I inched away from the fallen rock. “This isn’t a good idea. Let’s go back and we can finish this like normal people.”

He brought his gaze to me. “What will you give me?” he mocked, thin eyebrows high.

I felt like the time my date drove me to a farmhouse and stranded me, telling me if I didn’t put out, I could find my own way back. I broke his finger to get the key for his truck and cried all the way home. My mom called his mom and that was the end of it except for the endless ribbing I took at school. Maybe I’d have gotten some respect if my dad had beat up his dad, but that hadn’t been an option at that point. I didn’t think breaking Lee’s finger would get me home this time. “I can’t,” I whispered. “You killed all those people.”

Shaking his head, he sniffed. “You hurt my reputation. I’m going to be rid of you.”

My mouth went dry when I realized where this was headed. He was going to give me to Algaliarept, the bastard. “Don’t do this, Lee,” I said, frightened. My head jerked up at the rapid scrabbling of claws. “We both owe him,” I said. “He can take you just as easily.”

Lee kicked chunks of rock from his feet to make a clear spot. “No-o-o-o, the word on both sides of the lines is he wants you.” Eyes black in the red light, Lee smiled. “But just in case, I’m going to soften you up a little first.”

“Lee,” I whispered, hunched from the cold as he started to mutter Latin. The glow of the line energy in his hand lit his face with ugly shadows. I tensed in sudden panic. There was nowhere to run in the three seconds I had.

My breath caught at the sudden clatter of things hiding. I jerked my attention up to see a sphere of energy headed right for me. If I made a circle, Al would feel it. If I deflected it, Al would know. So like an idiot, I froze, and it smacked right into me.

Fire rippled over my skin. My head flung back, mouth open as I fought for air. It was simply line energy, overflowing my chi. Tulpa, I thought as I fell, giving it somewhere to go.

Immediately the fire died, racing to the sphere already up and waiting in my head. Something in me seemed to shift, and I knew I had made a mistake. The things around us squealed and vanished.

I heard a gentle pop. Heart pounding, I straightened. My breath caught, and I slowly let it out in a steaming ribbon of white moisture. Al’s jaunty silhouette was black against the setting sun as he stood atop a broken building, his back to us.

“Shit,” Lee swore. “What the hell is he doing here already?”