Angry, I gathered myself and stood, hunched until I knew I wasn’t going to hit the green-tinted ever-after over my head. I was on that low stage, standing in the middle of a large circle filling the cave of a pentagram. Greenish white candles marked the corners, which were hazy as they existed both here and in the ever-after. A tarry black sludge marked the limit of my cell. Horror trickled through me as I realized they had used blood to draw the circle, not salt. Damn it, I’m at the center of a black circle.

My gaze went to the crack in the wall, and I felt the assembled people draw back. There were six of them, including Tom Bansen. Music thumped in through the ceiling, a low bass that sounded like a heartbeat, and I thought I recognized it. The stench of bleach and mold told me Betty had been cleaning, but it didn’t begin to push out the reek of ever-after I had brought with me. God, I needed a shower in the worst way.

Tom’s eyes were wide as they took me in: my long duster white with ash and dried salt, my hair a tangled mess, and the dust and grit from the ever-after coating me. There were five men in front of him, all in those hokey black robes. Their hoods made them look like a joke, but these people had been intentionally summoning Al and letting him go, knowing he was going to try to kill me.

Furious, I took three steps, almost running into the arc of ever-after I was trapped behind. Claustrophobia clenched my heart and I took a sharp breath. “Let me out!” I yelled in frustration, feeling the energy cramp the muscles of my hand when I got too close. That had never happened before, even when I had been in someone else’s circle. God help me, what had Trent’s father done to me? I’d kill him. I’d freaking kill Trent for this.

“I said, let me out!” I shouted. I was helpless. For all my skills, I was completely helpless. The little pissant had me trapped with a stupid circle. “Let me out, now!” I said again, giving in and smacking the shield between us. It hissed and burned, and I held my hand to me as the pain shocked me to my senses. I was not a demon. This had to be a mistake. Al had said I wasn’t one. My mom was a witch, and Takata was a witch, and that meant I was a witch. One who can kindle demon magic and be summoned with a name?

From behind the living wall of trembling acolytes, Tom bowed his head. “Of course, lord demon, Algaliarept, after the formalities have been observed. We have prepared.”