Fire Within (32 page)

She grabbed a stack of letters in her mother’s handwriting. What she needed was witch wisdom. She found what she was looking for in the second letter she read, a letter from her mother to Great-Gran. It described the defeat of a halfling demon who had turned evil. Instead of a banishing spell, her mother had used a banishing potion. That was unusual in itself, but it was the explanation of how it worked that caught her eye. The potion had cast out the demon side, leaving an empty earthly shell. When her mother destroyed the shell, the halfling died.

What had Moriana said? An image changer was just another demon. The differences between a halfling and Riverdale’s demon were only a matter of degree. Could it really be that simple? Bind the demon to his form, douse him with the potion, and then destroy his body? Wouldn’t he be left in limbo, forcing him into the same choice as a vanquishing spell?

Ari’s face broke into a broad grin. She couldn’t perform dark magic, but she knew how to cook potions. For the first time in days, she knew the solution was within her grasp. Binding spell, banishing potion. What could be simpler?

She tackled the spell first. She’d used versions of it for years, had successfully adapted it to werewolves. Making it work for a demon should be possible with a little work. In any spell, it was the language that mattered, and luckily, the Goddess wasn’t particular about the artistry. In this instance, the chant needed to bind both body and spirit. It took more than an hour before she was sure she had it right.

Take the outer form, hold it firm and still; Bend the demon spirit to your stronger will;

Wrap with chains of strength and might; Bind him, Goddess, with your light.

As sand to sea, so mote it be.

The potion was a bigger challenge, but Ari knew the foundation. The tektite stone. It was used in all banishing magic and would be the main ingredient. The other parts of the recipe would take more research and a little experimentation.

Ari rolled her head to loosen the tension in her neck. Her witch senses were growing more insistent, raising the hairs at the nape of her neck. She checked the clock. 2:40 p.m. It would be dark by 8:00 or 8:30. Less than six hours before the demon’s powers would peak. She didn’t think it would wait any longer.

Ari reached for the phone, when it rang in her hand.

“You’re never going to believe this,” Ryan said.

“The demon’s kidnapped the mayor and taken over City Hall?” she quipped.

“Huh? He’s done what?”

“Sorry. Having a mental moment. What’s happened now?”

“Got a hit on Freida Stanley. Or should I say Louise Margaret Combes, who has outstanding warrants from Idaho for two counts of solicitation and running a house of prostitution. Having met her, I’m surprised she could make a living in the sex arena,” he said. “Maybe her clients turned her in for fraud.”

Ari snorted in response. Everyone was tired. “Petty humor aside, what you’re saying is she’s got a past we can verify.”

“Yep, there’s a real Louise Combes and the photo matches. So, unless the demon has cloned her identity, she’s not our suspect. This thing can’t do that, can it? Clone a real person?”

“Nope. At least not a living person. But damn, Ryan, I should have thought of deceased identities. Did you check death records? I don’t think there’d be anything to stop the demon from using the image of a dead person.”

“No, no, Ari,” Ryan said on an exasperated burst of breath. “I thought we were down to two, but now I’ll have to check all six again, make sure everybody’s still among the living. A death certificate should’ve popped up in our initial inquiries, but you never know. Records don’t always get updated like they should. This search is never-ending.”

“Tell me about it,” Ari agreed, eyeing the piles of loose notes and books stacked around her apartment.

* * *

Later that afternoon, after two consults with the OFR lab, Ari began mixing the potion. A half cup of water, six drops of lavender oil and the tektite stone went in the cauldron first. They would brew for an hour. In the meantime she headed to Claris’s to pick up ingredients she rarely used, in particular, wormwood and belladonna. In small doses each was useful in warding off evil or negating evil. The wrong doses could have the opposite effect, and Ari usually avoided both. In this case, they were required elements of the binding spell.

On the way to Claris’s, she rang Andreas and suggested he meet her. She told herself it would be easier to bring him up to date in person. In reality, she was bored with her own company. Since he and Claris had never formally met, what better time than the middle of a crisis?

Andreas fell into step about a block from the shop, and by the time they arrived, he was up to date on the day’s events. They were discussing the potion when Ari tapped on the greenhouse door.

“How long before it is ready?” he asked.

“An hour, maybe less. Once I add the new ingredients.”

Claris beamed at the two of them. Ari introduced them, and if Claris was surprised to see Andreas, she didn’t show it. He gave Claris the old world hand kiss, which caused her to blush, but she remained a little aloof. By the time Claris had shown him around the greenhouse, where he demonstrated an unexpected knowledge of plant life, she was chatting with him like an old friend. Ari shook her head at her friend’s quick seduction. It was so easy to forget Andreas was a vampire.

Hernando the cat took his introduction in stride, giving Andreas a wide-eyed look but purring as soon as he was petted. When Hernando’s little girlfriend appeared, sitting outside the greenhouse, peering in the window with unblinking eyes, Hernando trotted over as if showing her off. She was a silvery gray color with black trim on her over-sized ears, the tip of her tail and her button nose. Andreas stepped outside and picked her up, and they discovered her footpads were also black. But her really distinctive feature was the green eyes, not sort of green, but a shimmering emerald.

“She really needs a home. Rather than hanging around my greenhouse,” Claris said.

Ari glanced suspiciously at her friend’s face, but Claris was watching Andreas handle the pretty feline, who purred loudly. Ari had assumed she was a feral stray, but the animal was obviously taking pleasure in the attention. Or being female, maybe it was Andreas’s attention she liked.

“You know, Arianna, your apartment could use a cat,” Andreas said, smiling conspiratorially at Claris.

As if she understood his words, the cat swung her head in Ari’s direction and stared at her with those incredible, emerald eyes. Ari knew she was a goner. “But I’m away from home so much,” she protested feebly, reaching out a hand to stroke the cat’s head. Andreas transferred her silky body into Ari’s arms, and the cat dropped her head onto Ari’s shoulder.

“Aww. Look, she likes you.” That was Claris.

“Every witch should have a familiar,” Andreas said.

“A familiar? She’s just a cat. Aren’t you, sweetie?”

“She needs a home,” Claris coaxed. “Don’t pretend like you haven’t thought about it. You’ve worried about this little girl for months.”

Ari smiled at the cat. Maybe she could use a roommate. The apartment was sometimes too empty when she returned late at night or in the morning when she woke alone. And the latter would never change if she continued to date a vampire. Ari snuggled her face against the soft fur. The cat smelled of woods and other wild things.

“I’ll think about it,” Ari hedged, knowing the decision was already made. “Maybe, I’ll take Bella, but not tonight. Not until we’ve…ah, solved the murders.” She caught herself before she mentioned the demon in front of Claris. This definitely wasn’t the time to get into that discussion.

“Bella?” Andreas asked with a grin.

“For belladonna, one of the main ingredients in the potion I’m making. It’ll bring me luck.”

“But that’s nightshade,” Claris objected. “Implies a black cat.”

“I don’t care. If she’s going to be my cat, I can name her anything I want.” Ari grinned at her best friend. “You’re not questioning the right of a witch to name her chosen familiar, are you?”

“In Italian, bella donna means beautiful lady,” Andreas said.

“See, I told you. It fits her.”

So, Bella was marked for adoption and named, but the mood quickly changed as Ari remembered her errand and collected the herbs she needed. When Andreas left to be present for the reopening of the club, Ari patted Bella goodbye and returned to her apartment. Ryan still hadn’t called with a final identification of their killer.

During the short walk to her place, she considered what would happen once they had a single suspect. They’d have to figure a way to isolate the demon, so she could work her magic. But what if they couldn’t decide which person to target? She couldn’t douse them all with potion. While neither the spell nor potion should be fatal to a human, dousing every suspect wasn't practical or feasible and would probably result in a string of lawsuits. She sighed. Her job would be so much easier if she didn’t have to consider human sensibilities and legalities.

By the time she arrived home, the potion base was ready for the final ingredients. She stirred in a sprinkling of belladonna, a pinch of wormwood, and large portions of three activating agents. The final color was a murky taupe. When she took a whiff of the brew, it smelled mostly of lavender. She hesitated, then added a pinch of marjoram to speed the creature on his journey. She wished him a clear highway to hell. Satisfied, she covered the bowl with a square of linen, leaving the tektite stone inside. It would continue to cure until she got Ryan’s call. At that point, she’d transfer the liquid into two small vials. She always carried a spare.

With nothing more to do until she heard from Ryan, Ari killed time by picking up the apartment. Mounds of notes were discarded or stuffed into her personal journal. Her mother’s and Great-Gran’s things were returned to the trunk. Ari was almost finished when she finally heard from Ryan. He had Andreas on a conference call.

“Binderman lied to us. Her past employment is bogus. Chicago employer never heard of her. I have officers standing by to pick her up.”

“If she feels trapped, she’ll kill them,” Ari protested. “Tell them we wait, and we'll all go. I have the spell and potion.”

“Music to my ears,” Ryan said. “Let me get my officers on the phone. Warn them not to approach her until we get there. I’ll be back in a minute.” He clicked off.

Andreas picked up the conversation. “At least this answers my question. Shale called about an abandoned newborn vampire. He wants me to—”

“OK, guys,” Ryan broke in, clicking back on line. “Binderman’s taken off. Cleared out her apartment and shoved the key under the landlord’s door sometime this morning.” Ari could hear the bitter disappointment in his voice. “Our visit to the agency must have scared her. I’ve issued a BOLO on her vehicle, but maybe she’s not even in a vehicle. If I understand you, Ari, she can blip anywhere, be anyone.”

“That’s true,” Ari admitted. “But in case she is in her car, I’m really worried what would happen if unsuspecting cops pull her over.”

“I asked for a locate only and warned them she’s armed and dangerous. Can’t tell them we’re looking for a demon. What would I say? Wanted: evil demon, who might look like your grandma or your uncle? This is too complicated. What do we do now? Wait until it kills again, somewhere else in the world?”

Ari could count on Ryan to get down to basics.

“I do not think it will go far from Riverdale,” Andreas said. “Not until the job is finished. Whatever his ultimate goal, I have been targeted twice. He will try again. Perhaps we can draw the creature to us at a time of our choosing, if I make myself available.”

“Set you up as bait?” Ari demanded. “I don’t think so.”

“Do you have a better suggestion?”

“Yeah. Anything else.”

“If we’re lucky, she’ll turn up,” Ryan said. “Let’s sit tight for a few hours before we start talking about luring this creature to anyone. Maybe we’ll come up with a better idea.”

“I’ll think of something,” she said. Anything would be better than making Andreas a target. She’d try scrying again. Ari could use something that belonged to Binderman, like the letter opener. If the demon thought it was safe in a new hidey-hole or with a new disguise, it might get over-confident, allowing her to locate it.

“Suits me,” Andreas said. “If she is not found before tomorrow, we can talk again as soon as I wake. The demon will surface again. Assuming Sebastian or someone like him is its employer, even a demon would be wise not to back out on his deal. Arianna, I will see you in an hour or two, after I have dispensed with a small favor.”

* * *

An hour had gone by, and Ari had not heard from Andreas. She had finished straightening her apartment and completed the potion, dividing it into two vials. She considered taking a nap, but if she fell asleep, Andreas would probably leave again. Besides, she was too tense for a nap. Her witch senses were in a flap, aided and abetted by the enormous amount of caffeine she’d consumed. Her skin shimmered with raw energy.

She flopped on the couch, wondering how long Andreas would be. Since he hadn’t actually told her what he was doing for Shale, the “small favor” might take longer than he thought, or he could be caught up in club business. His
hour or two
might be any time before dawn.

She stretched her arms, unable to shake off her unease, that looming sense of doom, generated by the demon. Andreas had to be right, the creature wasn’t far away. More than that, she had a gut feeling, a cop instinct, that something was wrong with their conclusions. How could she have liked Amelia Binderman so much? Had the demon messed with her mind? Shale or Stanley would have been acceptable suspects. She didn’t like either of them, but Binderman? Her witch senses hadn’t picked up any power from the woman. When this was over, she’d have a talk with Moriana. Ari had to get better at detecting demonic beings. Even on a human level, none of the woman’s actions had been overly suspicious, until she’d run. She appeared to be just a nice lady who loved her job and enjoyed Fourth of July picnics.