The Accidental Druid's Guide to Binding Demons by Kari Gregg

Author:Kari Gregg [Gregg, Kari]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-10-11T00:00:00+00:00

14

Once I dragged my demon around the twisted wreckage of my dad’s greenhouse, the magicals who’d come to our aid during the attack came into view, their silhouettes against the yellows and oranges of fire consuming my house both heartening and eerie. Griffith had arrived just in time, with a small contingent of battle mages the guild boss had intended to watch our backs, but no one, including Griffith, had believed the assassination attempt would come so swiftly after testing. The mayhem and destruction weren’t his fault, and it certainly wasn’t Clara’s, who stared at my burning home with unwavering focus as she worked her magic to summon and direct water to quench the flames collapsing the north corner of my roof.

The fault was mine. And Jae’s.

We’d known an attack was coming. We should’ve been better prepared.

“Leave the kitchen,” my demon said, clutching onto me with fierce determination despite the whispery faintness of his gasping voice.

When he pushed images into my head of what he had in mind, I shouted to the mages fighting the inferno eating my house. “He needs fire to heal.” I stumble-lurched past the others and picked a cautious path up the back porch stairs. The deck of the porch dipped, unstable under my bare toes. The blond oak bled into scorched wood as, panting, we neared the kitchen door which hung askew.

Two water mages and an air mage, who magicked oxygen from the fire’s greedy maw in ungentle gusts, directed their attention to the south end of the house. But I could see the cause was lost. “Be quick,” Skip said, crouching next to Griffith from the yard. “The house could collapse any minute.”

This is far enough. Jae forced a tight smile. “I am impervious to flame,” he said, his gaze darting to the red blossoming on my irritated skin from the explosive heat. “You are not.”

I ducked under his arm, leaning him against the doorjamb. “Remember, both quartzes, hematite…” I flinched at a crackling crash followed by a burst of sparks, signaling another section of my house caving in. “Never mind. Get the black tourmaline. It’s vital. Collecting the other crystals will take time we can’t afford, but they are replaceable. That chunk of black tourmaline is special. You know which crystal I mean?”

“Issa. I will find your rocks.” Jae grinned, his pain and exhaustion clear in the darkness of his eyes, where no red glimmered. “You go.”

My mind knew this fire was what my demon needed, but my screaming instincts told my head to fuck off, so turning to hurry from the smoky back porch was more difficult than fleeing the obvious peril should’ve been. My feet dragged. Chest heaving, I coughed as clouds of hot ash choked me, but despite that, I had to force myself away.

Once Jae slipped inside, that house contained everything that had ever mattered to me…and the house was dying.

My stomach plummeted once my toes dug into the mud at the bottom of the porch steps. I’d been

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