Thirteen (Otherworld 13)

"I think we could do it with spells," I said. "Cause a distraction, then Lucas, Paige and I go in under blur and cover spells."

"It'd have to be a distraction that didn't scream 'you're surrounded by SWAT teams.'"

"True."

Adam went quiet.

"What's up?" I said as we jogged around the far bend of our improvised track.

"I know you won't appreciate the reminder, but . . . your spells aren't up to it, Savannah. They aren't reliable enough. Lucas and Paige could cover you, but . . ."

"If they have to cover me, they might as well take in someone more useful. Like you or Clay."

"Hey, no, I never said--"

"But it's true. You and Clay have unique talents. Right now, Paige and Lucas are the better spellcasters. I wouldn't bring anything new to the table."

He shook his head. "You said you wanted to let Aratron play this out, but I think we need to try summoning him. Get your powers back."

We jogged past the base. Tactical officers stood in clusters, some checking me out, some glowering at us, as if we were showing them up by making use of our downtime.

I waited until we were in the cornfield again, then said, "Is it even possible to summon a eudemon?"

"I've seen rites in the old books." He paused. "Rites that take a week to prepare, use ingredients I've never heard of and have never actually been proven to work."

I glowered at him. "Helpful."

"I don't think we need that. If Aratron's watching over you, he can't be far. I say we try a basic summoning--"

"It won't work," called a voice behind us.

We stopped and turned to see one of the officers--a dark-haired man in his thirties--gingerly making his way through the corn.

"Eavesdropping?"

He smiled. It wasn't a big smile, barely an expression of amusement at all, but I recognized it.

"Aratron," I said. "Well, that was easy."

"You know who I am then? Good. The cloak of mystery had its charms at first, but it was getting tiresome." He waved for us to follow. "Come, children. We need to talk."

As we headed deeper into the cornfield, I said, "I know you have some master plan for me, and I've gone along with it so far, but I need my spells back. We have to get into that compound. Gilles de Rais is going to--"

"--summon Lucifer using his daughter." He peered over in the direction of the ruined farmhouse. "Jaime Vegas is here, is she not?"

"Yes, but--"

"We met once."

"Yeah, she told us, but--"

"It was when she discovered those humans learning magic. A precursor to this whole debacle. Hope Adams was with her at the time. I'd expressed an interest in meeting Hope. That never came to pass."

"I'm sure Jaime did her best. Now--"

"Oh, that wasn't a complaint. There is no way for Jaime to contact me even if she'd been so inclined. I was merely making an observation. Musing on how things have come full circle it seems. From Hope Adams to Hope Adams. Interesting, don't you think?"

No, I did not. I suspected that Hope--captive in that subterranean vipers' nest, thinking her husband was dead and that she and their daughter would shortly follow--wouldn't find this delay all that interesting either. I decided I liked Aratron better when his visits were short and cryptic.