Chapter 29
The inside of Sabine’s house is old but not unclean.
The cracked floors are swept, the tables and counters are clear of dust, and the windows are intact and free of grime.
Maybe I judged this place too harshly when we first arrived.
I don’t know anything about these people and why they’ve chosen to live out in the wilderness of the bayou.
Sabine carries herself with a quiet confidence. This is her life, her home.
She gestures for us to take a seat at the kitchen table.
There’s no overhead light, but candles flicker from nearly every corner of the room.
Instead of a refrigerator, she has a giant icebox beside the counter.
The hinges groan as she lifts the lid and removes a can of beer.
The carbonation hisses as she cracks open the top and swigs down the entire can in a giant gulp, crushing it on the counter beneath her fist.
She’s not what I expected for a former professor with two PhDs. I Googled her before we came and found a host of academic papers she published, all at least a decade old. It seems that she abandoned academia around the same time Gran banished her from the coven.
Orion mouths, Impressive, and I kick him beneath the table. He kicks me back but gentler.
“All right.” Sabine leans against the counter and studies us. “Why do you, of all people, want to know about demons?”
Orion gestures in my direction. “You’ve got the floor,” he says.
I start from the beginning, telling Sabine about little Marian and working my way to the rest of the deaths.
Orion stiffens when I mention Chris, but I press on.
I tell her about the Hightowers, my run-ins with Aria, and the book on demons I found in their shop.
Sabine’s expression remains neutral through it all until I describe the symbol that appears on the victims’ bodies.
She removes a sheet of paper and a pencil from a drawer. After scrawling a looping shape across the paper, she slaps it down on the table. I can’t suppress the shiver that runs through my body at the sight of the familiar symbol.
“That’s the one,” I murmur. “The compendium listed the demon’s name as Gazannol—”
“Hush!” She mimes zipping her lips shut. “If someone has truly summoned it onto this plane, you’ll boost its power every time you utter its name.”
I slap my hand over my mouth in horror. This is why we needed her.
Sabine’s eyes soften for a moment. “You didn’t know. Adelaide and Ezekiel did a fair job of wiping out all knowledge of demonology from that coven.” She rises from her seat and begins to fill a cast-iron pot with water from a huge jug.
“Why is that?” Orion asks.
She stiffens and turns to face us. “They didn’t tell you?”
I sit up straight. “Tell us what?”
“Oh Lord.” Sabine abandons the pot and takes a seat at the table with us.
“It happened toward the end of your grandma Rose’s reign.
A young witch in the coven died with a demon’s mark branded onto her chest. No one ever could prove that the Hightower witches were behind it, but they’re the only coven we know who’s dealt with dark magic. ”
A light bulb flares to life inside my head. “Wait, Gramps told me that Gran tried to confront the Hightowers, and when she did, that’s when they disappeared.”
Sabine gives a stiff nod. “Once Rose died, Adelaide was able to make a move, but the Hightower witches have always preferred to run from their problems rather than face them.”
Orion swears under his breath. “What do they have against us?”
I hold Sabine’s gaze. “But no one knows for sure who actually killed her?”
“Nope, and no one ever will. There was never enough evidence against the Hightowers to be completely sure.”
I sit back in my seat and chew one of my fingernails. If Gran never found any definitive proof that the Hightowers were behind it, then that meant everyone was a suspect, including her own coven. No wonder she and Gramps forbade any talk of demons. She wanted to stamp out the knowledge for good.
But now someone is summoning demons again, and I need to know how to stop them.
I point to the sheet of paper on the table with Sabine’s drawing. “Can you tell me more about this?”
“It’s the alchemical symbol for magnesium.
” She draws her shoulders back as a calmness settles over her expression.
Sabine is a teacher at heart. “Quite a few demons are associated with alchemical symbols. Some believe that early alchemists were inspired by their brushes with demons. Take this one, for example.” She taps the sheet of paper.
“It’s difficult to extinguish magnesium once it’s been ignited, so it began to represent eternity.
The particular demon who’s tied to this symbol is a pesky one.
Once it’s been invited to this plane, it is very difficult to banish. ”
Orion is riveted, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. “You’ve summoned a demon, haven’t you?”
“My curiosity is purely from an academic perspective. I believe if we don’t understand demons and how their energy works, then we can never truly be safe.
” She sucks in a deep breath. “I’ve summoned many a demon in my time.
The lesser ones are useful for research and, thankfully, stupid.
I can control them easy enough and banish ’em when I’m through.
Your grandparents wouldn’t listen to sense when I explained that. ”
“And they cast you out,” I say.
“That they did.” A distant expression crosses Sabine’s face. “Your coven isn’t the only one that feels this way. There are very few covens in this world that would condone what I did.”
I glance around again, wondering what would compel a woman like her to live here. “Why didn’t you leave?” I ask. “Couldn’t you have gotten a job at another university and continued teaching?”
“When your grandmother cast me out, I had only begun my tenure at Tulane. Starting over somewhere else felt like a colossal task. I figured academia had given me all the knowledge it could, so I came here.” She gestures to the room around us.
“I made a home out among these people, good people who appreciate my skills in healing and mind their business when they need to.”
“How did Aunt Roberta know where to send that letter? Have you kept in touch with her this whole time?” Orion asks.
Sabine studies him silently. “Your family doesn’t stop being your family even after they’ve hurt you.
That bond runs deep.” She stands and walks back to the stove.
“I go into town from time to time. I wrote to Roberta when I first moved here, to let her know I was okay. We write to each other every few years.”
I remove Sabine’s final letter from my bag and hand it to her. “Why didn’t you write to Gran before she died? Were you still upset with her in the end?”
“Goodness. So many questions from you two.” Sabine unfolds the paper and stares at it for a long moment. “I meant what I said; I’ll see her again. It’s been a very long time, and I don’t like to carry a grudge. There’s nothing either of us had to apologize for. She’s been forgiven.”
Orion settles back in his chair. One leg is wobbly, so it rocks against the floor, but he doesn’t seem to mind.
“Sabine,” I begin, “can you tell us anything about Ga—the demon we’re up against?”
“I sure can.” Steam rises up from the pot on the stove.
Satisfied, she comes over to the table and takes a seat between us.
“Remember what I said about the lesser demons? Well, the one you’re dealing with isn’t one of them.
That one’s a powerful demon known for playing tricks on mortals, fatal tricks.
It takes pleasure in inflicting pain and suffering.
But rest assured, it didn’t summon itself here.
“Demons exist on a different plane than ours,” she continues. “In order to make contact, they have to be invited in. Once summoned, they have a limited ability to affect the mortal plane and are prevented from leaving the confines of the summoning circle.”
“That means the demon’s still contained?” I ask.
She nods. “Unless someone has allowed the demon to possess their body, or if they are using the demon as an amplifier—drawing on the demon’s power. Those are the only two ways they are allowed to impact the world directly.”
Somewhere out there, someone’s made a bargain with a demon, but for what cause? I wonder aloud, “Who would use a demon to steal magic?”
“Someone who doesn’t have magic of their own,” Sabine says gravely.
“Or someone who wants more,” Orion says. He stands and crosses the room to the open window. The stiff set of his shoulders tells me he’s pissed.
Sabine shrugs. “Possibly. If so, you would be able to tell. Demons leave their mark on those they possess, although not in the same fashion.”
I remember Gloria’s words that night after Gramps said he would put an end to this if she turned out to be involved. You can certainly die trying, she’d said. It wouldn’t be the first time they’ve killed innocents in the pursuit of power.
Sabine clucks her tongue. “There’s also another possibility, and I can’t let you leave without telling you,” she says. “Witches aren’t the only ones capable of summoning. Mortals can too.”
Orion and I exchange a glance. He reaches into my head.
“Do you think Joelle could be—”
“No,” I snap. “She wouldn’t.” Joelle wants power too, but I doubt she’d stoop that low to get it. She’s a different threat, a purely mortal one.
Sabine returns to the stove. Steam hisses as she removes something from the pot. When she turns, Orion and I both jump at the sight of the razor-sharp blade in her hand. The air shimmers as Orion goes to bind Sabine’s wrists.
“Relax,” she says, a hint of a laugh present in her voice. “I’m not the one trying to kill you. This is for you to take with you.”
Orion drops his hands reluctantly, and we both step closer to study the weapon.
The dagger has a red glass hilt with gold metal embroidered along the edges.
The blade itself is simple, short, and sharp.
Sabine touches the pad of her finger to the tip, and blood wells up immediately.
She sticks her finger in her mouth to suck the blood away.
“I’ve enchanted this dagger specially for you.
” She slides a sheath over the blade and hands it to me.
When I grip the handle, it’s heavier than I expected it to be.
“If the demon has possessed someone, you’ll have to kill them.
Sometimes demons are able to jump into another person’s body in their desperation to avoid being sent back to the demonic plane.
The enchantment on this blade will prevent that from happening. ”
“And there’s no way around having to kill the person?” Orion asks. “I’m not sure I want that blood on my hands.”
Sabine’s mouth is drawn in a straight line. “They’ve made their decision. That person will have to live and die by it. Summoning isn’t a task you undertake lightly.” She holds my gaze, reaching out to grip my chin. “Keep that blade on you at all times and be prepared to use it.”
I’ve never killed someone. I imagined if I ever had to, I’d use magic to do it.
But using a dagger like this, stabbing it into someone’s body, is something I never anticipated having to do.
And I can’t shake the feeling that this dagger is meant for a more insidious purpose.
I wasn’t able to see many details of the dagger from my vision, but the blade matches the shape.
“I don’t—I can’t take this.” I hold it back out toward her, but she shakes her head.
“It’s yours now, honey. Whether you like it or not, you’ve got to see this through.”