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Alan shut the book and said, “I want you to dance up a demon for me”
He said nothing else for athe book inside He took out protective a traceries on the necklaces of jewels strung together with synize, and an enchanted knife she did recognize
All of this rass, in the sunlight It was a day for picnics, and instead Alan wanted her to call up a demon
“If you dance for a demon alone, sometimes they come,” Alan said “But without a partner, without the fever fruit, you haven’t paid for anything They can ask for anything they want in exchange for an answer The price is guaranteed to be high And you could die just trying You’ve only danced for theht ask for soet possessed You could be dead within an hour”
Mae looked at hiht line She nodded slowly and reached out for the knife Alan had got at the Goblin Market in May
Alan grabbed her wrist before she reached it, pinning her hand to the ground The grass was cool under her open palers pressed down like a vise
“You shouldn’t do this because you think you owe me,” he whispered “You shouldn’t do this at all I shouldn’t ask you”
It occurred to Mae that Alan was so unused to the truth that his voice went harsh when he spoke it, as if he was speaking a strange tongue It made him sound a little like Nick
She gave the demon’s brother a level look
“But you are asking me”
Alan smiled It was a terrible smile “Yes”
“Because there’s nobody else you can ask,” Mae said “Because Nick can’t know Which de?”
Alan’s shoulders went tight at that, the way she’d turned it into a done deal, his fingers biting into her wrist “Liannan”
“Well, okay then,” said Mae “It’s been more than twenty-four hours since I saw that shark-toothed little s to miss her”
She reached out for the knife again, pushing at Alan’s hold so he had to really hurt her or let her go He let her go and snatched up the knife instead
“I’ll cut it I’ve been going to the Market since I was four years old I had uide hi to make any mistakes”
“Oh, and I aed
“Mae,” said Alan, his voice low “You’re going to risk your life for no other reason than because I asked you Let ”
He kept looking at her with terrifying deter about She ave hirass as Alan sank his knife into the earth and made all the symbols, trapped within one circle
She closed her eyes against the surass, the cool leaf and grape s over to her from the vineyard, and the cotton and steel smell of Alan close by
Eventually he said, “I’m done”
Mae sat up, feeling a little dizzy There was the circle laid out before her, there was no Market and no Nick and no Sin and no ic She had to do this herself
“I have a speaking char,” Alan told her
“No,” Mae said “I can speak for myself”
Alan sed and nodded He was rising slowly to his feet as she scrambled up and walked into the circle She could feel his eyes on her back, watching, but he couldn’t help her now Nobody could touch her
Mae closed her eyes and remembered the lines of the circle, then put what she knew into action She lifted her ar her steps as fast and as confident as she could She refused to think about ould happen if she faltered
The sun was hot on her hair, a light breeze lifting strands and playing on the skin of her neck She thought about that instead, about su groarm between their palms, Alan’s mouth on hers in the dark, quiet kitchen She couldn’t dance the way Sin danced, like poetry in otiation in motion
Mae held out her thought of the world like a glittering bauble, held it up ly just out of Liannan’s reach, and she smiled with her face lifted to the sun
It was , You know you want this
“I call on the night cold The circle see soo, and her hair was strea suddenly in an icy wind “I call on she aits for dancers to fall I call on she who had et me, Liannan! If you can”
The circle flipped as if she was standing in a snow globe, and she found herself enveloped in chaos Su screahter, and never any words She felt cold fingers touching her hands, pulling on her clothes; she looked down and saw nothing She shuddered uncontrollably and then looked up and saw Liannan leaping for her like a tigress, all glowing eyes and teeth
“Mae!” Alan shouted, far away “Don’t move!”
She locked herShe hadn’t trespassed in this circle, she belonged here, and she earing her talisman Liannan couldn’t touch her
There was no partner to share this with, nobody to help bear the burden of linking the worlds, nobody to comfort her in the presence of demons Liannan’s breath was a cold blast in her face, like so alternative to a furnace The cord of her talisman had turned into a line of ice as well, the cold of it burning so all she wanted to do was scream and tear it off
Mae didn’t like it when someone tried to scare her She held still as needle-sharp invisible fingers ran down her body, still as her own talisathered on her skin and she began to shake Liannan was a fraction of an inch away, her breath cold in Mae’s mouth
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Alan shut the book and said, “I want you to dance up a demon for me”
He said nothing else for athe book inside He took out protective a traceries on the necklaces of jewels strung together with synize, and an enchanted knife she did recognize
All of this rass, in the sunlight It was a day for picnics, and instead Alan wanted her to call up a demon
“If you dance for a demon alone, sometimes they come,” Alan said “But without a partner, without the fever fruit, you haven’t paid for anything They can ask for anything they want in exchange for an answer The price is guaranteed to be high And you could die just trying You’ve only danced for theht ask for soet possessed You could be dead within an hour”
Mae looked at hiht line She nodded slowly and reached out for the knife Alan had got at the Goblin Market in May
Alan grabbed her wrist before she reached it, pinning her hand to the ground The grass was cool under her open palers pressed down like a vise
“You shouldn’t do this because you think you owe me,” he whispered “You shouldn’t do this at all I shouldn’t ask you”
It occurred to Mae that Alan was so unused to the truth that his voice went harsh when he spoke it, as if he was speaking a strange tongue It made him sound a little like Nick
She gave the demon’s brother a level look
“But you are asking me”
Alan smiled It was a terrible smile “Yes”
“Because there’s nobody else you can ask,” Mae said “Because Nick can’t know Which de?”
Alan’s shoulders went tight at that, the way she’d turned it into a done deal, his fingers biting into her wrist “Liannan”
“Well, okay then,” said Mae “It’s been more than twenty-four hours since I saw that shark-toothed little s to miss her”
She reached out for the knife again, pushing at Alan’s hold so he had to really hurt her or let her go He let her go and snatched up the knife instead
“I’ll cut it I’ve been going to the Market since I was four years old I had uide hi to make any mistakes”
“Oh, and I aed
“Mae,” said Alan, his voice low “You’re going to risk your life for no other reason than because I asked you Let ”