Heir of Night (The Thorne Hill)

“You need to stay in the circle,” Tabatha says when Alyssa tries to get Noah up onto the couch. “We can set up something a bit more comfortable in due time.”

“I’ll bring food,” Kristy says.

“I can help,” Brock tells her, and she smiles. Alex joins his younger brother and mom on the floor. Ruby and Tabatha stay nearby just to be safe.

“So I don’t suppose you’ve ever come across something like this before?” I ask Melinda.

She’s slowly flipping the sliver knife around in her hand. “A high-level demon using a werewolf as a Trojan horse to get into a pregnant Nephilim’s house?” A smile splits her face. “Can’t say I have.”

“Damn. I was hoping you’d know exactly what to do.”

“I do have an idea.” She bites her lip and looks at Noah. “From something I have heard about before. It wouldn’t work for us hunters, but, uh…you’re like dead-dead, right?” she asks Lucas. “Your heart doesn’t beat at all?”

“No,” he answers. “It doesn’t.”

“Okay, then it just might work.”

“I’m interested,” Lucas says and puts an arm around me.

Melinda sits in an armchair next to the couch and leans in. “We came across this book a few years ago on a hunt. Alchemy, we think. It’s…it’s confusing. From what we were able to translate, there’s a spell or formula or whatever to make a golden box thing that will hold spirits.” She gets her phone from her pocket and flips through her photos. “There were notes written in the margin in German, which we were able to translate with no issues. Whoever had the book before tried the spell and it didn’t work.”

She hands her phone to Lucas. “Does that language look familiar? It’s not the best photo. From what I was able to Google search, it’s a mix of a few languages, and some of those symbols are from unknown origins.”

“Some of this is Arabic,” Lucas says, zooming in on the photo. “And these are hieroglyphs.”

“Where did you find the book?” I ask while Lucas inspects the photo.

“In this creepy temple filled with dead bodies. It was like they'd aged fifty years overnight and left to rot for a week, but everything happened in the course of twelve hours.”

“Alchemy is all about trying to extend life. We learn about it at the Academy. No one has come close to finding the Elixir of Life, and it’s dangerous to mix random shit together and then consume it.”

“These people didn’t get that memo. They didn’t seem to think anything through, really, because on the next page, I think I translated things enough to know they thought they could capture spirits or energy and use it to stay young forever. And according to the notes the German alchemist wrote, the fatal flaw was whatever they summoned attached to and then drained their life force.”

“Hence the rapid aging and rotting,” I note.

“Exactly.”

“Since we can’t send demons to Hell, you want to extract it from the werewolf and then trap it?” Lucas hands Melinda her phone back.

“It sounds overly simplified when you say it like that, but it was a thought.”

“Trapping demonic spirits in inanimate objects isn’t a new concept,” I tell them both. “I have demonic ashes in a jar in the basement, though that was a totally different scenario.” That particular demon could resurrect itself, and I was able to sweep up the ashes and put them in an enchanted jar before it had the chance to. Without the ability to resurrect, the demon will stay as-is. “Do you still have access to this book?”

Melinda nods. “It’s in a storage locker in Chicago. I can send Easton to get it.”

“That would work. Have him send me pictures of this spell, and I’ll see if Tabatha and Ruby can use parts of it to create something strong enough to hold this demon. The kid won’t last much longer.”

“Werewolves are stronger than the average human.” Lucas runs his fingers up and down my arm. “He’ll be able to hold on until we figure this out.”

“You really think so?” I ask softly, needing Lucas’s brutal honesty right now.

“Between alchemy, witchcraft, and your dashing immortal husband, I think we can figure something out. That’s what we do.”

I tip my head up and smile at Lucas, heart swelling in my chest. “That is what we do.” I give myself just a moment to sit in the comfort of Lucas’s embrace and then get up, going over to Noah. “Hey. How are you feeling?”

“Confused,” the kid tells me. His mom still has her arms wrapped around him. “And hungry.” He runs a hand through his hair. “Thanks for, uh, helping. I remember glimpses of everything.”

“If the demon did anything while he was in control, don’t blame yourself.”

Noah’s brows pinch together, and he nods. “I’ll try not to.”

Kristy and Brock come in with food, and we all give the wolves some space while they eat. Once we’re in the hall outside the library, I fill everyone in on Melinda’s idea.