All of them, save Isabelle, walked down one of the posh corridors of the Coven to a smaller room that smelled of bitter herb. Within stood a table that held a spell pot and an open grimoire. On another small table rested a large oval container, like an oversized jar, of some sort of blue-green material. Claire walked to it and ran her fingers down the roughened side. It appeared handmade.

"It's where we'll store the elium," said Micah, close to her.

She glanced at him. "How do you know it can be stored in such a container? It rested in a demon before the demon put it in me."

Micah pushed a hand through his hair and sighed. She noticed the deep dark smudges under his eyes that marked his lack of sleep. "I've studied demon lore day and night since you arrived. If the texts I've been able to amass are correct, the combination of elements we blended into this container, along with the earth magick we've woven in, should keep the elium in stasis until we figure out how to destroy it."

Claire stared at the fragile jar for a moment longer, then turned to Adam. "Did you explain to them what it was like when I tapped the elium at the cabin?"

He nodded.

"So they know it was like a mini nuclear blast, zeroing out all magick within its reach? Blowing out windows? Nearly killing me?"

Adam nodded again.

"And that I only barely touched it, drew the thinnest and tiniest of threads to wield?"

"I told them everything, Claire."

She locked her jaw. How could this possibly work? What had she been thinking? There was no way that elemental witches, clear on the other side of Eudae, could ever even comprehend demon magick, let alone successfully manipulate it. All the hopes she'd been nursing in order to survive popped like the frailest bubble.

"This is crazy," she muttered.

"It's not only crazy," said Thomas. "It's our only shot. You know better than we do that the elium cannot stay inside you. The demons will just keep hunting you. When they find you, they'll take the elium and probably your life with it. If we can get the elium out of you, we save your life. We plan to mask the container in some way. hide it from them until we figure out what to do with it."

Claire looked at him. "You don't understand the magick that I'm carrying. Doing this spell and trying to move the elium is like trying to carry a brimming teacup of nitroglycerin barefoot over a bed of hot coals without spilling any."

Micah made an impatient gesture. "I've done the research, Claire, this is our only option."