Page 5 of The Wolfing Hour

The monitor flickered on.

Cecil jumped off the beanbag and scampered behind the desk beneath the outlet. Fennel leapt to the floor, standing sentinel between Violeta’s feet the way we’d planned. Cats had the ability to travel between realms, and they scared the heck out of spirits and demons. We needed him close.

“Back in my day, we had to do it thirteen times,” Ida muttered. “What a rip-off.”

I held my finger to my lips to shush her.

The screen lit up with a ghoulish green light and a creaky voice reverberated through the crackly speakers. “Are you ready to give me your soul, girl?” The speakers popped as the creaturespoke. It used a soft, low voice, as if purposely trying to sound more enticing. “We can be together forever.”

“No.” Violeta trained her eyes on the screen, the way we’d practiced. “I will not give you my soul. I rebuke you in the names of the guardian gods and goddesses of children. Go away.”

The voice reached cat screech levels of shrill, and a repulsive smell emanated from the machine. “Who told you to use that term?Did you tell your mother about me?”

There was something familiar about that stench.

I glanced at Ida, who rolled her eyes and nodded.

Fennel slinked up beside me. I gestured for Cecil to move away from the outlet and join us. We no longer needed to unplug the machine. We’d be doing this another way entirely.

I handed Cecil a bag of Siete Saguaro soil mixed with rock salt and told him to draw a circle. Fennel flicked his tail and followed. He would cast the spell.

The creature—who was absolutelynotBloody Mary—whined, “Aww, come on. Why’d you even call if you weren’t going to give me your soul? What is it with this generation? You’re all so godsdamned jaded.”

I made a “move” gesture to Violeta, and she dove out of the chair and into the beanbag.

“Hey, where’d you go, kid?”

I slid into the chair and gave the creature my best I’ve-got-you-now smile.

“I bind you to this circle, Gnath, servant of iniquity, commander of the second brigade of malfeasance, demon of Highway 86. Here you will remain until released."

Chapter

Two

Chapter Two

The demon spewed a stream of obscenities. Most of them were spoken in a language I didn’t understand, but it was pretty easy to determine intent, what with the way he was hissing and growling.

“Take her out of here,” I said to Ida. “I’ve got this.”

“Well, I should hope so. It’s that fool highway demon, after all. Nothing to worry about.”

“Godsdamn it, witch, are you and the elder woman stalking me?” Gnath shrieked. “Because it’s really starting to look that way.”

I waited until Ida and Violeta had exited the room then reached through the computer screen and yanked Gnath into the salt circle. It was a risky move, since I was also in the circle, but one quick jump and I was out of danger. I plopped onto Violeta’s bed and eyed the little monster.

Gnath was short, hairless, and humanoid. He had dreary black eyes, skin the color of moldy bread, and a stench that followed him like a spirit.

Other than his smell, though, he was less frightening than the average dental visit. Not harmless—no demon was harmless—but largely ineffective.

“You’ve moved from hitching rides with lonely travelers, to pretending to be the Aztec god of death, to posing as Bloody Mary?” I shook my head. “You’re going to have to explain this bizarre trajectory, because I’m not getting it.”

“Don’t forget I helped you out of a sticky situation with that cursed tome.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I did you a favor, remember?”

“Yourepaida favor,” I said. “It’s not like you did it out of the kindness of your heart. You don’t have a heart, and you aren’t kind unless it somehow benefits you.”

He slumped into the chair I’d vacated. “What do you want now? Another favor?”