Page 68 of Into the Fire

Simon saw a streak of fire, and then he glimpsed a burning salamander again, writhing in flames. Like the dark ghosts, it attacked the wards but could not break through. Rowan continued her spell.

“Let’s lend a hand,” Alicia said. “The hotel ghosts are sick of all this commotion.”

Simon and Alicia silently called out to the spirits of the Ocean Visions, the normally peaceful ghosts that had not chosen to move on.

“Help us, if you can,” Simon sent silently to the ghosts.

Dozens of gray and white orbs appeared. They dove at the fire salamander, drawing it off the wards, daring it to stop them.

“Hail, hail. Fire and snow, ice will take you down below!” Rowen shouted. A torrent of frost streamed from her hands and hit the fire salamander. To Simon’s astonishment, instead of melting on contact, the icy blast began to freeze the flaming creature, turning it orange then darker red and extinguishing the blaze.

“Keep it up!” Rowen yelled to them as the ghosts harried the salamander, splitting its attention and strength as it tried to fight them off and break free from the ice spell.

The salamander gave an ear-splitting shriek and dissipated in a cloud of steam.

The ghosts winked out seconds later, and Simon felt their satisfaction at being able to strike back at the creatures that had disturbed their rest.

“Thank you,” Simon told the ghosts silently as Alicia and Rowan released their wards. “If you can help us against the entity, we’d sure appreciate it.”

“Great job. Go meet Donnelly and Gabriella,” Rowan told Simon and Vic. “We’ll raise fresh wards and send energy to you to give you a boost. We’re not done yet.”

“Ready?” Simon asked Vic.

“No, but it’s as good as it’s going to get.” Vic gave Simon a quick kiss. “Let’s get this over with.”

They met Donnelly and Gabriella outside the nearest fire door to the hidden basement room.

“Everything’s in place,” Simon told them. “Do you have what you need?”

Both the witch and the necromancer nodded. “We’re set.”

“Vic’s backup.” Simon nodded toward the heavy-duty foam-powered armaments Vic wore. He had warned them ahead of time, but neither seemed to mind. Gabriella carried the compendium in a spelled bag.

“It’s nearly noon. Time to get into position,” Donnelly said as if it were tee time at the golf course. “It was done before. We can do it again, better this time so it doesn’t find a way out.”

Gabriella nodded. “It’s strong, but not all-powerful. Better now than later.”

Donnelly led the way into the hotel, with Gabriella following close behind, then Simon and Vic. Donnelly and Gabriella tightly shielded their magic so as not to alert the entity. Simon sensed curious ghosts hovering nearby.

They reached the confinement chamber. The door was already open, and even at a distance Simon could sense the wards that Gabriella had worked inside. He hoped that the entity would be drawn by the allure of the compendium enough to risk getting close.

“Ready?” Gabriella asked. Donnelly stood to one side of the door, and she flanked the other, while Vic remained a little farther down the corridor.

“Ready.” Simon hoped he sounded more certain than he felt.

Gabriella spoke an incantation, and Simon felt the energy shift, activating the containment field inside the room and the catchment area that extended beyond the door so he could trap the entity.

At her nod, Simon stripped the magic-damping bag off the grimoire and held the book aloft.

“You want this?” He sensed the landvaettir was near, although it hadn’t shown itself. “Come and take it!”

A fiery glow suddenly appeared in the corridor, pulsing and vivid. It blazed hot, and Simon felt its attention on him. Unlike upstairs, he had no protective circle, just his wits and the witches’ magic to keep him from being burned to death.

The fire entity zoomed toward him, and Simon barely ducked in time to avoid singeing his hair. He clasped the book against his chest, enfolded in both arms, and dove to the side. Drawing the entity close enough to be trapped without being burned or pushed into the room with it was going to be harder than he expected.

He heard Gabriella and Donnelly begin to chant. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Vic step closer, fire foam weapon raised.

“Here it is,” Simon taunted. “You’ve got to do better than that!”