“I’m a damned mess,” he muttered. And he missed Katia so much.

  He checked his phone and realized it was too late to call. If she was as tired as he was, she was probably in bed. But he could send her an email. That wouldn’t wake her up.

  He hesitated, trying to find a way to say what was in his heart. Then realizing he couldn’t reveal all of that, not yet.

  Finally, his fingers began to move.

  You were right. I was wrong. I’m sorry.

  Right before he was about to hit Send his pride flared, but he pushed it back down. A man admitted his mistakes, and he’d made a big one. He was human, as Father Rosetti had often reminded him. We all endured a lifetime of lessons is what the priest had said. It appeared he still had more to learn.

  Simon hit Send and then finally took a sip of his beer. Once it was gone he headed for bed. Maybe tomorrow they’d find out why a powerful necromancer had risked their lives for a damned piece of jewelry.

  † ~ ‡ ~ †

  Katia woke to a knock on the bedroom door. With effort she managed to sit upright. She was still tired, even after many hours of rest.

  Riley stuck her head in the room. “Chaffin is awake and wants to unburden his soul.”

  “This better be damned good or I’ll haul his ass right back to where I found him,” Katia growled.

  “I’ll tell him that. I let Simon know and he’ll be here in about ten minutes.” The door closed.

  More effort was required to wash her face, get her hair tamed, and dress. It was only after she was heading for the door that she checked her phone and found the email.

  You were right. I was wrong. I’m sorry.

  The message had come in a little before midnight. Simon wasn’t finding it any easier to sleep than she had, not after what had happened between them.

  “And I’m sorry for scaring you,” she whispered.

  Summoner Mathias Chaffin looked like he’d been given the deluxe tour of Hell. Dressed in a baggy black T-shirt and pants, likely borrowed from Mort, he sat rigidly in one of the chairs, his scabbed hands in his lap. His eyes were hooded and bloodshot, his whole demeanor one of defeat. Gone was the arrogance Katia had once witnessed, leaving behind a broken man.

  As testament to the witch’s skills the cuts on his arms and hands were already healing, though there would be noticeable scars. Someone had really worked this guy over, one slice at a time.

  At the same table was their host, Lord Ozymandias, and her master, all of them grim.

  Katia eyed the rogue necro, then pointedly addressed the most senior summoner. “This guy isn’t going to be tossing spells around, is he?”

  His lordship shook his head. “We’ve called a truce for the time being. The magical inhibitor he’s now wearing will keep him from breaking that agreement.”

  “What he said.” Chaffin raised his left arm. Encircling the wrist was a wide metal bracelet inscribed with magic symbols. Surprisingly, he didn’t seem upset about that addition.

  Katia heard steps behind her and looked up as Simon joined them. “You got my email?” he asked quietly.

  “Yes. Your apology is accepted. We’ll talk about mine later.” Because she’d been at fault as well.

  That seemed to confuse him as he sank into the chair next to her. Then he gave a nod to the others.

  “That’s all of us,” Mort said. He looked over at Chaffin. “Now is the time to tell us everything.”

  “I will. I’m a dead man anyway,” he said, coughed, then clearing his throat. A glass of water sat in front of him and he took it in both hands and then carefully sipped. As he put it down, he cleared his throat again.

  “I don’t give a damn what happens to me. I honestly thought I could deal with the threat, but instead the threat damned near killed me.”

  At this point, he eased back in the chair and closed his eyes as if collecting his thoughts. A few moments passed and then those weary eyes reopened.

  “About five months ago I was visiting Atlanta and I met someone not from this world. She is . . . incredible,” he said, his voice filled with awe. “We spent a lot of time together, sometimes in a park or in the woods. I knew she was fae, but that didn’t matter. We became lovers and then she granted me entrance into her realm. It was so beautiful there.”

  “Describe her for us,” Mort said.

  “She has eyes of blue, her hair is fiery red, and her skin is pure alabaster. She is ethereal, a vision. She is everything I ever hoped for.”

  That was The Lady. “What is her name?” Katia asked.

  “I’ll not say it as it might gain you power over her.”

  “Fair enough.”

  He gave her a weary smile. “My lady likes you. She said that one of your family was a friend of their kind and that’s why she revealed herself to you.”

  “That would be my grandmother. She was always a bit different, and I guess I am too.”

  “It’s not easy to earn their trust.” He paused. “When we first met, my lady was all joy and happiness, with a smile that made my life worth living. She likes our world. It fascinates her.” He looked away for a moment, then back. “And no, I’ve not been bespelled. I would know if I was. We genuinely love each other. Then it came and began to destroy her world.”

  “It?” Riley asked, her expression guarded. Katia wasn’t sure if her master was believing all this or not.

  “I call it the Unholy Terror, but I don’t know if it has a name. I think it’s female, but I’m not sure. It’s a being with great magical powers, though one I’m not familiar with. But then I’ve not had that much experience with otherworldly things, at least not until I encountered the fae. This thing crossed into my lady’s realm and began destroying it.”

  “Is that why her ferns were dying, the ones in her hair?” Katia said.

  “Yes. Imagine that same effect on a world.”

  “What does this creature want?”

  “Destruction,” Chaffin replied. “It thrives on chaos and pain. One day my lady didn’t show up at the park like we’d planned. I got worried so I went into her world. The Unholy Terror was there.” He shook his head at the memory.

  “I could tell I wasn’t powerful enough to stop it, and it knew it too. Then out of nowhere it commanded me to bring it that ring. Told me if I didn’t, it would kill more of my lady’s people.” His eyes dimmed. “I have no idea how it knew about my ancestor.”

  “But you knew the ring existed,” Ozymandias replied.

  “I did. There’d been whispers in the family about it, but most of us were happy it’d gone missing, along with its owner. It’s why there aren’t many of us Chaffins who become summoners now. Too much family history there.”

  “How did you learn where to find Lord Chaffin’s remains? That’s not common knowledge.”

  “A few of the older members of our family claimed he’d been exiled, though I never believed it. Some of his personal possessions survived, hidden away so they weren’t destroyed when the good folks of Boston burned his house to the ground. Not that I blame them for that.” He shook his head. “Lord Chaffin was one twisted bastard, that’s for sure.” At that point he seemed to realize he’d not answered the question.

  “I made a trip to his birthplace, found his waistcoat in a local museum and ‘borrowed’ one of the buttons. Then I did a rather complicated ‘find me’ spell because I didn’t trust the Unholy Terror when it said that the ring was ‘not of my world’, whatever that meant. The spell took forever to get right. I figured the ring had to be somewhere in North Carolina. Ha, not even close. But how did that monster know that?”

  That was a good question.

  “I heard The Lady talking to me when we were in the other realm. Was she there and I just didn’t see her?” Katia asked.

  “No, she wasn’t. You two have a strong connection which is why you hear her speaking to you. I’m guessing she steered you to the ring.”

  “She did. And saved us from something far worse.”

  “I can see her doing that. My lady refused to touch it. Said it would kill her. That’s why I wanted the dead to retrieve it because I didn’t want anyone to be harmed. But they just couldn’t enter that realm.”

  “So instead, you kidnapped us?”

  Chaffin reluctantly nodded. “She said she could sense that you’d been in other worlds. I had someone check you out and that’s how I saw the video, the one at that convention. One minute you’re there, then you’re gone. I figured if anyone could bring me the ring it’d be you.” He looked over at Simon now. “I never wanted your sister to get caught up in all that. It was just supposed to be you two, but by that time I was panicking. I wouldn’t have hurt her. I’m so deeply sorry.”

  Simon just glared at him.

  “We found Harry Hawkins,” Mort said.

  The necro winced at that. “I’d hoped he’d escaped your notice. Please don’t punish him. Hawkins isn’t the bad guy here. He just needed to earn some money and wanted to learn magic. I take full responsibility for all this.”

  “Have you been opening portals anywhere else in Atlanta?” Riley asked.

  “No,” he replied, surprised. “Why?”

  “Because we’ve had a couple appear out of nowhere and then something tries to creep across.”

  “No, that wasn’t me.”

  “Of course not, that would have been too easy. So, you got the ring but it didn’t work,” Riley continued.

  Chaffin looked down at one of the long slices on his arm. “Despite my magical abilities and the boost from the ring, that creature nailed me. It took over the spell I cast and slung it back at me. I had no way to fight that.”

  “It tortured you,” she said, quieter now.

  The summoner’s expression saddened. “No, it forced the one I love to torture me. I still remember the tears in my lady’s eyes as she cut me, over and over.”

  “Oh my God,” Katia said, her hand going to her throat.

  “I’m alive because the Unholy Terror has a limited attention span, and when it was no longer amusing to watch me suffer, it ignored me. It was too enthralled with the ring. I lost a lot of my magic, but not all of it. I crawled my way out of that world and back to my own. I wanted to die here. I didn’t want the one I love watch me take my last breath.”

  “Dear God,” Simon whispered.

  Chaffin carefully shifted positions. It was obvious he wouldn’t be upright for much longer.

  “I know the penalty for stealing corpses, and I’m willing to accept it. But for the love of God, please stop that thing from hurting my Lady and her kind. Stop it from growing any more powerful. Because if you don’t, it now has the ring and the power to move out of that realm and into ours. It’ll do the same damned thing here. Its evil has no bounds.”

  Looks were traded around the table now. That was the dilemma—as long as the monster remained in the other realm, they were safe. Not our problem, right?

  But monsters never stopped destroying, never stopped killing. It would be naïve to think it would stay in The Lady’s world and not search out more victims. Otherworldly, demonic or mortal, all monsters were insatiable.

  “Your enemy may eventually be our enemy,” Ozymandias said, summing up the issue succinctly.

  Chaffin nodded. “I fear so. Or it may go to other realm. Once it’s drained my lady’s world dry, it will move on.” He took another long sip of water. “There was so much I didn’t know. I figured I’d be able to save them. I can cast powerful spells. I can open portals to other worlds. What could possibly be stronger than me?” He shook his head in despair. “God, I was so stupid.”

  “That trait is not yours alone,” his lordship said. “I, too, have made such mistakes.”

  “Then we’re all fools.”

  “Is the door to The Lady’s home world near where I found you?” Katia asked.

  “Yes, if the Unholy Terror allows you entrance.”

  “I’m betting it will. Only one way for me to find out.” Simon was already shaking his head before she’d finished.

  “If you confront it, what stops this evil from forcing you to do its will? Force you to bring it into our realm?” Ozymandias asked.

  “He’s right,” Chaffin said. “That’s how it entered my lady’s world. It took control of a fae, one of the more belligerent ones. He brought it into their realm and it returned the favor by killing him. No matter how hard they fight the creature, they always lose,” Chaffin said.

  “This thing is not only brute force. It’s cunning. Somehow it knew about your ancestor and his ring, and then purposely found a way into the fae realm,” Simon said. “That means someone told it about you and your lady. It needed leverage to get you to do what it wanted. And the fae were it.”

  Chaffin gave a hollow laugh. “Ironic, isn’t it? That’s why I kidnapped you and your sister, just to have leverage.” He hesitated, then sighed. “The fae that brought the Unholy Terror into their world had been following my lady and myself for some time. She said to ignore him, but I think he was jealous.”

  “This Unholy Terror found a weak link and exploited it,” Mort suggested.

  “It did. Nothing would keep it from doing the same to you, Ms. Breman.”

  He was probably right.

  “It might. But I have to do something because this horror needs to die.”

  “You are convinced this is the only way to proceed?” Ozymandias asked. She nodded. “Well, I see. I would join you in this fight, but I cannot at this time. My strength is not sufficient,” he replied, his voice full of regret. That much was obvious since the sigil on his forehead was barely lit.

  “Are you sure about this?” Riley asked. “You’re still hurting from the last trip.”

  “I am,” Katia replied.

  “Anywhere else and I’d go with you. But not another realm, not after my trip to Hell,” her boss said. “I’m not even sure I can walk the worlds. That was Ori’s doing, not mine.”

  “You have to have a particular mindset for that sort of travel,” Ozymandias said. “You’re correct, Riley, that it was the angel that took you into the Pit, not you.”

  “I can’t do it,” Mort said, trading a look with his superior now. “I tried once. It just didn’t work. And up to this point, I’ve not regretted it. Until now.”

  “Please, think this through. You’ll be on your own,” Riley warned.

  “No, I’ll be with her,” Simon said, looking over at Katia now. “Don’t bother to argue with me.”

  As she began to refuse his help, her master cut in. “Remember the conversation we had yesterday? You need someone to watch your back, Journeyman. This isn’t just about you.”

  Katia did remember that convo, and she knew Riley was right. She was grateful for Simon’s support, but she feared what that might cost her friend if this went wrong.

  “Alright, we go together,” she said, because she wasn’t suicidal.

  Simon’s tense posture immediately eased. “

  “They are running out of time,” Chaffin said. “She won’t be alive for much longer. I can feel it.”

  “We go tonight?” Katia asked, eyeing the exorcist.

  “Tonight,” he agreed.

  “The best we can do is reinforce our side of the portal in case you’re not . . . successful,” Mort said. “We’ll need to prepare counter spells to stop this creature if it tries to come here.” He turned to Riley and added, “I’ll need your help with those.”

  “You got it. I’ll let a certain grand Master know what’s going on.”

  “Please do so,” Ozymandias replied. “We might need his help if this plan fails.”

  Chaffin closed his eyes for a few seconds, and when they reopened they glistened. “If you can save their world, save her, and keep that thing from coming here, then it will all have been worth it.”

  Riley’s eyes swiveled to him. “Not so fast. All of this is on you. We are just cleaning up your mess. You own this; everything.”

  With a nod of understanding, he rose and slowly shuffled back into the house, a broken man.

  TWENTY-THREE

  Once their plans had been laid, Katia returned Stewart’s car to his house, leaving it in the driveway and the keys on the kitchen table. Her timing had been good as Mrs. Ayers hadn’t been home so no explanation for the early return was necessary.

  Since she was there, Katia took a few minutes to check out the newly painted rooms and found them to be as nice as she’d hoped. The old house had been renewed, and only a faint paint smell still lingered. One of the ornate cornices had been painted white now and it was perfect. Grand Master Stewart would love this once he got back home. If Katia survived her encounter with the Unholy Terror tonight, she’d be back here to enjoy it as well.

  It was close to six that evening when she and Simon finally had a chance to talk. Once again, they were in his backyard, neighborhood noises filtering in from beyond the high cypress fencing. Someone was playing badminton and having a grand time of it. Just normal everyday activity. It felt good.

  As she’d savored the sounds, Simon had spent the last few minutes staring at the fencing, silent. It didn’t look like he was going to start the conversation, so she did.

  “I owe you an apology,” she said, and that drew his eyes to her now.

  “About what?”

  “About taking off on my own when I found Chaffin. I should have told you and Riley what I was going to do. I didn’t. That was my bad.”

  He looked away, then back again. “Is that what she meant today?”

  “Yup. She was right. She gave me hell for it. And I think that’s part of the reason you were so angry with Chaffin. Some of that was because of me.”

  A slow nod came her way. “That was part of it. Also, I let my heartless side show. It’s not pretty when I do that. I can be really cold sometimes.”

  “We all can.”