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“Well, shit” Florian looked around the roo for signs of an archangel attack

“That’s why I left the Boneyard,” I said “Soels don’t play ith the undead They’re really, really good at killing them, too And I realize you don’t fit the bill, but if you want toto blame you”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Florian said, folding his ar right here”

I gave hi, honestly told this tie up the money for Beatrice so badly She can craft me an enchantment that’llafterine Nome at every turn No more demon princes, either” I“Also, it doesn’t have to be a jockstrap Beatrice just likes to give me a hard time about that part”

“So I guess I just have one question left Why are you staying in Valero?”

I sighed Florian really was asking all the tough questions “Because I wouldn’t knohere else to go Because no s that want to find me will always find me”

“You knohat I think? I think you’re staying because you still want to see them, these friends of yours froht run into theht not admit it, but you still care”

“Of course I do,” I said irritably, rubbingthat You’re smarter than you look, Florian”

He perked up, sticking his chest out and s “Thank you”

I sat up again “So now I have to decide whether it’s worth risking uez witches, or to avoid that whole scene entirely”

Florian beat a fist against his chest “I’ve got your back, no matter what you pick”

He was never the brightest grape in the bunch, but I could never say that Florian was a bad friend “Thanks, ht now, the best I can do to protect us is put up ils I learned froic is better than none at all, I suppose”

I pulled a notebook out from under my bed, where I kept the scant few notes and little bits of ic I’d retained from Carver, my old boss He was a lich, and a wildly talented sorcerer When I first moved in, I’d hidden some pretty simple wards around the place, just folded up squares of paper with very basic symbols scrawled into theer wards that Carver used to keep the Boneyard’s dimensional walls secure

Flipping through the pages, I finally caer “This one”

Florian leaned on the front two legs of his chair as he peered into my notebook