When she’d finished charging the ward, she returned to us and sat down.

“Listen well,” the caliph warned. “Your parents believe that the demon that killed the three Luxe mages was very, very old. Primordial. As you know, they’ve been trying to identify it for years. We’ve long ago exhausted our own library and resources trying to help them find it.”

I crossed my arms in front of me as a resentful anger bubbled to the surface. “I offered to help summon it years ago, but they always refused to give me any details about the demon. I understand their being overprotective of a young girl, but I’m not a teenager anymore.”

“Yes, I know that,” the caliph said with a gentle smile. “To be honest, all we have ourselves is a description of the demon and a knowledge of how he killed the victims. It’s not much to go on, but if we could find new resources, perhaps we could locate the exact class of demon and, more important, the summoning name.”

Hell, yeah, it was more important. There are a finite number of seals used for summoning Æthyric demons to earth. Each type of demon—Jinn, Kerub, Shedu, Oni, Asura, et cetera—requires a seal specific to its class. The variable is the addition of the demon’s name. Without the name, the demon can’t be summoned.

“And if you could find the demon’s name,” the Grand-master added, “then, with your summoning abilities, you could certainly control him, and bind him in front of the Luxe council. Like every other demon, he can be forced—”

“To tell the truth,” I finished. “Yes, I’m well aware of the reason they’ve been searching for this demon all these years.” It would be the perfect witness to the murders. If he could be found and bound, he would tell everyone who really summoned and commanded him to kill those three people. It would exonerate my parents. Problem was, nobody knew what demon they were looking for. “How can we find the demon’s class and name in two weeks, when you’ve been working on it for years?”

“There is nothing more that I can do personally, but perhaps there is something you can do. We’ve protected you from this for too long. Like you said, you’re an adult now, and a powerful mage. I know you’ve been studying and working with other magicians outside the order—”

“What else could I do?” I snapped, knowing this was prohibited.

“You did what you had to. But if I’m guessing correctly, I think you may have contacts and sources that could bring a fresh perspective to the hunt.”

My brain began firing as I assembled a short list of options I could try. “If you can give me some more details about the demon in question, maybe.”

“Well, my dear, ‘maybe’ is all we have right now. If the demon can’t be identified conclusively …”

“Then what?” I challenged.

“Then,” he replied after a long sigh, “we’re going to have to comply with the Luxe Order’s mandate and give up your parents.”

A strangled protest got caught in my throat.

“I know this is hard to hear, but we really don’t have another choice. We can’t afford a war right now. Times have changed, society is sharper and smarter than it was a hundred years ago. The savages won’t look the other way if more people are killed, and there’s been too much harsh light shed on our organization over the murders as it is. A magical war could mean the end of the E∴E∴ and, as its leader, I can’t allow that to happen.”

I heard what he was saying, but I couldn’t accept it. We argued for several minutes, going around in circles, until I acquiesced and shut up. He gave me the description of the demon and what little information he had on the seal; it wasn’t much to go on.

“This is happening so fast.” I felt like I was being sucked into a whirlpool with no chance of escape.

He grasped my hands together in my lap. “If there’s anyone to blame in this, you can point the finger at me. Your parents insisted on keeping you out of this mess, but I should have fought them. Even now, I’m sure they wouldn’t approve of my asking you to do this for them.”

“Well, since no one can contact them right now, I guess they don’t get a vote.”

“Darling, you’re a better magician than either one of them—even better than me, and that’s the truth. Maybe that’s due to your special conception, but even without it, I know in my heart that you’re strong. If anyone can help them, it’s you.”

I stared at the fireplace, hearing his words, but inwardly making plans.

“Do you have a place in mind that you can begin your search?” the caliph asked. For the first time since I’d arrived, I noticed a little worry in his face and wondered if he really believed that I could do this.

“Yes,” I answered with as much certainty as I could muster.

In the middle of the chaos swirling around in my head, one local resource stood above everyone else who might help me, someone that no member of the E∴E∴ or any other magical order would ever consider asking, because of centuries-old prejudices and mistrust: a retired priest. One who wasn’t a savage … or even human, for that matter.

4

Father Carrow lived down the street from me. I met him a year or so ago when he was walking his dog past my house. Unfortunately, at the time I was in the middle of binding some imps for my elderly Earthbound neighbor. But instead of freaking out and calling the cops on us or damning me to hell, Father Carrow was quite interested in what I was doing. And I was quite interested in him, because he was the first Earthbound priest I’d ever met. We struck up a fast, if not odd, friendship.