"No, the perimeter hasn"t been breached. It must sense it," I whisper back. "Still. Backyard first."

He takes the lead through the living room to the kitchen, checking every corner with the muzzle of the shotgun pointed there. My heart is beating like a jackhammer and every muscle is wound up, but Adam just seems focused. He"s faced life-and-death situations before, he"ll know how to handle this one too. At this moment, I"m so relieved he"s here I could kiss him. He looks out the kitchen window into the backyard. "I don"t see or hear anyone."

The telephone rings, and I shriek and d.a.m.n near pee my pants. He must have hung up the one in my bedroom. There goes the element of surprise. Adam isn"t fazed. He unlocks the back door and storms outside, gun first. I follow close behind, my gun not as steady as his. He checks everywhere, scanning for the enemy. Nothing. I can still feel the son of a b.i.t.c.h nearby, p.r.i.c.kling my skin with his unnaturalness. Front yard then.

The telephone continues ringing as we retreat inside and through the house. Without hesitation, Adam throws open the front door and rushes onto the porch. He stops right at the steps, gun and eyes roving the horizon. I don"t see anything but an empty street. Adam"s head c.o.c.ks to the side as if he"s listening to the night. His nose starts twitching. "I feel something," he whispers. The amulet to protect against psychic attack heats up against my collarbone. I wince. "Stay here and cover me," Adam says.

Before I can protest, he leaps off the porch and races in the direction diagonal to Auntie Sara"s house. Just as his bare feet hit the sidewalk, a pickup down the street roars to life. When Adam sprints toward it, the truck pulls away, tires screeching as it does a U-turn. It hops the curb and speeds away with the werewolf in hot pursuit. He"s no match for the truck though. When it peels around the corner, Adam stops in the middle of the street and groans in frustration. At least my skin doesn"t hurt anymore.

"Mona!" Auntie Sara stage whispers to my right. She steps out onto her porch, clutching her robe in one hand and pistol in the other. "Is it gone?"

"For now."

Figure out how to kill a d.a.m.n demon Judging from the twenty voicemails and house phone ringing off the hook, I"d say the demon woke up the whole town. Every witch he came within fifty feet of sensed him. I know this because it"s in the book right in front of me, which Auntie Sara brought over. I sit at the kitchen table with Cora curled up in my lap as I scan the pages. She hasn"t let me go since I retrieved them from the office. Sophie was throwing ingredients into the cauldron as Cora watched. I think it was a protection spell. I grabbed them and dragged them downstairs with me into the kitchen, where we"ve set up camp.

Adam hands Auntie Sara a cup of coffee, which she takes with shaky hands. Sophie sits across from me staring at her sister, face set in stone. Adam plops down in the empty chair beside me, sliding a coffee cup over. "Thank you," I say.

He nods. "So ... a demon. I thought they were just myths."

"Says the werewolf," I say with a crooked smile. It"s all I can muster right now.

"I cannot believe you lied to me," Auntie Sara says to me.

I had no choice but to tell her everything after she saw Adam chasing the demon, shotgun in hand. "I"m sorry."

"What do you know about demons?" Adam asks me.

"Not a whole lot. It"s not something I ever thought would come up. They"re rare, at least the kind I think this one is."

"There"s more than one type?" Adam asks.

"There"s the kind you summon and the kind that just sneaks through the dimensional cracks," Auntie Sara instructs. "With the latter, you get your basic demonic possession. They"re weak, so they need a host body. The summoned kind is a specific demon. They have specific traits and powers, depending on who was called."

"What do they look like?" Adam asks.

"Human," Sophie says. All eyes dart to her in surprise. "He"ll look like whoever gave the blood for the ritual." Auntie Sara, Adam, and I all share a concerned look, and Cora grasps me harder. "The murder of something innocent, usually an animal, helps open the doorway. It comes out of the portal, looking like a demon. It"s ... " She shakes her head and winces. I get a chill. "It"s unnatural. It doesn"t belong here and can"t survive, so the witch gives her blood and then it takes human form." She looks down at the table away from our stares. "Um, it"ll look, sound, act, even bleed like us. I guess it sort of is us. Just ... a little more. And powerful."

"So it can be killed," Adam says.

"It"s not as simple as that," I say. "It"s like a psychic on steroids. If you summoned the demon in charge of fire, it can make you spontaneously combust from twenty yards away. If it can read minds in its dimension, it can invade your mind and trap your consciousness inside yourself here."

"And it"s strong," Sophie adds. "Probably as strong as you. And it heals fast too."

My stomach clenches again. "What-what else do you know about them, honey?"

"People can"t tell what they are, but we can because we"re from here and they"re from there. They don"t like us because of it. And they don"t like it that they have to listen to the person who brought them here. But they only have to do one thing, and then they"re free. We can trap them, though, with sigils and spells. They can"t hurt us then. Not even with their brains. And they don"t like certain smells, and silver hurts them real bad."

"An-anything else?" I ask, trying to keep my voice steady.

She just shrugs.

I clear my throat. "Okay um, girls why don"t you go in the living room and pop in a movie?"

Cora burrows deeper into my chest. "No, I don"t want to leave you," she cries.

"I"ll be in here. I"ll be able to see you the whole time, okay?"

"Come on," Sophie says as she stands up. "We"ll watch Toy Story 3."

I manage to extract the child from my body and get her to her feet. A stoic Sophie takes her hand and leads her into the living room. My stomach clenches in fear. Oh h.e.l.l, what on earth am I going to do?

"Mona, how did she know all of that?" Auntie Sara asks. "You don"t think-"

"Auntie Sara, that is a "not now" question, okay?" The telephone starts ringing again, sending splinters into my already throbbing temples. "Can you just field calls for me?"

"And what am I supposed to tell them?"

"The truth?" My brain is swimming. I rub my temples to focus. "Tell them we"re having an emergency meeting in the morning, time and location in an e-mail to follow."

"Okay," Auntie Sara says as she stands. She grabs the portable phone and walks out.

I glance at the girls sitting on the couch, then at Adam. He plays with his cup, but his weary eyes stay on me. "Are you okay?" he asks.

I don"t know what it is about those words, or maybe it"s his gentle expression, but I almost burst into tears. Tentatively, he places his hand over mine, squeezing it. No, not now. That simple gesture shoves me over the edge. I gasp and cover my mouth but a few tears make it to my eyes. I shut them. Using all my willpower, I push them away. If I break now I won"t be able to pull myself together again, so I do what I do best. I swallow my emotions so deep an archeologist couldn"t find them. I pull my hand away and wipe the stray tears off my face.

Problem. Fix the problem first. "Um, what did you find out from Cheyenne? What time did she get to the bar?"

"She was there when I got there at ten thirty. We talked until about twelve thirty, when I walked her to her car and came back. We woke up here at four thirty, so she had plenty of time to summon it."

"What did she say?"

"About you? Not a lot. She thinks you"re prissy, unimaginative, and holier-than-thou. Her words, not mine."

"I don"t give a s.h.i.t what she thinks about my character flaws! In between the make-out sessions did she give you any indication she hates me enough to do all this?"

"I don"t know. I couldn"t get much out of her, I"m sorry."

I stand, practically making the chair fall back. "Well, I can"t do much with sorry, can I?"

I can"t breathe in here. I need to breathe so I can think. I stalk into the backyard, taking in huge gulps of air. Instantly, I feel like a jerk. Because I am one. I can"t keep doing that. Adam is in no way, shape, or form deserving of my ire.

Even still, a second later he steps outside to check on me. "Mona?"

"I"m sorry," I say, "I"m so sorry. I don"t mean to snap at you like that, I really don"t. I"m not normally like this, I swear."

"I know you aren"t."

"I have no idea what I"m doing, Adam. A killer? Now a demon too? What the h.e.l.l am I going to do?"

"We"ll figure it out."

"How? I can"t think. I can"t ... " s.h.i.t, the tears are trying the d.a.m.n-dest to get out. I take a ragged breath. "I am so scared."

"I know." He steps toward me, and the next thing I know his arms are around me, pulling me into his warm body. Dear G.o.ddess, does this feel wonderful. He"s so solid and even smells good, like hyssop and soap. "I know," he whispers. He simply holds me, my head on his shoulder and hand against his racing heart. I just want to melt into him. He"ll keep me safe. For a fleeting instant all the world fades except for me and him, and I can actually believe everything will be okay as long as he never lets me go.

But only for an instant. I"m too realistic for false hope. l.u.s.t, be gone. I pull away, my back straightening to gain some respectability back. "Thank you. That helped."

"Happy to oblige," he says, for some reason unable to look at me.

I step away and turn my back to him. Okay, I can think now. This is good. "So um, I have a request to make of you."

"Anything."

I knew he"d say that. "I need you to take the girls away from here. Take them to Jason"s or your house or wherever, and keep them safe for me."

"That"s not a good idea."

I spin around. "The h.e.l.l it isn"t! There is a f.u.c.king demon here to kill me!"

"Then you come with us."

"I can"t! I can"t leave everyone here with a demon on the loose. Just take them and go!"

"I am not leaving you alone here!" he says with enough force to punch through a wall.

"This isn"t your fight."

"Yeah, it is."

"The game has changed. It"s too d.a.m.n dangerous around me now. Just take them and go. Please!"

"No. I made a promise and I take promises very seriously."

I throw my arms up. "I absolve you! Take them and go!"

"No!" Sophie shouts from the door. I spin around as she leads her sister toward us. "If you send us away, we"ll just come right back! We will!" she says, voice shaking. "I can protect you! I can! I know what to do! Please!" She looks at Adam, eyes wild. "Don"t take us away. Please, don"t take us away."

"Sophie-" I say, my voice breaking along with my heart.

"We are not going anywhere," Adam says to Sophie. "I promise."

"You can"t-" I say.

He grabs my arm and yanks me away from the girls, all but dragging me to the other side of the yard. "Now, you listen to me," he says in a low voice. "You are letting your fear cloud your judgment, and you are scaring the h.e.l.l out of those girls there. More than even the demon is. Is that what you want?"

"No, but-"

"We are not leaving, do you hear me? Do not mention it again." He takes a deep breath to regain his composure. "Look, I know you"re used to doing everything on your own, but you cannot do this alone. You can"t. So I am here to protect you and those girls so you don"t have to. But to do that, we all need to be here. United. A cohesive unit working together. A pack, okay? And since you aren"t thinking clearly right now, I"ll do it for you. If you die, who will take care of them? They need to be near you, a strong you. If they go away and you die, they will never, ever recover. They have lost too d.a.m.n much already."

"It could kill them to get to me," I whisper.

"Mona, if that thing wants them and is as powerful as you say it is, it won"t matter where they are. It will find them and use them anyway. At least here they have you and me and an entire army of witches in this town to go through first. And I will die before I let anything happen to any of you. Do you believe me?"

I absolutely do. I shake my head.

"Good. Then trust me on this. We"re sticking together. We will be cautious, but we will not let fear dictate our lives. We stick to the plan. We fortify this place and ourselves as best we can, we find who summoned this thing, and we stop her. You ... and me. I am not going anywhere. I swear it to you."

I have the strongest urge to hug him again, among other things I won"t admit to. He"s so sincere I can"t help but feel ... relief. At least that"s what I think it is. It"s a new sensation. Takes me awhile to get used to it. "Okay," I whisper. "Okay."

"Then let"s get started." He turns away from me and walks over to the waiting girls, picking up Cora as if it was the most natural thing and holding his hand out for Sophie. She looks at it, but after a second of indecision, puts her hand in his. He leads them inside, off to find a way to save my life.

This time I let the tears flow. Because I can.

Run emergency meeting The only s.p.a.ce big enough to fit the entire coven, all one hundred fifty of us, is the Goodnight Playhouse next to the museum. I find it rather fitting to be standing on the stage where The Crucible will be performed tonight, what with it being about witches in peril. I just hope things end better for me than it did for them.

As the edgy women and men filter in, Billie, Auntie Sara, and Debbie stand at their respective doors handing out packets I"ve put together on Demonology 101. Research, sigils, spells, anything I could find in the three whole books Granny and Auntie Sara had on the subject. Everyone is abuzz and chatting with each other about their experiences, so it sounds like a football game in here. The phone tree is a wonderful invention and an effective one, given the size of the crowd. Even Shirley showed up, though she hangs in the back looking put out as always. Her husband, the sheriff, stands onstage with me sporting the same expression as his wife. As he"s married to a witch he knows all about us, and since the demon pa.s.sed right by his house and scared the h.e.l.l out of said wife, he"s agreed to help. It must be catching.

My backup is dropping off the girls at school, among other things. We decided since I"m the target, we"d send them to school where at least four teachers are witches. We loaded them up with charms, amulets, and even black salt just to be safe. As an added precaution the teachers are going around the campus carving or spray painting sigils outside just like we did at the house. Casa McGregor now a magical fortress with the strongest barrier spell I could find. Nothing can come in or out without my or Adam"s say-so.

As the last witches arrive, I scan the crowd for my prime suspects. Erica isn"t here yet but Cheyenne sits in the back, a huge pair of sungla.s.ses covering her face though we"re inside. Summoning a demon does take a lot out of a witch. That or she"s hung over. Probably both. Collins is one of the last stragglers, still dressed in her scrubs. She kisses Debbie"s cheek and finds a seat. Let"s get this show started.

"May I have everyone"s attention?" I shout. Those standing and chatting take their seats. After a few more seconds the auditorium grows quiet. "I want to thank y"all for being here on short notice, including Sheriff Andrews. I know this isn"t your jurisdiction as such, but I"m sure we all feel better knowing you"re involved." The sheriff nods. "As y"all are aware of by now, a demon was sensed by multiple people in this room, myself included." The murmuring begins anew, but I hold up my hand to quiet them down. "Okay, everyone settle down. There is no need to panic. There have been no sightings since six this morning, so for all we know it was just pa.s.sing through town." Yeah, right.

"How did it get here?" my cousin d.i.c.kie shouts.

"It was summoned, by whom I don"t know."

"Was it someone in this room?" a woman asks.

"I have no idea, but if it was I implore that person to come to me so I can help you send this thing back before it hurts someone. Whoever you are, you are dealing with the darkest magic there is. What you brought here is more powerful than you can imagine. Whatever the reason you summoned it, it is not worth yours or anyone else"s life." The audience shifts uncomfortably, and everyone scans the auditorium for signs of guilt. My eyes stay affixed to Cheyenne, who still hasn"t taken off her sungla.s.ses. "If anyone has any information on people in this coven even dabbling in black magic, it is your duty to tell me. I promise this will all be kept confidential."

"Well, what do we do?" Brandie asks. "Is it going to try and kill us?"

Only me. "As I said, what it"s doing here-if it"s still even here-I don"t know. But considering what this thing is, we need to take precautions. I already have people at the school warding it, so don"t be afraid to send your children there. I have also provided you with an overview on demons and spells to protect against it. They"re a little more advanced, so those of you who struggle please don"t hesitate to ask for help. Anyone who has time today and is willing to help, please raise your hand." About a third of the group does, mostly the older women. "After this meeting I will be opening the shop so you can get the supplies you need, and Billie, Alice, and I will be there all day to offer a.s.sistance as well.

"As I said, these are only precautions. There is no need to panic. I do ask that those of you who sensed this thing send me an e-mail with your address and the time you felt it so we can track it. Also, if you sense it today, call me immediately."

"Promise to answer this time?" someone shouts.

"Yes. Sheriff, anything else to add?"

Sheriff Andrews steps beside me. "I know this is out of my purview, but if you feel you are in danger, call 911. The dispatcher will notify me, and I will notify Mona."

"Thank you," I say as he backs away. "Okay, that"s all for now. Get back to your normal lives and live them. Just be vigilant. Trust your instincts. Thank you." The moment I step backstage with Andrews the cacophony of voices starts again. "When we can get the trajectory of the demon I"ll call you, and you can search the area where it originated from. Maybe the witch left a clue there."

"Shirley mentioned that sometimes a human sacrifice is needed," Andrews says.

"That"s rare. Most of the time it"s just an animal. It really depends on how powerful and schooled the witch summoning it is." I pause. "Any luck on the license plate?"