They moved to where I stood. Danny reached his hand into the space. “I can’t sense anything, but I can smell those little shites. Not everyone can feel residual power. I am someone who needs the beast in front of me to get a good read, but I trust you.”
“You are mistaken,” Eamon huffed. “Sensing is my gift and there is nothing here.” He put both hands up to the clearing and moved them around like a mime.
I narrowed my eyes. “Are you certain you don’t feel it, Eamon? You’re not just pretending you don’t because you missed it and sent your sister out to face her death? It’s strong enough to send the hairs on my arms up when I’m this close. It’s making my wolf agitated and wary as we speak.” My wolf had growled a warning the moment we had gotten close.
Eamon glared at me and took a bold step though the tree line. I read his reaction the moment he felt it.
The winged devils popped up immediately in front of him and he stepped back quickly, almost in a daze. “Yes,” he said. “I feel it, but only once my whole body absorbed it. It’s so faint you should not be able to sense it so clearly. This is not Selene’s signature.” He retreated back into the shelter of the trees, his mind clearly processing. “It’s a leftover current of the Underworld.”
“From the winged devils, or something stronger?” I asked impatiently, following him.
“Not from them at all. Some being from the Underworld was summoned here, or was powerful enough to come on its own. Its magic still lingers. That’s why the Camazotz can survive here. The power left here mimics the magic they have in their own realm. It’s not strong enough to fuel them, only enough to keep them breathing. Whatever came here, came purposefully to the precise edge of Selene’s border. What you’re feeling is not a spelled line, or a boundary line, but residual magic left by something extremely powerful.”
“Why would something so powerful sneak up to Selene’s boundary?” I asked. “I thought she was in cahoots with the demons? Why would they tiptoe around?”
“Who knows why demons do anything? Maybe it wanted to check up on its pets.” Eamon sniffed. “It was very careful to come just to the edge. But its magic is not only here.” He turned, his eyes searching through the forest. “When something this powerful comes into our world, it comes in a huge circle of power.” When we clearly weren’t following what he was saying, he looked at us like we were the dumbest kids in class. “You are familiar with Circles of Power, correct?”
I glanced at Tyler and Danny. “I know witches use circles when they perform certain magic,” I ventured. “And circular shapes have significance and can enhance power. The Circle of the Earth is the witches’ sacred symbol.” That’s what Marcy had told me anyway. Beyond that, I had no clue. The only circle wolves cared about was the moon, and Eamon wasn’t talking about the goddamn moon.
“This was no witches’ circle,” Eamon snapped. “This is a demon Circle of Power. Not only a demon, but most likely a Lord. It took a huge magnitude of power to leave this much residual magic—enough for the Camazotz to survive in it. This line here”—he pointed to the boundary he had just crossed—“is only part of a much larger circle. You must have driven through the other side—the metal in your car absorbing the brunt of it without your knowledge. It could be as large as fifty miles in diameter. We’ve been inside it since we’ve been on the mountain. But its edge rings with the strongest concentration of power, like the shock waves of an H-bomb pushing its entire energy straight outward. And even now the edges are only faint with it. You should not have been able to detect it without passing through.”
“It’s not faint to me,” I said, meeting his accusing glare with a glare of my own. “It pulses and sends my hackles up, even now. You can’t tell me that Selene doesn’t know it came to visit. If she poked her head out of her hidey-hole, she should be able to sense it. She’s a goddess. It can’t be that undercover.”
Eamon appeared put out that he had to explain so much. “Demon Lords rarely venture into our realm if they don’t have to. They have adequate minions to fetch what they need. This one was careful not to alert Selene, but I agree, if she came close to the signature she would detect it. I’d say it was betting she wouldn’t take the time to notice.”
“Eamon,” Naomi scolded. “It is your job to sense magic and Otherness. Without that skill we stand no chance. You must be more diligent as we move forward or we will all die.”
Eamon had the decency to look a little abashed.
“Well,” I said. “At least we know why the winged beasties don’t pop out of existence once they crossed the boundary line. And we know there’s a finite number. Now all we have to do is trap them. Ray might have a nugget of a plan. If we can contain them in something, freeze them, and add one of Tally’s spells, we might have a chance to keep them out of our way long enough to fight Selene. So the question remains, how do we get them all over here to this side without dying in the process?”
Tyler ran a hand along the back of his neck. “The cooler is made of steel. I can go back and bring it here. Let’s try and see if the ice will freeze this one.” He nodded toward the one on the tree. “If that bugger can’t get out, we’ll go ahead with the plan. It’s not going to be easy, and the sun will be up in a few hours. We’re going to have to work fast.”
I gazed out into the clearing. There were no signs of them, but that meant nothing. The moment Eamon had put a toe out there, they’d come back. “Okay. Go get the cooler,” I agreed. Tyler took off immediately. I faced the rest of the group. “We’re likely going to have to stay here through the daylight hours anyway. Danny needs to recover, and I’m not going forward until we have a concrete plan in place. If this is what Selene has to offer from the beginning, we have to be ready.”
“Don’t worry about me.” Danny grinned. “I’m as good as new already.”
I snorted. “You just had your face ripped off. We can take a break. At the very least you need a change of clothes and a nap.” I glanced at the two vamps. “Let’s take this time to figure out what Selene might be using against us. I want to know what her favorite toys are and what magic she specializes in. If we can anticipate what’s to come, we’ll have a much better chance of fighting our way through her obstacles.”