Black Magic Shadows (23 page)

"Which means exploring the demon realm, and that's not exactly the safest place."

She looked at me. "I'm not certain you fully realize the danger you're in. That demon has enough of you to create a killing curse."

"Are you," I closed my mouth, remembering that Dalsarin had cursed people into committing suicide. "Never mind. Okay, I have to act fast. Got it. But if she could do that, why hasn't she? Why curse me with delusions?"

Moira shrugged. "I have no idea. As far as I know, demons' sole pursuit is causing chaos."

"Maybe punishment for interfering?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." She drummed her fingers on the arm of her chair. "You'll need help, but care must be taken in choosing who to ask. You don't want anyone who can use blood and hair against you."

"No elves." I nodded. "And sneaky is the way to go. Going in barrels blazing almost didn't turn out so great, last time."

My cell phone went off, eliciting drowsy grumbles from the Chihuahuas. Squishy slapped at my hand when I pulled the phone from my jacket pocket. "Hang on, it's the boss."

Mr. Whitehaven didn't waste time on a greeting. "I'm afraid we have a problem. The spirit is no longer in the mirror."

"Fan-freaking-tastic."

––––––––

L
ady Celadine had been ranting since we—Logan, Dane, Leglin, and I—had walked through the door. Her cheeks were flushed, and her grass-green eyes were glaring daggers as she catalogued both our failures to retrieve her property in full and my personal flaws.

“Plain, obviously incompetent, and unbelievably dense.”

I rolled my eyes. “Any chance you’ll be done soon? Because all you’re doing is wasting everyone’s time.”

“You misbegotten, impertinent, ugly little monster. How dare you...” She pointed a finger in my direction and shrieked when Leglin hit her with his front paws. He knocked her back and down onto the sofa.

Petty satisfaction was mine, seeing the muddy paw prints my hound left on her lovely green dress. Leglin didn’t growl, but he did stand in front of her, his eyes locked on hers.

“I’m not the one who failed to keep your stupid mirror safe. I didn’t let it get stolen.” Crossing my arms, I smiled at her. “Evidently being smart and pretty also means lacking common sense in your case.”

“You will not speak to me in such a disrespectful,” Celadine tried to push Leglin away. He didn’t budge. “Fashion.”

“You could’ve avoided this whole mess by A) not loaning out the mirror, or B) setting guards of your own on it.” I dropped my arms to my sides. “Arrogance is not your friend when it comes to keeping magical artifacts out of the wrong hands.”

The rumpled elf continued to glare at me. I ignored her in favor of telling Mr. Whitehaven, “We need to talk to you for a minute.”

“Of course.” He gestured at the hallway. “My office.”

I didn’t call Leglin, since he seemed to have our client under control. He’d keep her from eavesdropping.

Once in my boss’s office, I explained my immediate personal situation to all three men. There hadn’t been time to fill Logan and Dane in between the boss’s call and getting to the office.

Before I’d finished, Whitehaven had his elbows planted on his desk, and his head in his hands.

“So,” I said, “I kind of have to go back to the demon realm anyway.”

“Dear child, you’re going to be the death of me.”

“I’m sorry, but it would’ve been nice if someone had mentioned that I shouldn’t leave bits of myself anywhere when I began this job.” That hadn’t come up until I’d been working for nearly a year. “And it’s not like it’s easy to clean up when you’re practically dead.”

“She has a point.”

“Thanks.” I smiled at Logan. “What I’d like to know is, is there a way to search the demon realm that’s sneaky? Our frontal assault the first time around almost didn’t end well.”

“Petra.”

Everyone looked at Logan. I said, “What?”

His eyes narrowed, he tapped his leg. “Actually, Tase.”

“I’m not taking a baby anything into the demon realm.”

Mr. Whitehaven spoke. “I’m afraid you’ll have to, if Petra agrees. Gargoyles can sense items that belong to their chosen. Tase will need to be present to help you recover those items.”

Fantastic. Look at me, putting my newest, youngest friend in potential danger. “What about the mirror?”

“It wasn’t destroyed, therefore the spirit isn’t free. Quite likely, the spirit was moved into a new receptacle. I would assume another mirror, as transferring such beings into entirely different surroundings can,” Mr. Whitehaven slowly waggled one hand. “Unbalance them.”

There was still a chance to recover the Mirror Pervert and throw a wrench into whatever the demons were cooking up. Good. “Okay, but how do we find it?”

“Ooh, I know.” Dane lowered his hand once he had our attention. “We take a piece of its old home with us. A gargoyle can track just about anything, if it has the scent.”

“And it can get a scent from a mirror?”

“Scent isn’t exactly the correct word, but it’s close. Gargoyles can make a connection.” Logan smiled. “They’re better trackers than we are, better than anyone.”

“Okay, so I definitely need to go see Petra and ask for her help.”

Everyone nodded.

I clapped my hands together. “Then let’s go.”

F
or once, the gargoyles were as active as they were supposed to be at night. Apparently, the mourning period was over.

“Lady Discordia.” One of the parrot-beaked gargoyles looked down from its position at the top of the walls. “Welcome.”

“Hi. We need to talk to Petra, please.” I heard the faint grinding noise of the gargoyles’ mental communication.

He, or it, blinked and lowered his head, “Our queen will meet with you. Please enter.”

“Thank you. Come on, guys.” We walked through the gate, closing it behind us, and I saw Petra at the end of the main path, waiting for us. When we were closer, I saw Tase sitting on top of her head.

Prince Tase made a cute crown. I wondered why Petra hadn’t mentioned her status before, but now wasn’t the time to ask. “Hello, and thank you for seeing us.”

“You’re welcome. Have you news of the one responsible for the curse?”

I grimaced. “We’re pretty sure it’s a demon. See, turns out that one got hold of some of my hair and blood.”

Petra growled. “Careless of you, allowing that to occur.”

“I know that now, but I didn’t then. You can bet I’ll be a lot more careful in the future.” I’d burn any spilled blood, and make certain no one cut my hair other than my hairdresser. I’d burn it, too, though she might think my request to bag the clippings weird.

“See that you do. You’ll need my aid to retrieve your missing pieces.”

“Yes, ma’am. That’s why we’re here.”

Petra flicked her ears. “Very well. Are these two accompanying us?”

“Yes.” Logan and Dane were armed with Mr. Whitehaven’s sword and dagger. “My hound can come, too.”

“No need. Hounds are unable to move as quickly as we can in the demon realm.”

If Leglin couldn’t keep up with gargoyles, neither could we. About to point that out, I flinched as two large shapes dropped from above, landing on either side of Petra.

The new arrivals were in shapes I could identify: Gryphons.

“Rake and Rend will serve as your companions’ mounts for this foray.” Petra inclined her head. “I will be yours.”

“Oh. Okay. Thank you.” Would we be flying? I hoped not, since none of them wore saddles. “There’s something else. We were hired to find and recover an enchanted mirror. We did, but the demons took the spirit it housed and put him in something else.”

Petra snorted. “Demons are known thieves. Have you the mirror, or a piece of it?”

“Yes.” I pulled the long splinter Logan had shaved off the mirror frame’s back from my purse. Petra lifted her paw, so I handed it over.

She ate it.

“Um...”

“We will recover the spirit and return it to the rightful guardian,” she said after swallowing it.

“Lady Celadine.”

“No. Elves are not the rightful guardians.”

I wasn’t going to argue with her. The elf could, if she dared. “Who is the rightful guardian?”

“You are.”

“Okay, that’s ... what? I am? I didn’t even know about it.”

Petra bared one fang in a feline half-smile. “Nevertheless, it tastes of your bloodline. Therefore, you are the rightful guardian.”

Still wasn’t going to argue with her. “Okay.”

“My child’s choice becomes ever clearer. Come forward and mount. We must go.”

I shot Logan a helpless look. He grinned. “Keep your knees away from her wing joints.”

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G
argoyles and shifters aside, I felt sorely undermanned when the tunnel outside the cells appeared around us.

“Stay astride, unless we face a battle,” Petra said. She walked a few steps to look inside the open door of the mirror’s former cell. “We begin from this point.”

I didn’t know how she’d picked the spot, since Petra hadn’t asked any questions or for directions.

“I knew.” Tase left his seat on her head, crawling up on my arm. “I could see it, and showed Mama.”

“Oh.” If he could see inside my head, things would get really awkward in the future.

The baby gargoyle perched on my shoulder, digging his claws into my jacket. His tail slipped around the back of my neck.

He didn’t seem worried. I guess if your mother was an eight-hundred-pound gorilla—so to speak—not much would scare you.

“Alanna is going to be jealous.” Dane patted the feathered neck of his gargoyle gryphon. I thought he was riding Rake. “Dad carved her a few dozen gargoyles when we were kids. She still has them.”

“That’s neat.” I tightened my legs as Petra began walking. The tunnel wasn’t wide enough for us all to travel side by side, but the other two gargoyles could, behind her.

We were the head of a three-gargoyle arrow. Whoopee.

“I sense the mirror.” Petra sniffed. “And your missing pieces.”

The way she said that made me want to count my fingers and toes. Maybe arms and legs, too. “Great.”

My intention was to burn my “pieces” as soon as possible. I’d have to figure out what to do with the mirror or whatever the spirit was in now. I doubted Lady Celadine would be pleased to learn it wasn’t hers. Not that I considered it mine, or wanted to be in charge of a trapped spirit. I had enough trouble keeping myself in one piece.

Hey, maybe I could use the spirit as a bribe, to shut down Thorandryll’s pursuit of me. The idea was more amusing than riding a gargoyle down demon realm tunnels.

Even better if the spirit found Prince Snooty pants attractive.

Who was I kidding? The mirror spirit was a problem. “You said the mirror tasted of my bloodline.”

“Yes.”

“I was told a god trapped the spirit in the mirror. So does that mean an ancestor made the mirror, or that the spirit is an ancestor of mine?”

“No.”

I waited, but Petra didn’t explain. “If both of those possibilities are a no, then how can it taste of my bloodline?”

Tase giggled. “You’re silly.”

“Guess so, because I don’t understand what the deal is.”

“Don’t you know anything about your family lineage?” He patted me right in front of my ear. “You’re a natural mage.”