“I told you this was a bad idea,” Vivian said. “Now there’s two of them.”

Oh God, my head hurt. Al let me go, and I staggered, only to fall down again in the middle of that big pentagram. He was wearing my boots, or at least replicas of the one I’d left in the ever-after. It was the only difference between us. Fingers stretching, I reached for my amulet, sighing when my fingers snagged it and the pain in my head dulled.

“You didn’t do it right, itchy witch,” Al said, then flung out a hand when Brooke threw a ball of something at us. “Bitch,” he said absently as a black sheet of ever-after sprang up around us. He’d set a circle. Al had set a protection circle. I’d only seen him do that once, maybe twice, before. “Look what you made me do,” the demon snarled. “I hope you’re satisfied. I had to set a circle. I’ve not set a circle this side of the lines since Piscary tried to get me to kill you. Proud of yourself?”

His syntax sounded funny coming from my face. “Not especially,” I said, then yelped when he yanked me to my feet. From the rafters, Bis hissed.

The pop of a spell hitting the black-sheened protection circle thumped through me. It was followed by several more as Vivian and Brooke tried to break through with their lethal white charms. I tried to see a glimmer of Al’s gold aura, seeing only black. Nothing remained.

“Let her go!” Bis exclaimed, ignored as he dropped through Al’s circle.

“I ought to throttle you,” Al snarled, red hair twin to my own swinging into his face. It sort of put a new spin on the phrase killing yourself. “And your little gargoyle, too,” he added, making Bis dart back out of the circle when the wood at his feet started to smolder.

Oh yeah, my fuzzy brain thought. Pierce and the gun.

“I didn’t know,” I gasped. “I forgot Pierce had my splat gun. Damn it, Al, I was stoned out of my mind! Why am I always trying to prove myself to you? How about a little trust?”

Al loosened his hold. It was like looking in a mirror, but I doubt I ever had that angry a snarl before. His attention jerked past me as I felt a drop in the ley line. They were trying to reset their summoning circle to trap us. Grimacing, Al muttered a word of Latin.

Vivian yelped, leaping to the side when Al’s circle dropped, broken by his magic tearing through it. A new, nasty ooze dripped from the wall behind her.

“Pierce is a jerk,” I said, feeling the ice pick in my head start to dissolve. “You were right. I’m wrong. His shooting at you wasn’t my idea. You know he’s trying to kill you. What did you expect?”