Our Demonic Hearts - The Craven Pact Book 1

Chapter 14: Confab

Ana sat down on the porch steps, grabbing her purse off of the ground. "I wanted to ask about the Creed of Solomon."

Beau stood a few feet away from her, arms crossed against his chest. He looked relieved, as if he expected her to ask questions about the incident.

"Why should I be concerned about them? This is the first time I'm hearing about them." Ana said.

"They're bigger than you think," He replied. "They've captured powerful demons. They haven't found you yet, but they wouldn't hesitate to take you, make your disappearance look like just an extended vacation."

"How do you know all this?"

Beau shifted his stance, glancing at the sunset before looking back at her. "Me and Judas were there for awhile. I wouldn't talk to them at first, but when I did they were willing to tell me some things."

"How trusting of them." Ana pulled out her phone and quickly glanced at the text she received. It was from Cora, but she didn't read the message. She stuffed the phone into her purse so she could forget about it for now.

"They thought I was going to stay with them, thinking I would be too ashamed to show my face in regular society. I tried getting Judas' father to help me, but he wouldn't listen. So I got myself out."

Ana raised her eyebrows. "So, you're on the run? They might come here?"

Beau shrugged. "I'm no use to them. I can barely perform spells with the state of my fingers, and I can't give them any information they don't already have."

"What use would I be to them, then?" Ana replied. "I'm no better than a human magician with spells. Unless they think my father will come to the rescue or something."

"They always have a reason for their actions." Beau replied. He looked at Ana, and noticed her tired demeanor. Leaning against the railing with her shoulders slouched and hair falling out of her bun. Ana stared back, not bothering to conceal her fatigue from him anymore.

"What are you going to do now?" He asked.

"Summon my father. Ask him a few questions, see if he spills."

He winced and looked away. "I'm not sure that's a good idea. He's going to know somebody told you."

"Right. He's too smart for his own good." She groaned, rubbing her face. "Fuck, I don't know. I'll just say somebody from the Creed of Solomon has been going around, asking shady questions about shady people. They technically do that, right? So it's not a lie."

Creed shrugged his shoulders. "I suppose. Can you spare me an hour to leave town, first?"

"Yeah, whatever." She waved him off. He nodded and seemed to hesitate, as if he considered saying something else, before turning away from her and walking down the drive.

"Beau."

He stopped, and turned back to Ana.

"If you're not going to tell me about the incident yet, then why don't you just...tell me something else. Something close to it." Ana requested. She wanted to know what happened to them, but Beau didn't seem ready for that. She could at least settle for a tiny morsel of information.

Beau hesitated, opening his mouth before closing it again. He seemed to search through his thoughts, looking down at the ground, his eyes flicking from one blade of grass to the next. He seemed to settle one one thing, and he looked back at her.

"The first—the first time I woke up after...it happened, I was in pain and I couldn't see or move, but I thought of you. I...thought of what could've happened to you." He looked away, appearing embarrassed of the confession. "Don't listen to Judas when he says you're a coward for being free to do whatever you want all these years. I wouldn't have wanted you in that facility with us, under the Solomon's thumb. We've all suffered in our own way."

He left in a cloud of amber mist. Ana looked around, but could not see him anywhere. He had completely disappeared from sight after making that confession. Ana backed away from the railing and to the front door with a bemused expression. Why has my father never taught me how to do that?

—_—

She took a shower and ate some leftover crab rangoons before preparing the summoning spell. She prayed it gave Beau enough time to get out of town.

Usually, a human magician would need a multitude of items for a demon summoning spell, something similar to what she used for the location spell she casted with Beau. However, due to her connection to Marchosias, it wasn't required. She walked to the altar and took account of the supplies. Chalk, perfume, incense lamp, the invocations needed to summon Marchosias, and the Pentagram of Solomon with Marchosias' demonic sigil on the back. Most of these were only backups just in case she couldn't summon him with just her blood, but she took the perfume capsules and the Pentagram of Solomon just to help speed the process a little.

She sat down on the hardwood floor of the living room and drew the summoning sigil with a piece of chalk. She put on the Pentagram of Solomon around her neck, the silver chain feeling cold against her skin. She took a ceremonial knife from the altar and held her hand above the sigil, taking in a deep breath. She pressed the blade to the soft flesh of her palm and winced as it cut through her skin like butter. She let a few drops of blood drip onto the sigil before closing her hand and setting the knife to the side. She broke the scent capsules with her bloody hand, wincing at the short stab of pain from her palm. Smoke and fresh pine filled the air as she set her hands on her bent knees, palms faced towards the ceiling.

She opened her mouth to speak the incantations, but hesitated. She thought about what Beau said, and started to doubt that this was a good plan after all. Would Marchosias even believe the excuse she had planned for knowing about the Creed of Solomon? It was more then likely he knew about them, and she wanted to know why he hasn't told her anything about them.

She cleared away the doubtful thoughts and started speaking the incantations. No time to go back. I need some answers from him for once. "I do conjure thee, O spirit Marchosias! I invoke thee, and by invocating your flesh I summon thee to me!"

The sigil on the floor glowed an almost blinding white and she felt her mageia flow through her, stealing her breath away just for a moment. Marchosias had received the summons and would be arriving soon. Ana couldn't go back now, and the only thing left to do was wait.

And so she waited. For an hour. In the first thirty minutes she scrolled through her phone before getting bored and turning the TV on. He still did not come. The sun had set long ago, and Ana was left waiting for Marchosias to appear.

She gave up near the second hour. She destroyed the summoning sigil out of aggravation and got rid of any evidence of the ritual. What was the point of him giving me a way to summon him if he didn't answer?

Ana was about ready to go to bed before she remembered the text she had received from Cora. She grabbed her phone she left on the coffee table and read it.

Her and Logan wanted to go clubbing with her, but she had sent the text over two hours ago. Ana felt bad for not responding sooner, but she knew they would still be partying late into the night. My father isn't here to stop me from going, so where's the trouble in hanging with friends?

She responded to her friend for her location before hopping up the stairs, set on finding a dress to wear for the night.