“I,” Zach intones. “I call you, Old Ones.”
“No!” I shout. “No, go away!”
“Do you banish us already?” booms the voice.
“Come forth!” Zach shouts. “Ignore the human!”
“We come!”
The room grows hotter, and I choke on the sulfurous smoke.
“You fool!” shouts Gilroy. “You can’t bring them here!”
But it’s too late. We are all going to burn to death.
Chapter 37: NISWER, NISWER, NISWER
Above the ring of fire, I see something coming. Something huge, made out of fire and smoke.
“We’re all doomed!” Gilroy shouts. “You idiot boy!”
“Father!” Zach calls out. “Help!”
I feel Karen’s hand on my arm. “Do something, Stanley. Quick, now!”
I shake my head. Do what? I bite my lip in frustration, taste my own blood.
That’s it: blood in my mouth. I turn toward the demons forming in the fire. And spit not onto the floor, but into the flames.
I can barely breathe. Holding my shirt up to my mouth, I take a breath of hot smoky air and shout out three words: “Niswer, Niswer, Niswer!”
“Who speaks my name?”
I never thought I’d be so happy to hear that voice.
And he’s beautiful now. A column of pure energy, hot and bright, up above us.
“What are you doing, you idiot?” he asks, looking down.
Zach just stares.
“Can you send them back?” I ask him.
“No one can send us back!” the Old Ones roar in unison.
“Right,” Rewsin says. “A challenge! I may need to call a friend or two.”
What happens next is hard to describe. Rewsin circles around the room, a spinning column of light and energy, joined in a moment by two others, looping around the sulfurous fire.
The last thing I feel is Karen pulling me back.
Chapter 38: DEALING WITH ZACH
The next thing I know, they’re gone. Zach is standing there, stunned, covered in soot. In my ears, a voice echoes. “My debt is fulfilled. Farewell, Stanley!”
Zach focuses on me, then holds out my athame and reaches out and grabs Meredith. I feel the beast in me surge, and he takes a step back.
“Let. Her. Go,” I growl.