“Silence!” Vivian yelled without the aid of her amulet, and most of the crowd shut up. “Let me tell you what happened.”

My foot quivered, and I looked down, then up into the faceless crowd.

“I traveled first behind Rachel, then with her,” Vivian said, only to be interrupted by Oliver.

“And you expect us to believe that you are seeing things clearly?”

Vivian spun to him, her tie-dyed robe furling. “You know I’m not spelled, Oliver,” she said tartly. “Disagreeing with you does not equal having one’s judgment impaired, and if the rest of your bootlickers would grow a pair, we might have some justice here and maybe save our asses! We are in dire danger, and it’s not from Rachel!”

The crowd became silent. Pierce leaned over to me, and with his pinkie just touching the amulet, he whispered, “I like her.”

Someone laughed, and Vivian shot me an encouraging glance. “I stand before you in the sphere of the coven’s truth charm, and I say that I traveled with Rachel, drove her car after she fought off a demon. A day-walking demon,” she said loudly when the noise rose. “She didn’t call it, it came of its own volition. I stand here now because she bested it. It was beyond me.”

Not a sound came from the audience as they took that in. “A day-walking demon?” someone shouted. “That’s impossible!”

Trent scuffed his feet to pull eyes to him. “They exist. A demon possessed one of my associates and was able to stay on this side of the ley lines, in the sun. It was Rachel who banished the demon and freed my friend. Day-walking demons are here. Your safety is severely compromised. The rules are evolving!”

He had to shout the last, and Vivian looked worried. I could well imagine the fervor going on past the doors, where this was being piped out. Vivian twitched her dress to gather the crowd’s attention. “Unfortunately, Mr. Kalamack is correct. Demons are finding ways around the rules. Something has changed, and they can walk in daylight unsummoned. As we are now, we can’t stand against them.”

Oliver cleared his throat nervously. “Of course you couldn’t stand against a demon, Vivian. You may be coven, but you were also alone.”

“That’s what I’m saying, Oliver,” she said sarcastically, anger at her own lack of ability bleeding through. “I was alone, but so was Rachel, and she beat him back. My drawn circle fell as if it wasn’t there. Rachel’s didn’t. It held firm. I’m not saying that black magic is stronger. But her magic has the strength of earth magic with the speed and flexibility of ley-line charms, and by continuing to ignore all of it because of the fear of some, we will condemn ourselves along with a good woman.”

I was going to cry. Pierce took my hand, and I squeezed it. Even if I didn’t make it out of here, someone had said I was a good person. It was worth the two thousand miles of bad food, dirty restrooms, and two nights without a bed just to hear someone say it.