Orange-scented detangler hit Minias square in the eyes. Yelping, he stumbled backward into the hall to hit the dark walls. Arms and legs askew, he slipped to the floor. I didn’t wait to see if he was down. I’d seen enough movies to know better.

Pulse hammering, I lurched out over him. He grunted as my foot hit something, and I gasped when he went misty and my foot slipped through him and found the floor.

My hands touched the walls to pull me forward, and I ran for the kitchen. I had a circle there, still set with salt. Jenks was a blur of gold dust ahead of me.

“Look out!” he shouted, and I went down, my feet pulled from under me.

Memories of Al poured through me. I couldn’t go back there. I couldn’t be someone’s plaything. I silently fought, kicking at anything, my years of martial arts forgotten.

“What is wrong with you?” Minias said, then grunted when my sandal hit something tender. He went misty, his grip falling away.

I pulled myself forward, almost crawling across the kitchen until the expanse of my circle was between us. Minias was close behind. “Rhombus!” I shouted, tapping the line and slapping my hand on the line etched in the linoleum.

Ever-after coursed in. Fear caused my control to slip, and more power than I liked raced through me, hurting. The circle went up, and Minias ran smack into the interior wall of it.

“Ow!” the demon exclaimed, purple robes furling as he fell back against the island counter. Hand over his nose, he looked at the smut crawling over my bubble. His hat had fallen off, and he glared at me from under his curls, turning almost choleric when he realized that his nose was bleeding. “You broke my nose!” he exclaimed, bright red demon blood pouring forth.

“So fix it,” I said, shaking. He was in a circle. He was in my circle. I took a breath, then another. Slowly I pulled my legs under me and stood, cold despite the warmth of the night.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” he asked again, clearly furious as a sheet of ever-after slithered over him. He took his hand from his nose to show that the blood was gone.

“Me?” I said, burning off some angst. “You said you’d call first, not just barge in!”

“I did call!” Minias roughly adjusted his robes. “You never answered, and then,” he shouted, flicking a finger under my expensive chalkboard to make it hit the floor, “instead of a simple ‘I’m busy, could you call back again later,’ you slam the door in my face! I want this mark between us settled. You are rude, ill-mannered, and as ignorant as a toad!”