I exhaled heavily as the smut-coated sheet of gold-tinted ever-after rose up, loosely imprisoning Al. It was like tying a stallion with string, but Al rumbled appreciatively.

“Took you long enough,” he sniffed, poking at it only to draw back when it almost fell.

Shaking, I turned to Brooke, totally pissed and smiling. The woman was staring, clearly recognizing that something had shifted, but not making the connection. She was a white witch. She had no clue that she’d just lost control of him. Vivian, though, was backing up, her face whiter than her coat used to be.

“Algaliarept, kill the woman standing beside you,” Brooke said, and Al blew her a kiss.

“Too late, Brooke. I circled him. He’s my demon,” I said, hearing more than my words were saying. Al was my demon. I admitted it. It was time to live it. It was the only way I was going to survive being me.

“No!” Brooke exclaimed, her face becoming livid. “I circled you. I circled both of you! Rachel, I demand you do what I say and release that demon!”

“That doesn’t work on me,” I said smugly as Al chuckled. “I’m not a demon. We’ve been over this.” I wasn’t a demon, but Al didn’t think I was a witch either.

“I’ve had enough,” Al said, reaching out to push through my paltry circle.

“Wait,” I said, and he hesitated. “I have an idea.”

“This had better be good,” he warned me, eying me over his smoked glasses.

“Break my circle, and you’re still stuck here with me. But if I banish you …”

Al smiled, his thick blocky teeth showing full and white. “Itchy witch, I misjudged you.”

“Demon,” I said firmly, “I demand that you depart from here and go directly to wherever your little demon heart desires.”

Al’s smile widened. My hair shifted from the displaced air, and he was gone. I was alone in Brooke’s circle. I was betting I wouldn’t be alone for long. Please come back, Al.

“Rachel! I demand you do what I say,” Brooke shouted, beginning to look frazzled in her begrimed business suit.

“You can suck my toes, Brooke.” Bis’s tail tightened, but I smiled sweetly, hand on my hip. Al, I summon you. Al, I summon you. Al! Get your ass over here!

Oh God. What if he didn’t show? Had I just given myself to the coven?

Vivian stiffened, eyes wide. I felt a drop in the nearest ley line, and we all turned. “Hello, Brooke Sondra Stanton,” Al said, and I sagged in relief. He’d come back.

“Abire!” Brooke shouted, dropping her circle around me to throw all she had at Al.