“Sensing anything?” Aiden asked.
“Nope.”
“It’s possible her fire is so diminished by her efforts that we won’t,” Belle said.
“But if that was the case, wouldn’t she have fed last night?” I glanced at Aiden. “Did you get any reports of missing persons or murders overnight?”
“No additional ones, but that doesn’t mean they’re not out there,” he said. “Is it safe to get out?”
“Belle and I will. You’d better stay in the truck.”
He snorted. “As if the truck will in any way provide a point of safety if that thing attacks. Besides, someone needs to be ready to use the pressure sprays while you three are doing your witch stuff.”
A point I’d forgotten. The three of us climbed out of and moved to the front of the truck. Tala and Monty soon joined us. “The place looks empty,” Tala said. “Are you sure that thing is inside?”
“It looks empty, but I assure you, it’s not,” Monty said.
I glanced at him sharply. “You can sense the soucouyant?”
“It’s little more than a tremble of evil on the air, but yes, she’s definitely in there.”
“Wonder why I can’t sense it?”
He raised an eyebrow, his amusement creasing the corners of his bright eyes. “You’re an underpowered witch. I’m not.”
I grinned. “How do you want to play this?”
He hesitated. “That depends.”
“On what?”
“On whether you have your spell stones here, on just how strong this thing is, and whether or not our containment shields will actually be able to contain her.”
“Shields?” I said, even as Belle said, “We do. I’ll go grab them.”
Monty glanced at her and nodded, but the amusement had fled his expression by the time his gaze returned to me. “Yes. I’ll run the main shield around the hut, and you and Belle run a secondary line of defense around that.”
“But if she breaks past your shield, ours certainly won’t—”
“Except yours will have the wild magic woven through it, and that is more powerful than anything I could conjure up.”
“I wouldn’t rely on its help, Monty.” My voice was sharp. “It’s not something I can control, and it’s hit and miss as to whether it’ll assist or not.”
“You may not control it, but it’s evident in every spell I’ve seen you perform—”
“Which hasn’t been many—”
“That is beside the point. We both know it’ll show up here, even if you don’t want to admit it.”
“People,” Aiden said. “Argue about that sort of stuff later. Time is a wasting, and we need to contain this thing before it wakes up and either runs or attacks.”
Monty returned his gaze to the building. “It’d probably be best if you and Tala station yourselves on the shorter sides of the building—that way, you’ll be able to see more of it, and the pressure sprays can cover a greater area. I’ll run the first spell line about five feet away from the building, and you two can run the second a couple of feet away from that.”
Belle returned from the truck and handed me my spell stones. “It might be worth trying another weave spell. If it can counter the magic of a heretic witch for a few vital minutes, it can surely do the same with a fire spirit.”
“Now there’s a story I wouldn’t mind hearing over a beer once this mess is sorted.” Monty’s gaze swept the two of us. “Ready, ladies?”
I took a deep breath and released it slowly. “As we’ll ever be.”