Page 147 of Cold Curses

A fair question; the Ombudsman wouldn’t want to risk an eldritch monster emerging from one of his employee’s work gear.

“Safer now than it was before,” Lulu said. “The monster is more securely bound because the sword’s magic is back in place. And it’s chosen Elisa.”

“Chosen?” Theo asked.

I held out the sword, glanced at Petra. “Try to take it.”

Fearlessly, she reached out a hand. Even sheathed, the sword shifted away from her with a deepthrum.

“Amazeballs,” she said, and moved her hand around, watching wide-eyed as the sword avoided it. “It won’t let anyone else use it.”

“That seems to be the case,” I said.

Roger nodded. “Good. You saw the reports?”

“Yeah. I don’t suppose Gwen managed to bring Black in just before I got here?”

“Unfortunately not,” Theo said. He sat down, swiveled small arcs in his chair.

“We still have to find him, and we still have to shut him down.” Roger’s voice was firm. “If we don’t, the CPD will be authorized to shoot demons on sight and ask questions later to prevent him from getting stronger.”

“And they’ll shoot anyone they think is a demon,” Petra said. “We don’t need that.”

“Nope,” Roger said.

“So, what do we do?” Petra asked. “And that’s not hypothetical. I’m honestly asking. Do you think you can beat Black with that sword?”

“One on one and a physical fight? Fuck yes,” I said, and that had them grinning. “But I can’t do magic. He can still beat me that way, and as we know, no ward is perfect.”

“Hypnosis,” Petra said. “We convince him not to be such a mood killer.”

“Pretty sure he won’t agree to that and not easy to trick him into sitting down for a talk sesh,” Theo said.

“He wants monster, right?” Roger asked, gaze dropping to the sword. “But I guess that won’t work now that it’s been relocated fully into the sword.”

I frowned. “I mean, he doesn’t know we did the spell. But, yeah, he may be able to tell that the magic is in the sword and no longer in me.”

“What if we hid it?” Lulu said, eyes narrowed with purpose. “Or faked it?”

“What do you mean?” Theo asked.

“It would be pretty easy to spell Elisa so it seems like she still has monster. A facsimile spell, maybe. I can talk to my parents.”

“Okay,” Roger said. “Maybe it would work as a lure, but how do we use that to put him down?”

“The sword and I will handle that,” I said.

Another shiver from the sword, but this one was more like a purr. I patted the pommel soothingly, and wondered if I now had an actual Tamagotchi.

“And the sorcerers can help,” Lulu said. “While we’re making the facsimile spell, maybe we could add something to help ensure you can beat him. Oooh! Maybe we combine it with a siphon spell to pull out some of the magic he’s been absorbing?”

“Magical regurgitation?” Connor asked.

“Yeah. That will tip the odds a little more toward Elisa and her sword. I mean, presuming it’s possible.” Lulu looked at Petra. “What do you think?”

Petra’s lips were pursed as she considered. “Theoretically, yes. If he can use a spell to suck the magic in, we should be able to pushit out again. Like, I don’t know, blowing bubbles in milk. Shall we work on that?”

“Yes, please,” Lulu said.