<span style="font-family: 'Georgia'">I didn’t wonder for too long. The first thing to do after speaking with a demon is a magical purge to wash away residual energies that may be left from contact with them. Those energies have the damnedest way of fucking with you at the worst times down the road if you don’t shed them, and some of the effects included being irrationally stuck in your own head, and unable to respond to the outside world. So I didn’t wonder. I turned from the circle and went back to my work table, where my ritual gear was laid out. In truth, the best way to reset your aura was a good, old-fashioned shower, preferably at sunrise, but I had neither of those things at hand, so I settled for a chakra meditation that involved spinning vortexes of colored light and radiant luminescence that would scour away energies not of my own being or will.<br/>
<br/>
The process took ten minutes per chakra wheel up, and ten minutes back down, going from root to crown and back again, for a total of 130 minutes, or just over two hours. A shower would have been faster, but running water would never work in a demiplane, and so this was just how it had to be, and I always factored the aftercare into my plans for a summoning. Truly, I was wholly averse to the idea of going back into the wild world until I was centered. My mother had told me endless stories of summoners who’d not taken care of themselves post-working, and while some of them had been funny, many of them had been tragic and some had been downright twisted. I think to some extent, a demon can’t help having that kind of an effect on a person. It’s just what they are. Or maybe it’s just how people are. Probably a bit of both. At any rate, I was not eager to find out what effect Ravaniah’s influence would have on me, so I made sure it was gone before I rose from the ritual squat I’d been in for the past couple hours. If it hadn’t been successful, I’d have to do the entire thing over until it was, and I was absolutely certain that I was me, all me, and nothing but me.<br/>
<br/>
I used a pendulum to do that, one of the more objective tools I have. I lifted the quartz by its string, and watched it begin to sway back and forth. I didn’t add physical energy to the system, my aura alone was enough to do that. The crystal took on a bright, red hue, and swayed in perfect, concentric circles, starting with small radii in the center and then growing out farther and farther with each completed round. At the eighth completed circumference, the crystal fell back to the center of the circles so the string was straight down, and the hue shifted to a vivacious orange, then went through the eight circles all over again. So it went on through sharp yellow, verdant green, radiant blue, ruminating indigo, and then finally pure violet. I was clean. I put the crystal away, stood up, gathered up my things and packed up my gear, slipped back into my jacket, and went for the door.<br/>
<br/>
Just before I exited my space, I saw the reminder I’d carved into the door. Too many times I’d forgotten important details in the basin, and left the memories of appointments or clues or details behind when I’d needed them. My solution had been to carve a mystical-looking glyph into the center of the door at eye level that really had no other meaning than, “Don’t forget your shit, dummy.” I smirked at myself, embarrassed that I’d forgotten and smug that my reminder had worked perfectly yet again, then went back to the basin and slipped my hands into the water.<br/>
<br/>
Ashlynn Rivera came swarming back into my consciousness in a torrential rush, and it was all I could do to keep my feet and weakened knees long enough to remove my hands from the water before falling flat on my ass. Every detail of every moment flooded back into my mind, the smell of her place, the taste of the air, the sounds of her shop, the feel of her skin, the sight of her … everything. The twinkle in her eyes, the curve of her smile, the tone of her ass, the plunge of her breasts, the swoop of her neck, the grace of her back, the fascinating plane of her freckles… Each moment of our interaction played back in my mind and my body reacted in ways I wasn’t prepared for, and I curled at the waist and pulled at clothing to try and deal with it. I was breathing hard, and my head was tingling like I’d just downed about six shots of whiskey, without any of the side-effects that would have gone along with a choice like that. My heart was pounding in my chest, and I couldn’t help it, I busted up laughing.<br/>
<br/>
Ye gods and little fishes, I had it bad for that woman. I was helplessly, overwhelmingly, and without a doubt smitten with Ash, and I wouldn’t have even known how much without having been without it for a time. I laid on my back for a moment, just trying to catch my breath and waited to grow accustomed to the pleasant tingling that wrapped around my brain like a warm, fuzzy blanket. I held up my arm to look at my watch, and saw it was ten past eight. Closing time was eight thirty, so I had a few minutes to deal with my… situation. Don’t look at me like that, I’m talking about controlling blood flow, not kicking off the night’s party early. After a few long, deep breaths and the implementation of a trained mind, I was fit to stand up without issue, and once I had I suddenly wished I had a mirror in the demiplane. It would be perfectly impractical to have such a useful extraplanar doorway in my private space, so of course there wasn’t one, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t make one. I curled my fingers and whispered a word to bring up a sheet of light in front of me, and bent it so that it reflected my image back at me. It showed me my appearance, but the action showed me much more: I was nervous. Boy, was I nervous. I may have gotten my body to cooperate, but my heart was still racing. I smiled, snuffed out the mirror spell, and decided that all was precisely as it should be, even the nerves.<br/>
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That’s the thing about the mind. Make a decision like that, and all of the sudden it’s the truth, and the mind adapts. I looked back into the basin one more time, just to make sure there wasn’t something else I was forgetting, then was about to head out the door again when I remembered Jackson Williams. Riiight. I didn’t want to get dead or worse on my way back to the winery. I resettled my coat on my shoulders, and enacted certain spells that I’d laced into the stitching. The threads were woven in the inscription of an awareness spell, I’d sewn them myself. The fabric was laced with a shielding and deflection enchantment, a powerful abjuration that would turn teeth and bullets and needles and blades, while still remaining lightweight and allowing for movement. The inner lining was where I’d woven in the force redistribution spells, the kind I would need if, say, a 300lbs, muscled mass of werewolf decided to deliver a roundhouse to my gut, or tackle me from behind. It wasn’t just Williams that I was worried about, I’d made plenty of enemies, and I was about to make a fistful more, but he was definitely the most recent, and anger and competition can do strange things to a man.<br/>
<br/>
That done, I paused for just another moment to relish the tingling pleasure of the delight running through me. Ash was beautiful, bright, and had a bite to her that I couldn’t wait to explore. I stepped out into the night air, grinning like a fool, and immediately my awareness spell went off in my mind, blaring like a siren. Trouble. I spun on the spot, lifting my hand in a warding gesture, and blinked when I saw Frank approaching. I was opening my mouth to greet him when he lifted his hand and a bolt of fire came screaming at my face. I ducked, thoroughly startled, but Frank’s eyes didn’t follow me. Instead they tracked his flame over my shoulder and I heard the bolt strike his target behind me. A body collapsed to the ground behind me, and only after he’d kicked the corpse did Frank meet my gaze.<br/>
<br/>
“Evening, Chase,” he said, then looked down at the vampire lying on the ground. “Seems you’ve attracted some attention.”<br/>
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I say vampire because they are the only things that smell like that after they’re burned. It was like a mix between burning motor oil and rotting fish, and it was the kind of thing that would stick to you and your clothes if your aura didn’t disallow it. “Thanks, Frank,” I said, genuinely grateful. “That thing had the drop on me.”<br/>
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“Nah,” Frank said. “I’ve seen you in a fight, and your enchantments were doing their job. You’d have been fine.”<br/>
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I nodded, acquiescing to his word, then glanced down at the vampire. Claws and teeth extended, face distended, skin pale, but the regalia of a high house. Revora, if I wasn’t mistaken. “What did I ever do to the Revorans?” I wondered aloud.<br/>
<br/>
“Don’t you know?” Frank asked. “The entire network knows you’re after that bounty on Salvarion. I tried to tell ya, boy, ya don’t walk up and take those kinds of bounties right after they’re called. That’s when the news feeds are abuzz, and they’ve got eyes on the bounty brokers. If you’d waited a day or two it’d’ve been different, but now your name is up in lights, and in all the wrong places. With a bounty like the one on Salvarion, anyone who goes after it as much as gets a bounty on their own head, worth their weight in gold to the ones being hunted. You’ve gotta play the game now, and you’re gonna be getting it from both sides.”<br/>
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I blinked, then turned my attention back to Frank. “You’re going after it, too,” I said.<br/>
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“Of course I am, ya fool. I just ain’t dumb enough to make a public statement about it.” He kicked the corpse one more time. “Keep your eyes peeled Chase, this scum won’t be the last.” With that, Frank turned away, and faded away into the darkness of the alley.<br/>
<br/>
“Thanks, friend,” I said, and I saw him raise his right hand to wave at me over his shoulder, then he was gone.<br/>
<br/>
I looked down at my watch. Eight forty-eight. Shit! I booked it around the corner, and down the street past the storefronts until I was coming up on carved, rustic woods and the tangy scents of wine. I needn’t have run. Ash was inside, dancing to a song I’d never heard before, and wiping down the counters of her bar. A dark smile tugged at the corner of my lips as I watched the way she swung her hips to the music, and that tingling excitement came rushing back. I approached the door, and wasn’t surprised to find it locked. I made a few signs with one hand, then drew my finger around the knob until I heard a click, then I opened the door and went inside.<br/>
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As I stepped through the threshold I let some of the energy of the spell I’d used to open the door radiate from my hand, so it was plain what I’d done, and at the same time released the spells I’d been holding in my mind since the moment my alarms had gone off. The gathered energies rushed out of me in a wave, flooded across the floor and over the counters and shelves, and filled the entire shop with the energy of my aura. I wrapped the entire room in a copy of the awareness spell, and at the same time wove an illusion around the windows and door to show the shop as empty from the outside, even as twinkling motes of light drifted out from me as though carried by a billowing, white, luminescent fog. I reached back to lock the door behind me, then turned to meet the eyes of Ashlynn Rivera.<br/>
<br/>
She was stunning. I grinned as I heard the line, “‘Cause a little good don’t stop the devil,” then started across the shop for the second time that day, lifted my hands as I closed the distance, took her face in my naked, gentle grasp, glided my fingertips over her chin and cheeks, then leaned in to kiss her, bending her slightly backward over the bar as I did. The feel of her skin under my hands was soft and warm, but the silken fire of her lips under mine was exhilarating. I pressed my lips to hers and used them to part hers, flicked out my tongue to taste her wine-soaked tiers, then grinned wider and leaned my forehead against hers. “Ash.”</span>