Cary felt like a new demoness. Not only did she have new clothing on, well new to her anyway, she had found a new body she could adopt, one that bridged the gap between her mortal nature and that of the Infernim. Better yet, she’d brought Emilia further into her thrall and discovered a potent magic hiding in the girl’s unusually meek form.

Emilia’s magic towered over the rage-filled hill that approached the room, but Cary could sense that she had no idea how to use her power. Panic filled Emilia’s chest as Cary offered to kill her guardian. In truth, the decision belonged to Cary, but she could tell from proximity to Emilia and from the girl’s memories that Cary had to handle her with some delicacy. Besides, Cary had lived for millennia without the ability to make her own choices. She’d be damned before she simply stole them from Emilia, even if they were her’s by right.

Waiting too long to make her decision, Emilia shook at the knock on the door. Temptation to end the horrible woman outside filled Cary’s mind with purpose. But at the last second, Emilia shook her head. “Don’t kill her! Help me hide!”

Cary’s own powers still had a frustrating block placed on them. However, Emilia’s possessed no such limitation. Reaching out to her thrall, Cary embraced Emilia and whispered into her ear. “Recite the spell exactly as I tell you.”

Emilia was compliant in Cary’s arms. The demoness felt the flow of power leave the girl as they both faded. It took just long enough for Cynthia to grow impatient and open the door regardless of the lack of response. Cary could tell from the veil thrown over her own eyes that she and Emilia had turned invisible. Cynthia peered into the room and for a moment, Cary worried. Her spell didn’t shift them into a different plane of reality, it only folded the light around them. If they moved too quickly or if Cynthia walked into the room to investigate, she might discover them clutching each other.

Shaking in Cary’s grasp, Emilia twitched in a way that made Cary raise her own hand and gently clasp it over Emilia’a mouth. Cynthia narrowed her eyes as if she’d heard something from the pair. But after a sweep of the room with her neck craned, Cynthia slammed the door and retreated down the hallway toward the shop.

Cary left her hand in place until the threat of Cynthia hearing them had passed. When the door at the top of the stairs slammed, she slipped her hand down. “You should let me slay her. Your life would be easier.”

Emilia shook, the fear of capture rattled her and the fear stink flooded out of her pores. “Maybe. Maybe I think I was wrong when I summoned you to do it.” Her voice dropped and Emilia’s body stilled for a moment. “And maybe that would be too easy an end for her. Maybe she should suffer.”

Laughing, Cary said, “let us change the subject. You possess a mighty power, you are aware?”

Emilia turned, keeping herself in the circle of Cary’s grip. “Ha. Are you just messing with me?”

“I do not toy with others the way your people do.” Thinking back to her night at the bar with the beer and cocktails, Cary amended her statement. “Unless I am drunk.”

Emilia squinted at Cary, but said, “what power do I possess?”

Cary opened her hands. “Your grimoires do not contain its record or name. It translates as the Consumption…

“Ew… like tuberculosis?”

Cary took a deep breath and shook her head. Letting the air out, she said, “No. Your power calls to other magics and draws them out. The act produces even more power. It is a rare gift among humans, though not so much among demons.”

“You’re saying my power is demonic?” Emilia pulled away. “This started after… did you do this to me?”

Snorting, Cary shook her head. “I am not so potent a force. My presence only served as a catalyst. In time, your power would have developed on its own. I…” she searched for the right metaphor in Emilia’s memories. “I jump started it.”

“How do I use it?”

Cary’s chest swelled and she had trouble keeping the triumph from her face. “You let me teach you.”

“What kind of magic do you use?”

That was a question Cary didn’t wish to answer. “Mine is unique as well. But for now, I do not intend to make use of it.”

Emilia motioned between the two of them. “Can we sneak out of here like this?”

“You mean with the Veil of Stealth upon us?” Cary shook her head. “The effect is a simple one, intended to be used by the stationary and slow. We would not be able to coordinate our efforts enough to remain unseen.”

“Then can you teach me how to use a more powerful effect?”

Cary couldn’t restrain the grin from her face. Teachers yearned for students like Emilia. The fact that Cynthia had squandered and restrained the young woman’s mind bordered on an offense against magic itself. It more than justified her end to Cary. Though it would have to take place after Cary gained Emilia’s consent, and preferably after Cary identified Cynthia’s infernal patron.

“What are you thinking?”

Cary waved Emilia off. It might stunt her growth for Cary to be too effusive in her praise this early. “I am considering how best to escape this place.” After a moment’s regard, Cary knew the answer. “We shall wait until Cynthia has departed or until we can use magic to induce her slumber.

“Last time you bashed her head into my wall.” Emilia pointed to the spot where Cary had indented both Emilia’s wall and Cynthia’s head. “Max had to fix it.”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Ah yes, I am sorry I damaged your room. I apologize for this. But this time I would prefer to leave without laying a trail for Cynthia. Or giving her an excuse to follow.” The magicians of this world possessed more craft than Cary would have believed. Based on Emilia’s memories and Cary’s brief experience, Cynthia’s power was about on par with Samantha. Cynthia might be the more powerful of the two.

“So what do we do, just wait?”

Cary nodded. “Wait and use the time well.” From memory, she plucked two of the books from Emilia’s study. “You gave up on the exercises in these because your power was dormant. Now that it had awoken, you should study the contents.”

“You’re giving me homework?” Emilia maintained her grin, but she also bore a scandalized expression that drew a reflection of the same smile from Cary.

“This is your home and you are young for your people. This is the correct place for you to conduct your work.”

“No, I mean…” Emilia tilted her head as if reconsidering Cary’s words. “I guess that makes sense. If I learn some of these spells, I will be able to use them to escape, right?”

And she’s intelligent. Cary grinned at her own thought. “Precisely. If you require assistance, I will be here. We should remain quiet so as not to provoke Cynthia, but if necessary, I can damage your wall again.” Slamming the woman’s head into the drywall would give Cary a near visceral pleasure.

Emilia sat down at her dresser and set the first of the books before her. “Do you have a suggestion?”

“You’ve read these texts, which spells do you think will be most useful for our journeys?” Cary was thinking about her other goals. The sorcerers who’d captured her still had Oleg. And Cary still felt responsible for the Chuhaister. When she fled with Emilia, she intended to find the old man.

“Concealment and warding spells, I think?” Emilia looked up at Cary, already seeking her approval

“Indeed. Those would be ideal.”

Cary set her new apprentice to studying and slid out of the room by herself. When Emilia had raised her power, Cary had surfed the crest and seen what Cynthia was capable of: not much. Had she been more skilled in areas of detection or battle, Cary might have been more cautious, but Cynthia wasted her time the same way she wasted that of her erstwhile students.

After wasting thousands of years, Cary despised the thought of wasting time almost as much as empty walls and adolescents vandals. For now, she needed to survey Emilia’s home personally and spy on the foul Cynthia. When she’d glimpsed a portion of the woman’s power, Cary had glimpsed Cynthia’s master as well. Where the corpulent abuser lacked skills and power, Cary sensed the exact opposite in her own master. Likely, it was her master who informed Cynthia of the intrusion in to their home.

And it was possible for that master to lend both their experience and a fraction of their power to their thralls, if they so chose.

Listening at the door the shop area downstairs, Cary did not hear any signs of Cynthia rampaging. Nor did she detect the rancid mold scent she’d expected from the folds of the woman’s skin. It was too faint for her to be the immediate area, so Cary padded forward as silent as a statue.

A locked door, Cynthia’s room, barred her progress only for a moment. Among the skills she’d possessed even before Elelele, Cary had learned to pick and bypass far older locks with primitive tools. This world held every sort of convenience, including relatively stiff wires thin enough to probe and twist a tumbler lock. She required more time finding the necessary implements than she did bypassing the lock.

With a pause to check on Emilia, Cary could see the girl huddled in her room studying. Not only curious and intelligent, the girl applied herself with diligence. She might have done so because of the novel secrets Cary offered, so she restrained her excitement, but Cary began to believe that she’d been profoundly luck in finding the young woman and binding her.

Only one more bond remained unmade between them and their link would grow permanent. Patience was as air to Cary, so she could wait decades for Emilia to be ready. Though based on the kiss and her obvious interest, Cary would cement the final bond with her thrall in less than a season. Nothing would break it then and they would both enjoy incredible power from the connection.

Banishing those pleasant thoughts, Cary held her breath and strained her ears as she pushed Cynthia’s door open. Camphor and charred grains dominated the air, along with the lingering stench of Cary’s flesh. A subtle odor, light and covered up by the camphor tickled at Cary’s nose: human blood.

Among fiends, the fluids were almost as precious as souls. Whomever Cynthia courted among the Infernal court demanded a sacrifice of blood from their thralls. Based on this discovery, Cynthia’s abuse took on an even more sinister tone.

I really should just kill her.

Cary shook her head and checked the carpet. Little remained of the blood in this room, based on the faintness of the smell, Cynthia likely had a rug or portable circle prepared. Those were modern innovations. Ancient sorcerers considered the possibility of damage to such circles unacceptable, but precision and care in manufacturing had changed the realities.

The large bed that dominated Cynthia’s room infuriated Cary. Not only did this human pig take the best fruits of this enterprise to herself, she lived in a degree of luxury utterly lacking for her wards. She had a private bathroom replete with white, gold-chased marble. Her closet was larger than Emilia’s entire room by a factor of two. Clothes hung from the rack in an uneven pattern. Little of Cynthia’a life had been fastidious. She lived in squalor that lent truth to the swine comparison. But the clothes had been arranged with minimal care and attention. Except for the far wall.

Cary followed her nose to the end of the closet and found the blood reek stronger her. Pausing again, she did not feel any alarm from Emilia and could not hear any commotion from downstairs. Searching the side panel of the closet revealed a gap between the wall and the door. Cary depressed the wall and slid it aside to discover a rolled up piece of plastic almost as tall as she was. Unwrapping the plastic, Cary caught sight of ancient script there: Minoan. Chills prickled her arm as she read runes of protection old enough to compete with her own age. When she found the name inscribed among those runes, Cary had to force herself not to flee.

Melezereth. Any infernal would have known his — or her — name. Despite their infamy, few knew any useful details of Melezereth’s nature, save that they were one of the highest placed demon princes among the royal court. Lords, Barons, and Dukes all paid homage to the princes of the Infernim, and few princes refused to do the same with Melezereth.

As powerful as Elelele was, even he knew better than to tangle with that demon.

Cary replaced the rolled up plastic summoning circle and sealed the hidden door. Using her perfect recollection, she returned the organization of Cynthia’s clothes to their original, state of disarray. How would she know if the woman had intended that gap to catch those who might trespass into her possessions? Still shivering with fear, Cary retraced her steps through Cynthia’s opulent room and fled with all haste.

Pausing at Emilia’s door only to confirm her student was alone, Cary burst in and found Emilia poring over the assigned texts with a pair of electronic headphones over her ears. She started at the sight of Cary at the door, but started to question her appearance when Cary cut her off.

“Ready yourself. We must leave right away.”