“Anora?” I stop short, fingers sweeping over Hunter’s fur. Devin is shelving books and sets down a stack. “It’s good to see you again.”
“It’s good to see you, too,” I say and step through the tall double doors. “Hey, do you happen to know where the High Priestess is right now?”
“She is out of the Covenstead with family today.”
“What about Ruby—I mean, Professor Darrows?”
“I think she stepped out for the weekend as well. Something about planning a baby shower.” He shrugs. “Is there anything I can help you with?”
“No, it’s fine, wait, actually could you point me in the direction of books about pocket dimensions or rifts and specifically how to fix them?”
“This is merely for educational reading, right?”
“Um, sure.”
Devin gives me a telling look. “What’s going on?”
“Back in the 1930s witches trapped a wraith who feeds on fear in a pocket dimension and now he’s breaking down his door, sucking people into his realm and killing them before spitting them back out and I need to figure out a way to board it back up and also prove I’m not a murderer.”
Devin stares at me, lips slightly apart. “Maybe I should get the High Priestess. Unless you’re joking.”
“I wish I was.” Awkwardly, I shake my head. “I should have worded that a little differently, it’s just that time is very much of the essence here.”
“I can imagine .” Devin motions for me to follow him up a flight of stairs to the second level. “But I’m still not following. Who accused you of murder?” He bends down, reading the titles of different books.
“Oh, goodness. This is a, uh, crazy story.” I pause ,not sure how to explain without giving everything away. My gut is telling me not to let Devin know Ethan is an Order member. “She’s a demon hunter who knows I’m a witch and believes that we’re all evil.”
“They need to get with the times,” Devin scoffs.
“For real. My friends and I were looking into mysterious deaths and discovered that the victims all had high levels of cortisol and adrenaline in their system when they died. And by mysterious, I mean being run over by a car while in the bathtub. It seemed like a sleep-demon at first, going the whole Freddie Kruger route, but the more we looked into it we realized it wasn’t the case. Fast forward to narrowing it down with a note in my book of Shadows that Kornath has been vanquished– but not killed— and here I am.”
“Wow, that’s uh…that’s…didn’t you like, just start remembering that you’re a witch?”
“I’m a fast learner? ” I offer with a shrug.
Devin stares at me for a few seconds and then shakes himself. “Kornath…that name is familiar. He’s in a league of other demons under Bael’s rule, ah, I knew I’d remember.”
“Yeah, he is.”
“I minored in Demonology,” he explains. “Wraiths are dangerous and almost impossible to kill. I can honestly say the door has held him back that long. If it’s weak enough for him to pull people through, we don’t have much time until he busts out.”
“We?” I ask, making sure I heard him correctly.
“What, you think I’m going to let you have all the fun?” He playfully nudges me with his elbow. “You might be a fast learner but trying to recast the protection spell on a door is complicated and requires more than one spell caster.”
“Oh, I, uhh…thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Any wraith is bad, but this particular one is very bad. The book we need is over here.” We quickly go across the library to a section of secured books. “We don’t ban books here, but there are certain spells and rituals students shouldn’t have access to. Black magic is extremely dangerous.”
“Is sealing a rift black magic?”
“No,” he replies quickly. “It’s just too advanced for most students here.”
“But I can pull it off,” I say sarcastically. “No pressure or anything.”
“It seems like you know more than you realize.” He taps the side of his head. “It’s all in there.”
“Somewhere,” I say, and he laughs. Walking fast, we leave the library.
“You said you’re surprised the demon didn’t get out sooner,” I start. “I thought these pocket dimensions were kinda fool proof.”
“They can be, but only when set up in that way. Creating a door creates a weak spot, so to say.”
“How would you set one up without a door?” I shake my head in question. “I mean, how would you get out?”
“That’s the thing. Someone stays, seamlessly sealing the dimension from the inside.”
Chapter
Twenty-Five
“Have you done this before?” I start my trusty, blue Prius and pull my seatbelt over my lap, glancing in the back to make sure Hunter is laying down. It’s a habit, and I used to buckle him in back when I thought he was just a dog. He’s a spirit now, and if we got into an accident he’d shift into his much safer shadow form.