Nonna. She never gave us specifics, which I wasn’t sure was a blessing now. My mind was exceptional at picturing fang-toothed, claw-tipped, wicked creatures that crab-walked backward on multiple legs.
Clouds floated across the moon, creating a distorted effect on the cavern walls. Chills caressed my spine again. The goddess of storm and sea wasn’t pleased.
I stared down at the skull I held, wondering if this was really the path I should take. Maybe I should blow out the candles and take myself back home and go to bed, forget about demons, witch hunters, and the devil. Nonna said once darkness was invited in, trouble shortly followed.