Summoning the Night Read Free Page A

issues with the twitchy way he moved. Not exactly a man in his prime, that’s for sure. On one hand, I might be able to take him down with a swift kick to his balls. Then again, I might get stuck with that dirty-ass knife.
    â€œCredit cardth too,” the man added with a lisp, looking me over with nervous eyes. He turned the knife over in his hand and blinked rapidly. His erratic, drug-primed pulse was probably a few pumps away from causing his heart to explode. I wished I could will it along a little faster.
    Jupe made a mewing noise behind me as his handsgripped the back of my jacket. I thought of the magical seals on my inner forearm, white ink tattoos etched into my skin. I could charge one of them to make Jupe and me seem to disappear, then we could run to the car and escape. But most of the seals require blood or saliva to activate—both rich with Heka, the magical energy needed to power spells—and my jacket sleeves were stiff. The meth addict could easily shiv me in the gut while I fumbled to get to the seals.
    What else? Not enough time to break out a hunk of red ochre chalk and scribble out a spell, and I couldn’t very well knock the guy out with a sack of limes. There was my new ability, the so-called Moonchild power. The last time I’d used it, I’d given up my serial-killer parents to an ancient Æthyric demon in payment for their crimes. Not exactly something I wanted to dwell on . . . or remember at all, frankly. Regardless, the ability only worked on demons, and the man standing in front of us was human. So what the hell was I going to do?
    â€œYou got a wallet, boy?” the mugger asked.
    â€œNo way,” Jupe whispered in my ear. “I’m not giving him my money.”
    â€œWhat did you say? You got money?” The man twisted his head around, scanning the garage as another car drove through the level above us.
    I didn’t answer. Like Jupe said, no way.
    â€œI don’t mind hurtin’ either one of you,” the man warned. “Eat or be eaten. A big, bad thtorm’s a-comin’. Can’t you feel it in the air?”
    From the psychotic glint in his eyes, I didn’t think he was talking about the afternoon rain forecast. Stupid bastard was out of his ever-loving mind. Dirty, diseased, high, and crazy.
    A fluorescent light shone above the elevator. I was going to have to shock him. Why was my last resort always my onlyoption? Best not to kick a gift horse in the mouth, I supposed. Most mages would probably give their right arm to be able to kindle Heka like I could. My sensitivity threshold to electrical shock was pretty high. “Stay away,” I threatened, “or whatever god you pray to better help you, because I’m going to fry you to hell and back.”
    â€œSay what?” He narrowed his eyes and visually searched me for a weapon.
    I tapped into the electrical current. My skin tingled with the familiar flow of foreign energy as I spooled electricity into myself. No time to be gentle about it, so I pulled fast. Lights flickered. The descending elevator groaned in protest. Within a couple of seconds, my body hummed with enough charged Heka to shock the guy pretty badly. But I’d have to get close enough to touch him. The concrete floor was a poor conductor.
    â€œLet go,” I growled through gritted teeth, trying to shake Jupe off. He was gripping my jacket like death and if he didn’t let go, I couldn’t do this. Without a caduceus staff to even out the release, it was going to hurt all of us when I let go of the kindled Heka.
    The garage elevator dinged.
    The mugger yelped and swiveled wildly, searching for the source of the sound.
    The elevator doors parted.
    â€œPolice are coming! Run!” Jupe shouted near my ear. I jumped in surprise, nearly losing control of the Heka.
    Spooked, the mugger cried out incoherently, turned on his heels, and fled from Jupe’s nonexistent police in the empty