Oh, well that made sense.
I brought her back to the edges of the circle. A good portion of the crowd surged forward behind us. I stepped aside, not sure what was going on.
Andre came to stand next to me. He twined his fingers through mine, his thumb making lazy circles along the skin of my hand. He seemed much too calm compared to me; my breathing was still ragged and my muscles were still ready to run at the first sight of danger.
“How did you know where to find me?” I asked.
“There was a surge along the ley line—Oliver guessed that was the devil’s doing, so we traveled to the source of the surge. And that’s where we found you.”
I squeezed his hand. “Thank you for coming to save me.” Who knew how much torture I would’ve had to endure had I not been rescued.
Some deep emotion filled his eyes. He leaned in and brushed a kiss along my lips. “For you I’d risk everything.”
I searched his face as he pulled away. Before I had a chance to respond, Cecilia appeared from out of the crowd, holding an ornamental knife.
“Cecilia?” My eyes had been playing tricks on me all night. That was the only explanation for why Leanne could die in front of my eyes and yet be very much alive, or why my childhood nanny was here now.
Cecilia’s eyes flicked to mine. She gave a slight nod to me and handed Leanne the knife.
A distant wail rose from all around us.
In front of me Leanne began to speak. “Spirits of the north, spirits of the south, spirits of the east, spirits of the west, I call on thee to cast this circle. Earth, air, fire, water, I call on thee to cast this circle.”
The crowd of men and women who I didn’t recognize linked hands. The one closest to Leanne placed her hand upon Leanne’s back.
The wail built on itself, vibrating along my skin.
“Take this blood as a sign of my sacrifice and bind the powers that be.” Leanne slashed her forearm and let the blood drip to the ground. “Hold fast until dawn set free.”
The air changed slightly, but other than that, I couldn’t tell that the circle had been closed. I rubbed my arms. Leanne wasn’t a witch and I knew she didn’t believe in dark magic—nor did the community—which this undoubtedly was.
Andre’s lips moved against my ear, answering my unspoken question. “The stone circle answers most powerfully to old magic. Leanne’s not a witch, but she has the sixth sense needed to properly cast a circle. Because of Leanne’s involvement in tonight’s events, Cecilia must’ve known that she’d cast the strongest protective circle. It’s the caster’s intent that really matters when it comes to old magic.”
My eyes darted to Cecilia, who pulled out a phone and placed a call, but I couldn’t hear what she said over the wail.
The sound came to a piercing crescendo, then abruptly cut off. The devil stood in the middle of the circle.
Goosebumps broke out along my skin, and I had to remind myself that I was safe. The man in the suit took us all in, his eyes finally resting on mine. None of his former anger showed in his features. That, more than anything, scared me; I couldn’t understand him.
“Consort, come to me.”
Dozens of heads turned to face me. Some looked fearful, others curious.
“You have proven yourself to be worthy.”
Somehow I seriously doubted that.
The surface of the devil’s body seemed to move, as if created from smoke. Whatever had made him solid before was weakening.
Because of the audience I’d now gathered, I pulled away from Andre and walked to the edge of the circle.
“Gabrielle . . .” Leanne said, her voice full of warning.
“It’s okay,” I told her. Behind her Andre watched me, his eyes missing nothing. When our gazes met, he gave a slight nod. Perhaps I hadn’t proven myself to the devil, but I had proven myself worthy to Andre.
I swiveled my head back to face the man in the suit. “I just wanted to remind the devil that this is an active circle; I cannot enter and he cannot exit,” I said, throwing his earlier words back at him. It probably wasn’t the smartest thing to say.
His features flickered, his rage surfacing for a moment before he rearranged his expression into something pleasant and harmless. “There are many entrances to your world—even on your island. This circle can’t keep me away from you.”
Cecilia stepped up next to me. “Pluto,” she said. I raised my eyebrows at the name she used. Pluto was the Roman name for the god Hades, the lord of the underworld.
“Nona.” His voice was as sharp as the edge of a knife. I didn’t know much about fates, but from the research I’d done on them, I knew Nona was the Roman fate who spun the thread of life.
Gasps erupted from the crowd. They must not have known Cecilia’s true identity until this moment.
“You cannot have her,” Cecilia said. “Not tonight. The girl has spoken.”